References:
1) TESOL Methods: Changing Tracks, Challenging Trends, R. Kumaravadivelu
2) Language Teaching Approaches: An Overview, Marianne Celce-Murcia
While both articles were extremely informative, I found Celce-Murcia's to be a little more user-friendly and approaching the ideas in a simple manner. I still find the idea of the development of English as the lingua franca to be very intriguing, and I enjoyed reading about how Latin lost its popularity over time. It makes me wonder, though, if English will follow the same pattern as Latin since Latin lost its strength after becoming "Vulgate", or vulgar, the language of the people. I feel though that English is used by almost everyone in so many different ways that it will be less possible for it to die out the same way that Latin did as a spoken language. English has become entirely "vulgar" according to these terms, and plus the invention of the internet as a global resource has projected English to an entirely new level that Latin could never accomplish. However, Latin was the written word, the desirable language and English echoes that same belief. I do have to wonder if it could ever happen?
Anyway, trying to grasp all these different language approaches is a bit overwhelming. While they share beliefs and systems, they still have entirely different bases for their actions. The Grammar-Translation approach to me is quite dated, considering it was used at a time when language was for the sole purpose of global communication, when other countries did not have English as a primary or secondary language. Today, many countries have English required in their schools and you would not be hard-pressed to find anyone in Germany, Spain, or Italy that did not know at least a little bit of English. Obviously, the international business world has opened up many opportunities as well in this realm. It made me wonder what my approach to language is; I think to me, the oral and listening comprehension is key to succeeding in a language. If you do not possess communicative or strategic competence at the very best, it will be difficult to achieve any language goals you may have. I learned this when going to Spain and I only truly knew the linguistic structure. However, I did have above-average listening comprehension skills, so I did my best to express myself. I still had many communication breakdowns where I did not know the phrasing or colloquialisms. For example, I went into a shoe store and had absolutely no idea how to ask for my size. I was thrown for a loop because I thought I had it together in my head, but I could not produce it. It just goes to show that language is truly a life-long process and could always do with improvement.
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Chap. 1 and 2, Methodology in Language Teaching
References: Methodology in Language Teaching, Richards and Renandya (2011)
Chapters 1 and 2 of this textbook summarize teaching practices in the "post-method" era. Putting into consideration that 'methods' is not exactly the proper term anymore according to the authors, I take this term to mean effective teaching practices.
The first chapter describes the use of diagnosis, treatment, and assessment. To me, these seem like terms in a psychologist's office, not a classroom. It evokes the imagery of something sterile. While the terms seem a little disjointed from the classroom environment, they are nonetheless valid points. When I read this chapter, it made me truly consider what type of ESL teacher I would like to be. Would I be scientific, theoretical? Would I have a humanistic approach to language teaching? I have to consider these things as well for my career as a Spanish teacher. I like to think I would be on the humanistic side, and encourage my students to learn the language as practically as humanly possible. I felt that I did not receive enough feedback on my language skills in high school to be more fluent than I already am, and I did not get enough practical interaction using the language. The activities are always somewhat disjointed, yet again, and sadly juvenile. ESL and Spanish students want to know what to say in a doctor's office, at the grocery store, and more importantly, to achieve communicative and strategic competence, the most elusive of all, to account for communication breakdowns to me is the hardest thing to achieve when speaking a second language.
It also made me think about, along with my teaching style/personality, what I would do to achieve this personal goal. Controlled activities like drills and dialogues are necessary, but so utterly boring and repetitive. Having a teacher that does these ad nauseum can turn someone off to a language so fast it would make your head spin. I have had so many friends in high school learning Spanish that did so many verb conjugation charts and vocabulary drills that they just wanted to quit altogether. I have been through this myself, but I guess I loved the language enough to continue. My junior/senior year high school Spanish teacher saved my love of Spanish by having us do skits and having more practical application of the language. It was fun and exciting, and so unlike the classes I had before. It made me think, why didn't we do this in junior high when it would have been more beneficial to us? I suppose that also brings up the point of the Critical Period Hypothesis, but that's another story.
Richards said that "it is possible to view these conceptions [scientific, theory/philosophy, values-based, and art-craft] as forming a continuum" (pg. 25). I really liked this idea of a teacher starting out in one conception of teaching, because it really is a subjective profession. I feel like I base my idea of teaching on what I have seen this was effective/ineffective in the past for myself and for others. I find myself during observations saying, 'I would absolutely NEVER do this to my student' or 'what a great idea, I would love using this in my classroom and putting my own spin on it'. It's all about adaptation, as well. Teachers have to adapt to their students' needs and base their curriculum around a mix of state standards and student goals. I liked the idea of students setting personal goals for their classroom and sharing this with the teacher. It really gives them a good idea of where the student stands and how to plan to give them the best experience they possibly can.
-Kelsey
Chapters 1 and 2 of this textbook summarize teaching practices in the "post-method" era. Putting into consideration that 'methods' is not exactly the proper term anymore according to the authors, I take this term to mean effective teaching practices.
The first chapter describes the use of diagnosis, treatment, and assessment. To me, these seem like terms in a psychologist's office, not a classroom. It evokes the imagery of something sterile. While the terms seem a little disjointed from the classroom environment, they are nonetheless valid points. When I read this chapter, it made me truly consider what type of ESL teacher I would like to be. Would I be scientific, theoretical? Would I have a humanistic approach to language teaching? I have to consider these things as well for my career as a Spanish teacher. I like to think I would be on the humanistic side, and encourage my students to learn the language as practically as humanly possible. I felt that I did not receive enough feedback on my language skills in high school to be more fluent than I already am, and I did not get enough practical interaction using the language. The activities are always somewhat disjointed, yet again, and sadly juvenile. ESL and Spanish students want to know what to say in a doctor's office, at the grocery store, and more importantly, to achieve communicative and strategic competence, the most elusive of all, to account for communication breakdowns to me is the hardest thing to achieve when speaking a second language.
It also made me think about, along with my teaching style/personality, what I would do to achieve this personal goal. Controlled activities like drills and dialogues are necessary, but so utterly boring and repetitive. Having a teacher that does these ad nauseum can turn someone off to a language so fast it would make your head spin. I have had so many friends in high school learning Spanish that did so many verb conjugation charts and vocabulary drills that they just wanted to quit altogether. I have been through this myself, but I guess I loved the language enough to continue. My junior/senior year high school Spanish teacher saved my love of Spanish by having us do skits and having more practical application of the language. It was fun and exciting, and so unlike the classes I had before. It made me think, why didn't we do this in junior high when it would have been more beneficial to us? I suppose that also brings up the point of the Critical Period Hypothesis, but that's another story.
Richards said that "it is possible to view these conceptions [scientific, theory/philosophy, values-based, and art-craft] as forming a continuum" (pg. 25). I really liked this idea of a teacher starting out in one conception of teaching, because it really is a subjective profession. I feel like I base my idea of teaching on what I have seen this was effective/ineffective in the past for myself and for others. I find myself during observations saying, 'I would absolutely NEVER do this to my student' or 'what a great idea, I would love using this in my classroom and putting my own spin on it'. It's all about adaptation, as well. Teachers have to adapt to their students' needs and base their curriculum around a mix of state standards and student goals. I liked the idea of students setting personal goals for their classroom and sharing this with the teacher. It really gives them a good idea of where the student stands and how to plan to give them the best experience they possibly can.
-Kelsey
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
8/25 Readings
Readings for this post:
1) "Who speaks English today?" - Jennifer Jenkins
2) "The Crosscultural Language..." - Diaz-Rico, Weed
3) "Ethnolinguistic Diversity and Education" - Farr, Seloni, and Song
"In California I found not just America, I found the world."
A pretty powerful quote from a Mexican immigrant student (found on pg. 3 of Diaz-Rico, Weed). America is represented in such a different way than the movies, when really it is a land of immigrants and diversity beyond what we can imagine. I know diversity is such a buzz word nowadays in the education world, and we all get sick and tired of hearing about it, but it is truly amazing how much people do not pay attention to how 2 students can be so different from one another. I find that oftentimes teachers do not truly utilize their students' backgrounds in their lessons and in the classroom in general. They stick to their ideal of the education world, and are skeptical to stray from what is considered the norm. It was amazing to read this article because I found out so many things that I wish I had known before about other cultures in this country. I truly believe that it would be beneficial for students in mainstream and ESL classrooms to have days out of the month dedicated to different cultures in the classroom and in the world; present their food, daily lifestyle, a map of their country, art, anything that could demonstrate that they have made a contribution to American culture by being in this country. It is truly not focused enough on in the classroom. I had no idea that Native Americans were performing medicine and agriculture methods before even the Egyptians. It is amazing to me that these aspects of our society are not addressed when children are young and less inclined to be judgmental of other cultures without understanding their background. It should start when they are even in pre-school. Truly it is the younger the better in those circumstances.
In Jennifer Jenkins' article, she describes the different models we ascribe to who speaks English in the world today. The most common or mainstreamed model is that of Kachru and his Inner, Outer, and Expanding Circle. Even though Jenkins does remark that Kachru did not intend anything by his statement "the Inner Circle" and that is merely linguistically and geographically based, it is hard to believe that some individuals would not find that offensive. There are multitudes of people in other countries that speak English just as fluently, but it is not spoken of in the media, especially in America. I feel like the words "Inner Circle" are rather poorly chosen, because it can be interpreted as having a sort of superiority to the other countries where English is not the native language. Something I had to ask myself after reading this article was, how did English become the lingua franca of the world? I am sure that scholars could explain this to me in lengthy detail, but the sheer magnitude of having this international language is mind-boggling. It makes me wonder if this was a different world, would Spanish be the lingua franca? French, Swahili? It is something I want to research for myself in the future and possibly during this course.
What do you think?
1) "Who speaks English today?" - Jennifer Jenkins
2) "The Crosscultural Language..." - Diaz-Rico, Weed
3) "Ethnolinguistic Diversity and Education" - Farr, Seloni, and Song
"In California I found not just America, I found the world."
A pretty powerful quote from a Mexican immigrant student (found on pg. 3 of Diaz-Rico, Weed). America is represented in such a different way than the movies, when really it is a land of immigrants and diversity beyond what we can imagine. I know diversity is such a buzz word nowadays in the education world, and we all get sick and tired of hearing about it, but it is truly amazing how much people do not pay attention to how 2 students can be so different from one another. I find that oftentimes teachers do not truly utilize their students' backgrounds in their lessons and in the classroom in general. They stick to their ideal of the education world, and are skeptical to stray from what is considered the norm. It was amazing to read this article because I found out so many things that I wish I had known before about other cultures in this country. I truly believe that it would be beneficial for students in mainstream and ESL classrooms to have days out of the month dedicated to different cultures in the classroom and in the world; present their food, daily lifestyle, a map of their country, art, anything that could demonstrate that they have made a contribution to American culture by being in this country. It is truly not focused enough on in the classroom. I had no idea that Native Americans were performing medicine and agriculture methods before even the Egyptians. It is amazing to me that these aspects of our society are not addressed when children are young and less inclined to be judgmental of other cultures without understanding their background. It should start when they are even in pre-school. Truly it is the younger the better in those circumstances.
In Jennifer Jenkins' article, she describes the different models we ascribe to who speaks English in the world today. The most common or mainstreamed model is that of Kachru and his Inner, Outer, and Expanding Circle. Even though Jenkins does remark that Kachru did not intend anything by his statement "the Inner Circle" and that is merely linguistically and geographically based, it is hard to believe that some individuals would not find that offensive. There are multitudes of people in other countries that speak English just as fluently, but it is not spoken of in the media, especially in America. I feel like the words "Inner Circle" are rather poorly chosen, because it can be interpreted as having a sort of superiority to the other countries where English is not the native language. Something I had to ask myself after reading this article was, how did English become the lingua franca of the world? I am sure that scholars could explain this to me in lengthy detail, but the sheer magnitude of having this international language is mind-boggling. It makes me wonder if this was a different world, would Spanish be the lingua franca? French, Swahili? It is something I want to research for myself in the future and possibly during this course.
What do you think?
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