NOTICING

1.  Do adults and children learn an L2 in the same way and? What, if any, are the differences?

From my perspective no. Children learn more unconsciously, without specific purposes, structures or anxiety. Adults, learn with intrinsic motivation but with higher fear to making mistakes, therefore less confidence, more anxiety and less fluency in most cases.

2.  Can we teach a language or do people learn a language? What, if any, are the differences?

Both, to learn at same point you need somebody’s guidance or advice. The differences may lie on the context. You need to be taught a language if you are at school learning an L2, and you may learn, if you are learning English in England.

3.  How is language to be learned sequenced in your current teaching context?

From basic words to more complex sentences. Also from the needs depending on the age of the students. If the students are adults it will depend on their goals.

4.  What if anything can be learned by looking at past methodologies?

You can learn about the strengths and weaknesses of those methodologies, and what works for you as a teacher and for your students.

Elements of Medgyes’ Communicative Teacher

Teachers have always been pointed as responsible for having to fulfill many roles. Nowadays “The Communicative Teacher” has come into fashion and with it also a heavy burden. This new teacher should devote his or her time and life completely to achieve all the objectives proposed by the communicative approach.

This teacher must deliver a lot in and outside the classroom. This professional should know his/her students and what they bring to the class, their aspirations and expectations from the course, however, the educator  should not impose his/her own view of learner’s needs or aspirations. They are just there to make sure learning takes place. This point, as many others within the communicative approach, presents huge difficulties to the teacher   since the teacher is also a person who’s got a life and needs, and a vision of why he or she wanted to be a teacher, but if he or she will not be allowed to have a say or is not provided with what is needed to accomplish all the tasks asked for, this teacher will end up, at least, discouraged.

On the other hand, the communicative teacher must be set up with a big set of qualities. He or she should deliver equally to the diversity inside the classroom, stimulating all students to participate, but still keeping control of what happens in the class. This supernatural being should also pay attention to meaning and form, be cultured and resourceful. Finally this approach, as many others lately, states that education should be learner-centered, as if it wasn’t clear enough for the teachers’ depreciation.

The Communicative Teacher

Everybody agrees that education is very important yet not many are willing to make efforts for its sake (government, parents, even students).Most people live in a fantasy world and take too much for granted.  The responsibility of education should not just be positioned on the teachers but on everyone who is interested in education. Here the responsibility only lies on few, the greatest guilt lays on teachers, they must perform the magic; look happy even if they are tired, underpaid, or frown upon because of their career choice. It’s all about the students, but who thinks about the teachers and everything they have to go through?

Creativity

To be frank I never thought, consciously, of creativity as something as I was supposed to encourage as a regular basis. However, I do always ask my students to write stories and perform and record themselves, and I do appreciate when I see their interests and strengths through the different tasks because I can see them motivated  and shinning, which is what we basically want to achieve in our students, or at least me.

Interesting how the lecturer led everything, through humor. Would that be creativity? Not probably something encouraged at school, however, he managed to engage the audience and make his points.

Sadly many parents nowadays are sort of obsessed with their children turning into; doctors or engineers or lawyers, and stressed with the fact that their children do not like school or do not care about their marks. I think then that we as teachers could create different instances to show our students’ interests and strengths, then parents and students themselves will believe and promote these potentials.

Approach Indicator

1.     Language learners learn best by using plenty of ANALYSIS. Any effort made by the learner will be useless, unless, there is some sort of reflection on what was done, checking what was done well, to keep it, and what was not so well done, to improve it. I encourage my students to keep all their tests and writings, so after some time they can go back to them and see how much they’ve improved.

2.     A teacher’s feedback to the students should be given FREQUENTLY. Students are quite absent-minded and have a lot on their minds; therefore a constant feedback will sink in more if it is right after students’ performances. However, I believe it is just sensible to do this when it comes to tests or other forms of evaluation, not when students are participating in classes.

3.     Teaching learners to use their own learning strategies is USEFUL AND PRODUCTIVE. What I think is that the teacher should provide students with a set of strategies and students are the ones who get to choose the ones that suit them best, that way, strategies will be worth using them.

4.     Mistakes that students make in speech ARE INFORMATIVE. Of course! In terms of how anxious or stressed students feel towards the language. That is quite useful information for me as a teacher. With that knowledge, I can create a more comfortable environment, whenever these students have to face oral activities.

Summary Methods

The Audiolingual Method

After World War II, USA raised an interest in the need for Americans to be skilled in their allies and enemies languages. Therefore, the U.S. military came up with intensive language courses that emphasized the oral part known as the Audiolingual Method. This method gave importance to pronunciation, conversation, mimicry, and memorization of phases, dialogues. There was no grammar, use of mother tongue, or translation.

Community Language Method

This method is affectively based. Learners are seen as a group that interacts facilitating learning in a context of valuing and cherishing each individual in the group. The aim is to decrease anxiety levels by means of a supportive community. The teacher is seen as a counsellor. Students sit in a circle and they are helped by the teacher in their interactions with the class; classes are recorded so students can evaluate their performances.

Suggestopedia

Learning takes place through a deep state of relaxation so maximum retention can be achieved. Music is key to this method. The teacher reads and students repeat and memorize.

 The Silent Way

This method emphasizes on the learners independence; they should discover or generate learning. Learning is achieved by the use of certain objects that are used as problem solving material. The role of the teacher is silent; the teacher should also keep corrective feedback to a minimum.

Total Physical Response

Method devised to decrease stress. It emphasizes listening, use of imperatives and commands. Students listen to instructions and respond in a physical manner.

The Natural Approach

It suggests production delay till students feels ready, comfortable, and have received an important amount of input by the teacher. This method seeks personal communication (everyday language).

The Humanistic Tradition

            It has been agreed that the affective and emotional factors involved in the learning process are key. In fact it is believed that if these affective factors are not achieved, there is no technique or model that would lead to learning. Two proponents in humanism in language learning Gattegno and Lozanov arrived to the conclusion that success or failure in language teaching depends on the extent one caters to the learner’s affective domain. Maybe the most significant characteristic is the learner’s emotional attitude towards the teacher, classmates, the language, and the culture. This should be taken into account when selecting contents, materials, and activities. Some extreme proponents say that it is impossible to teach anybody anything unless superficially and that what the teacher can do is to attempt to establish the optimal conditions where the learner will learn because of his own efforts. According to Stevick the functions of a teacher are:

1.     Students expect teachers to impart knowledge.

2.     Students expect teachers to manage; time, materials and techniques effectively.

3.     Teachers are expected to evidence the follow up of the objectives set in the syllabus through the course.

4.     Teachers are expected to set a certain atmosphere where students can learn adequately.

5.     Teachers are expected to feel passionate about their job and irradiate warmth towards students.

Community Language Learning

 Teachers must ensure that students feel free from the anxiety of learning in another language and also comfortable with the environment.

The objective of the CLL is to create a supporting environment and move from dependence on the teachers towards autonomy.

The Silent Way

For Gattegno, the author of the silent way, learning languages is a mystery and that students should be more independant in their learning process.

Grammar or a vast vocabulary is not enough to communicate, it is also necessary to sort of being soaked in the language and culture.

Suggestopedia

Lozonov, who developed this model, believes that if learning takes place in favourable conditions, the mind is capable of great achievements.