Week Ten Readings

For week ten’s reading in Brown chapter 22, I thought the arguments brought up a variety of different viewpoints that were very interesting to discover. For example, the idea of teaching grammar was argued which reminded me that I had never even considered excluding grammar instruction. It becomes hard to ignore all previous personal experiences when considering the best option for your future student because it is easiest to refer to what you’re comfortable with. I understand the pros of just approaching language learning globally and expecting the students to learn inductively, but I don’t think this top down approach is necessary appropriate for everyone.

Since each individual learns differently and takes away certain ideas from certain lessons, I think that like we have previously discussed, it is important to approach language teaching in a variety of different styles. I think that avoiding teaching grammar all together is not the way to go especially when there is a time constraint, because students will not understand why they are saying the things that they do. I think an understanding of the principles is necessary because it ensures a more wholesome knowledge. I think that when Brown questions what environment to present grammar in, I felt strongly against teaching a separate grammar class. Cultural references and comparisons should be made to help the student learn better with grammar lessons.

Brown presented many helpful suggestions about presenting grammar and I think that the method that worked best for me during my Spanish learning process was the chart. It really helped me organize my verb translations and the idea of organization made the process much more approachable.

I liked Kumar’s point about Language Awareness of Language Teachers because I could really see many comparisons between myself and the characteristics described. I liked when he quoted Van Lier’s thoughts on that teachers shouldn’t be worried more about taking more language or grammar courses but should be more preoccupied with talking together with their students. I could not agree more with this statement because I am a strong believer of having an open and comfortable learning atmosphere in which my students can feel confident when approaching me with a question or comment.