Learning and Teaching English: My Past Experience and Projects - Essay Example

Running head: LEARNING AND TEACHING ENGLISH: MY PAST EXPERIENCE AND PROJECTS Learning and Teaching English: My Past Experience and Projects Name Institution Introduction Scholars have identified various methods of teaching languages. Some methods have had their heydays and swift technological diversity has rendered them either obsolete or inadequate while others are widely used (Harmer, 2001). While all methods contribute insights that may be adopted into generally accepted brawl, it is agreed that a single perfect method of English language teaching is non-existent. As a scholar in language teaching, I have met various methods of teaching like; grammar translation, direct method, audio-lingual communication and task based, all of which I met while I was being taught by my teachers in both junior high school and university in my country (Brown, 2007). When I completed my education, I got a chance to have a class experience in teaching where I adopted meaningful learning, intrinsic motivation, communicative competence and anticipation of reward instruction methods. When I went to Australia to further my studies, I got to learn yet more interesting methods of teaching among them being direct method, task based, whole language education, content based instruction, real life English and use of games in teaching. This diversity of approaches with regard to individual and country is evident enough that there are myriad ways of teaching English depending on factors such as; whether the language is being taught in an English native situation or as a second language (Harmer, 2001). This paper is going to compare and contract various approaches to English language teaching that I have met in Australia with those that I encountered in my country of origin, Saudi Arabia. In Saudi Arabia In Saudi Arabia, I did not have a chance to learn English language in my primary school but while in junior high school, I had three years of English learning. The teachers were non-native English speakers and they used grammar translation and the teacher guided the students and controlled the class throughout the lesson. Grammar translation method of English teaching This teaching method strives to develop learner’s appreciation of English literature as well as teaching the language. Our teachers used to provide us with passages and questions to answer in addition to other activities such as; translating literary passages, memorizing grammar rules and so on. In class English grammar teaching involves training in the rules of English language that makes all students to be able to express themselves, understand remarks and analyze assigned texts. The objective of al this process is to enable students to control all tools of English such as the vocabulary, grammar and the orthography (Rivers, 1968). This teaching method has its roots in Europe in the 19th century and it is acknowledged that the method is ineffective and is only confined in traditional instruction of the classical languages (Rivers, 1968). By the time I graduated from junior high school to high school, I possessed very poor English because of teacher’s adoption of this teaching method. In my high school, I was taken through a three year English teaching and in each year we had a different teacher and it took me time to adapt to a different teacher every year. More English was introduced in terms of grammar and vocabulary that added to my Basic English. Just like in junior high school, all teachers were English non-native speakers and they used grammar translation method in teaching English and thus at the end of it all, very little was achieved. I then proceeded to university where I had four years of studying and 40 percent of subjects were taught in Arabic as I pursued bachelor of education in English. Here different methods of teaching language were introduced such as direct method, grammar translation, audio-lingual, communicative approach, task based language teaching (Brown, 2007). During my learning, I had time and space to practice my English since there was an English club at the university and there were special units for discussions and debates. It is important to evaluate each of these methods because they advanced my English skills. Direct method The direct method of teaching language discourages the use of learner’s native language and uses the target language and no translation is allowed (Harmer, 2001). In class visual aids and pantomime were used to clarify the meaning of vocabulary items and concepts. We used to speak a great deal in English language and would communicate as if in real situations. Although our tutors taught writing throughout, speaking and listening were emphasized and grammar was learned inductively. The method functions under the assumption that the second language must be an imitation of the first language (Rivers, 1968). This is the natural way in which humans learn their native languages because a child does not rely on another language to learn mother tongue (Rivers, 1968). However, the method over emphasizes correct pronunciation and the target language from the beginning. The method advocates teaching of oral skills at the expense of every traditional aim of language teaching. This method did not however come well with me because it should have delayed writing and spelling learning until the printed word has been introduced but this had been done in my prior classes (Harmer, 2001). Audio-lingual This is another method of teaching which I encountered in the university and is based on the behavioralist belief that language learning should be an acquisition of a set of objective language habits (Brown, 2007). In this method, the learner is made to repeat patterns until he/she is in a position to concomitantly produce them. For instance, the tutor would give a pattern of say subject-verb-prepositional phrase then we would substitute words to make novel sentences. In this method, the teacher directs and emphasizes correct responses by providing a model. We would also listen to and view recordings of language models acting in situations. We would also practice with a variety of drills and the tutor could emphasize the use of English language all times. However, this method did not produce good results at the end and it only improved my habit driven aspects and mostly the pronunciation. Communicative approach In communicative approach, teachers consider students as a whole person with intellect, feeling, instincts, physical response and desire to teach (Brown, 2007). The teachers must realize that learning is not an easy process and students are elusive in it. By understanding of this student’s fears, teachers help students to feel secure by helping them harness positive energy for learning. The syllabus used therefore, is generated by the students themselves and they choose what to learn in the target language. The approach requires group work negotiation and cooperation between learners, fluency based activities and thus learners are encouraged to develop their confidence and language functions (Bax, 2003). The role play mostly adopted made us to practice and develop language functions and judicious grammar use as well as pronunciation focused activities. Communicative approach is broad and has five features as analyzed by Bax (2003) as follows; 1. An emphasis on learning to communicate through interaction in the target language. 2. The introduction of authentic texts into the learning situation. 3. The provision of opportunities for learners to focus, not only on language but also on the Learning Management process. 4. An enhancement of the learner’s own personal experiences as important contributing elements to classroom learning. 5. An attempt to link classroom language learning with language activities outside the classroom. This was a beneficial method because it helped me to develop communicative competence in an authentic context. Task based language teaching The task based language learning or teaching emphasizes on the use of authentic language and on requiring students to perform certain tasks using the target language. The tasks we carried out included conducting an interview or calling a customer service for help. Rather than an accuracy of language form, the success is based on the outcome of the task and thus the approach develops the fluency of English language as well as student’s confidence. In this method the core of our lesson could be just tasks and all other parts of language were not emphasized. By going through this process, the approach benefits the student because it is student-centered and allows for more meaningful communication and enables the students to acquire extra-linguistic skills (Harmer, 2001). As a teacher in Saudi Arabia When I completed my university education, I got a chance to teach in a primary school and I used a mix of many teaching methods and principles stated in such as; meaningful learning, intrinsic motivation, communicative competence and the anticipation of reward (Brown, 2007). In meaningful learning instruction I used to focus on the outcome of teaching process by evaluating what new skills has the learner acquired. Even after combining all these methods, it was evident that students were not motivated in learning English language and I faced a lot of difficulties in teaching English. Contrary to what I used in class, my previous teachers relied heavily on grammar translation method of English language teaching. Moreover, my previous teachers controlled everything in class but for me I allowed students’ inputs by having them practice their acquired skills in class. Learning in Australia In Australia I encountered two teaching approaches that I had met in Saudi Arabia namely the direct method and task based language teaching. Most learners being English language speakers, direct approach of teaching was well delivered and has great results and task based language teaching method was also effective as students control the English learning process. However there are other approaches I learnt for the first time such as; interactive learning, whole language education, content-based instruction in addition to real life English situation and using games in teaching English (Brown, 2007). Interactive learning This is a pedagogical approach that utilizes social networking and urban computing in the course design and delivery (Brown, 2007). Unlike the methods learned in Saudi Arabia, this approach emanated from the hyper-growth in the age of digital technology and virtual communication by students. It is also a recent discovery starting around the year 2000 and that is designed so that all students entering institutes of higher learning in Australia expect that interactive learning is an integral part of their education. While teaching language in Saudi Arabia involved the past methods of use of pen and pencil (Swan, 1985), in Australia interactive learning use interactive technology in learning English language. In the country, generation Y or digital natives were the first generation to grow up in consistent contact with digital media and they have forced the teaching methods to change. The use of digital media in education has called for the need in reliance on interactive learning and has revolutionarized the education system. In the learning process learners and tutors rely on each other to get sources of knowledge and share information and expand their general scope and this expands not only their instruction, but also their knowledge. Unlike in other approaches used in my country, this approach endeavored to facilitate knowledge rather than being a keeper of language because there is no big boundary between a teacher and the learner in interactive earning. Whole language education In this method, a philosophy that children should focus on meaning and strategy is deployed. It emphasizes language instruction for decoding and spelling. The whole language is complex to describe because it is drawn from myriad research fields such as education, linguistics, psychology, sociology and anthropology (Swan, 1985). The teachers give instructions o develop knowledge of English language including syntactic, pragmatic and semantic aspects of English language. Unlike in my previous experiences, here language is treated as whole parts that function in relational ways. Moreover, the whole language approach emphasizes on quality literature, cultural diversity and group reading which I did not see in my country’s teaching approaches (Gee, 2003). Content-based instruction This method emphasizes learning about something instead of earning about language. Students are exited in learning English language through content based method than any other method. There are three models of content-based instruction which are; the sheltered model, the adjunct model and the theme based model. Both sheltered and adjunct CBI usually happens at universities in English level one context. Students are given special assistance so that they can understand regular classes unlike in the previous methods in my country. Real life English situation This is a simulation method where students take role plays from which they learn language in a more realistic and practical way. There are three ways of real life situation teaching which includes simulation exercise, simulation game and role playing. Using games in teaching English This method uses games unlike the approaches in Saudi Arabia which were serious delivery of the lessons. Since learners want to learn what others have written in a meaningful way, games can provide intense language practice (Gee, 2003). This method is very effective in inculcating language in a way that is hard to forget to students (Gee, 2003). Conclusion Therefore I gained useful experience in Australia, in addition to what I gained in my country. Moreover, this exposure has led me to realize that there are advanced methods which are friendly to the technologically savvy generation and plans to advocate for the same in my country since they are more advanced and effective in giving results than the traditional methods still in use in my country. There are many ideas that I have learnt in Australia but five are standing out in teaching methods. One is the use of games in teaching which enables students to do practical learning in class. This is effective because they are scientific ways of teaching English language and I plan to use it back at home. Secondly, in the world of technological advancement, I have also learned that digital technologies can be used in teaching English language in a very effective way that enables students to relate well with what is already very common to them. Thirdly, the whole language teaching method is very interesting and seems to be better than the selective method and it has given an idea that language parts are dependent on each other. Another idea learnt is that of the way we treat language teaching in our country. Language teaching should be an interaction and not a possession of the teacher so I will endeavor as a teacher to have students control the class and I will just give directions. Finally, it is a good idea to incorporate activities in teaching. This enables students to take learning as a fun and I have realized lack of this made my students to dislike English while I was a teacher in my country. In conclusion, I have found it very useful for a student to learn English language in an English-native country because only the best methods will be applied, which excludes ineffective approaches like grammar translation method. Communication will always be through the target language and the teachers will be able to understand the details of the English language. This will mean that teacher delivery and learner performance will be great. References Bax, S. (2003). The end of CLT: A context approach to language teaching. ELT J. 57,278-287. Brown, D. (2007).By H. Douglas BrownTeaching by Principles: An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy (3rd ed.). New York: Paperback publishers Gee, J. (2003). What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.  Harmer, J. (2001). The Practice of English Language Teaching (3rd ed.). Essex: Pearson Education. Rivers, W. (1968). Teaching foreign-language skills, Chapters 2-4. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Swan, M. (1985). In the English Language. Teaching Journal 39(1), 2-12. Read More