Philosophy of Teaching
For as long as I can remember, I’ve wanted a career where I can help people and work with children. Teaching English as a second or foreign language is the perfect career to fulfill this dream. Learning another language can provide individuals with many benefits. Different languages provide different perspectives of the world and the more languages an individual learns the more opportunities they will be given. As an ESL teacher, I can teach children English to help provide them with more knowledge and perspectives of the world, which will in turn provide them with more resources and opportunities.
Communicative practice in the classroom
I may not have a lot of teaching experience, but I have learned a lot from the experience that I do have. I have experience with learning another language so I understand the difficulties and struggles of learning another language. I want to be able to use this knowledge to help make learning English easier for the students. Based on my experience as a language learner, communicative practice has really helped me learn how to speak the language. So in my teaching, I hope to integrate a lot of tasked-based activities to instigate communicative practice. This allows students to practice using the language to communicate with others in context. This would really help the students to acquire the language and understand how to use it correctly in different contexts.
Motivation
An important factor that influences language acquisition is motivation. When students don’t have much motivation, it is difficult for them to acquire any information they are taught. Not all students will be interested in learning the language. I believe that it is the teacher’s job to help motivate the students to learn the language. I hope to motivate them by making the learning fun and enjoyable by integrating a lot of fun and relevant activities. Deci and Ryan’s Self Determination Theory states that when students perform authentic actions their motivation becomes more internally regulated into intrinsic motivation (Dörnyei & Ushioda, 2011, pp. 23-25). Language acquisition is most productive when people are intrinsically motivated. As a result, I will also help to motivate students by allowing them to be responsible for their own learning, which will result in authentic actions that will internalize students’ motivation.
Role of classroom environment
The classroom environment is another important factor that influences language acquisition in that students may have difficulty learning if they are not comfortable with their surroundings. In a comfortable classroom, students would be more willing to participate, speak in class, ask and answer questions. This would allow them to learn and practice speaking English more. Therefore, I believe that it is important for the teacher to make the classroom environment as comfortable as possible for the students to allow them to learn at their fullest potential. This can be accomplished by having the students do activities that allow them to get to know each other throughout the course. In order to create a comfortable classroom environment, students not only need to be comfortable with their peers but they need to be comfortable with their teacher as well. Teachers can help students feel comfortable by building rapport with their students, getting to know them and remembering them. I also plan to have students freely write about their thoughts and what they learned every week and give them light feedback on it. This will allow them to feel comfortable to talk to me and ask me questions as a teacher.
Acculturation
Culture is an important part of language learning as culture is transmitted by language. Language influences what we think, feel and believe. I think it is important to learn the culture along with the language. Since I was raised in Hawaii, I hope to teach the students not only about the American culture but also the Hawaiian culture. The culture in Hawaii is different from America because it is an island that is separated from the mainland and there are many immigrants from different countries, which greatly influences the culture. I think it is also important for me as the teacher to learn about the student’s home culture so that when I teach students about the American and Hawaiian culture, I can compare it to the student’s home culture and explain the differences between them. This will help the students understand that there are multiple perspectives in the world and that there are many differences between them.
I believe that an ESL/EFL teacher is a map. An ESL/EFL teacher helps guide students to becoming English users. I hope to become a good teacher that can help guide students in the best way possible to becoming competent English users. I think the best way to help guide the students is to be supportive and understanding of the students. I hope to create a learning environment that is comfortable for the students so that they are able to talk to me or ask me questions about anything.
References
Dörnyei, Z., & Ushioda, E. (2011). Teaching and researching: Motivation. New York, NY: Routledge.
Communicative practice in the classroom
I may not have a lot of teaching experience, but I have learned a lot from the experience that I do have. I have experience with learning another language so I understand the difficulties and struggles of learning another language. I want to be able to use this knowledge to help make learning English easier for the students. Based on my experience as a language learner, communicative practice has really helped me learn how to speak the language. So in my teaching, I hope to integrate a lot of tasked-based activities to instigate communicative practice. This allows students to practice using the language to communicate with others in context. This would really help the students to acquire the language and understand how to use it correctly in different contexts.
Motivation
An important factor that influences language acquisition is motivation. When students don’t have much motivation, it is difficult for them to acquire any information they are taught. Not all students will be interested in learning the language. I believe that it is the teacher’s job to help motivate the students to learn the language. I hope to motivate them by making the learning fun and enjoyable by integrating a lot of fun and relevant activities. Deci and Ryan’s Self Determination Theory states that when students perform authentic actions their motivation becomes more internally regulated into intrinsic motivation (Dörnyei & Ushioda, 2011, pp. 23-25). Language acquisition is most productive when people are intrinsically motivated. As a result, I will also help to motivate students by allowing them to be responsible for their own learning, which will result in authentic actions that will internalize students’ motivation.
Role of classroom environment
The classroom environment is another important factor that influences language acquisition in that students may have difficulty learning if they are not comfortable with their surroundings. In a comfortable classroom, students would be more willing to participate, speak in class, ask and answer questions. This would allow them to learn and practice speaking English more. Therefore, I believe that it is important for the teacher to make the classroom environment as comfortable as possible for the students to allow them to learn at their fullest potential. This can be accomplished by having the students do activities that allow them to get to know each other throughout the course. In order to create a comfortable classroom environment, students not only need to be comfortable with their peers but they need to be comfortable with their teacher as well. Teachers can help students feel comfortable by building rapport with their students, getting to know them and remembering them. I also plan to have students freely write about their thoughts and what they learned every week and give them light feedback on it. This will allow them to feel comfortable to talk to me and ask me questions as a teacher.
Acculturation
Culture is an important part of language learning as culture is transmitted by language. Language influences what we think, feel and believe. I think it is important to learn the culture along with the language. Since I was raised in Hawaii, I hope to teach the students not only about the American culture but also the Hawaiian culture. The culture in Hawaii is different from America because it is an island that is separated from the mainland and there are many immigrants from different countries, which greatly influences the culture. I think it is also important for me as the teacher to learn about the student’s home culture so that when I teach students about the American and Hawaiian culture, I can compare it to the student’s home culture and explain the differences between them. This will help the students understand that there are multiple perspectives in the world and that there are many differences between them.
I believe that an ESL/EFL teacher is a map. An ESL/EFL teacher helps guide students to becoming English users. I hope to become a good teacher that can help guide students in the best way possible to becoming competent English users. I think the best way to help guide the students is to be supportive and understanding of the students. I hope to create a learning environment that is comfortable for the students so that they are able to talk to me or ask me questions about anything.
References
Dörnyei, Z., & Ushioda, E. (2011). Teaching and researching: Motivation. New York, NY: Routledge.
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