ESL

Extended Reflection on a TEFL Classroom Experience

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Lesson #4

I would like to say this lesson was my favorite because I feel as though I got the students to speak more English and be more relaxed doing that. I was very content to say that I gave the students the best opportunity to expand and use their English language. I also feel that the lesson was quite trouble-free. This made me feel pleased 

I think right from the start I had the students focused as I got them into groups and had them up off their chairs to the whiteboard. This exercise had them thinking of things that happen in the morning before they go to an appointment. I felt as though this was a good learning experience because they contributed in their two groups, and I noticed that were all laughing at some of the mistakes they were making. I think this was great that they were happy to get it wrong and not worry. I was happy just to hear them trying. I must say though they were on the right track and mistakes were few and far between. I would say I just tweaked their words a bit to make them right. This, I did by using CCQ’s (concept checking questions). I also did some pronunciation, so I feel we all understood even the quiet students who I tried to involve. I am glad I was aware of these students and did something because there were some problems there. The words the students put on the whiteboard were also a great way to add emphasis because I challenged a few of their results by adding further questions like ‘where is the verb?’, ‘Do you really do this in the morning?’ but I did not overplay it which I liked. I think this was a good idea because they were at a lower level. I think now I have been doing this course I have become more student-focused, and I am realizing these problems the students have. I think for a teacher if they can help the class to work as one and help the weaker ones it will be great. I am glad during the lesson I established who the students were who had some little problems.

The only slip-up I noticed, and this was an action point of mine was ‘the challenging of students’. I think there was one point in the lesson that I should have expanded on. This was the ‘during stage’. I had the students watch a video and put their sentence strips of what happened in the order of the video. Even before the video they had to put the sentence strips in an order they thought. This time spent doing this, I think, would have made them accustomed to the words. Thus, if I had taken them away when they watched the video I think they could have retold the story by remembering the strips they had and having also watched the video. I realize that they were a level that was capable of retelling the story. Moreover, it would have given the students more chances to speak. It would have also made the ‘during stage’ longer.  I must remember that I was doing a PDP lesson. This is where I must say time hindered me. I know that I should have cut stages down so I could fit in certain aspects, but today they were happy doing the exercise, and I thought that they were showing me that they were learning and using English. They certainly were not just talking Thai which I am aware some do. At that time I thought it would be rude to stop them from using this language. But, now I realize that there could have been other ways to make them talk, namely retelling the story. Even so, I felt they were learning so am I really wrong?

After all that has been said I am not sure my SWBAT (students will be able to..) was fully clear. I did say in my lesson plan the ‘students will be able to talk about plans to go to an appointment’ but that was in the post-stage. So, I think for a well-achieved SWBAT this might have been the wrong choice for this PDP lesson. This doesn’t mean to say I didn’t get the students to achieve anything. I did have them talking about things you do in the morning and being late for appointments.  I think with the retelling of the story in the ‘during stage’ there would have been a SWBAT. I think a bit more preparation with the lesson plan will alleviate mistakes like this. I think a bit of foresight into the lesson can help.

I think for my next lesson I will still plan on challenging the students. Also, I would like to think that I will follow the PDP more closely. I am still doing good lessons but I think I still fall short, a little, on achieving the main SWBAT. I see this point because then I can actually gauge how much the students have learned because they should be using the new grammar/sentences.  

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Tell me more – On the fine art of listening By Brenda Ueland

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Reflection on an article

(1327 words)The Role of Listening in the Classroom

This essay reflects on the attitudes and responsibilities of listeners within the classroom environment. Although Brenda Ueland’s article does not specifically address teaching, completing the SIT TESOL course has encouraged me to consider more deeply the qualities and attitudes that a teacher should demonstrate. Ueland’s article invites readers to reflect on the importance of listening and, in particular, on the attitude a listener should adopt towards others. This is particularly relevant in a classroom context, where students are often required to express their ideas in a language in which they may not yet be proficient. Therefore, the central question raised by both Ueland’s article and this reflection is: Are you a good listener?

To begin with, I agree with Ueland’s observation that when people are genuinely listened to, “ideas actually begin to grow within us.” In a classroom context, this can be applied to situations in which a student has something to contribute and the teacher provides them with the opportunity to speak while encouraging them to develop and expand upon their response. Through attentive listening, the teacher can help students develop their ideas and use the English language with greater depth and confidence. This contrasts somewhat with Ueland’s opening argument concerning how “we don’t listen to our children or those we love.” While I understand the point she is making, I believe that there is a distinction between not listening and listening without sufficient attention. People may listen to others but fail to do so attentively. In a classroom, for example, a teacher may appear to listen to a student but be primarily focused on completing the lesson, maintaining the planned pace, or simply moving on because the student has already answered the question.

This does not necessarily mean that the teacher is being deliberately rude or dismissive. Rather, it may reflect the competing demands placed upon teachers during a lesson. Nevertheless, these situations provide an opportunity for teachers to reconsider their attitudes towards listening. When students are given opportunities to speak, the teacher should consider whether the interaction can be extended in a meaningful way. By becoming a more attentive and courteous listener, the teacher can encourage students to elaborate on their ideas, take greater risks with the language, and develop their confidence in communicating in English. Consequently, listening should not be viewed as a passive activity but as an important component of language teaching.

It could also be argued that some teachers may dominate classroom interaction because they are comfortable speaking and enjoy controlling the flow of the lesson. In doing so, they may unintentionally restrict students’ opportunities to participate. Ueland alludes to this when she argues that “these brilliant performers, by not giving us a chance to talk, do not let us express our thoughts and expand.” This observation is particularly relevant to teaching because a teacher may believe that they are delivering an effective lesson while failing to recognise that their own level of participation is preventing students from speaking. If students have limited opportunities to contribute, the teacher may mistakenly interpret their silence as a lack of knowledge, motivation, or interest rather than considering whether the classroom environment itself is contributing to their reluctance to speak.

Ueland’s description of a “creative fountain” within each person is also relevant to this issue. Students need sufficient time and encouragement to develop their ideas before they can express them effectively. In a language-learning environment, this can be particularly challenging because students may have an idea but lack the vocabulary or grammatical knowledge required to communicate it immediately. Providing clear, well-modelled instructions and specific objectives can therefore help students understand what is expected of them. When students have a clear focus, they are more likely to know what they should discuss and can devote greater attention to formulating their responses. At this point, the teacher’s role as a listener becomes particularly important. Rather than immediately correcting or completing a student’s response, the teacher can demonstrate what Ueland describes as “quiet fascinated attention” and allow the student sufficient time to develop their thoughts.

The process of formulating ideas can be challenging for many students, particularly those with limited vocabulary. However, even students with a relatively broad vocabulary may struggle to retrieve the appropriate words at the moment they need them. I have personally experienced situations in which I knew a particular word in Thai but could not immediately remember its English equivalent, only to recall it later. The same difficulty can occur when students attempt to construct sentences or explain an idea. This experience has helped me understand Ueland’s observation that a person’s speech may initially be “little dry and meager” before they begin to think more deeply and reveal their “true self.” In the classroom, students may therefore require time to move beyond their initial hesitation before they are able to communicate what they genuinely mean.

One particular classroom experience reinforced this point for me. During one lesson, there was a student who was attempting to explain something to me in English. Another student in the class had been translating much of what I said and, in my view, this was beginning to reduce the other students’ need to understand me directly in English. During a break, the student who was having difficulty approached me because she wanted to explain that she needed to leave and give me a reason. As she attempted to explain her situation, the other student intervened and began translating what she was saying. I politely explained that I wanted the student to communicate the problem herself. However, the other student continued to try to assist when the student struggled to express herself.

I again encouraged the student to explain the situation directly to me. It took approximately five minutes for her to communicate what she wanted to say. Rather than interrupting her or allowing another student to translate, I attempted to remain patient and listen actively. Eventually, she was able to communicate her meaning successfully. This experience demonstrated to me the importance of recognising the difficulties that language learners face and allowing them sufficient time to construct their responses. Although the student was not highly proficient in English, she possessed enough vocabulary to communicate her meaning when given the time and encouragement to do so. By listening attentively and allowing her to continue, I believe I helped create a more relaxed situation in which she could communicate with greater confidence.

This experience also demonstrated that effective listening involves more than simply hearing the words a student produces. It requires patience, attention, and an awareness of the learner’s individual circumstances. A student who initially appears unable to communicate may simply require additional processing time or reassurance. If a teacher or another student immediately provides the answer, the learner loses an opportunity to practise language, develop independence, and build confidence. In this sense, listening becomes an active teaching strategy rather than merely a social courtesy.

In conclusion, several of the points raised by Brenda Ueland have encouraged me to reconsider the relationship between listening and teaching. Although her article is not specifically concerned with classroom practice, its discussion of attentive listening has clear relevance to the language-learning environment. Teachers have a responsibility not only to provide instruction but also to create opportunities for students to express themselves. This requires teachers to recognise when they are speaking too much, allowing students insufficient time to formulate ideas, or unintentionally preventing students from developing their own voices.

Ultimately, effective teaching requires more than delivering information. It requires an awareness of how students respond, how they develop their ideas, and how they gain confidence in expressing themselves. Ueland’s discussion has therefore encouraged me to view listening as an essential part of the teacher’s role. By providing students with time, patience, and “quiet fascinated attention,” teachers can create a classroom environment in which students are more willing to speak, develop their ideas, and become more confident users of English.

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SIT TESOL CERTIFICATE COURSE

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Essay # 1 – Focus on Learning

(814 words)

For this essay, I would like to focus on my experience so far on the TESOL course. Our TESOL group of students have so far been shown many different techniques and been made to feel like students as a way of letting us learners get to see it from the student’s perspective. The crux of my ideas and formulation for future actions with regard to teaching, the TESOL student has to know how it feels to be a learner to understand how they feel and take in the lesson. This of course will relate to the soon-to-be teacher’s future benefit of becoming as valuable a teacher as possible. In relation to this, I will further refer to my SIT course and focus on the learner.  

Referring to my language learning first as a supposed language student, I can fairly say that it wasn’t a breeze. You have to write words down, memorize, ask your peers, organize information, play an active part and downright do more, which is hard if you really want to be a successful and competent language learner. I had a few times when I wasn’t really involved and missed a few points, but at those times the auditory experience was enough, I enjoyed sitting back. On the flip side to this experience, I had many times when I sailed through everything because I put the work in and got the benefit out. I suppose that for a language learner it is hard to be attentive all the time and at times the students would just prefer to be looking at the class happening and not playing an active part.

With reference to the ‘Learners Are Individuals’ handout that I have read, it alludes to this point that there are many different styles of learning, you can not have a class of 20 students all with exactly the same way of learning. I empathize with this as I sometimes hear my peers speak and they have a lot more to say or they explain a point better than the way you thought. My reaction to this is that we are all the class together and it should be a shared experience and that everyone should benefit from everyone although there are some students more salient.

Everyone in the class I have found is a vital part of having the successful ambiance that will bring successful lessons. I found that my peers were very helpful, funny at times, and really people who wanted to learn. This made for a worthwhile lesson. The people, my fellow peers, on the course are from a diversity of backgrounds. It is funny really there are people on the course who every morning say they have done the homework and others that say they are going to leave it for another day. Some people just do their writing in note form and those that write full essays. I think this shows that people have their own way of processing information and dealing with set projects to do. I am sure everyone will hand his or her work in on time but not everyone follows the same learning path to the end.

What I have learned from the perspective of a student is that it is hard and materials have to be explained and modeled properly. Students have got to be kept amused and clear instruction has to be given. Now that I am further into the course and having been shown constructional ways of making and doing lesson plans I have noticed the techniques you, the teacher, are using to get the students to reach their goals. An example would be (the instructor) Fran’s class on ‘problems and advice’. The step-by-step process using PPU (presentation / practice / use) allowed the students to learn about giving advice. It basically followed a course of Fran explaining first then some manipulated practice and then the students using their learned language on advice. I think this method helps all individual members of the group who are all of a different aptitude. We worked as a group with Fran making sure everybody had a chance and I felt as though the group moved along nicely if I were that ESL student the class would have instilled that knowledge of giving advice because of the systematic way of keeping the students attentive with varying teaching techniques. 

To conclude the focus on learning and In relation to bringing this learning experience to my teaching. I think it gives me a broader perspective to look at the fact that there are many facets to a learning classroom experience and what you take from it is to try and apply these to your classroom. What you are left with a feeling that you can emphasize with the students’ needs and thus you be able to bring that something that will help the students to achieve.

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What Makes a Good Language Lesson?

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Notes on a Lecture by Professor Jack C Richards

Reflection on an Article

(590 words)

My initial reaction to this article was to think I had heard this before and read it also in a book. I think the issue is though, as a teacher if you miss some points in your lesson then all that reading /listening was not worth the effort. I think that Professor Richard raises some valid points that I hope by talking about them raises my awareness that bit more.

I have to agree with Professor Richards, this is a focus of mine as well, and that is the ‘focus on the learners’ in the classroom and their acquisition of a new language.  I know in a class of twenty students there will be students that are more extroverted and introverted. I think it is right, bearing the students’ learning in mind, that the teacher must ‘allow the learner’s perspective to be their constant focus of attention’. I think for a teacher, it can be easy to teach a lesson but if you have not made sure that the students have learned all that you gave them it is not of any value. I think by involving all the class you can get a better perspective where you can improve yourself and help all students more in the class. Professor Richard alludes to this by saying: ‘teachers need to change students seating positions on regular basis and teach lesson from different location’. I have heard the word ‘comfort zone’, and I think this is what it means by getting the students to realize the reason for coming to an English language class. It is true that the students do like to sit with their friends and sometimes make the class a social experience, not a learning experience.

Another fact I think is valuable and that is the ‘goals of the lesson’. This goes along with the clearly written lesson plan. If there are clear objectives and the teacher makes sure the students are achieving them the teacher will have the students’ attention. Professor Richards says for successful lessons, ‘goals and activities are clear and students are occupied for a large portion of the lesson’. I think by doing this, the lesson will give the students as Professor Richards says, ‘a sense that they are actually capable of learning to speak English’. This means that activities given to the students are achievable. Also, I think the end result is as much value as the during/middle part. The result is what the students leave the classroom with. The teacher hopes and I think every teacher should strive for is that the students should, ‘be able to do something in English that they couldn’t do as well before’. This means the teacher’s lesson must be something that the students can, ‘retain and use and which is lasting value’. I think this is one of the main issues for a teacher which is to be able to successfully finish a lesson where all the students have learned something and achieved. This is an issue that affects me, as I like to focus on challenging the students.

I like this article because it is another way of reinforcing what the teacher knows but sometimes forget. I would have liked to have listened to the whole lecture though and not just these summaries.

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Classroom Management

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The topic I have chosen for this essay is ‘the teacher’s presence/manner’. The reason I have chosen this topic is that during the SIT course I have noticed a few inconsistencies in my manner/presence. These issues have been picked up by my peers, the instructors, and me. I am pleased to say the issues that made me choose this topic are not problems. They are just points that need refining for me as an English teacher and I hope by explaining them will bring a better understanding of my classroom management. I have also embedded in the essay, the topic of challenging the students for the purpose of education. I also would also like to explain that I have been teaching an upper intermediate group of students ranging from level 9 to level 15. I would like to talk about my presence and manner in relation to dealing with certain levels of English. Basically, the teacher’s manner and presence should be natural and the voice natural but befitting the level that the students are, thus challenging them.

The main issue that I have come to find out in this course is my voice that seems a bit unnatural and modified for ESOL students with broken-up sentences and not complete sentences. I realize that as a teacher your voice is not only to transmit information, but also mood atmosphere, and emotion for the students. This is why I have come to recognize this subject through the impact of others, which has made it a learning experience. I think that my peers and instructors have dealt with the issue very encouragingly. I had one lesson where I had to give a warmer. I was observed and given feedback. During the feedback, I was asked about my voice and why I spoke slower. I had to admit that I really did not know. It was also commented during feedback that I spoke like this outside the classroom. In the feedback session, I was also told by my instructors that I needed to lift my voice up although it could be fine for instruction there were still not complete sentences, which lost intonation. I must have never really thought about that much because I had another lesson this time a bit longer and once again I repeated myself with the slower talking as if the slower I talk the easy it is to understand. I think as a quick observation that I may speak slower to make sure I am understood although I have no proof that there are problems speaking faster. I think with clear instruction at a smooth pace, I can, once finished talking, step aside to allow the students to construct their own knowledge and understanding without slowly rabbitting on. Also with this understanding, I can be a skillful teacher who uses his voice and knowledge to enhance students’ participation and understanding.

Anyway back to my second lesson this time fifty minutes long. Again it was noticed my language become a little unnatural. I wasn’t using contractions or connected speech. It was commented that I speak normally to my peers so why don’t I speak to my students the same. This was good feedback for me. It was at this stage of the course that my voice and instruction in class became a focus of mine to understand why I did speak slower without complete sentences. I was asked if I had only done lower-level learners. This is true and I have been teaching kids of twelve and thirteen recently. So I think maybe this point was true. Maybe, I had got into a rhythm of using basic language that I never knew was fixed. So, I am glad this was pointed out to me. I guess you could also say that I may think that the students are unaccustomed to thinking critically and unable to learn difficult material.  I think you must learn that the students know a lot more than they are given credit for.  

Now I have recognized I have an issue to tackle I have dealt with it by becoming more aware of the situation. I haven’t shouted across the room but I have quietly mentioned it to a few people and during feedback, I have listened to my peers discuss it. The first thing I think of is the keyword ‘variety’. Variety for my voice because, If I can use my voice along with a number of parameters like volume, pace, pitch, and modulation, this will hopefully with practice make my voice more interesting.  I think becoming more conscious of the issue of voice sound and facing up to it instead of denying it will make for a more relaxed classroom with good performances from the students and me because the language and instructions are clear. Moreover even simple exercises like stretching the muscles controlling the aperture in the back of my throat I think will work.

Also, I think now and in further lessons, I will limit my language to what is needed and be sensitive to what I am saying. I think that language can play a big part in how you are perceived by people and I would not like the upper intermediate group to think that I am not devaluing their level of English. I think that a teacher can dominate quite unintentionally. I would like to think that I respect the students’ level of English and I am appropriate to it. One of the steps I can take in the pursuit of getting the more natural verbal sound is to recognize students’ knowledge and experience. I should realize my talking and likewise, the students talking helps their understanding and knowledge. I should also like to point out that their knowledge is not so much given and received as constructed by themselves individually and collectively which is more of a reason to make my instruction clear and limit teacher talk time.

A few final points with regards to feedback I think my instructors have responded well and given me clear examples of the issues that need dealing with. I think they noticed that you could become a bit disoriented with the language, which is not natural. If the language doesn’t flow I think the lesson will become a bit stilted.

To conclude I think that some of the points raised in my essay not only have a bearing on me but also on the students who see and hear when my voice/manner/presence is employed constructively to inspire to help them find their own voices, to model a commitment to eloquent speech, and to honor the individual and collective knowledge that students invariably hold.

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