This is going to be fairly repetitive but this article sums up what we've been talking about for the past week or two so it seems fairly basic to me. It creates a classroom experience in which CLT is used successfully in most situations. It answers some basic questions about how CLT helps the students as far as accuracy and fluency are concerned.
I see CLT as a useful method to take into consideration but I also think that it has it's limits, as with every method we've studied. It may work in an American classroom with our culture and norms, or with students who have lived here for some time, but I think there are a lot of students from around the world who come from different backgrounds and social rules that would find this uncomfortable and unlearnable as far as a method. This could be because of the construction of their own educational systems but it is important to note that this method is quite like the others in that it will work for some and not work for others.
Though it may be difficult, we as teachers have to also consider our environment and how our students learn best. Thus teaching abroad may be a bit more of complicated matter (and the reason I bring this up is because that is what I want to do) and should be treated as such when coming from a culture such as ours. There is a need to get to know and learn about the culture before we assume we can use our own methods and gain the same results we may have in the United States.
That's what this article made me think of.
peace & grace.
Monday, September 12, 2011
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Pennycook
To start Pennycook describes the critical approaches to tesol and the questions that go along with that. According to Pennycook there are 3:
1.the domain or area of interest. to what extent do particular domains define a critical approach?
2.a transformative pedagogy. how does the particular approach to education hope to change things?
3.a self-reflexive stance on critical theory. to what extent does the work constantly question common assumptions, including it's own?
In this particular article there is a lot of discussion on how to connect the classroom, students, and teachers to the outside world; to social, political, and racial issues which also include sexuality and ethnicity. This is what Pennycook calls critical domain.
Penneycook notes that it not only has to do with political and social aspects but how these aspects affect power relations in the life of the teachers, students, parents, and community. All these factors play a role in how a student learns in the classroom.
A quote that stood out to me is as follows:
"It is not enough to connect TESOL to the world - it must connect to struggles of power, inequality, discrimination, resistance, and struggle." (5)
Generally I think these ideas of connecting, not only to the students, but to the power struggles they endure everyday, has been discussed many times in our TESOL classes and in the articles we've read, what Pennycook brought up which came across as somewhat new to me, is the idea of violence towards 'otherness' and how this violence affects the learning environment. We see, everyday, in the media and on the streets the outcome of hatred towards 'otherness' and how it affects the world but, as a future teacher, I had yet to consider how such factors, how such violence and struggle in the world, may change the way a classroom environment is created and used. Students may find themselves uncomfortable or afraid to speak out due to outside sources of what they see and hear everyday which changes the way they learn in the class, if they are able to learn at all.
This plays into the idea of English and how the language itself is a global power and can have a profoundly negative affect on how students view their own native language on top of how they may learn English in the classroom and how they use it in a public context. All of these issues have a profound affect on the students ability to learn and our own theories on teaching and teaching methods cannot always accommodate such a wide diversity in a classroom.
This leaves us with the question, once again nagging, is there a point to finding a 'one method fits all' ideal when there is such diversity that it may not be possible?
Either way there is an importance to our theorizing TESOL because it can open our eyes to new issues which come up in the world outside of the classroom, giving us a chance, as teachers, to address them with our students in the best method possible for each class or each student.
peace & grace
1.the domain or area of interest. to what extent do particular domains define a critical approach?
2.a transformative pedagogy. how does the particular approach to education hope to change things?
3.a self-reflexive stance on critical theory. to what extent does the work constantly question common assumptions, including it's own?
In this particular article there is a lot of discussion on how to connect the classroom, students, and teachers to the outside world; to social, political, and racial issues which also include sexuality and ethnicity. This is what Pennycook calls critical domain.
Penneycook notes that it not only has to do with political and social aspects but how these aspects affect power relations in the life of the teachers, students, parents, and community. All these factors play a role in how a student learns in the classroom.
A quote that stood out to me is as follows:
"It is not enough to connect TESOL to the world - it must connect to struggles of power, inequality, discrimination, resistance, and struggle." (5)
Generally I think these ideas of connecting, not only to the students, but to the power struggles they endure everyday, has been discussed many times in our TESOL classes and in the articles we've read, what Pennycook brought up which came across as somewhat new to me, is the idea of violence towards 'otherness' and how this violence affects the learning environment. We see, everyday, in the media and on the streets the outcome of hatred towards 'otherness' and how it affects the world but, as a future teacher, I had yet to consider how such factors, how such violence and struggle in the world, may change the way a classroom environment is created and used. Students may find themselves uncomfortable or afraid to speak out due to outside sources of what they see and hear everyday which changes the way they learn in the class, if they are able to learn at all.
This plays into the idea of English and how the language itself is a global power and can have a profoundly negative affect on how students view their own native language on top of how they may learn English in the classroom and how they use it in a public context. All of these issues have a profound affect on the students ability to learn and our own theories on teaching and teaching methods cannot always accommodate such a wide diversity in a classroom.
This leaves us with the question, once again nagging, is there a point to finding a 'one method fits all' ideal when there is such diversity that it may not be possible?
Either way there is an importance to our theorizing TESOL because it can open our eyes to new issues which come up in the world outside of the classroom, giving us a chance, as teachers, to address them with our students in the best method possible for each class or each student.
peace & grace
Monday, September 5, 2011
Kuma Chapters 1 + 2
Kuma's first chapter, I think, was important in learning about the different ways we categorize ourselves as teachers and how that plays a role in our teaching ability. It's interesting to look how theory differs from practice and how we, as teachers, come to recognize this in our own teaching. What I focused on further was the Table 1.1, which was a chart summarizing the different roles of a teacher and comparing their different approaches to decide which may be better as far as what's needed in the classroom. The outcome is fairly obvious but I still think this chart holds valuable information on what is important in teaching and how each role is used when teaching.
The second chapter for Kuma discussed the transition to post method pedagogy, which goes back to the article we read about a week ago which Kuma also wrote about the three transitions concerning this idea. What Kuma delves into here is the ways in which we can create a post method pedagogy that will benefit students and teachers in the classroom. Kuma gives us a valuable tool to start creating a more rounded and useful way of teaching which will further help a more diverse group of students and teachers.
The second chapter for Kuma discussed the transition to post method pedagogy, which goes back to the article we read about a week ago which Kuma also wrote about the three transitions concerning this idea. What Kuma delves into here is the ways in which we can create a post method pedagogy that will benefit students and teachers in the classroom. Kuma gives us a valuable tool to start creating a more rounded and useful way of teaching which will further help a more diverse group of students and teachers.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Kuma and Murcia
Alright, let's just start with the first article I read, the Celce-Murcia article, which was an overview of methods and how each method compares, or is in reaction to, previous method.
The first thing that caught my eye was on page 3 of the article where they discuss the differences between approach, method, and technique. I thought this was important because all three sound so similar and to define each gives us a better understanding of how each idea works within teaching. That was fairly confusing for me at the beginning, differentiating between the three and a working definition which separates the three is definitely helpful.
I also thought it was helpful that the authors summarized their ideas about choosing methodology by creating three rules by which to choose and use a method. Their rules were based off of valid criteria, such as classroom size, student diversity in learning, time constraint, etc. Though these 'rules' may not help in all cases, they bring up an important guideline for those who may be searching for a good method for their teaching.
And finally, on a more random note, I liked the quote they placed at the end, on page 8:
Adapt; don't adopt -Clifford Prator
I feel it holds a certain significance in how we should teach and how sometimes in teaching, or many times, we have to learn to think on our feet and adapt to the situations we find in the classroom where methodology won't give us all the answers. This idea of adapting, and knowing how to adapt, is important than for teaching because adopting a method won't always be the answer while teaching.
Second article I'll briefly touch on is the article by Kuma. The article mainly discussed three transitions which teaching has undergone:
1. communicative language teaching to task based language teaching
2. method based pedagogy to post method pedagogy
3. systemic discovery to critical discourse
The article made it clear that the advances made in the study of teaching and method has transitioned us to change the way we feel about using any one method at all. Instead Kuma sees the method changing into Task Based learning, which in many instances covers a multitude of methods, giving the classroom and teacher a more rounded way of teaching.
I see this as important as an observation because it means we, as teachers, no longer have to confine ourselves to choosing one method over another, and instead we can teach to students of many backgrounds and learning proficiencies. (Not that we couldn't do this before, this article merely shows a more broad acceptance of this kind of teaching).
The first thing that caught my eye was on page 3 of the article where they discuss the differences between approach, method, and technique. I thought this was important because all three sound so similar and to define each gives us a better understanding of how each idea works within teaching. That was fairly confusing for me at the beginning, differentiating between the three and a working definition which separates the three is definitely helpful.
I also thought it was helpful that the authors summarized their ideas about choosing methodology by creating three rules by which to choose and use a method. Their rules were based off of valid criteria, such as classroom size, student diversity in learning, time constraint, etc. Though these 'rules' may not help in all cases, they bring up an important guideline for those who may be searching for a good method for their teaching.
And finally, on a more random note, I liked the quote they placed at the end, on page 8:
Adapt; don't adopt -Clifford Prator
I feel it holds a certain significance in how we should teach and how sometimes in teaching, or many times, we have to learn to think on our feet and adapt to the situations we find in the classroom where methodology won't give us all the answers. This idea of adapting, and knowing how to adapt, is important than for teaching because adopting a method won't always be the answer while teaching.
Second article I'll briefly touch on is the article by Kuma. The article mainly discussed three transitions which teaching has undergone:
1. communicative language teaching to task based language teaching
2. method based pedagogy to post method pedagogy
3. systemic discovery to critical discourse
The article made it clear that the advances made in the study of teaching and method has transitioned us to change the way we feel about using any one method at all. Instead Kuma sees the method changing into Task Based learning, which in many instances covers a multitude of methods, giving the classroom and teacher a more rounded way of teaching.
I see this as important as an observation because it means we, as teachers, no longer have to confine ourselves to choosing one method over another, and instead we can teach to students of many backgrounds and learning proficiencies. (Not that we couldn't do this before, this article merely shows a more broad acceptance of this kind of teaching).
Monday, August 29, 2011
Not Sure What to Say
This particular book, our reading chapter 1 and 2, will not be happening for me since I have yet to receive my book. I will post on those chapters when I receive the book. Sorry guys.
peace & grace,
Kiersten
peace & grace,
Kiersten
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Who Speaks English Today?
This particular article talked a lot about different models that were used to portray the spread of English and how each model worked well or didn't work well in that goal. I'm sure there have been discussions of the spread of English in my TESOL classes before but this article struck me as particularly in depth on the subject, going so far as to point out discrepancies with each model and how those models were subsequently changed to try and better them. I don't believe that there can ever be a perfect model on the spread of English because there are so many components to that kind of history. As the article mentions, the spread of English can be geographical, economical, cultural, international, etc. and each of these components play a key role in how the language spread thus making it difficult to portray it on paper or in a drawing.
This becomes further complicated, as the article states, by the different assumptions made by the models' author and how some of the models placed a higher significance, or power, in the hands of the native speaker. This can be controversial because there are many non native speakers who may be as proficient or at a higher level of proficiency then that of the native speaker. English can no longer be placed in small boxes, neatly organized in it's specific categories. There are too many speakers of English, since it is a lingua franca, for it to be confined to such a small organizational strategy.
I see that as the importance of this article because it has an at length discussion on the fact that English is so wide spread that the models we have previously used to show it's spread are now holding us back from fully understanding just how English has been used and continues to be used nationally and internationally. Thus I think the title of the article itself gives us a lot of insight, 'Who Speaks English Today?' is a valid and important question in how we create and use models to explain that use of the language.
And now I've lost my train of thought but I hope it makes sense from what I've written that I find this article to be very enlightening and, i think, extremely important when considering just how unorganized the use of English is and how all the different factors of the language use change the way we view the spread of English.
This becomes further complicated, as the article states, by the different assumptions made by the models' author and how some of the models placed a higher significance, or power, in the hands of the native speaker. This can be controversial because there are many non native speakers who may be as proficient or at a higher level of proficiency then that of the native speaker. English can no longer be placed in small boxes, neatly organized in it's specific categories. There are too many speakers of English, since it is a lingua franca, for it to be confined to such a small organizational strategy.
I see that as the importance of this article because it has an at length discussion on the fact that English is so wide spread that the models we have previously used to show it's spread are now holding us back from fully understanding just how English has been used and continues to be used nationally and internationally. Thus I think the title of the article itself gives us a lot of insight, 'Who Speaks English Today?' is a valid and important question in how we create and use models to explain that use of the language.
And now I've lost my train of thought but I hope it makes sense from what I've written that I find this article to be very enlightening and, i think, extremely important when considering just how unorganized the use of English is and how all the different factors of the language use change the way we view the spread of English.
Transitioning
Hello all,
A quick announcement:
Since I used this blog for my TESOL class last year it will now be transitioning to be used in my next TESOL class, Eng 345. This is a space where I will be reflecting upon the different theories and controversies in TESOL. Hope you enjoy!
peace &grace,
Kiersten
A quick announcement:
Since I used this blog for my TESOL class last year it will now be transitioning to be used in my next TESOL class, Eng 345. This is a space where I will be reflecting upon the different theories and controversies in TESOL. Hope you enjoy!
peace &grace,
Kiersten
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