Teaching Philosophy
Successful language learning cannot be achieved by passively sitting in a lecture, memorizing some grammar points, then passing an examination. During my own experience learning Japanese and Chinese, I have found that personalized and engaging material, a safe, cooperative environment to test my language knowledge, a chance to develop at my own pace, and skills to help me learn outside the classroom have all greatly enhanced my language learning. The language classroom should be a place where all of these skills are integrated and developed to empower students to continue learning even after the course is complete, and as a language teacher, I strive to do precisely that.
The first step to creating an ideal language learning environment is to understand the students who populate it, and a needs analysis will do just that. Creating a needs analysis survey to efficiently get to know students’ backgrounds, their expectations for the course, and their language goals gives the teacher the ability to tailor course material and understand his students. Using that information, the course can be adapted to help students engage with the material more meaningfully, and also keeps the teacher actively engaged in the students’ development. Additionally, asking students to give feedback at the end of a course can also help me as a teacher more aware of places I need to improve and aid in self reflection.
Another integral part to creating a successful language-learning environment is to create a space where students are active participants in their own learning, and this is best done through Communicative Language Teaching (CLT). CLT encourages students to work together in groups and engage cooperatively with the target material. Especially through collaborative tasks such as the information gap exercise demonstrated in the Lesson 9 sample lesson plan or the debate in the Lesson 11 sample plan (on the Sample Lesson Plans page), students work together to negotiate meaning and work together. Through this cooperative space, students will progress at their own speed by making contributions appropriate to their ability. That said, there is still room for explicit teacher-led grammar and vocabulary instruction as questions arise, but CLT gives student the ability to interact more meaningfully with the course material and notice gaps in their learning. CLT gives students a safe environment to develop their skills in the way most natural for them.
Using CLT in the classroom offers a chance to both formally and informally assess students based on the accuracy of completed tasks. Whatever the goals of the students are, be it to focus on speaking and writing skills or to prepare specifically for a test such as TOEFL, communicative tasks tailored to reflect the type of situations students will encounter can be used to assess understanding of material. Informal tasks such as ordering food in a restaurant to give students a chance to try language before using it in a real-life situation, or more formal essay writing tasks to reflect potential prompts encountered on a proficiency test could also be created. Tasks tailored specifically to students can show how much students still need to learn in specific areas they want to focus on.
With CLT and a student-centered classroom, the role of the teacher should not be to lecturer, but rather to guide students. Having teachers facilitate learning rather than drive it will show students that they can be active in their own education, and will help foster learner autonomy. A teacher still needs to give corrective feedback, but this can be done by monitoring global errors the class has rather than singling out individuals with a corrective feedback sheet. Without autonomy, learning will end with the classroom bell, but a teacher who leads by empowering students will help them to develop skills to continue learning in the future.
As a teacher, I also strive to integrate authentic, real-world material with target language material to help students see language in use. As seen in the sample lesson plans, using Citi Bike as a current hot topic to talk about in New York that students will actually encounter will be useful to their daily lives. Additionally, using the "I Have a Dream" speech from Martin Luther King Jr. in Lesson 12 to illustrate "hope" and "wish" construction not only gives a sense of the grammar in use, but additionally a sense of history and a potential teachable moment about race in the US. Media such as youtube is also an excellent way to engage students, and as demonstrated in the use of the Frasier clip to teach the conditional, it helps students visually make connections between grammar form and use. I constantly want to utilize new technology, sources/materials, and pedagogical approaches to engage students and give them the tools they can use to communicate and continue to grow.
Having learned other languages myself, I know that learning a language takes time. People need to be presented with a space where they can interact with the target material in a personal, meaningful manner to fully grasp the material. Integrating real world, authentic materials into the classroom and presenting students with situations they would encounter in the real world can bridge the gap between the classroom and environment students will use the language. Teachers acting as guides through the language learning process can also give students the ability to develop at their own pace and gain autonomy. Language learning is a life-long journey, and a successful teacher will empower students to continue learning long after they have left the classroom.
Successful language learning cannot be achieved by passively sitting in a lecture, memorizing some grammar points, then passing an examination. During my own experience learning Japanese and Chinese, I have found that personalized and engaging material, a safe, cooperative environment to test my language knowledge, a chance to develop at my own pace, and skills to help me learn outside the classroom have all greatly enhanced my language learning. The language classroom should be a place where all of these skills are integrated and developed to empower students to continue learning even after the course is complete, and as a language teacher, I strive to do precisely that.
The first step to creating an ideal language learning environment is to understand the students who populate it, and a needs analysis will do just that. Creating a needs analysis survey to efficiently get to know students’ backgrounds, their expectations for the course, and their language goals gives the teacher the ability to tailor course material and understand his students. Using that information, the course can be adapted to help students engage with the material more meaningfully, and also keeps the teacher actively engaged in the students’ development. Additionally, asking students to give feedback at the end of a course can also help me as a teacher more aware of places I need to improve and aid in self reflection.
Another integral part to creating a successful language-learning environment is to create a space where students are active participants in their own learning, and this is best done through Communicative Language Teaching (CLT). CLT encourages students to work together in groups and engage cooperatively with the target material. Especially through collaborative tasks such as the information gap exercise demonstrated in the Lesson 9 sample lesson plan or the debate in the Lesson 11 sample plan (on the Sample Lesson Plans page), students work together to negotiate meaning and work together. Through this cooperative space, students will progress at their own speed by making contributions appropriate to their ability. That said, there is still room for explicit teacher-led grammar and vocabulary instruction as questions arise, but CLT gives student the ability to interact more meaningfully with the course material and notice gaps in their learning. CLT gives students a safe environment to develop their skills in the way most natural for them.
Using CLT in the classroom offers a chance to both formally and informally assess students based on the accuracy of completed tasks. Whatever the goals of the students are, be it to focus on speaking and writing skills or to prepare specifically for a test such as TOEFL, communicative tasks tailored to reflect the type of situations students will encounter can be used to assess understanding of material. Informal tasks such as ordering food in a restaurant to give students a chance to try language before using it in a real-life situation, or more formal essay writing tasks to reflect potential prompts encountered on a proficiency test could also be created. Tasks tailored specifically to students can show how much students still need to learn in specific areas they want to focus on.
With CLT and a student-centered classroom, the role of the teacher should not be to lecturer, but rather to guide students. Having teachers facilitate learning rather than drive it will show students that they can be active in their own education, and will help foster learner autonomy. A teacher still needs to give corrective feedback, but this can be done by monitoring global errors the class has rather than singling out individuals with a corrective feedback sheet. Without autonomy, learning will end with the classroom bell, but a teacher who leads by empowering students will help them to develop skills to continue learning in the future.
As a teacher, I also strive to integrate authentic, real-world material with target language material to help students see language in use. As seen in the sample lesson plans, using Citi Bike as a current hot topic to talk about in New York that students will actually encounter will be useful to their daily lives. Additionally, using the "I Have a Dream" speech from Martin Luther King Jr. in Lesson 12 to illustrate "hope" and "wish" construction not only gives a sense of the grammar in use, but additionally a sense of history and a potential teachable moment about race in the US. Media such as youtube is also an excellent way to engage students, and as demonstrated in the use of the Frasier clip to teach the conditional, it helps students visually make connections between grammar form and use. I constantly want to utilize new technology, sources/materials, and pedagogical approaches to engage students and give them the tools they can use to communicate and continue to grow.
Having learned other languages myself, I know that learning a language takes time. People need to be presented with a space where they can interact with the target material in a personal, meaningful manner to fully grasp the material. Integrating real world, authentic materials into the classroom and presenting students with situations they would encounter in the real world can bridge the gap between the classroom and environment students will use the language. Teachers acting as guides through the language learning process can also give students the ability to develop at their own pace and gain autonomy. Language learning is a life-long journey, and a successful teacher will empower students to continue learning long after they have left the classroom.