Teaching
Classroom based report on language acquisition
Abstract
Learning any second language can be challenging. Lower level students, who are new to learning, are those students that need all the support and understanding for their acquisition of a new language. For this paper, I have produced a research plan for a new class of lower level students. This was devised to create thinking on how students were learning their second language. I wondered how I could facilitate their learning and their classroom experience that would help make English language easier for them to comprehend. My initial thoughts were on using as many different ways to reinforce a language point. My thinking was that if the students get to look at a specific grammar/language point, whilst using it and thinking about it, in different ways, the language will stay in their memory that much easier. I felt that if you used the language in various ways such as activities, methods of teaching and games, their possession of the language could be helped.
I looked at my ideas for lesson plans and checked how I planned to use the time in class to vary my methods. I also looked on the internet for any information that would correspond with my area of interest. I tried reading as much material that honed in on my specific area of interest. This was the material that was related to different methods and activities. It was while I was acquiring my new knowledge that I got to read about an interesting theory where different activities were used regarding multiple intelligences. This I found on a website called ‘developingteachers.com’. The article in question that took my interest was called ‘Starting with multiple intelligences – activities for foreign language teachers’ by Rolf Palmberg. I immediately realised this article was very much linked in with my ideas, that I had proposed. I did a lot of preliminary reading on the subject until I felt that I should put my old and new ideas about how to get the students speaking more into effect. This paper and the theories within is helped by what I found from the initial article by Rolf Palmberg and increasingly by reading about American psychologist Howard Gardner who developed ‘The Theory of Multiple Intelligences’.
Professional Development results can come in many ways
A report of the dissemination you have carried out to inform colleagues/teachers (either in your own school, neighbouring school or LEA), or young people, governors, parents. This report will include what they have learned from the process of dissemination (approximately 1,000 words).
I was on a teaching course for two months and tried different ways to promote professional development. I would like in this report to give an account of the benefit of the distribution of my efforts. One major fact involved in these endeavors, I found is that some teachers are inexperienced to teaching/professional development. It meant I had to look deeper to see salient points that highlighted recognition of the work I had been completing. I must say I did this report against some barriers, that being the Asian way of teaching which entails the students just listening to the teacher in a very passive way. The students must believe every word that comes out of the teacher’s mouth as these young minds sit in quiet obedience. It can be hard to change people’s methods in a short time. It is true the students dare not ask leading questions to their teachers which I must admit mildly extended to me but perseverance for professional development is a must.
The initial awareness of my development came through surveying 50 student’s ideas as to what a good teacher should be like. I noticed that there were high scores for most of the questions even though some questions were polar opposites. You either had to think one question was right and the other wrong, not the same. I questioned the answers the students gave and proposed my uncertainty to my colleagues. It certainly made them think about how the students answer surveys and the feeling was that, do they really understand what they are doing when they answer questions? It was noticed that the majority of the students just fill in the form not knowing what they are doing while others copy. It held true with my colleagues because the students were given a questionnaire by our training centre at the end of each term where they had to give a points score for their teacher. My colleagues firmly believed and used my evidence when the manager came to say that the students can not give a true representation of a teacher’s lessons by a score card.
I would like to add that through my survey of 50 students which I had designed the questions; the scores, as mentioned, did not seem to add up. I decided to let the students come up with the questions. I reviewed and edited it completely. This led to better results and a better understanding from the students on how to complete the survey.
I can certainly say that I have changed perceptions of teaching and shown a few teachers how I think a positive thinking teacher should teach. For example, I was asked by one teacher to help her teaching her class strong adjectives. The teacher’s approach was to just give the students pronunciation practice. I did the lesson in a constructive approach leaving time to have the students produce spoken sentences. She mentioned to me that she thought the material I used was great. I took the opportunity to explain that the book had many words that were too much for the students.
I also spoke to her about the students copying. I wondered how they can learn. She said ‘oh, when the test comes they will fail’. Basically, it was the students’ problem, not hers. It was attitudes like this I came up against. This teacher had already mentioned a few times that the students were bad. This led me to think that it was their learning skills, not their ability that was holding them back. It was examples like these that made me even more determined to show these teachers how students should learn in class. This meant creating a learning environment when they have to think for themselves. I did have some feedback from one teacher who said that the students enjoyed learning with me and found my lessons interesting. I had a chance to explain to this teacher that if the lesson is interesting and thought-provoking the students will feel they are part of a learning process.
Moreover, I have been continually giving advice to other teachers. This I found irritating at times. For example, I decided to teach one lesson for a teacher for him to see teaching from a new angle. I used one of my lesson plans that I felt fitted in with a more relaxed approach as this teacher had been told he was putting too much effort into his teaching. I showed him that with the right approach he can get the students doing the work for him and he just has to facilitate them and coax them along during the lesson keeping them on a learning path. I then observed him the next day teaching my lesson. In the feedback session, he did not really give me a great response when I asked him about my lesson and how well his lesson went doing my demonstration class. I wondered why he was evasive, was it he was not used to professional development, was it he was scared to show his failing, or was it he felt I was I intruding? I actually thought at one point that I should slow down on the teaching conversations. I wondered how I could help him with his teaching. The fact was the following days after I felt he began to notice how I worked and the detail I put into teaching. I began to see examples of professional development coming through. I saw his new sheet for his lesson plan. It looked not too dissimilar to my lesson sheet I had done with him and some of my material which he had seen on my desk. I also realized he was asking more questions and enquiring what I thought he should do for this learning process. At least, the advice was slowly getting through.
Overall, you must expect professional development to be a bit alien to some and teachers not enthused over trying new methods. However, the benefits are certainly there.
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Process Learning in Language Teaching and Acquisition
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My first thoughts are to say that Process Teaching seems a more relaxed attitude to teaching. It is encouraging that with this teaching method, a material light approach is advocated. From my own point of view, I try to be a proficient teacher and have worksheets to help the students as well as use material to stimulate the students throughout a lesson. The materials-free approach goes against what is seen day in day out in the staff room (there is always a cue at the photocopier) and classrooms although the opportunities are there to create better learning.
The Process Teaching method of learning English, although being competent and wanting to do their best, teachers can feel more relaxed and appreciate more clearly that it is the students who are the ones who should be speaking and helping each other. The teacher acts as a facilitator. Thus, it makes teachers take a look at themselves; standing in front of the whiteboard, projecting grammar, and doing lots of writing (using handouts) albeit in their own way teaching proficiently. However, this being said, any teacher still can think that for two and half hours the students have got have a chance to freely talk and have an attitude that they are as much a part of the class as the teacher. I sometimes find that for some students, it is hard to get them to talk, especially where some foreign language systems of learning English do not facilitate the conversational aspect of learning such that Process Learning could fall short of achieving its aim.
As for my classroom performances, I try to put various processes into practice (helped by the Dogme teaching book). For example, one lesson was a Task-Based exercise where I tried to bring in elements of Process Learning where the students would ask me questions or sometimes just say one word during the task. I would try and use this as a building block for more language. I think teachers should provide the scaffolding for the students to build their language and even if they say one word it has to be remembered that any word has a thought behind it that can be expanded.
Referring more to my lesson, I set up the students with some pictures of people doing sports. I asked some focus questions for each sport. I got the students to write the questions on the whiteboard and elicited the answers. The students gave me the answers and showed they were capable of answering the questions. I then gave each group a set of seven pictures showing sports. There were two groups and I sat between them. I let them answer the questions for each of their sports. Now some students did not know the answers to the questions and as a helper/facilitator, I encouraged them to ask me questions and to use their language by any means possible. Thus, Process Learning was being used. As such the students seemed at ease to speak even if it was one or two words. As previously mentioned, I said before sometimes that one word was enough to get some students started. The whole group joined in, this was great as I felt they were trying to use their language.
Once they had answered every question about the sports, I then had a competition where one team explains a sport and the other has to guess what it is. Again, looking at Process Learning, the stage was set and they knew what to do. For myself, I sat in between them and just facilitated the process, encouraging them to open up. This exercise went on for more than an hour. I think the students enjoyed it.
To finish this reflection on Process Learning, I think this method has been beneficial and can be used in lessons even though using it completely would be a wide-ranging change that many students would need a bit of time to get used to.
TEFL Teacher Trainer – Roles and Responsibilities
As a teacher of TEFL to prospective teachers, there are first a number of general responsibilities for the daily teaching job. I must provide a learning environment that is conducive to a TEFL learning atmosphere. I must be teaching the methods of TEFL using recognised teaching methods. I also have to show how TEFL would be taught in the classroom. This means explaining my methods of teaching a foreign language that mirrors methods that can be taught in their classes. Furthermore, I need to show future teachers how to interact with others and help them with their initial questions and understanding of TEFL. I have to instruct them on the basics and fundamental needs of a career starting in TEFL teaching which will teach them to be creative and provide them with an understanding of what will entail when they take up their first teaching role abroad.
My job has a range of specific duties, I must complete on a daily basis. I have to create a lesson plan that fulfills all the units of study that the students have to understand, complete, and reflect on. This learning of the basics of TEFL teaching gets the students ready for their employment abroad with a deeper upstanding that will give them confidence. I have to set an educational plan for each day so I am satisfied I have completed all that is needed to be covered for the TEFL certificate while making sure all the students are involved individually and in groups while being interested, informed, and challenged.
Within the 20 hours of teaching practice the trainee teachers take, I must prepare creative activities for the students to complete. These activities although for the benefit of the teachers must also highlight the teaching methods of TEFL as the groundwork for their future needs. It is my prerogative to apply strategies that highlight TEFL teaching methods. It is important to be creative as this is fundamental to the methods of teaching TEFL. This involves group work, presentations, teaching practice, feedback, and reflection.
I have to also monitor the students’ development over the course. This entails helping them with their ideas, teaching practice, and showing them how to teach. I must also recognise those who are taking the course and not showing a willingness to complete it or who think that just appearing is a pass. These people have to be spoken to or encouraged to work as an individual and in a group to complete all tasks and to complete the certificate program that agrees with all TEFL accreditation.
Form Meaning Use – Lesson Evaluation
I used Prezi presentation for this class. I used the same material, but this time I put it up on the screen for the students to see. I think this worked a lot better. I think sometimes the students do not follow you that well when you hand out sheets and start talking about it. I have noticed they do not follow that well. So, this time I had both, sheet and Prezi. This went a lot better. I also added a story for them to follow as I was teaching an understanding of sentences and the use of a story very much highlighted the concept that I was putting across. It was amazing as well how many students kept asking questions for clarifications. Of course, they are native speakers and the story had missing information, but I thought it was great because as an English teacher they were asking questions in English. One point of issue is that at the end of my presentation I asked the students to try Form Meaning Use in a sentence, but they just used my last example and thought they had to copy that. I did not follow that they only thought they had to copy my last example and not make up their own. I thought I made it clear.
Reflection
Firstly, I started using Prezi for this class as it was new to me and I certainly found the benefits of it worked for the class. This was part of my reflection process as I was debating from the last class how to improve. It was hard to just get the students to follow me on the sheets, so Prezi worked well. I also improved my explanation of Form, Meaning, and Use. I now started to include a demo lesson to explain the point which highlighted the lesson subject far clearer. I feel all my thoughts and subsequent changes to my lesson relate to points made by Richards and Lockhart that “much can be learned about teaching through self-inquiry” and also that “much of what happens in teaching is unknown to the teacher” (1994, p.3). I feel now that this lesson is where I want it to be, but it would not have been there if I had not made that ‘self-enquiry’. Moreover, as I mentioned in my first reflection that it was ‘amazing how many students kept asking for clarification.’ The students now have material that is of some quality for their studies that encourages questions and understanding.
Richards, J. C., & Lockhart, C. (1994). Reflective teaching in second language classrooms. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
