Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching - Essay Example

Reflections on IDS As I gazed through the hall of the name of university on the first day of classes, I told myself, here I am again, encountering new structures, new faces, and definitely, new challenges. It was not long ago since I felt this way when I arrived here in name of city and felt the need to make friends with some people in our community. The question that looms over my mind whenever faced with a totally new experience is, ‘Am I ready to take on the challenges?’ Without an answer, I usually proceed to do what is asked, follow the rules, and hope for the best. Fortunately, the coping mechanisms I apply have worked to make me adjust in time. However, these mechanisms, coupled with a positive disposition, are not an assurance to succeed in the university. There are skills that I have to develop in order to make it to the final event, the college graduation. Fortunately, I am not alone in facing the challenges of university life. The school, through its program, Introduction to Degree Studies (IDS) makes me feel confident that help is available to international students like me every time we need it. Gradually, the fears I had during the first week of my studies have transformed into challenges and later to adventures owing to the learning I gained from the course. The needs of a new student, especially a foreign national, are different from the needs of regular students. Regular students can adapt faster to their environment despite being new to the university because they have support systems to guide them such as their family, friends, and community. In contrast, foreign students have no one to turn to in times of need. Although they can always call up home or log on the net to communicate with their loved ones, it is still not the same as having their family and friends beside them especially in times of need. This experience, in addition to the barriers brought by language and culture, is made worse by the struggles foreign students encounter in coping with school requirements. Considering the difficulties that have to be addressed by each student, IDS, with its goal of guiding new students, is a wise effort by the school. Through IDS, foreign students are given the chance to prove their worth and excel in academics. The values I gained from attending IDS are immeasurable. First of all, the course has led me to gain insights about myself as a learner. The VARK assessments done in the course have guided me to realize my learning potential and to improve my learning habits. The exercises informed me that I am a visual-kinesthetic learner. Based on this, I realized that I have a lot to change about the ways I learn. My past learning habits are not in line with being a visual-kinesthetic learner. In light of this, I have changed the way I study, and make it a point now to read my lessons while taking down notes at the same time. Sometimes I used a white board and a marker to jot down my notes. This way, I get to maximize my visual-kinesthetic potential. Nevertheless, I also try to develop my auditory skills by listening to some music or radio news before going to sleep. So far, this has helped me concentrate and visualize the words I hear even without seeing them. Secondly, IDS has guided me to learn new skills, which are equally important in university studies. One skill I improved with the help of IDS is my writing skill. In the past, I never used an outline to guide my thoughts in writing compositions. I just wrote whatever came up my mind, and never bothered to jot down and organize my ideas before writing. Through IDS, I realized that everything I write should be based on an outline. There should be a proper introduction, body and conclusion, or else the composition will not be considered an academic writing. The introduction orients the readers to the issue being tackled in the text, whereas the conclusion reiterates the arguments presented and gives the author’s parting message to tie up loose endings. Relevantly, I also learned that the same sequence holds true in doing presentations. Before presenting the content, a presenter needs to introduce the topic first, and at the end, sum up the points presented for emphasis. Thirdly, IDS also taught me how to do presentations using MS PowerPoint. I must admit that presenting is one skill I really hope to learn because I know it is necessary in the professional field. Thus, when I found out that IDS will cover the topic, I felt really excited to learn. The hands-on exercises and samples we had in class allowed me to explore the different ways to prepare the materials and to execute the presentation itself. The valuable lessons I learned will be useful in the future when I conduct reports and presentations in other subjects and in my job as well. Fourthly, IDS also equipped me with additional computer knowledge and skills. From the lessons we had about Office software are very useful. I never realized the many functions of Excel worksheets until my professor discussed them to us. The knowledge I gained will be very useful in doing research and other math-related presentations later on. The computer functions we were taught further promoted my interest in computers. At least now I can boast of knowing how to use the computer besides using it for online games and networking sites. Relevantly, we also touched on some math lessons, which provided room for practice. What was better about the IDS math exercises was that they did not bring much pressure unlike the regular Math subjects. Fifthly, IDS has given me a good amount of knowledge in conducting research. The ability to conduct research is a must for every college student. The discussions and activities we had regarding computing for mean, median, and standard deviation served as future resource skills I can rely on when I conduct my own research in the future. Moreover, the exercise of conducting a simple survey has given me insights on the value of sampling and provided more information on the differences between a quantitative and a qualitative research. In addition, through IDS, I learned the disparity between academic and non-academic sources. Academic sources are research sources or papers written by professional or authorities in a certain field, which have been prepared for learning and not for commercial purposes. These materials include peer-reviewed journals, books, academic websites, and many more. Specifically, our teacher made us realize the differences between academic or reliable sources an non-academic sources. For example, when looking for academic research online, I realized I should never use Wikipedia and other similar sites because the information found in those sites are not reliable. Nevertheless, Wikipedia is an immediate reference to gain background information on a certain subject or issue but the details in the site should not be used as sources for academic research. In addition, online content should be carefully examined to identify whether it provides true information or not. Sixthly, I learned the proper use of materials for research (eg, articles, figures, direct quotes or even a single statement written by another author). In writing a research or an academic material, it is important to use proper in-text citation and referencing styles. Our IDS teacher informed us of the important use of referencing styles to give proper credit to the author and to avoid committing plagiarism. Without such lessons, I would be ignorant of the proper way of researching. Worse, I could be plagiarizing content without knowing it. IDS saved me from near humiliation and equipped me with the required knowledge to cite resources and avoid plagiarizing content. Plagiarism is a serious school offense. Therefore, every student should learn to avoid it by knowing how to reference sources properly. Seventhly, IDS has helped me realize the value of reading newspapers, magazines, and other materials aside from the notes given by our professors. By reading English materials aside from those that we encounter in academic subjects, I have made a good progress in the use of the English language and in comprehending texts. IDS made me realize more how reading influences a person’s ability to store and analyze data. In the past, I get bored easily with non-illustrated books and long texts. I never got myself a novel to read. However, now, I am trying to develop a reading habit, reading everyday according to my interest. Although I have not started to read classics, I make it a point to read the daily news and some materials related to my course from Google Scholar at least for one hour every night. So far, these attempts have cultivated in me the love for reading and knowledge, and I promise myself to continue the reading habit to make me a more competent student. Eighthly, IDS has made me become a more responsible learner. The discussions we had about time management and study habits were helpful to make me realize how important time is. In the past, I used to watch TV to while away time or play computer games to avoid feeling nostalgic. Without realizing it, I have lost a lot of time, which could have been better spent on studying lessons. Through IDS, I realized the value of time. Although I still watch TV everyday, I have learned to limit my TV time, and devoted some of my it to going to the library and completing assignments in advance. I believe I have made progress in the way I manage time, however, I still have some areas to improve on such as spending some of my time for sports and organizational activities. Outside activities can help to improve my health and personality, thus I should make a plan on how to include them in my schedule. Ninthly, IDS has helped me become a more mature individual. My encounters with other students have led me to discover my own personal strengths and weaknesses. In particular, the Belbin exercises we had in class helped me to overcome my shyness and reservations. The group activities we had served to bridge the gaps among the students. The cultural diversity somehow disappeared as we completed the activities with rigor and enthusiasm. Importantly, the group interactions paved way to sharing beliefs and culture, appreciating individual differences, and achieving solidarity despite the cultural gap. Moreover, the exercises promoted the camaraderie and trust among us, students. After the course, I walked through the halls with more confidence and a smile on my face to the friends I met in the IDS course. Finally, the IDS course gave me more direction in my field of study. Overall, by providing input and exercises in math, research/statistics, computer, presentation, and writing compositions, I gained a better understanding of university life and challenges. Likewise, by allowing me to interact with other students, IDS has given me opportunities to improve my skills in English. The interactions I had with other foreign students made me feel at ease to communicate in English. From this experience, I have witnessed the truth promoted by proponents of the Communicative Approach such as Krashen who claimed that language learners will learn the target easily if they strive to use it despite committing errors. As the approach claims, it is in doing or using the language that we learn to speak it (Richards & Rodgers 131). On this account, I confirm the improvement I had in English after using the language to express myself in the presence of other students. Furthermore, the cultural diversity I witnessed in the course gave me a bird’s eye view of how it will be in the professional field in the future. On the one hand, the diversity in culture allows people to produce creative solutions to problems. On the other hand, the differences among people could likewise pose challenges of disunity and miscommunication. The benefits that IDS offers are immeasurable. Although I have enumerated some here, I believe that my experience and insights on the course differ from other students’ reflections. Nevertheless, one thing is sure: IDS is a prerequisite to university life and professional practice given its means to provide opportunities for learning academic and professional, and life skills. Work Cited Richards, J. & Rodgers, T. Approaches and methods in language teaching. 1999. Cambridge: CUP Read More