A Statement Outlining Educational Beliefs and Teaching Style

A statement outlining educational beliefs and teaching style
Many students equate being able to speak a language as knowing the

language and therefore view learning the language as learning how to speak the
language, or as Nunan (1991) wrote, "success is measured in terms of the ability to
carry out a conversation in the (target) language." Therefore, if students do not learn
how to speak or do not get any opportunity to speak in the language classroom they
may soon get de-motivated and lose interest in learning. On the other hand, if the
right activities are taught in the right way, speaking in class can be a lot of fun,
raising general learner motivation and making the English language classroom a fun
and dynamic place to be.
If the goal is to enable students to communicate in English, then speaking

skills should be taught and practiced in the language classroom. Most of the times the
problem is that students feel shy about talking in front of other students then one
way to go about breaking this cultural barrier is to create and establish my own
classroom culture where speaking out loud in English is the norm. One way to do this
is to distinguish your classroom from other classrooms in your school by arranging
the classroom desks differently, in groups instead of lines etc. or by decorating the
walls in English language and culture posters.
From day one I teach my students classroom language and keep on teaching
it and encourage them to ask for things and to ask questions in English. Giving
positive feedback also helps to encourage and relax shy students to speak more.
Another way to get students motivated to speak more is to allocate a percentage of
their final grade to speaking skills and let the students know they are being assessed
continually on their speaking practice in class throughout the term.
A completely different reason for student silence may simply be that the class
activities are boring or are pitched at the wrong level. Very often our interesting
communicative speaking activities are not quite as interesting or as communicative as
we think they are and all the students are really required to do is answer 'yes' or 'no'
which they do quickly and then just sit in silence or worse talking noisily in their L1.
So maybe you need to take a closer look at the type of speaking activities you are
using and see if they really capture student interest and create a real need for
communication
Learner centered classrooms where learners do the talking in groups and

learners have to take responsibility for using communicative resources to complete a
task are shown to be more conducive to language learning than teacher centered
classes. Nevertheless, many classrooms all over the world continue to be teacher
centered, so the question you have to ask yourself is, how learner centered is my
classroom?
Losing control of the classroom, on the other hand, is a different issue. Once
again walking around and monitoring the students as they are working in groups can
help, as you can naturally move over to the part of the classroom where the noise is
coming from and calm the rogue students down and focus them back on the task
without disrupting the rest of the students who are working well in their groups. If
students really get too rowdy then simply change the pace of the class and type of
activity to a more controlled task, for example a focus on form or writing task where
students have to work in silence individually. Once the students have calmed down
you can return to the original or another interactive group activity.
Errors are a key part of the learning process and give teachers essential -
and reliable - information about where their learners are, and what needs to be done
next. It is important to emphasise the positive role errors have and to involve
learners in correction, for example by using correction codes, doing group correction
of writing or by dealing with typical spoken errors as a class after a speaking activity
One of the primary roles as a teacher is that of designer and implementor of

instruction. Teachers at every level prepare plans that aid in the organization and
delivery of their daily lessons. These plans vary widely in the style and degree of
specificity. Some instructors prefer to construct elaborate detailed and impeccably typed
outlines; others rely on the briefest of notes handwritten on scratch pads or on the backs
of discarded envelopes. Regardless of the format, all teachers need to make wise
decisions about the strategies and methods they will employ to help students move
systematically toward learner goals.
Teachers need more than a vague, or even a precise, notion of educational goals
and objectives to be able to sequence these objectives or to be proficient in the skills and
knowledge of a particular discipline. The effective teacher also needs to develop a plan to
provide direction toward the attainment of the selected objectives. The more organized a
teacher is, the more effective the teaching, and thus the learning, is. Writing daily lesson
plans is a large part of being organized.
Every teacher is to have a documented approach to homework that takes into
account the needs of the students and the phase of their development, and reflects the
context of the school. Homework can support higher levels of student achievement by
extending the time available for students to consolidate skills and concepts learned at
school. It also extends the time available for the exploration of new ideas and new
situations.
Homework can also extend the time available to the teacher for the monitoring of
student progress.
In terms of vocabulary teaching,an important aspect is to foster learner

independence so that learners will be able to deal with new lexis and expand their
vocabulary beyond the end of the course. Therefore guided discovery, contextual
guesswork and using dictionaries should be the main ways to deal with discovering
meaning.
Guided discovery involve asking questions or offering examples that guide

students to guess meanings correctly. In this way learners get involved in a process of
semantic processing that helps learning and retention.
Contextual guesswork means making use of the context in which the word appears to
derive an idea of its meaning, or in some cases, guess from the word itself, as in words
of Latin origin. Knowledge of word formation, e.g. prefixes and suffixes, can also help
guide students to discover meaning. Teachers can help students with specific techniques
and practice in contextual guesswork, for example, the understanding of discourse
markers and identifying the function of the word in the sentence (e.g. verb, adjective,
noun). The latter is also very useful when using dictionaries.
Students should start using EFL dictionaries as early as possible, from

Intermediate upwards. With adequate training, dictionaries are an invaluable tool for
learners, giving them independence from the teacher. As well as understanding
meaning, students are able to check pronunciation, the grammar of the word (e.g. verb
patterns, verb forms, plurality, comparatives, etc.), different spelling (American versus
British), style and register, as well as examples that illustrate usage.
To sum up, the role of teachers today is to adapt and adopt new practices that
acknowledge both the art and science of learning. They understand that the essence of
education is a close relationship between a knowledgeable, caring adult and a secure,
motivated child. They grasp that their most important role is to get to know each student
as an individual in order to comprehend his or her unique needs, learning style, social
and cultural background, interests, and abilities. Their job is to counsel students as they
grow and mature -- helping them integrate their social, emotional, and intellectual
growth -- so the union of these sometimes separate dimensions yields the abilities to
seek, understand, and use knowledge; to make better decisions in their personal lives;
and to value contributing to society. They must be prepared and permitted to intervene
at any time and in any way to make sure learning occurs. Rather than see themselves
solely as masters of subject matter such as history, math, or science, teachers
increasingly understand that they must also inspire a love of learning.
The most respected teachers have discovered how to make students passionate
participants in the instructional process by providing project-based, participatory,
educational adventures. They know that in order to get students to truly take
responsibility for their own education, the curriculum must relate to their lives, learning
activities must engage their natural curiosity, and assessments must measure real
accomplishments and be an integral part of learning.
Students work harder when teachers give them a role in determining the form and
content of their schooling -- helping them create their own learning plans and deciding
the ways in which they will demonstrate that they have, in fact, learned what they
agreed to learn.

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A statement outlining educational beliefs and teaching style

Many students equate being able to speak a language as knowing the

If the goal is to enable students to communicate in English, then speaking

Learner centered classrooms where learners do the talking in groups and

One of the primary roles as a teacher is that of designer and implementor of

In terms of vocabulary teaching,an important aspect is to foster learner

Guided discovery involve asking questions or offering examples that guide

Students should start using EFL dictionaries as early as possible, from

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