I was taught up with Chinese language classes, where language wasn't treated as a tool of communication but a composition of grammar rules and large quantity of vocabulary. Due to the simplex grammar translation teaching method, students’ inability of using what they have learnt in class prevented them from real life communication.
To be communicative, as the ultimate purport of language learning, has always been the No.1 tenet in my teaching practice. During my study, with an great depth of studying on Communicative Language Teaching, I found that meaning orientation, learner centeredness, integration of four skills, authentic input and authentic output to be fundamental in language teaching.
Students should be learning language as a tool that enables them to communicate with others outside of the classroom. Grammar is crucial towards language learning, but an approach that only concentrates on grammar structures and drills is merely going to enable students to really use the language. Aiming this target, I design all my lessons to be focus on form with meaning based, communicative tasks which requires students to use language with emphasis on meaning to attain an objective. Students will firstly come into contact with authentic input that comes from real life, and by exercising on the authentic input, knowledge that needs to be taught within the class can be unveiled. Activities designed after teacher presentation are also authentic because I elaborate these in-class activities as similar as possible as out-classroom situations.
As a language teacher, enabling students to use multiple learning strategies is also a momentous assignment. How to learn a language effectively is a common question among language learners. During my teaching practice, I have my students to complete Needs Analysis that enables them to have a better vision of their perspectives, their regular methods, attitude and goals of language learning. Also, I encourage collaboration between students. By interacting with classmates and peers, students will have more opportunities of receiving corrective feedbacks and use their learnt knowledge as a monitor to reflect what they still need to learn of the language.
With my experience in teaching increasing, I am more convinced with Communicative Language Teaching, and my faith in teaching language is to enable students to really use the language becomes more steadfast. To me, language learning is just like a journey which is both fun and challenging. In my future teaching, I will keep applying myself on more effective approaches of teaching and sharing my passion towards language learning with my students.
To be communicative, as the ultimate purport of language learning, has always been the No.1 tenet in my teaching practice. During my study, with an great depth of studying on Communicative Language Teaching, I found that meaning orientation, learner centeredness, integration of four skills, authentic input and authentic output to be fundamental in language teaching.
Students should be learning language as a tool that enables them to communicate with others outside of the classroom. Grammar is crucial towards language learning, but an approach that only concentrates on grammar structures and drills is merely going to enable students to really use the language. Aiming this target, I design all my lessons to be focus on form with meaning based, communicative tasks which requires students to use language with emphasis on meaning to attain an objective. Students will firstly come into contact with authentic input that comes from real life, and by exercising on the authentic input, knowledge that needs to be taught within the class can be unveiled. Activities designed after teacher presentation are also authentic because I elaborate these in-class activities as similar as possible as out-classroom situations.
As a language teacher, enabling students to use multiple learning strategies is also a momentous assignment. How to learn a language effectively is a common question among language learners. During my teaching practice, I have my students to complete Needs Analysis that enables them to have a better vision of their perspectives, their regular methods, attitude and goals of language learning. Also, I encourage collaboration between students. By interacting with classmates and peers, students will have more opportunities of receiving corrective feedbacks and use their learnt knowledge as a monitor to reflect what they still need to learn of the language.
With my experience in teaching increasing, I am more convinced with Communicative Language Teaching, and my faith in teaching language is to enable students to really use the language becomes more steadfast. To me, language learning is just like a journey which is both fun and challenging. In my future teaching, I will keep applying myself on more effective approaches of teaching and sharing my passion towards language learning with my students.