Mimose called me at 12:39, about 20 minutes before our interview. She was actually there before me! I was 5 minutes late (after 1 pm). She left me a very clear message in English telling me that she was waiting for me in the sitting area near the Reference Desk.
From 1:00 to 1:30, I conducted the Adult Learner Background Screening interview. My actual interview with her lasted one hour, from 1:30 to 2:30. She is willing to meet with me one more time so that I can go over her transcript with her. In fact, she doesn't use email (although she's taken the class at PE) but could if I insisted--she has a brother who is willing to have me email her using his address. I gave her a stamped, addressed envelope along with the essay questions in case she wants to mail any additions or changes to me.
She was very careful with reading the consent form. She took her time in order to understand it, and asked me a question about the meaning of the word, risk. She then asked me what my motivation is for doing this involved study. She seemed to want to check to be sure that I was not trying to poorly evaluate Nancy, her teacher. She was very complimentary of Nancy (it is clear that they have become good friends and that there is a lot of respect beteween them).
She said that she would like a copy of her consent form.
She has lived in USA for 7 years in Miami and Miramar. She was formerly a teacher in a normal school (where teachers are trained) in Haiti. She taught French, Math and Science. A year ago, she trained for 3 months to become a HHA/CNA. She began studying English at the Walter C. Young Middle School afer her second year of living in this country.
She attends school now full-time four nights a week at WCY and two mornings a week at the library. She lost her f/t job taking care of an elderly man when he died (sometime last year, but I need to check on this). I ask her to compare the formal WCY classes with the library's nonformal classes and she says that the library classes have more spoken English practice, i.e., more "give and take" a Myra terms it.
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I came home and wrote up my fieldnote. I also finished coding Nancy's transcript. I am glad I did most of it BEFORE seeing Mimose because she was able to confirm a good number of things that Nancy had told me about in her interview. One was that Mimose also mentioned the "magazine picture game" as a good one that helps her with her spoken English. She talked a lot about the 'beginning of class teaching technique' that Nancy uses, where students ask her specific questions pertaining to word pronunciation, word meanings and vocabulary, e.g. Mimose has been known to bring in cooking utensils from her kitchen, asking for the proper words for them.
Like Aida, she knows that people understand her English when she speaks and she understands what people say to her as long as they do not speak too fast. She wants to develop her fluency.
She says too that other students ask questions but not as many as her. She tries to allow others to ask their questions first, or even to hold back and not ask all of her questions in one class.
She had no "improvements" to add about the class.
One the best parts of the interview was that she suggested that we offer a class (or a series of classes) on how to communicate with doctors and other health care professionals. In her work as a HHA/CNA, she often accompanies her patients on visits to the hospital and to the doctor. She realizes that understanding what the doctor tells the patient concerning their follow-up care is vitally important. Having worked for 25 years in Haiti at a normal school teaching French, Math and Science, Mimose has a lot of experience communicating. Clearly, she values the ability to communicate in the language of her home country is very important. The rest of her family lives in either Chicago, Montreal or the DR, and they all speak the dominant languages of their respective countries too.
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