My Approach to Teaching English

It is my belief that we are all lifelong self-learners. Like the Cognitivists I believe that we have an innate ability to learn new skills including language. Whether we are conscious of it or not we spend our lives acquiring new skills and refining those that we have. As babies we teach ourselves to crawl and then to walk. As adults we make choices everyday on the most functional ways to move and communicate. It is my primary role as a teacher to help learners realise their potential to learn language and to facilitate their learning.

Like the Constructivists, I believe in an approach which builds on the knowledge of a learner and takes into account a learner’s background and needs. This way, “when one teaches, two learn”; teachers are invited to learn the best way to teach each learner and are therefore continually learning themselves. I believe this relational approach creates a ‘down to earth’ environment which puts learners at ease and in my opinion creates optimal conditions for language acquisition.

The desired outcome of my approach is communicative competence; specifically, to empower learners to communicate effectively, appropriately and with ease for their required function.

The Mind-Body methodology (“the Method”)

With the above in mind I set out an English for a Specific Purpose (“ESP”) methodology to teach English to teachers of mind-body practices (e.g. yoga, martial arts). The delivery of mind-body practices (“practices”) is a growing field with many teachers choosing teaching as their sole  source of income. Whilst practices can be taught in any language there is a greater demand for teaching in English and the ability to teach in English will increase job opportunities for teachers and improve their marketability.

The Target Group

The Method is for teachers of mind-body practices who are currently teaching in their mother tongue (and or other language) and who are looking to teach their practice in English. As such, the course is for those who have an intermediate or above level of English. To increase accessibility the course is offered as a six week course, one day a week, allowing those who work full-time to attend. To increase opportunity, a scholarship place will be available for a learner who displays high motivation but faces financial challenges funding the course.

Characteristics of the Method

The Method will:

• cover all the macro skills, focusing on listening & speaking

• develop from listening & speaking to reading & writing

• use the target language (“TL”) only

• introduce grammar and spelling inductively

• aim for 80%  Student Talk Time (“STT”)

• include auditory, visual & kinesthetic learning

• take place in a studio

• use realia and authentic materials

• start sessions with vocabulary, incorporate structure and build to topics

• graduate from graded to authentic language

• build on prior knowledge

• teach through content, tasks and participation

• share learning materials online

The Method is inspired by the Communicative Language Teaching method. The Method shares characteristics with the Direct method and is influenced by and incorporates procedures and techniques from other methods.

The foci of the Method will be listening and speaking as these are the main skills required for teaching. In addition to being able to instruct, learners will acquire the ability to understand and respond to the needs of their students. Reading and writing will be acquired to enable teachers to market themselves in the TL. The course will begin with a focus on accuracy (speaking & listening) and develop towards fluency (reading & writing).

The language of the classroom will be English; if learners aim to teach in English then I believe they need to be immersed in the language in the learning environment. Further, given that learners have an intermediate (and above) level of English I feel this is an appropriate choice.

Grammar and spelling will be introduced inductively so that learners can actively acquire grammar rules through use and spelling through pronunciation and reading. I believe this natural method of acquisition will result in higher retention rates of TL and a better overall understanding of TL. Drilling will be avoided except for pronunciation as I do not believe it leads to long-term retention and or understanding.

As communicative competence is the aim STT will be 80%. I believe STT improves knowledge and understanding and also helps increase learner confidence.

To appreciate different types of learners and to keep things interesting I will include auditory, visual and kinesthetic activities. For example, I will use Total Physical Response(“TPR”) techniques to teach the semantic field of ‘body parts/muscles’ as this contextualises the language being taught and makes things fun.

Learning will take place in a studio with realia so the environment is as authentic as possible and materials can be used by learners. This is an environment where learners will feel at ease as it is their working environment. Like the Suggestopedia method I believe that a relaxed and comfortable environment aids acquisition.

Sessions will develop from vocabulary to topics; I believe this is a logical way to structure a session. It also aligns with the principle of graduating from graded to authentic language. Sessions will build on prior knowledge, as such new vocabulary will be introduced with cognates.

Given this is an ESP I think both content and task-based instruction will be useful here for contextualised learning. For example, learners will read website content to learn how TL is used in teacher biographies before writing their own.

For ease and to be environmentally friendly course objectives, structures and materials will be offered online.

Method Outcomes

By the end of the course learners will be able to:

• Name all major body parts and muscles used to teach their practice

• Instruct a class in their practice

• Understand and respond to common injuries, conditions and the needs of their students

• Give a short talk about their teaching practice

• Write their teacher biography

• Correspond with employers by email about teaching classes

A Learner-centred Approach

Amongst adults needs and goals vary greatly. Before developing the syllabus, I will meet learners individually to learn about their knowledge, background, motivations and goals. Getting to know your learners and establishing good rapport is essential to good teaching; good rapport keeps learners motivated to learn. Since these learners are attending the course to improve their chances of employment their motivation to learn should be quite high. To maintain high motivation levels I will involve learners in creating content for the course. The assessment will help me create content that is interesting for learners and establish the zone of proximal development (“ZPD”) for each learner so I can assess how best to teach them.

An Example Syllabus

An Example of a Session: Week 3 Student Interaction

This structure is inspired by the Present, Practice, Produce method (“PPP”). Like the concept of scaffolding in the ZPD theory, I believe this is a supportive way of developing learner skills over the day.

The Learning Environment

As the Method is for professional use I believe immediate correction will generally be beneficial for learners; however, affective factors such as personality will be taken into account when judging when to correct. I will encourage learners to self-correct errors by using non-verbal communication (e.g. eye contact) that prompts them to review their language use. Rather than naming ‘errors’, I prefer to repeat sentences back to learners with corrections so they can recognise their error. Repeated errors including interlanguage errors (over a session) will be sent in a group email at the end of the day.

Whilst an intermediate level of English is required for this course, I am aware that the gap between intermediate and advanced can be significant. Where necessary I will adapt my pace and grade language for the different levels. If necessary I will model for lower levels as I believe it is a good way to aid learners grasp meaning quickly.

The teacher’s role in the Method is to facilitate the best environment for language learning for their learners. In my opinion the optimal environment is an open and supportive environment where learners feel at ease and not afraid to make errors.

Learners are self managers of their learning; learners are involved in their learning activities and take responsibility for their learning. I believe this involvement keeps learners interested and motivation high.

Assessment

Given this course is for a professional purpose, I think it is beneficial for learners to be assessed. Formative assessment will help learners monitor their progress and show whether objectives are being met. Forms of continuous assessment include weekly homework and self assessment. Final fixed assessments will help learners work towards goals and the teacher to assess whether outcomes have been met.

At the heart of my teaching approach is always the learner. There are so many factors that affect the best way to teach learners; I do not believe there is one method that works for all but I do believe there is a method that works for each learner and that it is my role as a teacher to facilitate the best method for each learner and empower them in the process.

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