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Segunda entrega Enseñanza de lengua Extranjera
Posted: sábado, 9 de marzo de 2013 by DarkWolfSnow in
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Viviana Mariño (2013)
At this entry, we will
explore about teaching methods, revewing this concept with post-method studies
seen at the Enseñanza de Lengua Extranjera; the recollected data will be linked
with the observations of the educational institution I am currently working
with.
Firstly, I made an
interview that was proposed in my University's class that was based on the
structure of our teacher (Moya, 2013) to study and analyze the teacher's
methods, personal view, assumptions about teaching and learning in ESL.
It is relevant to
clarify that the identity of the teacher and the name of the institution will
remain private and the providen information will be used for case study only.
This interview was made
to the teacher I am assisting (Teacher, 2013. Personal Interview)
Interviewed by Mariño, Cindy. Bogotá.
1. M: What teaching methods do you try to
implement in your classroom?
T: The school applies the Communicative
Approach in L2 classes; although the book is grammar oriented, I try to create
different activities so the book will not be the only resource of language
teaching.
2. M: What teaching resources do you make
use of?
T: I use the textbook, artistic materials, cards, games
(competitions in which students participate) and role plays in which boys and
girls play a role in a context-situation exercise.
3. M: How would you define effective
teaching?
T: Teaching with passion is the starting
point. It depends on the attitude of students towards English. If you love what
you do, everything will be easier. The effective teaching implies to become a
student motivated and conscious of the impact of a second language. You should
give them tools to improve their English at home and try to make English
meaningful for them.
4. M: What is your approach to classroom
management?
T: I follow the approach of the school
that is Communicative Approach.
5. M: What are the
qualities of a good teacher?
T: A good teacher should overcome
difficulties. There is a fragmentation of L2 student's level. There are
students that have a good knowledge of language and also there are students who
are being introduced to English so they are just starting to learn something
new about it. So there should be a balance of the L2 teaching input. Confidence
in the classroom should be respectful. I will not let a student to mock of one
of his peers, because I give rules at the beginning. This is why I don't aloud
a student to laugh of others.
Later, T added this
information to question number 5.
According to the previous question you
asked me, I can add that students can make questions with confidence. A good
teacher should give to their students positive reinforcement. If a student
lacks of motivation, it's better to talk directly and personally with him/her.
This will make them feel more conscious that even though they do not like
English, he/she can make a try to improve. This is because if he learns
English, this knowlegde will be useful for him/her for his/her future. We are
counselors of their improvement.
End of the interview.
According to the interview, I made a
reflection about what we saw in ELE Class with the given information. Regarding
the theory of method and post-method, it is important ti differenciate both
subjects.
Method, defined by (Kumaravadivelu,
1994, p. 29) is "a single set of theoretical principles
derived
from feeder disciplines and a single set
of classroom procedures directed at classroom teachers”
In ELE Class we saw that in order to
construct a method, it is necessary to follow a structure or a plan that is
oriented by an specific approach. In this case, T (The Teacher) told me that
the School followed the Communicative
Approach. One of the most important observations I had is that the L2
Courses have a textbook that has a huge grammar orientation. Therefore, both
students and teachers must apply what the textbook activities say; for that
reason, there is a conflict between the academic proposals of the book and the
kind of method it follows with the teaching strategies of the teacher.
In fact, according to the definition of
post-method given by (Kumaravadivelu, 1994) "construction of
classroom procedures and principles by the teacher himself/herself based
on his/her prior and experiential knowledge and/or certain
strategies" implies that
the teacher wants to guide the class according to the life-experiences and
teacher's beliefs. Preparing the interview helped me to determinate if the
teacher follows a method or a post method in his/her courses of ESL at the
school. Although every teacher must work with the textbook, this is not the
only source of knowledge. They follow a syllabus of English according to the
School; nevertheless the teacher wants to make English emotionally meaningful for the students. This kind of
belief could be driven towards a post-method, but not completely. It is
necessary that they integrate English as part of their lives and not only
because of a grade.
This last term has a deep link with the
topics we saw in class about the assesment system of Educational Institution
and Linguistic Policies that determinate the L2 level according the course by
taking the Common European Framework. As assesment is important to accomplish
these policies, students and teachers were taught to be aware of them and apply
it to the teaching and learning experiences. On the other hand, I could see
that regarding grammar teaching, the type of method used has been influenced by
the the Grammar Translation method used in the 50's. Memorization of words,
vocabulary, grammar rules are still present in the classroom when it come to
use the texbook.
In this case, the teacher I am observing
tries to make it different. When the textbook is not used, she uses techniques
with game cards with words of different colors so their students identify the
grammatical categories they are studying. Also, filling in the blanks is used
when it comes to work at grammar. The L2 habilities are separated in some
classes but later, the teacher wants to integrate them in group work,
where students can speak to each other about the topics they saw at
class.
There are some minimum references to post
method, eventhough the is a transition between method and post-method.
About the situation in the class, the
teacher and I realized there is a huge gap of L2 skills among the students of a
same course. There were more than 3 courses that I observed and I realised
there are students that are well-involved with the language and they enjoy the
class. But at the other side, there are students who are not motivated with
English at all and it seems to be frustating for them to learn, because as T
said, "They have not
found a reason in themselves to make them feel they can learn too". Students
who had more contact in English in their past, in every course were assembled
in the same place of the classroom. Students who did not enjoy the class were
together and because of the class organization (separated and straight rows of
desks) the level of interaction was low among the whole group.
Therefore, a high difference of L2 levels
and skills of the students in the same classroom with few opportunities to
interact with each other make the Communicative Approach to be a transitional
purposal and need to be observed, so the students will not be e"passive recipients" of
knowledge as (Richards & Rodgers, 2001) stated.
About the teacher's beliefs, one of his/her statements was the passion of teaching languages. At this aspects we can see that not only students need to feel motivated towards the class, but also the teacher. That is why T said that his/her main goal was to put into practice the profession he/she loves to make the experience of teaching more wiser, valuable and unforgettable for the experience as a teacher and for the students who are taking the L2 classes at the school. I consider that this fact is crucial to understande the kind of approach and belief that the teacher has in the ways of L2 teaching. Students can feel when a teacher uses his experiences of life to guide a class as a counselor of their learning process,with taking into account their experiences too in order to gain love and motivation during and outside the class for a second language.
REFERENCES
*Teacher (March 6th 2013). Personal Interview. Done by Mariño, Viviana. Bogotá.
*Kumaravadivelu, B. (1994). The postmethod condition: (E)merging strategies for second/foreign
language teaching. TESOL Quarterly
*Richards, J.C., & Rodgers, T.S. (2001). Approaches and methods in language teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Interview, model by Sindy Moya.
Application and interview by Viviana Mariño.