Methodology & Language Teaching

Methodology & Language Teaching

Student’s Name

Course Number and Name

Instructor’s Name

Due Date

Word Count: 2539

Methodology & Language Teaching

Part A: Teacher talk transcript

Activity 1

Story telling Activity

Description of Class

Because stories are a wonderful way for students to get to know each other, this class will take on the story telling activity. This activity is meant to encourage students to share information, make connection with each other, and create meaningful relationships (Astbury, 2018). This class will have each student telling the rest of the class their favorite story either from a book they have read or a real life story. Students will share scary, funny, or sad story from a book or experience. They are encouraged to use expressions and add hand gestures to help the story move along.

Lead-in for lesson 1

Line 1: Hello Class, I need you to listen carefully to this story I am about to narrate.

Line 2: You will note each noun you hear in my story

Line 3: Is everyone ready?

Teacher reads the story twice.

Line 3: I hope that my story was interesting and thank you for listening.

Instructions for activity 1

Line 4: After noting down all the nouns you heard from my story, I need each one of you to think of an interesting story you have read or you have experienced.

Line 5: Each of you will take turns to tell their story. Remember, the story can either be scary, funny, or sad as long as it is interesting.

Line 6: Make sure you listen to your classmates’ story carefully because I will ask questions after the activity.

Line 7: You will also be needed to note down the nouns you hear from your classmates’ story. The activity will start in 10 minutes. Meanwhile, think about the story you will narrate.

Activity 2

Role Playing Activity

Class Description

Students will take on role playing activities in order to expand their personal experience by enacting a situation. The teacher will describe a context and situations within the context then a number of students will be selected to play out the situations. The students will be allowed to play the role they are comfortable with. They will be given adequate time to prepare before they assume their roles and act out the situation while the rest of the class watches.

Lead-In for lesson 2

Line 1: Hello students, we are going to do an interesting activity today called role playing.

Line 2: Role playing is an important activity because it increases your awareness of the interconnectedness of knowledge and the complexities of a situation.

Line 3: Those interested in taking part of this activity please raise your hands.

Teacher notes down the name of students who raised their hands

Instructions for Activity 2

Line 4: I am going to read out the context twice for everyone to understand it after which you will confirm that you have understood

Line 5: All the students who will take part in this activity will choose the role they will play in the context.

Line 6: I will give you one hour to prepare for the role you will be playing as the other students help me set up the stage for your role play. Good Luck.

Part B

What is your view on the role of teacher talk in the English language classroom? How much should teachers talk?

Teacher talking in English language classroom is a vital tool in implementing a teaching plan and it is also an essential input source for students. I believe that teachers play a very important role by constantly organizing, summarizing, engaging, redirecting, and reformulating what they say and what students say. Therefore, the effectiveness of teaching relies on the language that teachers use and the form of interaction in class (Jing & Jing, 2018). A high quality teacher talk creates an effective and harmonious atmosphere in the classroom where there is a teacher-student interaction. Otherwise teaching in the classroom is prone to being a monodrama. According to (Jing & Jing, 2018) a message’s meaning is communicated through words, voice tone, and body language. Although the statement is open to arguments and debates, it is indicated that body language is essential to teacher talk. Non-verbal communication is one of the important ways to assist and compensate for verbal communication in the classroom. Teacher talk is crucially important not only for the classroom organization but also for the acquisition process. It is vital for the organization and classroom management because it is only through language that teachers fail or succeed in their implementation of their teaching plans (Almoayidi, 2018). When it comes to acquisition, teacher talk is vital because it is the main source of understandable input of target language that the learner is likely to receive. The type and amount of teacher talk is considered a decisive factor of failure and success in classroom teaching.

The type of interaction and input made available by teacher talk is predominantly vital. Whether it is a language lesson or a subject lesson, successful outcomes rely on the type of language that the teacher uses as well as the type of interaction that occur in the classroom. Starr (2017) concluded that teacher talk in English classroom serves two functions. Firstly, it is a valuable input for language exposure. The second function is that teacher talk has been used in various ways to generate classroom interaction, for the input to be understandable, and as a result make learning to occur (Starr, 2017). Teacher talking demonstrates dominance on the part of the teacher because he does the majority of the talking. But this does not imply that teachers are the bosses and students are in a silent and submissive situation. Rather, teachers make smiling facial expression and gestures to express their meaning and to encourage student engagement in the classroom (Jing & Jing, 2018). Students on the other hand also maintain their interaction and discussion although at times they may lack answers for typical questions which makes the atmosphere of the classroom relaxed. I think teacher talking should be about 65% to allow discussions and engagement by the students. That way, the teacher will get the chance to find out if the students have understood what has been taught in the classroom.

What is your view on the use of L1 and L2 by teachers in the English language classroom?

Learning English language is regarded to be essential for many learners and teaches. Many countries across the globe embrace the English language as a source of their education and the curricular language. I do believe that the use of mother tongue is a good tool to teach English. As a matter of fact, I think that it is not an obstacle to learning English so teachers should use L1 and L2 in teaching English language. Montaño-González, (2017) proposes that the use of L1 and L2 in classroom has proved to be helpful when it comes to eliminating anxiety among students. Adult learners are relatively more rigid in the classroom compared to children. Moreover, they are more prone to be cautious in the classroom. As such, the use of both L1 and L2 is essential because it minimizes language learning anxiety (Montaño-González, 2017). Besides, the use of L2 only in learning can become an obstacle which might cause hesitancy on the part of learners to use L2, particularly if the learners are not well-equipped with the language.

In his study, Almoayidi (2018) found that when Chinese teachers instructed their students against the use of L1 in order to practice L2, it did not help them. In fact the students were unable to speak both L1 and L2 in the classroom. Another reason for my take is that the use of translation saves time. Many researchers support this argument and they suggest rather than wasting time in the definition and elaboration of a meaning of some words in order to help learners, the best alternative is L1 translation (Almoayidi, 2018). Moreover, translation is viewed as a skill that students should learn. It is noted that translation is regarded as a significant skill in its own right and must be included with the other skills: speaking, listening, wring and reading. Therefore, teachers should implement translation in the classroom as a comprehension and communication tool. , Almoayidi (2018) argued that the use of translation during learning assists L2 learning and influences autonomous learning.

Although there are many reasons to believe that using L1 and L2 in learning English language is a good method to pave the way for students to learn L2, advocates of L2 also have reasons to believe that the only way that one can learn English is through English only. According to Jing & Jing, (2018), the use of L1, should be avoided at all costs in order to achieve better results. As such, this has remained a debate among educators, linguistics, and researchers since opinions tend to waver from aspect to aspect and across educational communities. This depends on different factors like the type of learners, learning context, the L2 proficiency of the teacher, the purpose of students to learn the second language, and the postulated regulations by governments towards teaching foreign languages (Jing & Jing, 2018). Therefore, it is important to take into account that the support of one view does not imply full rejection of the other view since knowledge is considered to be relative. But as a viewpoint based on evaluating each polar with respect to either implementing both L1 and L2 during learning or not, I think that exposing learners to both L1 and L2 is the best method of teaching for the majority of learners in many contexts (Jing & Jing, 2018; Tang, 2002). Regardless of the purposes of learners to learn English to have it as a skill or to pass a certain level and regardless of the teaching and learning context, the exposure to both L1 and L2 in classroom makes learning increasingly enjoyable, profitable, and a better experience for students to express their thoughts.

How can English language teachers use teach talk effectively in the classroom?

Teachers tend to talk for a significant part of a lesson (Littlewood & Yu, 2011). As a matter of fact, it teacher directed lessons, teacher talk for about 65% of the lesson. Some of the ways that teachers use teach talk effectively in the classroom include:

Discussion and Engagement

Quality teach talking is the most essential influence that the system of education can have on the achievement of students. An effective learning and teaching relies on the relationship that exists between teachers and students and the ability of the teacher to motivate and engage the students (Hanakova & Metruk, 2017). This relationship starts with teacher talk, a verbal interaction. A deliberate and focused teacher talk is recognized as a vital component of effective teaching to achieve better learning outcomes. The use of varied interactions gives teachers the chance to support learners, reframe their behaviors, and to take part in culturally responsive and proactive discourse. As a child starts school, interaction, verbal communication, and direction precede the written equivalent (Hanakova & Metruk, 2017). Discussion and engagement is central to teacher talk which in turn is central to the functioning of the classroom and the way students learn. Furthermore, it has limitless potential for better classroom relationships and social learning in regard to conversations, awareness, and respect of differences. Discussion and engagement are key aspects of teacher talk and they include the teacher’s attention, praising and encouraging both academic and social behaviors, encouragement to learn both verbally and nonverbally, and to encourage the students to be kind and express themselves. These things have proved to support, engage, and promote a meaningful teacher-student connection. Hanakova & Metruk (2017) talk about encouraging engagement and positive behaviors in learning by the use of structured, responsive, and positive teacher-talk. The key aspect is to use “encouragement and persistent coaching.” The enhancement in engagement of every student in a classroom in a matter that inspires them to talk, share, and do is key to enhancing their learning success.

Which language(s) have you chosen and why?

I have chosen L2 only because of a number of reasons. The first one stems from the logic that exposure to L2 only assists students to rapidly learn English language and help them integrate it in different activities (Jing & Jing, 2018). For instance in activity 1, the students are able to narrate interesting stories to their classmates using English language. Under this logic, learning of L2 is not only meant for academic purposes but also it helps them to better understand other cultures, to reside in other countries, or for contributory purposes. Indeed, these purposes necessitate the need to expose the students into L2. Arguably, the learning purpose, and the type and context of learners tend to influence the kind of method that is appropriate for learning. In Activity 2 for instance, the teacher needed the students to immerse themselves in a context by asking them to role play. This is true in learning English language as an L2 and it is an important factor when the teachers are teaching English as a foreign language like in China. As a language teacher, I used L2 only in the classroom because I consider it to be relatively more helpful and beneficial for students to process in learning English. It is vital because the society’s language in this case is Chinese and the only chance for students to practice and be exposed to English language is in class (Jing & Jing, 2018). Therefore, if I was inclined to implement L1 in my classroom activities, my students would have been deprived of the opportunity of real learning of English language. Furthermore, I could not depend on L1 as a learning tool, the learners would not have benefited considering that as a teacher, I was the only learning channel for these students. Similarly, the learners preferred English in class which seemed to positively influence their English language acquisition.

How have you graded your language?

Ideas

In terms of ideas, I graded the language according to the type of stories that the students were narrating. In activity 1, I had them telling stories about themselves or a story they have read from a book. In activity 2, I made the students role play a context using the English language and this would help them express their thoughts given a situation. I believe that these ideas would help the learners improve their proficiency of English language in narration and in expression.

Interaction

The first activity involved that interaction as students had the chance to ask their fellow students questions regarding their stories. The teacher also gave them the opportunity to ask any questions or share any concerns about the activities.

Situation

The activities conducted in the classroom provided a situation to learn English language. As seen, the students were asked to note down all the nouns they heard from the stories in activity 1. In activity two, role play situation helps the students to be a part of a conversation in English language.

Culture

Through the stories the students told from their personal experiences in activity 1, the other students would get a glimpse of their classmates’ culture.

References

Almoayidi, K. A. (2018). The effectiveness of using L1 in second language classrooms: A controversial issue. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 8(4), 375-379.

Hanakova, M., & Metruk, R. (2017). The use of l1 in the process of teaching English. Modern Journal of Language Teaching Methods, 7(8), 380-389.

Jing, N., & Jing, J. (2018). Teacher talk in an EFL classroom: A pilot study. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 8(3), 320-324.

Littlewood, W. & Yu, B. (2011). First language and target language in the foreign language classroom. Language Teaching, 44(1), 64-77.

Montaño-González, J. X. (2017). Learning strategies in second language acquisition. US-China Foreign Language, 15(8), 479-492.

Starr, S. (2017). Teacher-Talk: Supporting Teacher Practice. Kairaranga, 18(2), 29-39. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1240278.pdf

Tang, J. (2002). Using L1 in the English Classroom. English Teaching Forum, 40(1), 36-43.

Appendix