MY TEACHING APPROACH

THE DIRECT METHOD

As a native Spanish speaker, I have a very good knowledge of studying a foreign language and how difficult can be sometimes.

I am a very energetic, honest and easy-going person who has developed a mature and responsible way to approach anything in life. I have always been passionate about helping people.  After I finished studying my three years degree as a special needs teacher I am very aware of students needs and I can be very helpful for them.  

I learnt English trough two different ways. The first one was only based on grammar. I could make a well structured sentence but I could not speak, which limited my ability to communicate. The second way I learnt it was through being immerse in the context. I could not use my mother tongue because I was surrounded by people who were all English speakers so that really helped my learning and my second language acquisition. Also, I managed to associate experience and expression, words and phrases, rules and performances.

 For this reasons, my teaching approach is based on the Direct Method, which I feel is the most natural way to learn a language.

 This method is based on the assumption that learners should experience the new language in the same way as they experienced their mother tongue without considering the existence of their mother tongue. I will be teaching Grammar indirectly through the implication of the situation created.  In summary, oral training helps in reading, writing, listening and speaking simultaneously. What is more, using oral transmission will help students to develop their skills more accurately and effectively.

My number one goal is to give my students the proper support to learn how to communicate and express themselves in the most efficient way. Listening and speaking are the most essential skills and the most beneficial for their future as this will allow them directly to communicate with others.

 In order to achieve this, it is necessary to identify each learner’s needs, to know their expectations, motivations, goals and feelings to be also able to get their attention. The session will never be the same for a shy learner, than for a chatty one, or for example for someone who is forced to learn English at work or school, than for someone who wants to explore the world and meet new people.

That´s why in every case it is important to create a suitable environment and make sure that the learners feel confident, and comfortable.

 In addition to that, I don´t want them to be afraid of making mistakes as I have always believed that teaching  inductively help the students as they are the most important part of the process. From my point of view, the attitude towards errors must always be positive. Repeat as much as needed and correct as much as necessary always taking into consideration the level that you are teaching in that moment.

 In terms of the way to approach, I will be giving the example and ask the students to work out the rule, then practice so they will be able to use it later on .So In the classroom, Inductive approaches to present new language are commonly found in course books, and form part of a general strategy to engage learners in what they learn. Some learners may need introduction to inductive approaches but after that, it will be very effective to give them the confident vision on how to learn. .

 I will be focusing on the meaning of the message and not that much on the grammar´s perfection as this is more functional. They will be having more interaction with the foreign language, learning strategies for understanding it and using their personal experiences to learn and practice the language.

 An example of how this would work with teaching is if you asked learners to listen to a conversation that includes examples of the use of the third conditional. I will check that the students understand the meaning of its use through checking learners' comprehension of the listening text, and only after this, I will be able to focus on the form, using the examples from the text to get rules for the form, its use and its pronunciation.

I want as much as possible to have fun, to laugh, to enjoy at the same time that they learn, because learning and having fun at the same time is possible.

 Furthermore, this is why it’s very important to grade the language to each student`s level, to make sure they get the most of the "teacher talking time “(so they can imitate the sounds later on as the pronunciation is fundamental), as well as ‘’student talking time’’,(so they get to practice and check what they have learnt).

 I will normally work with my laptop as I find this the easiest and the most useful method to present exercises and do them with the students. They will engage very well as they are very familiar with all the technology devices, always adapting myself to the students needs. The teacher will be their imitation model, therefore I want to create a very good relationship with them, I don´t want them to see me as the typical serious teacher model.

 In addition to that, I want basically to be engaged with my students through conversations due to my previous experiences of learning, because I believe that the best way to learn English is through conversations. I want them also to learn with games, listening to music that they like, watching videos, etc.

 I will also use authentic material as articles for them to discuss in class and give their opinion as I will focus the session on interacting and talking about personal experiences so their attention will be higher and makes it very interesting for them. What is more, the sessions will be only given in English so If they wanted to explain something  that they did not know the name, they will need to find they method or strategy, using body language or synonymous ,for example, and work out how to explain it and make themselves understood.

We all know that English is now the global language, connecting people around the world, and the way it is taught is changing. Developments in technology are breaking down barriers and opening up new ideas and ways of teaching.

In the future, I see myself teaching with the same goal, so I really hope that I will be able to carry on teaching more functional, the students can start at a very young age using the communicative method.

 I am aware that times change and its changing very fast so I’m on board with the fact I will have to use different devices to get students attention and adapt myself to them. There are more tools so both the learning and the teaching will be more intense. I will be working with the students anywhere using the modern technology as interactive screens, videos, audios, teaching platforms or the virtual reality devices using different backgrounds, different sessions as cooking, football, tennis or fishing, or any kind of game, depending on the interest of the student.

 Modern technology is allowing teaching to reach places that would be unthinkable to reach without it. The best examples for this are the Online Classes. Nowadays this has become a useful method of teaching people from all over the world. It is more difficult than in-person method because of the interaction, but very useful for those people that cannot attend classes.

 However, the trick for me is to work on the language acquisition as that does not involve that much of explicit teaching that could be boring sometimes. I will get more chances to do everything more functional, get to practice writing, reading, speaking and pronunciation with all the modern technical devices and make the classes more fun and get the students attention more easily.