As we talked in class about various teaching principles, motivation and its effects on learner achievement, I was reminded of a short YouTube clip that some of my friends shared with me a couple of months ago and which had made me think a lot about my own English learning experience.
The following clip was shot by an American tourist during his trip to Vietnam in March 2007. Coincidentally, Barry (the tourist) is from Minnesota. The 5-minute clip featured a short conversation between the Minnesotan visitor and an old Vietnamese man who sold postcards in Ben Thanh market - the biggest marketplace in Ho Chi Minh City (or Saigon), Vietnam.
(Please click on the play button to watch the clip - If you have difficulty watching it directly on the blog, follow this link You Tube - Meet Bill from Saigon, Vietnam)
The first time i watched the clip, i must say i was amazed by this old man's English, the brilliant and lively spoken language that is hardly taught in any language classes. He may not be 100 % grammatically correct but is perfectly intelligible, which is one of the most important features of good communicative competence. As i sought for the reasons to explain the man's incredibly good use of English, the things that first came to my mind was his strong motivation to learn the language and the willingness to communicate in English. As he said in the clip, he loved American accent, watched a lot of American movies and readily incorporated spoken phrases that he heard in the movies into his daily conversations with foreign customers. In this old-aged learner's English learning process i could see the presence of both extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. Clearly he learned how to speak English in order to sell postcards and earn money to support his disabled daughter, but that alone could not have enabled him to speak English with the American accent nor master the use of conversational phrases such as "No sweat!" or "What's up, man?" It was the inner motivation, the desire to learn, the love for the language and the culture (in this case the movies) that drove him to his present state that was captured in the clip when he could speak fluently in English with the "American accent". Added to this, the power of intrinsic motivation in this old man is much more strengthened when we consider the miraculous fact that he learned English all by himself without going through any official language instruction! Obviously, social pressures, teacher evaluation or peer pressure exert no weight on this learner.
Though Bill's learning condition and style are very special and different from the majority of language learners, the investigation into his English learning process did make me think a lot about the power of self-motivation in learning a foreign language, and how the willingness to communicate can fasten learner's acquisition. Truly speaking, from my experience, many young English language students in Vietnam who have spent years learning English at school do not have the fluency in speech as this self-taught adult learner does. This puts into question the role of language teachers, the teaching activities, the textbook and many other pedagogical features in creating and maintaining positive motivation in students.
As I looked up this short clip of Bill on YouTube, i came across the sad news: he passed away last month in Saigon because of pneumonia. After the Minnesotan tourist posted this clip on YouTube, Bill became famous and many foreign tourists who came to Saigon went to Ben Thanh market to have a chance to talk with him. That's why the news of his death was passed fairly quickly. Bill is no more, but I believe his lively and admirable English learning experience will remain a good inspiration for many English language students who are lucky to be receiving formal language instruction.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Monday, September 29, 2008
Learner characteristics: Classtime reflection
In this week's class, we focused on specific principles for second language teaching and paid closer attention to intrinsic motivation. I think Aaron's presentation went very well, since he managed to touch almost all the main issues and engaged the class into an interesting discussion.
One thing that i found quite inspiring during the discussion was the issue of reward. As far as i am concerned, rewards in language teaching to some extent are a form of teacher's positive feedback. However, the matter of when and how to give rewards is very much controversial. As an English learner, I have experienced a large, if not excessive number of such extrinsic motivation as rewards. Many of the times when my teacher held an in-class activity, he/she often pointed out clearly from the start what kind of rewards were awaiting us at the end of the process, which very often made us work harder and more concentiously to finish the task. Another thing about this principle which was brought up in class is the fact that not every student in the class will be able to receive the reward. And most of the time this prestigious "ball" are tossed among a group of "elite" ones who conceivably outperform others. In my opinion, in order to decrease the frequency of this and help all students in the class feel good about teacher's rewarding, teachers can make it clear to the class that this particular student has done a really good job and receives the treat, but this does not mean he is the single best student, and that anyone in the class could catch up to achieve similar good result provided that they have the desire. Besides, i like the way Dr Smidt modeled the use of rewards when she asked us to go around the classroom and put an aterisk next to the point we felt strongly about. Clearly this activity has the drawback of "making public things which should be private" (as she put it) and caused some disappointment to some individuals, but it directly told how students would feel when they receive rewards and comments from the teacher. The follow-up discussion proved how teachers should consider different techniques of reward-giving so that they will work best for their students.
An activity that we did in class which i am interested in was the diagnostic of learner's learning style. This very much directs my attention to the fact that as language teachers, it is important to bear in mind different learning styles that students might have in order to design various activities that cater for a wide range of students' needs and strengths. In my opinion, one's learning style has a close connection with his intelligences and here the theory of multilple intellengences should be taken into account when we examine the effectiveness of language teaching. Even though language teachers cannot cover and strengthen every field of learner's intelligence, it is important that the acivities carried out in the class provide a good diversity.
One thing that i found quite inspiring during the discussion was the issue of reward. As far as i am concerned, rewards in language teaching to some extent are a form of teacher's positive feedback. However, the matter of when and how to give rewards is very much controversial. As an English learner, I have experienced a large, if not excessive number of such extrinsic motivation as rewards. Many of the times when my teacher held an in-class activity, he/she often pointed out clearly from the start what kind of rewards were awaiting us at the end of the process, which very often made us work harder and more concentiously to finish the task. Another thing about this principle which was brought up in class is the fact that not every student in the class will be able to receive the reward. And most of the time this prestigious "ball" are tossed among a group of "elite" ones who conceivably outperform others. In my opinion, in order to decrease the frequency of this and help all students in the class feel good about teacher's rewarding, teachers can make it clear to the class that this particular student has done a really good job and receives the treat, but this does not mean he is the single best student, and that anyone in the class could catch up to achieve similar good result provided that they have the desire. Besides, i like the way Dr Smidt modeled the use of rewards when she asked us to go around the classroom and put an aterisk next to the point we felt strongly about. Clearly this activity has the drawback of "making public things which should be private" (as she put it) and caused some disappointment to some individuals, but it directly told how students would feel when they receive rewards and comments from the teacher. The follow-up discussion proved how teachers should consider different techniques of reward-giving so that they will work best for their students.
An activity that we did in class which i am interested in was the diagnostic of learner's learning style. This very much directs my attention to the fact that as language teachers, it is important to bear in mind different learning styles that students might have in order to design various activities that cater for a wide range of students' needs and strengths. In my opinion, one's learning style has a close connection with his intelligences and here the theory of multilple intellengences should be taken into account when we examine the effectiveness of language teaching. Even though language teachers cannot cover and strengthen every field of learner's intelligence, it is important that the acivities carried out in the class provide a good diversity.
Week 6 Reading: Cultural issues in Second language teaching
Among the 12 principles that are put forth in the HB book, the one which focuses on the connection between language and culture in second language teaching really inspires me.
Learning a language is not merely learning about its lexical or grammatical systems, it also means learning about a new culture in the most comprehensive meaning of the word. Many linguists and culturalists have stated that and hardly anyone has ever challenged the idea. In my process of learning foreign languages, i have very different experiences with the connection of language and culture. In my English classes, because of both objective and subjective reasons, most of my teachers were more concerned with giving students language instructions than exposing us to the cultural issues that lie underneath the language cover. The textbook once in a while mentioned some typical cultural features of Britain and the US, but most of the time the knowledge flipped very quickly out of our mind due to the lack of emphasis and reinforcement. In contrast, the story is completely different with my Japanese learning experience. In my Japanese class, my teacher constantly reminded us of the cultural factors that are represented in the language and how understanding Japanese culture can help us use the language more appropriately. The teacher also gave us some very interesting cultural facts about Japansese customs and traditions, which very much aroused my curiosity and increased my interest in learning the language. Clearly, cultural interests and awareness can be a factor that motivate students to learn a language.
As a result, in my future teaching, i am determined to convey cultural traits that are typical of British and American society to my students, so that they can build up adequate knowledge and ideas of the countries where their target language is spoken.
Also, last year my friends and I carried out a research which focuses on the implementation of cultural games about traditional holidays in British and American culture such as Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas into the teaching of English in high schools. We did some in-class experiments and what we noticed was that whenever there was the involvement of cultural activities, the language classroom was much more lively and fun and the students were more excited and motivated. Now that i have acquired more knowledge of this issue, my wish is to continue with the research after i graduate and expand it to other features of British and American cultures.
Learning a language is not merely learning about its lexical or grammatical systems, it also means learning about a new culture in the most comprehensive meaning of the word. Many linguists and culturalists have stated that and hardly anyone has ever challenged the idea. In my process of learning foreign languages, i have very different experiences with the connection of language and culture. In my English classes, because of both objective and subjective reasons, most of my teachers were more concerned with giving students language instructions than exposing us to the cultural issues that lie underneath the language cover. The textbook once in a while mentioned some typical cultural features of Britain and the US, but most of the time the knowledge flipped very quickly out of our mind due to the lack of emphasis and reinforcement. In contrast, the story is completely different with my Japanese learning experience. In my Japanese class, my teacher constantly reminded us of the cultural factors that are represented in the language and how understanding Japanese culture can help us use the language more appropriately. The teacher also gave us some very interesting cultural facts about Japansese customs and traditions, which very much aroused my curiosity and increased my interest in learning the language. Clearly, cultural interests and awareness can be a factor that motivate students to learn a language.
As a result, in my future teaching, i am determined to convey cultural traits that are typical of British and American society to my students, so that they can build up adequate knowledge and ideas of the countries where their target language is spoken.
Also, last year my friends and I carried out a research which focuses on the implementation of cultural games about traditional holidays in British and American culture such as Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas into the teaching of English in high schools. We did some in-class experiments and what we noticed was that whenever there was the involvement of cultural activities, the language classroom was much more lively and fun and the students were more excited and motivated. Now that i have acquired more knowledge of this issue, my wish is to continue with the research after i graduate and expand it to other features of British and American cultures.
Content-based teaching in EFL setting
As Dr. Smidt had us watch a short clip about the SIOP method and raised a short discussion about content-based instruction in class last week, i have been thinking a lot about this instruction type and its feasibility in my future teaching context.
Personally i have never officially had any experience with this method when learning English. However, in high school i had seen some of my French-major friends learn Mathematics and Physics in French and the results of this were fantastic. Not only could those friends of mine communicate fluently in French but some of them even passed the entrance exam to get admitted to universities in France thanks to their good command of the Mathematics and Physics knowledge. When i asked those friends how it felt to study a subject matter in a foreign language, many answered it was hard at first when they need to transfer technical terms they already know to another language, but as time went by they got addicted to the subject and almost forgot about the language, which had then become an instrument for them to study the subject matter. And at the end of the learning process they achieved a fruitful outcome in both the use of language and the mastery of the subject matter.
This, in my opinion, is a good example of the bright side of using content-based instruction (CBI) in second/foreign language teaching. One thing should be taken into consideration, though, is that those friends of mine had already reached a relatively high proficiency level in French when they were exposed to this teaching method. Therefore, the use of CBI in second language teaching is, as far as i am concerned, should be implemented only to students at an approriate proficiency level. It would do no good if students are made to perform tasks that are far beyond their ability and find themselves get stuck in both learning the language and acquiring the subject matter.
Also, in the EFL setting where students normally have very few chances to use the target language outside the classroom, I think it is really difficult to implement content-based instruction. More specifically, in my future teaching context (middle/high schools in Vietnam), students have to work very hard to achieve good scores in mainstream subjects such as Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Literature, History etc. It would therefore be a double burden if they have to deal with these subject matters in English classes. As a result, i am thinking that it might work if CBI is used at some point in the teaching of reading or writing skills in the EFL classroom, in which teachers direct students' attention to the reading and writing material rather than the language itself. One example of this is the creative writing task in which students' work is to produce a short story, poem or a work of art in English.
Personally i have never officially had any experience with this method when learning English. However, in high school i had seen some of my French-major friends learn Mathematics and Physics in French and the results of this were fantastic. Not only could those friends of mine communicate fluently in French but some of them even passed the entrance exam to get admitted to universities in France thanks to their good command of the Mathematics and Physics knowledge. When i asked those friends how it felt to study a subject matter in a foreign language, many answered it was hard at first when they need to transfer technical terms they already know to another language, but as time went by they got addicted to the subject and almost forgot about the language, which had then become an instrument for them to study the subject matter. And at the end of the learning process they achieved a fruitful outcome in both the use of language and the mastery of the subject matter.
This, in my opinion, is a good example of the bright side of using content-based instruction (CBI) in second/foreign language teaching. One thing should be taken into consideration, though, is that those friends of mine had already reached a relatively high proficiency level in French when they were exposed to this teaching method. Therefore, the use of CBI in second language teaching is, as far as i am concerned, should be implemented only to students at an approriate proficiency level. It would do no good if students are made to perform tasks that are far beyond their ability and find themselves get stuck in both learning the language and acquiring the subject matter.
Also, in the EFL setting where students normally have very few chances to use the target language outside the classroom, I think it is really difficult to implement content-based instruction. More specifically, in my future teaching context (middle/high schools in Vietnam), students have to work very hard to achieve good scores in mainstream subjects such as Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Literature, History etc. It would therefore be a double burden if they have to deal with these subject matters in English classes. As a result, i am thinking that it might work if CBI is used at some point in the teaching of reading or writing skills in the EFL classroom, in which teachers direct students' attention to the reading and writing material rather than the language itself. One example of this is the creative writing task in which students' work is to produce a short story, poem or a work of art in English.
Monday, September 22, 2008
Week 5 Reading: How I learned to be polite when speaking English
In this week's reading about second language acquisition, I find the text under the subtitle of "Learning to use English in socially and culturally Approriate use" in the P&B book very practical. This is because it reminds me of a past experience in which i learned how to make myself sound polite in English.
Two years ago when i was in my second year at college, i worked as a private tutor of a half American-half Vietnamese boy who was 6 years old then. His father is an American journalist who travels back and forth between Vietnam and the US to write articles and reports. Every year the family would live half of the year in Vietnam and the other half in the States. Since at the time there was no international school in Hue - my hometown and the little boy's first language is English (he speaks very little Vietnamese), he couldn't go to the local elementary school where the language of instruction is Vietnamese. That was the reason why his parents decided to have private tutors to go to their house and teach him. At that time i was teaching him Mathematics in English. And during that time i must say i was able to learn as much from him as he did from me. In fact, i taught him how to solve Math problems and he (unconciously) "taught" me how to use English in a socially approriate way. One of the most interesting lessons i learned from him was to say "please" at the end of a command or imperative sentence to show politeness. How i acquired this language behaviour was interesting. During the first days when i gave my little student some math problems to solve after having explained to him the rule, i often said: "Do this problem, Cullen (his name)!" or if i needed some thing that i wanted him to give me, i would say: "Give me a pencil!". I did not realize anything wrong in those utterances until one week later when after one of my commands, he suddenly said to me: "Teacher is not polite!". I was very surprised and immediately asked him why. The answer was that his father told him to always say "please" when he wanted somebody to do something for him. Of course he gave that comment in a normal non-sarcastic way that a child usually says when he experiences something which is different from what he is taught, and from that time onward i always try to remember to put "please" into my imperative utterance to show my politeness. Though this is just a small element in learning English, none of my teachers had ever directed my attention to it before my little student actually pointed it out to me.
Now that i read the text about "learning to use English in socially and culturally appropriate ways", i come to understand better how important it is for English teachers to raise students' awareness of social and cultural norms that are reflected and used in English, for it is true that the ability to use a foreign language fluently does not easily entail the capability to use it appropriately.
Two years ago when i was in my second year at college, i worked as a private tutor of a half American-half Vietnamese boy who was 6 years old then. His father is an American journalist who travels back and forth between Vietnam and the US to write articles and reports. Every year the family would live half of the year in Vietnam and the other half in the States. Since at the time there was no international school in Hue - my hometown and the little boy's first language is English (he speaks very little Vietnamese), he couldn't go to the local elementary school where the language of instruction is Vietnamese. That was the reason why his parents decided to have private tutors to go to their house and teach him. At that time i was teaching him Mathematics in English. And during that time i must say i was able to learn as much from him as he did from me. In fact, i taught him how to solve Math problems and he (unconciously) "taught" me how to use English in a socially approriate way. One of the most interesting lessons i learned from him was to say "please" at the end of a command or imperative sentence to show politeness. How i acquired this language behaviour was interesting. During the first days when i gave my little student some math problems to solve after having explained to him the rule, i often said: "Do this problem, Cullen (his name)!" or if i needed some thing that i wanted him to give me, i would say: "Give me a pencil!". I did not realize anything wrong in those utterances until one week later when after one of my commands, he suddenly said to me: "Teacher is not polite!". I was very surprised and immediately asked him why. The answer was that his father told him to always say "please" when he wanted somebody to do something for him. Of course he gave that comment in a normal non-sarcastic way that a child usually says when he experiences something which is different from what he is taught, and from that time onward i always try to remember to put "please" into my imperative utterance to show my politeness. Though this is just a small element in learning English, none of my teachers had ever directed my attention to it before my little student actually pointed it out to me.
Now that i read the text about "learning to use English in socially and culturally appropriate ways", i come to understand better how important it is for English teachers to raise students' awareness of social and cultural norms that are reflected and used in English, for it is true that the ability to use a foreign language fluently does not easily entail the capability to use it appropriately.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Week 4 Reading reflection: Second Language Acquisition Theories
Among the many theories put forth by linguists and psychologists described in Chapter 2 of Lightbown and Spada book, i especially take interest in the Behaviourist theory, the affective filter hypothesis in Krashen's "monitor model" and the interaction hypothesis.
The reason why i'm interested in the behaviourism theory is because i find it very familiar to me. In fact, for a long period of time in my English learning process, my classmates and i were made to imitate our teacher and learn by heart most of the dialogues in the textbook. Then in the next class the teacher often called on some students and had us recite the whole dialogue. After that grades would be given depending on how much of the dialogue was properly covered. Although as students we usually complained with each other about how hard it was to memorize a passage written in a foreign language and only did it under the pressure of grades, it turned out in the end that to me and some of my friends, the language that we involuntarily memorized at some point returned to us with very little conciousness and became very helpful, especially when it comes to making conversations in English. From this personal experience, although i do not totally agree with the behaviorist theory, i do believe second language acquisition rests partially on habit formation, and imitation and memorization can be creatively utilized to make students get into the habit of using the target language. This, in my opinion, may work well in the EFL setting in which students have very few chances to be exposed to the target language outside the classroom. Therefore, in my future teaching, i will use imitation and memorization in a suitable amount to familiarize my students with the new language form, and the techniques being used will be more varied and interesting, not just the usual learn-by-heart.
Another hypothesis which is quite close to my heart is the affective filter. As indicated in the book, affective factors such as feelings, motive, needs, attitudes and emotional states can be a barrier that prevent learner from acquiring language. This theory is perfectly true in the foreign language teaching context in Vietnam. In fact, many native English teachers who come to Vietnam to teach English shared the same experience that the first time they went to class and asked students a question, most of the time the answer they received were long periods of silence! This does not mean that the students do not know the answer, it is either because they are not "brave" enough to raise their hands and give the answer, or they are not sure about the answer and thus fear to lose face. Besides cultural differences, affective elements such as shyness and anxiety have a part to play. This hypothesis therefore focuses my attention on students's feelings when teaching and how they can affect students' performance in learning a language. And as a teacher-to-be, i am determined on creating a relaxing study environment in which students will feel free to express their ideas in the target language without fear of losing face.
One last theory that i find practical and interesting is the interaction hypothesis and the concept of Zone of Proximal Development. This theory again reminds me of my time studying French. It now becomes clear to me that the reason why i often find myself struggle when speaking French is because i hardly have any social interaction in learning the language. There was a time when i thought i could practice speaking French to myself, but what turned out was i did not know how well i was nor whether or not i could be understood by other people. As a result, in my opinion, as language teachers it is necessary to give students ample opportunities to practice the language with their friends as well as native speakers of English or those who can produce good English. Also, it would help if teachers are well aware of learner capability so that they can design appropriate interaction activities to elevate students to their zone of proximal development.
The reason why i'm interested in the behaviourism theory is because i find it very familiar to me. In fact, for a long period of time in my English learning process, my classmates and i were made to imitate our teacher and learn by heart most of the dialogues in the textbook. Then in the next class the teacher often called on some students and had us recite the whole dialogue. After that grades would be given depending on how much of the dialogue was properly covered. Although as students we usually complained with each other about how hard it was to memorize a passage written in a foreign language and only did it under the pressure of grades, it turned out in the end that to me and some of my friends, the language that we involuntarily memorized at some point returned to us with very little conciousness and became very helpful, especially when it comes to making conversations in English. From this personal experience, although i do not totally agree with the behaviorist theory, i do believe second language acquisition rests partially on habit formation, and imitation and memorization can be creatively utilized to make students get into the habit of using the target language. This, in my opinion, may work well in the EFL setting in which students have very few chances to be exposed to the target language outside the classroom. Therefore, in my future teaching, i will use imitation and memorization in a suitable amount to familiarize my students with the new language form, and the techniques being used will be more varied and interesting, not just the usual learn-by-heart.
Another hypothesis which is quite close to my heart is the affective filter. As indicated in the book, affective factors such as feelings, motive, needs, attitudes and emotional states can be a barrier that prevent learner from acquiring language. This theory is perfectly true in the foreign language teaching context in Vietnam. In fact, many native English teachers who come to Vietnam to teach English shared the same experience that the first time they went to class and asked students a question, most of the time the answer they received were long periods of silence! This does not mean that the students do not know the answer, it is either because they are not "brave" enough to raise their hands and give the answer, or they are not sure about the answer and thus fear to lose face. Besides cultural differences, affective elements such as shyness and anxiety have a part to play. This hypothesis therefore focuses my attention on students's feelings when teaching and how they can affect students' performance in learning a language. And as a teacher-to-be, i am determined on creating a relaxing study environment in which students will feel free to express their ideas in the target language without fear of losing face.
One last theory that i find practical and interesting is the interaction hypothesis and the concept of Zone of Proximal Development. This theory again reminds me of my time studying French. It now becomes clear to me that the reason why i often find myself struggle when speaking French is because i hardly have any social interaction in learning the language. There was a time when i thought i could practice speaking French to myself, but what turned out was i did not know how well i was nor whether or not i could be understood by other people. As a result, in my opinion, as language teachers it is necessary to give students ample opportunities to practice the language with their friends as well as native speakers of English or those who can produce good English. Also, it would help if teachers are well aware of learner capability so that they can design appropriate interaction activities to elevate students to their zone of proximal development.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Week 3 and 4 - Class-time reflection
To be honest, that night when i walked back to my dorm after the first class three weeks ago, i felt a lot pressure in my steps. I didn't expect that my first class at a new school in a completely new place thousands of miles away from home are comprised mostly of graduate students who have had a lot of experience in language teaching. I looked at myself and a feeling of fear suddenly filled my heart: I'm almost the only undergraduate in the class, I hardly have any teaching experience, and I am an international student who has been abroad for the first time and who knows almost nothing about the new environment I am living in.
Week 3
I still had that feeling of pressure with me when i went to class the second week. However, as class proceeded, i started to feel much more secure and less worried. I really like the presentation about different teaching approaches and methods presented by Chris and Veronika. I like the short clip of movie that they used to introduce the topic, which is a very good and vivid example of two different teaching methods, one that is motonous and classical in which the teacher is like a preacher giving a speech in the church, and the other in which the teacher is very engaging and humourous. Also, i especially found the following part in which our professor had us work in group and match each teaching method with its corresponding definition very effective. Not only did that ativity help me sort out specific information from the reading but it also made my brain work hard to differentiate various confusing methods. From that activity i learn from my teacher the method of getting students to organize the knowledge they have acquired by giving them a chance to really work with it both by themselves and with the help of other fellow students. To put in another way, "learning is by doing". If the teacher just tests students' understanding of the lesson in the usual questions-answers way, he can never be sure that every student in the class understands the study material. Instead, having students to go out of their seats, go around, talk with their friends to figure out the answers is a way of making learning an effective and fruitful process.
I still had that feeling of pressure with me when i went to class the second week. However, as class proceeded, i started to feel much more secure and less worried. I really like the presentation about different teaching approaches and methods presented by Chris and Veronika. I like the short clip of movie that they used to introduce the topic, which is a very good and vivid example of two different teaching methods, one that is motonous and classical in which the teacher is like a preacher giving a speech in the church, and the other in which the teacher is very engaging and humourous. Also, i especially found the following part in which our professor had us work in group and match each teaching method with its corresponding definition very effective. Not only did that ativity help me sort out specific information from the reading but it also made my brain work hard to differentiate various confusing methods. From that activity i learn from my teacher the method of getting students to organize the knowledge they have acquired by giving them a chance to really work with it both by themselves and with the help of other fellow students. To put in another way, "learning is by doing". If the teacher just tests students' understanding of the lesson in the usual questions-answers way, he can never be sure that every student in the class understands the study material. Instead, having students to go out of their seats, go around, talk with their friends to figure out the answers is a way of making learning an effective and fruitful process.
Week 4
This week we learned about first and second language acquisition, with more emphasis being put on the latter since our goal is to teach English as a second language. Like last week we had a lot of reading before class and i somehow felt overwhelmed by different theories put forth by linguists and psychologists. Luckily, in class Dr Smidt directed our attention to 8 specific theories that are most important in second language acquisition process and thanks to that i was able to have a closer look at each theory and know what i should focus on. Again i learn from my teacher the importance of knowing "when to do what" when teaching. Even thought the main role of teachers in the modern language classroom is to guide students toward solving a problem by themselves, there are cases in which teachers should take part in the learning process earlier and give students the help they need at the right time, instead of waiting until they get lost in the forest of professional knowledge to give them a hand.
Also, I really like the activity in which we worked in pairs to figure out a good way to present a theory to other students in the class. Apart from the knowledge being shared and discussed, to me working in groups is a good way to get to know my classmates and feel a friendly atmosphere pervading the classroom. I would therefore definitely encourage the use of this technique in my future English class.
Until now after three meetings, i am starting to feel a lot more secured in class and am very much expecting a fruitful time learning about English teaching methods here. I know the road ahead is not going to be easy, but i have this philosophy which i have always kept in mind and which, i believe, will work for me at this point of my life: "Try your best and God will do the rest."
(To this end you may realize this entry has wandered off the point. I didnot intend to put that many emotional thoughts into a class-time reflection but somehow my thinking has carried me away. Thank you very much for reading and sharing with me).
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Reading reflection Week 2: LANGUAGE TEACHERS AND TEACHING METHODS
It goes without saying that to every language teacher, the study of teaching methods is important and helpful in many respects. However, to be honest, before doing the assigned readings for week 2, the one and only teaching method that I can call by name is the Communicative Approach. The reading of MCM and HDB chapters on Methods and Approaches in language teaching has, therefore, greatly opened up my horizons both theoretically and personally.
From the first three chapters of Brown's Teaching by Principles, I come to understand in greater depth how long the history of language teaching is and am acquainted with different stages in the development of language teaching methods. It becomes clear to me that like all other professions, language teaching has undergone a great deal of ups and downs, high and lows, rejection and acceptance, as a result of which new methods were continously invented and applied by language teachers. Also, the process of reading and learning about various teaching methods and their corresponding terms such as the Grammar-Translation Method, the Direct Method, the Silent way, ect. was, to me, an exciting journey into self-analyzing my own experiences in learning foreign languages. At many points in reading the chapters, I kept flashing back on my previous language classes and tried to identify which of the methods being described in the book had been used by my teachers. For instance, I found out during my 7 years learning French at school, I was taught mostly in the Grammar-Translation method, which probably is the main reason why even though i did quite well on French grammar tests, it seemed to take me forever to put all of those grammatical points and the vocabulary I had learned together to produce a good utterance in French. Also, after reading through the chapters, I realize to my amazement that as a language learner, I have, to a certain extent, been exposed to almost all of the teaching methods under description. To me, these methods are like friends whom I previously knew by face, and I am now thankful to the readings for giving me their names.
What is more, the reading of methods and approaches in language teaching gave insight into my perception of language teaching. I came to realize that as a language teacher I can’t just copy my teachers’ methods and teach my students the way I was taught, or just follow the methodology book with no in-depth knowledge of why certain techniques are taken. In fact, as far as I am concerned, every method carries in itself principles that are suitable for certain teaching contexts and styles, and it is a language teacher’s obligation to carefully consider those principles before adapting any particular method, as Larsen-Freeman (2000) stated, teachers should be “clear about why they do what they do”, which then will enable them to “teach differently from the way they were taught”.
Last but not least, as clearly indicated in the reading chapters, no single method is perfect, that is to say, each of them has its own drawbacks and most of the time one specific method only works best to students at a certain proficiency level or in a certain social and psychological teaching context. Again it falls on language teachers to make a wise decision on what methods to be used in each stage of their teaching. As a future English teacher, I would prefer to make a good blend of different methods so that my teaching will be most effective to my students in their language acquisition process. This ambition undoudtedly requires a lot of efforts and experiences on the part of the individual teacher.
From the first three chapters of Brown's Teaching by Principles, I come to understand in greater depth how long the history of language teaching is and am acquainted with different stages in the development of language teaching methods. It becomes clear to me that like all other professions, language teaching has undergone a great deal of ups and downs, high and lows, rejection and acceptance, as a result of which new methods were continously invented and applied by language teachers. Also, the process of reading and learning about various teaching methods and their corresponding terms such as the Grammar-Translation Method, the Direct Method, the Silent way, ect. was, to me, an exciting journey into self-analyzing my own experiences in learning foreign languages. At many points in reading the chapters, I kept flashing back on my previous language classes and tried to identify which of the methods being described in the book had been used by my teachers. For instance, I found out during my 7 years learning French at school, I was taught mostly in the Grammar-Translation method, which probably is the main reason why even though i did quite well on French grammar tests, it seemed to take me forever to put all of those grammatical points and the vocabulary I had learned together to produce a good utterance in French. Also, after reading through the chapters, I realize to my amazement that as a language learner, I have, to a certain extent, been exposed to almost all of the teaching methods under description. To me, these methods are like friends whom I previously knew by face, and I am now thankful to the readings for giving me their names.
What is more, the reading of methods and approaches in language teaching gave insight into my perception of language teaching. I came to realize that as a language teacher I can’t just copy my teachers’ methods and teach my students the way I was taught, or just follow the methodology book with no in-depth knowledge of why certain techniques are taken. In fact, as far as I am concerned, every method carries in itself principles that are suitable for certain teaching contexts and styles, and it is a language teacher’s obligation to carefully consider those principles before adapting any particular method, as Larsen-Freeman (2000) stated, teachers should be “clear about why they do what they do”, which then will enable them to “teach differently from the way they were taught”.
Last but not least, as clearly indicated in the reading chapters, no single method is perfect, that is to say, each of them has its own drawbacks and most of the time one specific method only works best to students at a certain proficiency level or in a certain social and psychological teaching context. Again it falls on language teachers to make a wise decision on what methods to be used in each stage of their teaching. As a future English teacher, I would prefer to make a good blend of different methods so that my teaching will be most effective to my students in their language acquisition process. This ambition undoudtedly requires a lot of efforts and experiences on the part of the individual teacher.
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