My Teaching Profile

My Teaching Profile by Renate Rødsdalen

This teaching profile will focus on how I; as an L2 English teacher, teach English to my students. The text will focus on my motivation for teaching English, and how I work with my goals and methods to teach English to L2 learners. My focus as an English teacher is to make sure that my students gets new knowledge and skills in every class. That their vocabulary and communicative skills are improved, so that they can communicate well with each other and people with English as their L1. It is important to remember that every student is different. “Any class of students is made up of individuals who differ in a variety of ways…" (Ellis & Shintani, 2014, p. 283). Students learn differently, and it is important to remember that when making a strategy for each class. 

My motivation for teaching English

My motivation for teaching English is based on how I learned English at school, and how I have experienced English in my practice. Both I and some of the schools I have been to, have learned English in the same way. By using grammar-focus drills, repeating after the teacher or to work with assignments to achieve new knowledge and skills. That is not my strategy when teaching English. My focus is on CLT. “Communicative language teaching. An approach to teaching aimed at fostering communicative competence in a language.” (Ellis & Shintani, 2014. p. 335). My motivation is to give the students motivation, knowledge and skills in English, in a way that will make them want to learn more. By using this approach, I believe that the student will receive more of the input they are given, than by using grammar-focus drills. They will acquire new knowledge, and they will have fun while learning. I believe that the most important thing for L2 learners, is that they first of all learn to communicate. To speak and interact with other people in the new language they are learning. Then comes writing, one should try to combine the two, to give the teaching more meaning. 

The teaching methods I believe is best

I believe that communicative practice is the best method for teaching and learning English. When the teacher gives the students communicative tasks, it is important to give them some new input. “Input can be oral or written. Oral input is provided in comprehension-based language instruction, in task-based language teaching, and, more generally, in the classroom talk that arises no matter what the teaching approach. Written input is provided in textbook practice materials and through reading.” (Ellis & Shintani, 2014, p. 163). That way they will be given new knowledge, that they can use in the communicative practice. A task one can use is; Identifying differences. The students should each be given a picture, with written input, which should be words they do not already know. They have to interact with each other to find the differences in the picture. They also have to describe known objects in new ways. That way they interact with one another and get new knowledge and input. A different task that combines communication and writing is Dear Abby. The students will be given a question from a person, who is about their own age. They have to interact with each other to answer that person, they also have to write down the answer they come up with together.

My teaching goals and methods, and how my teaching is consistent with my goals.

One of my most important teaching goals is to get my students to communicate more by using English and improve their vocabulary. To get the students to interact with each other, they will learn from each other and find answers together. “In its most basic form, the Incidental Learning Hypothesis claims that learners can learn new linguistic features without any intention of doing so.” (Ellis & Shintani, 2014, p. 174). This method is used when teaching CLT in the classroom. They will receive input, that they have to transfer into output. “Output requires “bottom-up processing” and thus is likely to make learners aware of gaps in their competence.” (Ellis & Shintani, 2014, p. 209). It is the teacher’s job to make sure that the gaps in the student’s competence and knowledge is filled with the right input. That means that in that class or the next, the students have to get new input, that will fill these gaps. That way the output will be better from class to class. The student will then get more knowledge and skills for every class. Earlier this semester I had practice with ninth grade. As a warm-up activity we had a word-auction. The students were divided into groups and given paper money, so they could buy words. Their only task was to interact with each other, buy words and make a grammatically correct sentence. They were only allowed to use English to interact with each other and the teacher. They had to negotiate with each other and use their knowledge and skills to make a grammatically correct sentence. Accuracy is important in this task. They have to make sure that the sentence is accurate before they share it with the class.

My personal goals as an English teacher and conclusion.

My personal goal is to make sure that my students have implicit L2 knowledge. “… these theories have addressed how learners develop implicit L2 knowledge as this is the type of knowledge that is considered primary, in the sense that it is required to become a fluent, competent user of an L2.” (Ellis & Shintani, 2014, p. 11-12.). If the students get more implicit knowledge, they will eventually become a fluent English user. My students are not the only ones who need to get more input. I always have to learn new content and ways of teaching. That way I will always have the best foundation to teach my students. 

Literature:

Ellis, R. & Shintani, N. (2014). Exploring Language Pedagogy through Second Language Acquisition Research. London, New York: Routledge. 

Reflection 4

Every school has its own set of textbooks. These are often decided by the school administration. This has been different from school to school, which I have seen when I am in practice. I have now been to three different schools, and not one of them use the same textbook. One school had one textbook they used all the time. They followed the textbook, the way my teacher did when I went to high school. The one I am in now is more focused on using different material. They use a textbook, but the teachers are encouraged to use different textbooks and other material. That way the students learn more then if the teacher only uses one textbook.

Teaching English is in my opinion not limited to one textbook. As an English teacher one should always have a lot of material available. A textbook can be a good resource, but one should not limit the teaching to only one book. Students need to learn different things, not only what is limited in a book with about 300 pages. When you as an English teacher use different material, you are in charge of the learning process. To take control, and make sure that your students get the best information possible, is the best way to teach English. There will always be activities in the textbook that one can improve, and make better for the students. It is a teachers job to make sure that whatever you make the students do, it is for them to learn the content in the best possible way. And to make sure that the content is full, not only a piece of the information/story but the full information. That is where another material comes in. If one works at a school where it is common to only use the textbook that is given to the students, it is the teacher's job to make sure that there will be given more information about the different topics.

In my practices these last three years I have come across different books. Last year I came across On the move. The English teacher used this book a lot in class. And this was the only book the students had access to. The book was used as a guideline throughout the year, it showed the students what they were going to learn, and when they were going to learn the different subjects. In that way using a textbook can be good for the students. When they get the book at the beginning of the year, they know what to expect and what they are going to learn the next year. The problem with only using one textbook is that the students will only learn what is in the book. For some of the students that will be enough, for some, it might even be too much. But then you have the students that need to learn more. Then it is up to the teacher to provide the students with the information or the activities they need to learn, and to make sure that they reach the highest level they can. I liked On the move. It was a good book, but it was a book where it was only a few pages with information about a topic. So the teacher needed to find additional information for the students, which is not a problem if the teacher is interested in doing the research. Which every teacher should.

Other material available can be a lot of different things. It can be different textbooks, it can be books you as a teacher came by when you went to school. Some of the books at school now also have a website or a DVD with different activities and more information. And there is the internet. One should always be a little critical to whats on the internet, but there is still a lot of resources one can find there when it comes to additional information and activities one can use. For me, it is important to have a varied teaching. With a focus on communicative practice. You can find all sorts of activities and information on the internet. Which is why, in addition to textbooks and other books, one should always use the internet for research. And as a teacher one should teach the students how to find good information on the internet. That way they become critical to the information they come across, and they will find good information when they are working with assignments.

Reflection 3

As an English teacher, it is important for me that the students are learning and having fun while doing so. Not everything can be fun, but it is still important as a teacher to make it interesting for the students. When it comes to the question about whether one should use grammar-focused drills or communicative practice, I prefer the communicative practice. One should also focus on grammar so that the students know how to use it correctly. The best way to do this is to get the grammar focus in the communicative practice when the students have learned enough to speak English and use it to communicate.

English teachers should focus on communicative practice. The most important thing for L2 teachers is to get the students involved and interested in the language they are learning. If one only focuses on grammar-focused drills it will soon become boring for the students, and not as motivating as one would like. There has to be a focus on grammar, grammar is very important. Still, there is a line here, that every L2 teachers should find. This line will be different from class to class, and student to student. It is important to remember that every student learn differently and needs different things. When that is said, I still believe that the most important thing for every student is to learn to communicate well.

Communicative practice is very important for students who are learning L2. I believe that it is more important for the L2 students that they learn how to communicate than to be good at writing the language. Learning to write is also important, but to be able to communicate and speak the language is the most important thing. There are multiple ways to teach English by using communicative practice. The first thing one should consider is the level of the class. How much do they know, and how good are they at speaking English.

Roleplay is the first communicative practice I would like to suggest. There are multiple ways to use roleplay in the classroom. If the students are in the early phase of learning English, they could be given lines to work with. And there should be no more than 2-3 students who work together. That way it will not be so difficult to pay attention to what everyone is saying and it will feel safer for the students. For older and more experienced students, they should only be given a topic and some guidelines. That way they are the one making up the lines. This way they have to think for themselves and use what they already know to do the exercise. The focus of the roleplay is up to the teacher, that way you and the students know what they should get out of the exercise.

Identifying differences is the second communicative practice. The students will work in pairs, and they will be seated with their backs against each other. They will be given a photograph each, the same picture, with small differences. They need to communicate with each other, to find out what the differences in the pictures are. Everything needs to be in English, that way they have to ask each other whats in the other person's picture to find out what is different. Here they learn to ask questions. To make it more fun for the students, you can make it into a competition. That way they will be more motivated to find out the differences. Making it a competition can also make it less productive for the students. So make sure the focus for the students is to speak English and ask good questions.

The last communicative practice I would like to suggest are letter writing. The students should answer a Dear Abby letter from someone their own age. Here they have to communicate with each other and actually write down an answer. It is best for the students and the exercise that they are 2-3 in each group. That way they have to talk to each other and work together to write down an answer. When they write down an answer, they will learn from each other and communicate while doing so. This task has it all, they have to read the letter, talk about it and work together to find an answer, and they have to write it down.

There are so many different types of communicative practices that teachers can use. Practices that will teach your students different things. Communicative practices should be used more in the classroom than grammar-focused drills. It will be more motivating for your students. They will have fun while learning new things and improve their English speaking skills.

Reflection 2

The Audiolinugal Method, is a method based on learning through repetition, dialogs and learning through imitation. The teachers goal is to make sure that the students learn the right way to speak English through repetition. By doing so, the students will learn what to say.

When I went to school we did the same thing. We repeated what the teacher said, over and over again. We also worked in pairs, while the teacher helped us do so. 

This approach is for some students a good approach, but for many students this approach can be a bit boring and not motivational. In my own experience, I found it to be a bit boring. As a student you want the teaching to be motivational and fun. That way it is easier to learn the language. In the beginning this was a fun exercise, but over time it can be a bit boring. I liked it when the teacher used different apporaches and drills. Both repetition, dialogs with my fellow students and imitating the teacher. By using what we learned from the repetition and imitation, we became better at communicating with each other, and we could eventually have a dialog with each other. 

Communicative approaches is a way for students to learn how the language is spoken. Knowing correct grammar and linguistics are very important, but it is also important to know how to use the language in dialog. Communicative approaches focus on the function of the language. With communicative language; learners have to have language knowledge and know how to use a language. When you know these two things, you will be able to communicate.

One communicative approach our teacher used was to tell your partner about your weekend. We where only aloud to talk English too each other. This was a really fun exercise for us, we did not know all of the words, but the teacher helped us when we where stuck. That way our English improved. 

Both Audiolingual method and communicative approaches where used by my English teacher when I was learning English. For me personally the apporoaches that worked the best was communicative approaches. I think the reason for this is that I loved speaking English, and I loved to try out new things. By using Audiolingual method, you repeat and imitate your teacher or a tape the teacher had. That was not a motivational method for me. By using the communicative method, our teacher let us try out the language. Play with the language and have fun with it. The grammar and linguistic was not perfect at the beginning, but we thought it was fun and we wanted to learn more. By learning more, my grammar and the linguistics was better. The teacher was there to help us and correct us when we needed to be corrected. That way we had fun while learning, so we wanted to learn more. 

My own experience is something I am focusing on in my teaching. I know what I did not like and what helped me learn English. You have to learn both grammar and linguistics, but there are different ways to do so. When teaching you have to know your students. What do your students respond to? What do they like? These two questions are very important to me. Even though you have to do a lot of different things, it is important for me, as a teacher, that my students are having fun while learning English. That way they want to learn, not just the fun things but also the boring part. For me it is important to try to make the boring part fun, and to make it relatable. If the students can relate and know why they are learning English, it will be more motivational for them to learn. And if you make it fun to learn, they will only want to learn more. 

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Reflection 1

The three principles written underneath are the three most important principles to me and my teaching at the time being. 

principle 2: Instruction needs to ensure that learners focus on meaning. 

Principle 4: Instruction needs to be predominantly directed at developing implicit knowledge of the L2 while not neglecting explicit knowledge. 

Principle 9: instructions need to take account of individual differences in learners. 

Principle 2: Instruction needs to ensure that learners focus on meaning. 

For the students to learn a language or new content, it is in my opinion that they need to see and know the meaning behind it, and the content needs to have meaning. Motivation is a keyword when teaching. When the students understand why they are learning something and they get the meaning behind it, they will be more motivated to learn the language or the content. When students learn English, which they need in order to communicate online and when they travel or meet people from all over the world, there is a lot of ways to teach. To teach students content while learning English is, in my opinion, the best way to learn. Of course, you also have to have focus on form, but the meaning will help the students with their motivation. If they have the motivation to learn the language, it is easier, in my opinion, to teach them the "boring" material. 

Principle 4: Instruction needs to be predominantly directed at developing implicit knowledge of the L2 while not neglecting explicit knowledge. 

Implicit knowledge is the knowledge that is built into our system. Information we already have. As a teacher, it is important for me to expand my student's implicit knowledge. That way they will have more information when they are moving forward with new information, that hopefully will be new implicit information. Some information has to be explicit, we can not know everything. Some things have to be looked up or researched. Still, in my teaching, I am trying to expand the implicit information. To get implicit information, the students have to practice. They have to repeat the information in a way that the information gets implicit, but it should still be interesting. 

Principle 9: instructions need to take account of individual differences in learners. 

In a classroom with 25 students, there are 25 individuals that learn in different ways. Your instructions and your teaching should reflect that. Not everyone takes information and instructions the same way. As a teacher, it is important to know your students in a way that you know how they learn and how they take instructions. Every student is different, as long as you take that into consideration, it will be much easier (and more difficult) to reach out to all of your students. Not just some of them, it is important for a teacher to make sure that every one of them is keeping up with the content.