Blog 8

Ch        OK so let's go back to your schools and tell me a little bit about what they were like.  So what was your, you know, talk about, about what the school was like what the building was like, what the kids were like, and how it made you feel about learning, particularly reading and writing.  SO let's start with Roosevelt

L          Number 10 school is more like in an urban area. Minorities, you know.  Hispanic and black people.  And you know, a lot of bad kids a lot of gangs, so my block where I used to live, it was, you know I  couldn't go to the corner, cause it was, you know, a bunch of gangs, so it was really like, the 10 school, I don't know, like your friends[J1], you have to watch who they were, because, you know, it was really dangerous so

Ch        even when you were little? 78 (sounds surprised)

L          (matter of factly) yeah, {street name?} downtown, that's where the danger is, back in the day, now it's a little better, but thank god my teachers were always really good.  I was, I started kindergarten in the ESL program, you know they like teach you English, since I grew up in a Spanish speaking house and you know, at first I had a hard time reading and writing, but then first grade I took a test, so I could be in an all English class, and you know the test was all reading and asking questions, and you have to write it all, like a picture prompt, and I passed it.  So, second grade was a all English class, and it was, you know, it was easy for me.  I can say I didn't struggle too much, reading and writing.  With math it's another story , but English, is O - I was doing OK with it.

Ch        (Laughing) math is another story

L          Yeah. 

Ch        So how did you feel, what was the test like?  Were you scared when you took   87 what was

L          Oh yeah.  I was so scared.  I was like, Ma I'm not going to pass it, I know I'm not, cause you know I was taking it with a lot of friends, and they were integrated, so they go - you know you can't really study, yeah, they practice everything in class but it was like my first time taking an actual like test, you know, that you have to {words} for an hour, I was like oh my god, it was really like nerve shocking, but I guess I did good, cause I passed it.

Ch        Do you remember taking the test

L          Actually not, I really don't.  I remember like the next, what was like [J2] next month when they got the results.  I got a letter like, you're moved to a new room, and I had no idea.  I'm like, I have a new teacher it's bad and I already have friends in my old class, so when I walked in I remember it was like Mr. Marshall, and I didn't know anyone, and I'm like oh - that's what I get for passing the test. 

Ch        laughing

L          I have no friends (97)

Ch        Did your friends pass it

L          No.  I had like one boy that I knew, but as my close friend, Paula, she was also Colombian, she didn't pass it and she stayed in ESL until like 4^th grade.

Ch        What was that like for you.

L          Well I guess, you know [J3] it was a new experience, I met a lot of friends I still talk to now in the class, so you know, for the better.

S          OK so you met a lot of friends you still talk to now in the new class.

L          Yeah, in the new class. I got a new group of friends.  It was good[J4] .

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[J1][Pink]A big concern of hers is her friends – in her neighborhood, in school, in her new class, etc. She represents herself as someone who does not want to be alone/desires to be part of a group. She relates everything she says to her friendships that surrounded or involved in each situation.

[J2] [Green] She says “like” when she is talking about something she feared – the word appears with greater frequency when she described the conversation she had with her mother and when she moved into the new classroom. While proud of herself for passing the test, she is modest about her achievement and downplays it – saying “like” is her pause that makes the story less important. The word "like" occurs 18 times in L's part of this interview. 16 of those occurrences take place during the time where she is telling her story, and only 2 when she is speaking confidently about the present. While I recognize that "like" is a common colloquial, it seems that for L it goes beyond her regional dialect/word use and uses it specifically when she feels as though she is exposing her emotions or is not representing herself as strong and outgoing (seemingly her normal facade).

[J3][Yellow] She says “you know” when she is talking about her inadequacy and her emotions. (15 times in this interview.) Her hesitation (agency) shows that she feels apprehensive to tell her story. Despite being an outspoken person, she is somewhat shy talking about something that shows imperfection.

[J4] [Underline] She ends all of her statements with short, succinct little statements that take away the gravity of many of her situations. Despite the bad situation, she always notes that good came out of it. All of her problems are always solved by the end of the paragraph.