Jan '23 • General discussion
Ideal method
#Reflecting on your Career to Date I have done the reflection on my career and my teaching inventory. Although I am far from reaching my ideal method, I see that what I have achieved so far is greater clarity regarding the principles that guide my practice and more coherence in my teaching.
The process of analyzing what I am currently doing against my ideal teaching method has also allowed me to see what areas I am not addressing sufficiently and the elements that will be essential when designing my course.
Here are my notes on what my ideal teaching method would look like. Due to the reflective nature of the activity, I have not included references, but clearly it is nothing original, just my take on what is known in the field ;-).
*Ideal method*
APPROACH (WHY)
- A linguistic system in a speakers’ brain is a set of abstract properties that exist outside of awareness. Pedagogical grammar rules cannot reflect the complexity of these properties or help develop the corresponding mental representation. Furthermore, explicit instruction does not alter developmental sequences.
- I’m assuming a naturalistic view of acquisition and that there is a weak interface between declarative and procedural knowledge. Therefore, I do not see L2 acquisition as a process of skill building.
- While developing a mental representation of a linguistic system is not a process of skill building, communication does require different skills (reading, listening, writing, speaking…) that may be context specific. Skills can be learned by doing.
- Although I am aware that there are problems with the much-debated Noticing Hypothesis, I am assuming that noticing may play a role when it serves in a reactive way to facilitate the connection between a form and the meaning it conveys.
- Vocabulary learning involves declarative memory and is therefore amenable to explicit instruction.
- All learning has a social dimension in which knowledge is co-constructed.
- Learning experiences must give space to and promote the emergence of the learner's voice.
DESIGN (WHAT)
- Input that can be processed by the learner.
- An emergent syllabus that responds to the developmental needs of the learners, as well as to their interests and concerns.
- Meaning focused output and interaction.
- Opportunities to engage with the language in the different modes of communication at an appropriate level (not asking them to work on language skills to a point that does not match the mental representation they have in place).
- Focus on Form.
- Feedback that does not interfere with communication or prioritize accuracy.
- Explicit vocabulary instruction + incidental vocabulary learning.
PROCEDURE (HOW)
- Written and spoken comprehensible texts.
- Working with emergent language (Dogme and related practices).
- Meaningful scaffolded tasks that involve interpretive, presentational, and interpersonal communication (TBLT).
- Focus on Form when form is interfering with the expression of meaning.
- Structured Input Processing activities to facilitate FoF at times.
- Actionable feedback as support rather than an expectation to alter development.
- Explicit vocabulary instruction when it is relevant to the completion of meaningful tasks.
PARTICIPATION (WHO --> TEACHER AND LEARNER ROLES)
Teacher
- Support.
- Select spoken and written texts based on the relevance of their content, interest, and comprehensibility.
- Modify and scaffold those texts when necessary, so that it’s level appropriate and can be processed (without impoverishing the language samples!).
- Highlight how the L2 is used in the input to convey meaning appropriately and correctly.
- Create situations where meaning needs to be interpreted, negotiated, or conveyed to achieve a communicative purpose.
- Motivate and scaffold interaction between learners while fostering classroom community.
- Provide actionable and opportune feedback.
- Set homework.
- Assess the outcomes from activities and improve course design.
- Provide student choice when possible.
- Promote learners’ autonomy.
- Consider student’s interests and motivation(s).
- Create a materials bank according to the topics (and level) that are relevant for the class.
- Continue to learn about how people learn.
Student(s)
- Engage with content to interpret it’s meaning, identify relevant language, and perform relevant tasks.
- Get involved in decision-making when possible (preferred ways of working; deciding what to prioritize in each learning experience; etc.) and participate in the creation of content for the course.
- Develop an understanding of how they learn.
- Assume responsibility for their own learning and motivation.
- Engage with the language beyond the classroom.
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Ideal method
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