Last week: Brown 23 & 24, and Shohamy: Assessment and testing

Assessments are helpful to see where the student is at, their weaknesses and strengths, and the progress the student has made. When creating a test, it is important to make sure they are practical, valid, reliable, authentic and have a wash back effect. These are priorities for the design of language assessments. Like the wash back section mentioned, it is necessary for teachers to provide feedback on test performance. When teachers provide feedback, it always helps me to know my weaknesses and strengths, as well as what and how to improve the next time I take a test. I have known classmates that are scared to argue with the teacher about their grades, because the teacher would get upset or not even listen to the student. But, I have also seen teachers that are more than welcome to discuss grades and be open to receive a student's feedback on a grade. I need to remember not only to provide feedback, but be open to hear my students about their own grade. I need to remember that a letter or number grade cannot help my students improve their own learning. Providing feedback in tests is useful for all grades. Brown also touches on the practical steps to test construction in classrooms which I found very useful. Test development is a delicate process that needs a lot of preparation to appropriately assess students. The before, during and after test strategies could help me when using all kinds of assessments, so my students can fully understand the upcoming test and be aware of their expectations. Any information that is given step by step helps me see exactly what I have to do to develop a more effective learning environment. Every student deserves the right to find out their weaknesses and strengths, and self-evaluate their progress to become more independent in their learning process. I found these chapters very useful because they provide specific steps to design an appropriate test for students, how to help them develop autonomy, and create a more collaborative learning environment. The chapter on assessment by Shohamy addresses how to better assess the discourse competence of the students tapping on the four skills (reading, writing, listening and speaking). It is necessary to use a variety of discourse types on tests to appropriately assess the individual. Another important aspect they focus on is the importance of applying a variety of  discourse features and criteria in evaluation. The testers could create their own scales based on the expected goals and objectives of the test. The chapter also suggests the importance of using different elicitation techniques rather than standard test formats to be able to appropriately test them. As well as Brown, Shohamy suggests teachers to use feedback by giving assessment conferences regularly, so the students can improve their learning. I found these chapters very useful especially for language teachers who are developing tests and assessing ELL students, but these ideas can also work nicely for regular mainstream classrooms.

Week 13: Lesson Planning and Curriculum

One necessary aspect of teaching is writing lesson plans because it helps organize what one is planning on teaching. Before writing it, it is necessary to plan and prepare ahead so we can appropriately apply it to the student's unique learning styles and needs. I have written a few lesson plans for classes, but I think I still need more practice on it. Preparing for a lesson and figuring out what and how to teach is helpful to me, especially because I'm more of a visual person. Having every step of my expected lesson, and a clear set of goals and objectives, can benefit me, even though I know it will most likely change during the actual lesson. It is also necessary to expect a variety of answers and give open-ended questions, as well as challenging the student with high-order questions. Being able to adapt and being flexible is key to every lesson planning and teaching. Brown discusses the need to focus on variety, more student talk, good pacing, good timing when writing lesson plans. Also, it is key to take into account the variation of ability in the students, and monitoring the difficulty of the lesson, we want to challenge the advanced ones without making it too hard for the below and average students.The different techniques and materials the book offers, such as role-playing, problem solving, dictation, technological aids, realia, etc., can help make a lesson more engaging and meaningful, and help support learning, especially for L2 learners. Also, another aspect involving teaching and lesson planning is the importance of monitoring our own teaching acts discussed by Kumar. He mentions the M&M scheme and the importance of self-evaluating, self-analyzing, and self-observing one's teaching acts to explore one's classroom processes and practices. It is necessary to plan ahead, write out in detail the steps, and expect the unexpected when teaching all sorts of students.

Research paper: TESOL and Culture

After doing some more research, I have decided to change my previous topic (on teaching listening) and focus more on the effects of culture and language on ELL writing skills. My research question: How can L1 linguistic and cultural influences affect L2 writing skills?. I want to focus on the types of challenges the student faces influenced by their native culture. Also, how these identity factors affect the development of  English writing skills for ESL learners. I will focus mainly on college level or graduate students. I want to discuss the pros and cons about cultural influences, and student's beliefs and attitudes about it. My topic is still in progress.
Sources:
 "Argumentation across L1 and L2 Writing: Exploring Cultural Influences and Transfer Issues" by Hacer Hande Uysal (2012).  It is a study that explores the argument preferences of people from the same cultural background across their L1 and L2 texts within a cultural-educational framework.

"Teaching of English Writing in American and Chinese Colleges: A Data-Based Study" by XU Hui-yan (2012). It analyzes the similarities and differences in teaching English writing in Chinese and American colleges through surveying the published papers. American writing teachers tend to work in teams with more focuses on collaborative learning and writing communities, while Chinese teachers work more individually with stresses on errors analysis, teaching for the test, and negative transfer of Chinese language and culture in English writing.

"Identities and Beliefs in ESL Writing: From Product to Processes" by Xuemei Li (2007). This article focuses on the relationship of culture, identity, and beliefs with regard to the writing process and the process of learning to write in the ESL context.

Week 12: Kumar 11 & 12 and Brown 26

This week's readings help me realize that as a future teacher, I have the opportunity to model mutual respect across cultural, political, and religious boundaries while tapping into controversial issues, so I can create a more unified and safe classroom environment for every diverse student. It is necessary to avoid any biases, as a teacher, when taping into world issues to create a more egalitarian classroom environment. This reminds me of the role of the teacher as a transformative intellectual. We need to reflect and connect pedagogy with wider social issues. We need to challenge our student's minds and guide them to treat other races, cultures, and languages equally. Political and economic issues affect everyone and if these issues are presented within the classroom, we can help our students challenge their own perspectives on these issues and develop a more unified concept of the world. We can help them become critical thinkers about current issues affecting the world. These chapters help me see beyond the classroom and understand how I can make a change in a child's life. Teachers should treat everyone equally, model fair treatment across cultures and be unbiased on any social issues that affect anyone in the classroom, so their students can follow the same path. Children learn by observing and modeling, so every teacher is a model and if the teacher discusses issues surrounding every student's life, then they can challenge and prepare them to face the sociopolitical and economic issues that affects their life in a more critical way. Also, ESL students come from different countries and bring their own unique beliefs and attitudes to the classroom. If teacher connect everyone's beliefs, every student will be able to understand the importance of accepting one another. We are more than just a language teacher or a content teacher, we represent someone that can make a change in a world that is in desperate need for change. Teachers should help their students embrace their own culture and language, as well as creating and maintaining a linguistic and cultural identity. By respecting the student's linguistic and cultural identity, we can connect with the student's family, community, and personal identity. We should appreciate their identity in the classroom because it defines who they are as a human being. A question that was mentioned in one of the chapters that I am still questioning is how can students preserve their own cultural identity if they have to survive in a culturally challenged world? I am sure that with the teacher's efforts, and school and family support, they can help a child surpass any obstacles that this world may bring to the student. As teacher, we can help our students challenge these obstacles and issues (economical, political, religious, educational, racial, social, etc.)  that are affecting their families and themselves. By following a critical pedagogy and being a more transformative intellectual, the classroom will be a more unified, acceptable, fair, and loving environment for each and every diverse student.

Week 11: Kumar ch 9 & 10 and Brown ch 17

These chapters help me visualize the importance of teaching lessons that include all the language skills (speaking, listening, reading and writing) because these are interrelated and mutually reinforcing. In every classroom I have observed, the lessons always involve every language skill, from a beginning discussion to engaging in an activity. It is not possible to teach without incorporating all of the four language skills. In a lesson, there is usually a discussion to prepare the students on a topic (writing on the board and reading from the board), then classroom interaction between students to students or with teachers occurs (speaking and listening), after that there is group work or individual work, which can include all four skills depending on the activity. This is one lesson, and there is various lessons throughout the school day, so all four skills are necessary to focus on when teaching a classroom. Teachers should follow an integrated skills approach. Reinforcing all language skills will help students understand the new language and interact with it in various ways. We use them together inside and outside the classroom to create a more meaningful learning environment and this can definitely help our future L2 students achieve a higher proficiency level. If the students are encouraged to interact using all four language skills, they will be prepared to engage in an actual communicative exchange with a native speaker outside of the classroom with more confidence. It is also important to teach them how to appropriately create coherent text/utterances that will fit a given situation within a specific social setting/ cultural context. It is essential to understand the linguistic environment in which a word occurs to ensure the proper understanding of the item in other contexts. Especially for L2 learners, it might be difficult for them to engage in a communicative exchange if the stress and intonation are not right or utterances are not mentioned at the appropriate contextual setting. L2 learners come from different cultures with different norms, so we need to teach them the norms of the new culture by encouraging them to focus on the context of culture and situational setting when engaging in linguistic activities. It is necessary for them to learn the norms of interpretation within the culture to appropriately interact with the community. They will benefit by avoiding to stress intonation on the wrong words or asking a question without sounding rude. It is interesting to read about teaching the appropriate cohesiveness features in sentences that ensure propositional development. This will help the students develop situational context making an interactive exchange communicatively coherent. Even if the communicative interaction between two individuals has utterances that lack cohesiveness, it can turn into a incomprehensible phrase. I enjoyed reading these chapters because this is what I have been learning in my curriculum and instruction classes and using throughout my school years. These chapters offer a variety of ideas and activities that I can use in my future classroom.

Week 10: Brown 22 and Kumar 7 & 8

      I found all the chapters very useful and made me think about topics that I would have not considered while teaching in an ESL classroom. I liked the quote in Kumar's book about language: "We use it, misuse it, and abuse it. And yet, we seldom think about it" (156). This is an eye-opening phrase, and as future teachers it is necessary to start fostering language awareness, so our students can understand the role of language in their lives. Teaching general language awareness is not enough by itself, we need to consider the sociopolitical aspects that surround language itself.  General and critical language awareness are both essential and need to be taught together. Besides teaching the content, such as literacy skills and grammar, I have to get students to be aware of their own language development and issues surrounding that language. Power and control surrounds language, and students need to be aware and understand the effects of it within society. Another useful topic this week is the importance of activating intuitive heuristics. I was not familiar with the word heuristics before reading this chapter. I liked this chapter because it focuses on guiding learners in a way that they can learn by themselves and from their own experiences instead of following directions. I like the idea of teaching the students to be independent learners. If I construct the right strategies to do this, they will be able to discover the rules of the linguistic system by themselves and become aware of their own language development. Episodes 8.1 and 8.2 caught my attention because these examples show me what not to do as well as the correct way of teaching them to be independent learners. The teacher in episode 8.1 focuses too much on teaching grammar, uses a textbook and does not create sufficient intuitive heuristics. Just by looking at the dialog, we can see that the teacher is not creating affective communication in the classroom and missing the opportunity to allow a positive learning environment. In contrast, the teacher in episode 8.2 uses a variety of questions and phrases that guides them in creating a meaningful conversational interaction, uses a fun text, and then at the end introduces the main topic. The learners are allowed to think outside the box and become independent learners. In brown's chapter, the section on the issues surrounding how to teach grammar provides some guidelines and conditions that are helpful to future teachers, like myself. Brown states not to explain something that is unknown, instead let the student know that the information will be researched and the answer will be brought the following day, we do not want to create confusion and give false information. It is ok to correct grammatical errors as long as there is a communicative flow between the students and the teacher to improve learner's language. All of these chapters focus on language and to create a positive learning environment where students can learn by themselves and understand the issues surrounding language within society. These chapters were helpful and interesting, but I am still wondering should I introduce sociopolitical issues surrounding language (the critical language awareness) when my students are at a beginner level? Wouldnt it be complicated for them, language wise?

Week 9: Brown chapters 20 and 21 and Myth article

      As well as listening and speaking, we need to teaching reading and writing. Brown's chapters discuss important points about each and how we can develop better and appropriate ways to teach these areas. In chapter 20, there was some familiar information I had learned from curriculum and instruction courses, such as the bottom up and top down processing and silent reading, and from bilingual education courses, such as the semantic mapping and SQ3R sequence. It is interesting to see that I can use the same instructional techniques and ideas from regular education courses and apply them to ESL courses. This chapter gives great strategies for reading comprehension and principles for teaching reading skills. It is important to choose texts that can help students achieve strategic, intensive or extensive reading that are authentic and readable, in the student's proficiency level with some lexical and structural difficulty to challenge them. Using a variety of materials and topics, such as essays, newspapers, articles, webpages, is important to attract the student's interest in reading, especially for pleasure and to read for understanding. The book discusses topics, such as the SQ3R sequence and prereading, during-reading and after-reading phases, that were interesting because ESL students can use these techniques to reach comprehension and improve their reading skills.
       In chapter 21, the author taps into the techniques and principles for teaching writing skills and what caught my attention was the process approach. The process approach involves the idea of revising, editing, organizing, and sharpening your own ideas to make a successful written product, such as an essay. Everybody writes in different ways at different speeds, nobody is at the same level. It is important to give them time to create their own ideas, to revise and analyze their own mistakes and give them opportunities to correct them, as well as to discuss their writing with other peers and get productive feedback. Teaching writing is a long process that involves a lot of feedback from peers and teachers, helping students understand their own composing process, helping them create their own writing strategies and giving them ample time to write and think about their ideas. In the classroom, there should be a balance between academic writing and writing for enjoyment, and authentic writing, such as writing a newsletter. I often observe in elementary classes that there is a lot of journaling going on because students need to practice and develop good writing skills, and I believe that practice makes perfect. When people practice by doing things over and over again (especially in different ways), they get used to it and develop mastery in the content.
      It is interesting to think about the myths surrounding ESL students. One of them are discussed in the article "myth 5: students learn to correct all their own writing errors" written by Joy Reid.  As an advanced second language learner, I do feel like I am able to correct a lot of my English writing, but when I turn in papers, teachers always find a few misspellings or phrases that are unclear. I still have to use a dictionary (English to Spanish dictionary, and Thesaurus to locate more words to include in my vocabulary). When writing in English, I usually edit my work various times to make it more understandable and get my information across. I have been able to develop better writing skills throughout the years, but I still feel more confident speaking and writing to others in Spanish (but I also have misspellings and unclear phrases in Spanish as well). After more than 10 years learning English, I still struggle communicating in my L2. Second language acquisition does take time. The article discusses Prop 227 (no bilingual education), which used to put students in structured English immersion classrooms for only a year thinking these students will achieve L2 in 12 months, that's not even close to the truth. I think there will always be political conflicts involving education if education laws are run by the government. They make decisions that are not appropriate for the student's needs, they are focused on the overall achievement of the students as a whole (a "one size fits all" approach) and do not have the ability to think about each student as an individual with different needs and learning styles. They should not be making decisions in the education field, if they are not educators. Moving to another topic, the article mentions "even teachers' and students' best efforts at error correction do not result in 100 percent accuracy". Teachers are not perfect, so trying to correct all the students' writing perfectly is not even possible, but we can help them achieve what is expected of them by teaching good editing strategies, giving lots of error feedback, allowing them to take their time, and creating time to share with other peers. It is always helpful to see examples from books and articles that show us, future teachers, activities that we can do to help our students achieve better writing skills and other areas as well.

Week 8: Cary's Article, Brown 18 and 19 and Kumar 5

         I have enjoyed reading these chapters and the article because they focus on important factors that every teacher has to take in consideration when creating an appropriate curriculum for ELLs. We want students to develop meaningful interaction, to feel comfortable speaking a second language, to feel welcoming and share their own experiences to the classroom, and fully develop appropriate speaking and listening skills.Students are our learning partners and we need to make sure we do the best to accommodate them in our classroom. We, as future teachers, need to facilitate negotiated instruction by enhancing opportunities for meaningful interactions. We need to manage conversations and have flexible topics that are being activated throughout the classrooms, so we can appropriately help them participate in their own language development and shape their own path to success.
         The article emphasizes the need for teachers to learn the L1 of the student enough to create a nurturing environment that cultivates their culture and helps them achieve L2. Families are also our partners to help our students be successful. Incorporating them into our classroom will give us a great advantage, because students will feel appreciated for bringing their loved ones into their learning environment giving them the push they need to acquire the skills to develop language learning.The community, such as volunteers, also play a vital part in creating a nurturing environment for our children. But what about teachers that do not have the support of outside sources? What about those disadvantaged schools that lack the support of parents and community members? I know it is different for every community, some are able to get help, others do not have that advantage. Some parents are full time workers and cant afford to spend time in the classroom, other families have family members that stay at home and are able to interact with the classroom and the student. How can we reach the families and community without their actual presence in the classroom? I know they can help with homework at home (I guess a little is better than nothing), but how can we ask for more interaction within the classroom? How can we get volunteers to interact with our students in these situations?
         The chapters on how to teach speaking and listening skills give great emphasis on their issues and how these are intertwined with each other, what to do and what not to do, the different types of each, assessments and principles that can guide a teacher to create a curriculum that can effectively focus on these skills. In the listening chapter, it focuses on how listening comprehension is an interactive process, it is achieved though monologues and dialogues between the students and teachers.There are performance factors that can affect the process of speech. It is hard to assess listening because it is "unobservable", so we rely on our "inference in determining comprehension", but we can choose what we want to assess by following certain tasks (such as listening cloze, interpretive tasks, simple discourse sentences, etc). I enjoyed the different aspects that make listening difficult, such as redundancy (which is what I need to work on), performance variables (pauses, false starts, etc.), rate of delivery, reduced forms, etc...., because these allow me to focus on the way I communicate with anyone and from now on try not to use many of these, so I can start developing a more appropriate way of communicating with ELLs, and avoid miscommunication and incomprehensible phrases in future classrooms. In the speaking chapter, it states the importance of understanding the issues and concepts surrounding how to teach speaking skills. Fluency and accuracy are both needed to make one's speech comprehensible. Most of the same skills and types of difficulties to speaking are the same as in listening, because these go along with each other. These chapters serve as a guide for teachers to prepare them to teach in a classroom, and how important it is to focus on other factors besides grammar that affect the student's language development, I think teaching speaking and listening skills are a vital part for teaching and learning language.
      Another factor that affects student's involvement and achievement in the classroom is the amount of meaningful interaction and opportunities given to them when learning a language. Kumar mentions that if there is more input there is more enhanced opportunities to activate fundamental processes that are essential to develop L2. He focuses on three types of interactional activities (textual, ideational and interpersonal), and together "can stretch their linguistic repertoire, sharpen their conversational capacities, and share their individual experiences". These are key aspects creating an atmosphere that facilitates negotiated interaction, but without the help of the students, this cannot be accomplished. The microstrategies and exploratory projects are a guide for us to help learners maximize their learning potential. We need to be positive role models by showing appreciation to their culture and language, promoting negotiated interaction, enhancing opportunities for learning, focusing on listening and speaking skills, carefully managing the talks and topics being discussed in class, and allowing students to share their own opinions on issues that matter to them and that are given to them in a way that makes sense to them.

Week 6: Brown ch 4 &16 and Kumar ch3

    This week's readings are very useful and interesting because it gives examples, guidelines and techniques that we can use to achieve the appropriate approach for our classrooms. Every student I will have in the future will come with different needs and backgrounds, and I will have to accommodate my approach to them. Even though the 12 principles (within cognitive, socioaffective and linguistic) and techniques, mentioned in Brown chapter 4, cannot tell me exactly how each student will successfully acquire a language, I can base my teaching on these to create a more appropriate approach for my future classrooms. Also, the classroom implications under every principle are very useful, because these give some tips and guidelines to use in case I am placed in a challenging situation. For example, If I want to create a meaningful lesson plan, Brown mentions that I can "capitalize on the power of meaningful learning by appealing to the student's interests, academic goals, and career goals", as well as connecting the lesson with the student's existing knowledge and background to make it more appealing to them (66). This can create intrinsic motivation and I can effectively engage them into learning. I will remember not to use rewards to the point where they are relying on them and not focus on learning, because we want them to achieve an "intrinsic system of rewards" that will benefit them in the future, something that is a long term benefit for them. When I was younger, I loved to get stickers next to my good scores on a quiz, the sticker would make me happy and proud of myself, but sometimes I would forget the content if I was tested on it again and it would lower my confidence. It is necessary to motivate the students on learning the content to avoid affecting other factors, such as emotional. I liked the socioaffective principles Brown mentions because it is a factor that is most likely to be skipped over because teaching the content and creating the appropriate lesson is usually the focal point. The student's emotions (self-confidence, anxiety, enthusiasm, shyness, etc.) can affect their learning and we need to make sure we are considering them while planning and teaching a lesson.
      Chapter 16 helps me see some factors, techniques and strategies I need to be aware of when teaching and adapt them to my future classrooms. It is important to teach the children how to be more independent of their own learning, as teacher we are here to guide them to the right path, but they have to create their own ways of achieving success. Student should be able to explore the lessons given to them, so they can apply them anywhere else (such as using them in social contexts). It is important to encourage them to have good language learner behaviors, be enthusiastic, be independent learners, as well as to teach them to be risk takers and challenge themselves, use learning centers, promote cooperative learning, and much more, as well as to teach them how to work for themselves cause it will help them live a more independent life in the future.
    Kumar emphasizes on how both the student and teacher are valuable players in creating and using learning opportunities. We need to monitor how the lesson is unfolding and make changes as necessary when the lesson is taking place. The chapter gives great examples of conversations between teachers and students  on how to prompt and guide the students so they can learn by themselves, as well as what not to do when teaching language. It is definitely important to create learning opportunities outside of the classroom because it will engage students and relate the content to actual social contexts that will be useful in real life situations. I loved the micro strategies for maximizing learning opportunities, Kumar mentions in chapter 3, because these give examples on what to do in certain situations to help them generate learning opportunities for themselves. For example, to connect with campus community, the teacher can put them in groups so they can explore one of the student services offered by the college and participate in a campus event. This will create some motivation, enthusiasm, meaningful learner involvement, and guide them to become independent learners, basically we want them to acquire a love for learning.    
       These chapters discuss all about the student-teacher relationship in the classroom and helps us, pre-service teachers, how to prepare for a classroom environment and create an appropriate approach that can benefit our students in the future. The guidelines, strategies and techniques were really enjoyable to read and useful, because they allowed me to think about my future classrooms and ways to incorporate them in a classroom. I will be able to put them into practice once I meet my classrooms and get to know each child individually (their needs and backgrounds) and create the appropriate and effective lesson for them. I wonder how will I be able to incorporate theory, their own culture, their needs, this new culture for them, other emotional factors, and these strategies and techniques to create the most effective approach for them? I know it will not be easy, it will take time. I know there will be lots of changes to my lessons, but I will figure it out once I meet my classroom.

Week 4: Brown Ch 3 and Kumar article

Brown Chapter 3: The Post Method Era: Toward Informed Approches

      Brown discusses the concept of "post method" and taps into the different approaches within a language classroom. First, he discusses that it is better to focus on the approach the teacher uses for language teaching (effective tasks and techniques) instead of a method for all. As future teachers, we have to be aware of the learner's context and offer the appropriate blend of tasks for each student. Before entering the education program, I had ignored and was oblivious about the fact that a learner's needs and geographical, social, and political contexts play a vital part on teaching and learning. We need to consider their context and apply our teaching to their specific needs to appropriately educate them. Now, I have learned to be more focused on the learners' background and specific needs, apply it to the approach I am going to use, as well as reflect on my own experiences and practice, to effectively teach every diverse student I will come across in the future. The beginning of the chapter caught my attention because it explains that no matter how inexperienced I am in teaching, I have learned from my personal experiences and previous classes, as well as classroom observations and experiences as a learner (which is true!), and these will help me develop an "enlightened approach" when I teach in the future.
      Moving onto the specific approaches Brown discusses, he mentions the Communicative Language Teaching (CLT). Some of the characteristics of this approach are to focus on all components (such as sociolinguistic, grammatical, discourse, etc.), create language techniques for meaningful purposes, focus on fluency and accuracy, apply real world contexts, and allow students to be aware of their own learning, and finally, students are active participants in their learning while teachers step back and guides them. Another important approach is the Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT). This approach has been said to be somewhat similar to CLT by both authors discussed in this post, Kumar and Brown. This approach focuses on the learner and meaning, using problem-solving to engage students and creating communicative goals with carefully designed elements. Like the CLT, it also applies real world contexts.
      Some of the others are: Learner-centered instruction (giving the learner a "sense of ownership" by allowing them to take control, use creativity and focus on their needs), Cooperative Learning (teaching them how to communicate effectively and work with others to accomplish a task), Interactive Learning (communicating effectively with others to create interaction in the classroom through negotiation, spontaneity, and authentic language input), Whole Language Education (viewing language as a whole and connecting between oral and written language), Content-Based Instruction (focusing on the study of language and subject matter, "with the form and sequence of language presentation dictated by content material). I believe each approach has disadvantages and advantages, teachers can design their own approach gathering the appropriate techniques and tasks from other approaches to fit their own classroom. I learned that in this profession, one has to be an observer of their own and others practices, analyze them, and become a researcher for their own classrooms.

Kumar and his article "TESOL methods: Changing Tracks, Challenging Trends".

      Kumar discusses different perspectives on the language teaching methods within the TESOL profession. He taps into CLT and TBLT and compares them historically discussing their disadvantages and advantages as approaches being currently used by teachers in the education field. There have been various arguments between CLT and TBLT given by theorists analyzing the reliability of these approaches. Overall, Kumar suggests that both approaches are effective depending on the classroom, because there is no definitive research on which one is better. He also touches on method-based versus postmethod pedagogy. He suggests that creating a new method is not the way to go, but instead it is to find a new way to help and advise teachers to create a sense of plausibility. Method should not be considered valuable anymore. Post method pedagogy helps language teachers be cautious and value the learner's context, carefully assess and treat the learner, and appropriately work with diverse students with aid from "local assessments of students' strategies for learning". And finally, he discusses critical discourse emphasizing on the importance of "extending the educational space to the social, cultural, political language use", not just settling on teaching the pragmatic domains of language use. It is to consider the culture and knowledge within the personal experiences of the students and teachers. Teachers have to create a sense of awareness on beliefs, identities and overall structure within the classroom environment.
      It is interesting to see the correlation between both authors and theories about CLT and TBLT, as well as post method pedagogy. Both agree that teachers have to have a sense of plausibility, awareness of the student's uniqueness, and reflect on their practices to develop a better teaching approach. After reading both assignments, I wonder what type of approach will I be using in the future to effectively teach my diverse students? or maybe a mix of various approaches?

Week 3: Kumar Ch 1 and 2 & Pennycook article

Kumaravadivelu Chapters 1 and 2 
       In chapter 1, the author describes three types of teacher roles. The first one is teachers as passive practitioners. These are traditional teachers focusing on teaching the content and sending information without implementing other types of resources, any context-specific learning, or original teaching techniques. Teachers as reflective practitioners, the second one, are the teachers who revise and analyse their own teaching, by reflecting before, after and during their lessons to locate, and fix their own mistakes while exceeding their strengths. These teachers also question their assumptions of their own teaching, and are involved in developing the appropriate curriculum for their classroom. The book describes teacher education as "an ongoing process throughout one's teaching career" (Kumar, 11). In my opinion, this phrase is pretty accurate because teachers should always research for the latest resources and teaching techniques, never give up, be aware of their own teaching, make changes in their own lessons if necessary, appropriately fit the needs of their students, question their own teaching techniques, and apply new strategies, as well as learn from their own professional development, personal experiences, students, and other professionals out there. Teachers can also be seen as transformative intellectuals. These professionals can reflect upon pedagogical theories and ideological principles as well as being conscious of the sociopolitical issues surrounding the school community. These teachers want education to move forward and focus on the issues affecting their classrooms and students. They want to make a change, be sensitive to cultural diversity and take action on issues affecting their students' education. As future teachers, it is always necessary to think pedagogically about our teaching and focus on the latest issues surrounding our own students' lives and school environment. 
       The main focus on chapter 2 is the word "method" breaking it down into three features: language-centered, learner-centered, and learning-centered. Language-centered methods focuses on linguistic forms, making sure the learner is practicing "preselected, presequenced linguistic structures through form-focused exercises" (Kumar, 25). The adult learner is consciously aware of their language learning mastering every structure at a time. The learner-centered method focuses on the learner's needs and language use, where students practice their written and oral language skills with others, being aware of their own learning, through activities that emphasizes on meaning and fluency. Learning-centered methods indicate the importance of learning processes, where students are involved in "open-ended meaningful interactions" using critical thinking, problem solving and communicative tasks (Kumar, 26). In this case, language learning occurs unconsciously most of the time. These three methods focus on specific sets of classroom procedures and principles. These methods do not describe all the classrooms in general because every classroom is unique. When there is more interaction, meaning-based activities and critical thinking involved in the language learning process, the student can reach implicit learning and mastery more easily the language. I know from experience that when students are learning a language, they can grasp the language faster by speaking with native speakers of the target language and become involved with the culture (e.g. by taking trips), so they can get a more hands-on learning experience and be more enthusiastic about their language learning. I know it is not always the case, where a student is able to take trips or speak with a native speaker, but if the activities are meaningful and challenging enough as well as interactive and enjoyable, I think the students will be interested in learning the language and achieve mastery. 
       The article "Critical Approaches to TESOL" by Alastair Pennycook 
This article analyzes themes that complement the critical approaches to TESOL. There are critical domains affecting TESOL, such as power, politics, inequality, discrimination, resistance and struggle. The teacher should avoid being biased when constructing a curriculum and being aware of on the current issues affecting culturally and linguistically diverse students. Language teaching is connected with cultural politics, social structure and unequal relations of power. All of these can affect students' lives, so the language teacher has to be aware of the issues, theories, and pedagogic development surrounding TESOL and take a positive approach. It is important to always be informed on the issues within TESOL. It is necessary to consider the political, cultural, and educational issues affecting TESOL students. I found the Kumar chapters and the Pennycook article interesting because these focus on topics that future language teachers should be aware of, such as creating the appropriate role and strategy/method that will benefit the appropriate classroom and individual students, as well as being aware of the problems affecting the schools and their diverse students. One has to think of the correct way to manage the issues and protect the diverse learners in the classroom and school environment.

Week 2: Brown Ch 1 & 2 and Pradhu article

Brown Chapter 1 and 2
         In chapter 1, the author describes one lesson given by a bilingual teacher to ELL college students. Then it goes more in depth by analyzing and questioning the type of teaching, specifically the approach, techniques and methods used by the teacher. The questions really help focus on specific details about the method she uses. For example, "Why did the T ask Ss for definitions? Wouldn't it be more efficient for the T to provide them?" (Brown, 8). These questions make you wonder the effectiveness of the method being used in the classroom. It makes me wonder why the teacher chose those techniques for the lesson and how effective and appropriate are they for these intermediate level students. It also touches on the activities and materials given to them as well as time constraints. Basically, no method is perfect. This chapter allows me to consider a variety of questions that I wouldn't think of if I was observing a classroom. If I would want to teach a classroom with this same lesson, or help these intermediate level students learn English, so they can appropriately use it in their local contexts or jobs, I would definitely have to question the validity and effectiveness of this teaching lesson using all these questions and research.
         In chapter 2, the author begins discussing the differences between various terminologies such as methods, design, techniques and approach. Later on, he emphasizes on different methods and approaches in detail. For example, "The Grammar Translation Method" (GTM) is an old way of language teaching that had been around for a while. One of the characteristics of it is that "much vocabulary is taught in the form of lists of isolated words" (Brown, 19), which reminds me of an ESL class I attended where we had to memorize and understand a bunch of isolated vocabulary words and verbs on a list. But, this ESL classroom was all in English, so not every characteristic of the GTM matches this ESL classroom, such as "classes are taught in the mother tongue, with little active use of the target language" (Brown, 19). The grammar translation method, audiolingual, and series and direct methods have their own characteristics that can be mixed to create the most appropriate method for a certain group of students. He also touches on other methods such as suggestopedia, the silent way, total physical response and the natural approach. All these methods have advantages and disadvantages within them, one just has to mix some of the methods to appropriately fit and effectively teach one's whole classroom as well as each individual. These methods are not wrong, but as the author suggested earlier, it is necessary to question every technique and method being used, so we can fully analyze its validity and enable program objectives to be attained.
"There is no best method-Why?" by Pradhu
        This article focuses on the idea that there is no best method of teaching. I think it matches nicely with Brown's chapters and the meaning of method. Everyone has different needs that cannot be fulfilled by using only one method. Students around the world have different languages, sociolinguistic and cultural backgrounds, attitudes, opinions and learning experiences. Each child has a different learning style, personality and psychological processes that affect the way they learn. Teachers, as well, have different ways of teaching and academic background, there is no one way of doing things. Every person has a different way of perceiving an idea or even a lesson. As Prabhu describes it: "The important issues are not which method to adopt but how to develop procedures and instructional activities that will enable program objectives to be attained?" (Prabhu, 165). I like this phrase because it emphasizes the importance of research, and to think pedagogically about how to develop the appropriate lesson and be able to effectively teach every diverse student. Teachers need to try to avoid mechanical teaching and focus more on sense of plausibility by being consciously aware of the variety of resources, such as other teachers and specialists, as well as using what they learned in school, their past teaching experiences and their own opinions in the classroom. If the teacher is passionate and involved, the students will be too. Teachers need to consider the student's personal factors, backgrounds, experiences, as well as their own and communicate with other fellow teachers and pedagogic specialists to fully attain an appropriate method for their classroom. This information has given me some insight on the word method and rethink what the important factors are to effectively teach my future classroom.

Week 1: First time blogger!

              Hello, my name is Melissa Shinke. I am a Bilingual Elementary Education major with Spanish and TESOL minors. I am looking forward to teach diverse children and develop age-appropriate and culturally-appropriate lesson plans for them. I wanted to get a TESOL minor because I also want to teach children or adults that need or want to learn English as a Second Language. I want to experience teaching an ESL classroom, not only because I want to become a language teacher and teach linguistically diverse children, but like them, I also had to attend ESL classrooms when I was younger!

               I am from Peru, South America and came to the United States 11 years ago. I had to take ESL classes in middle school and high school in the U.S, even though I already knew some English, and created friendships with classmates from South America, Hungary, India, and many more. Actually, my first best friend in the U.S. was a girl from Hungary and we struggled to communicate at first, but then created a wonderful friendship that has lasted for many years.

               In the future, I want to have a diverse learning environment helping ELL students overcome challenges, be proud of their own sociocultural and linguistic differences while respecting others, connect with the new culture and learn more than just the language. In the English 345 course,  I am looking forward to learning various teaching methods and the appropriate tools and materials to fit the needs of every culturally and linguistically diverse child, as well as to learn from other TESOL pre service teachers going through the same process as me.