readings for week 5

I thought the assigned articles were interesting this week because they pointed out various viewpoints that I hadn’t previously considered. For example, Skehan’s article mentions that although input is a crucial aspect in language learning, along with interaction, these two combined are still not enough.  I always agreed that input alone is not enough because it provides no opportunity for practice or learning through interaction, this article suggests that focus on form is equally as important. I thought this was interesting because I never really remember focusing on form when learning my native language, but I did find it important when acquiring my L2. This was somewhat eye opening to me because once I began learning my L2, I started comparing the forms and meanings to my L1 which in turn helped me develop my L1 as well.

I strongly agree with the Skehan article and its stress on the importance of negotiation of meaning. I never really applied negotiation of meaning to my language acquisition process but I realized the importance of this concept when I reflected on my learning of particularly difficult topics for me like geology. The only way that I found out I could acquire the new concepts was when I talked them out with a friend until we both agreed on a definition we created together.  

The section of the various tasks and how the author thought it was difficult to provide an exact definition was interesting to me because it reminded me of another class activity in which my classmates and I were asked to provide a definition of “text”. What I thought was a relatively simple word turned into an hour long debate on what could be considered a text. In my opinion, I think that tasks requiring justification and interaction are the two best tasks in regards to language acquisition. These are the two methods that best prove whether a student has a real understanding of the language because  they are forced to communicate with interaction, and justification shows that they can explain a conclusion once it is reached.

When comparing the task based instruction article and the end of CLT, I thought that they both were similar in stating that CLT is just not enough.  The quote about communicative language teaching not being enough because it was focused on the teaching and not learning really caught my eye because it shows how much you can take away from just the title of something. I think that focusing more on the context and veering away from just the main principles of CLT a happy medium can be reached.

 

Readings for Week 4

Once again, I would like to point out the beginning quote. I love the comparison between teachers and their ability to sway only after having a stable and steady base to ground themselves to. As much as I am indifferent to the idea of “tenure” I think this metaphor is a perfect example of teachers who have been working with a school for an extended period of time and the luxuries they come to find after putting in their time closely following guidelines.

I liked the way Kumar presented his classification of methods as language-centered methods, learner-centered methods and learning-centered methods. He continues to explain that language centered methods are concerned with linguistic forms, or grammatical structures that seek to provide practice examples that may help lead to a mastery of the language.  Kumar argues that language is developed through a conscious effort, so does that mean he is opposed to the critical period hypothesis? Furthermore, his idea of learner centered methods aim to “make language learners grammatically accurate and communicatively fluent” and it differs from the first method because it is more concerned with the learner and their understanding of the linguistic forms.  Lastly, he presents learning centered methods that focus primarily on the learning process and language development is considered more incidental than intentional.

I thought his ideas of post method pedagogy, entailing particularity, practicality and possibility were presented in an interesting fashion and the visual of the three dependant on one another in the circle was a nice touch. Without teaching towards specific students, with much practice and embracing your individual character as a teacher, I agree with Kumar that the learning process would not be the same.

I had never really dissected the meanings of either communicative language learning or task based language teaching but it was interesting to see how Brown compared the two. I like the idea of TBLT because it requires lifelike interactions, there is an assessment of the activity and there is a problem to solve.  By using real situations it is easier for a learner to acquire new terms, expressions and behaviors common to a certain culture.

Beyond methods ch. 1

"To teach is to be full of hope” this very first quote that started the chapter really caught my eye before I began reading because it is absolutely spot on.  I think that all teachers must be very optimistic and have passion for sharing their knowledge with their students.  Without hope this would be an extremely taxing job that would never be enjoyed. As I continued reading I thought the different classifications of teaching were interested because I always just thought the words to be synonyms and never really considered there being a difference between them. For example, when the author stated that a profession really differs from vocation because an employee can be considered professional while still not considering it to be their calling, I thought it was a great connection to the first quote.  Everyone lives to find their true calling in life which re-sparks the idea of hope.

When the author discussed the main goal of teaching as the learning process to take place in as short of time as possible it made me reflect on the little things I may have passed on to the children I have already been able to work with. My most recent example would have to be over the summer when I was working as a nanny and I taught a little girl how to blow a bubble with her gum in a rather short period of time.  As simple and meaningless as the task may seem, it is a habit that can be practiced on a daily basis for the rest of her life and I like to think that she will think of me occasionally because I was the one who taught her how.   Similarly, whenever I reflect on how I learned Spanish I always think of my previous teachers who impacted my language acquisition. I’m sure they would be happy to know that I remember them from time to time now that I am beginning to pave the way towards becoming a teacher myself.