Language Awareness continuation
Assignment 3.1 Dream language
In “The Dream Frontier” by Mark J. Blechner, we are first introduced to the idea of extralinguistic thinking. A form of thought in which we do not consider communicability as a constraint. Allowing our minds to develop abstract ideas and images freely. I believe that this encapsulates my statement that dreams are a collection of all our senses, jumbled together to form a greater whole. Everyone knows stories of people dreaming about humanoid forms that do not exist, that to me is proof of extralinguistic dreaming. We go beyond what we know to be real and create our own interpretations of the world. However, if this argument were to be explored further, one could ask what reality is and how much of it do we perceive as it truly is?
Assignment 3.2 What is language awareness
After having studied the text on language awareness (LA from here) I have become more knowledgeable on the import of LA in teaching language. With this knowledge in mind, I will spend the coming years of my study trying to find ways to implement LA into my teaching. I believe that LA can be utilized as a motivational tool for students, to help them find more meaning and usefulness when learning a foreign language. All the while searching for this implementation, I will be growing more aware of language myself. Enabling me to become a better teacher. In the text, we are introduced to the ancient Greek way of teaching language and its structure. Grammar, logic, and rhetoric are at the forefront of this ideology. After reading some other texts on how the Greeks taught language, I have concluded that it could be beneficial for my teaching to indulge myself in this way of thinking. I do believe that teaching a language, or teaching for that matter, needs a closer relation to our humanity. Too little attention is put on the bigger philosophical questions, I would love to implement critical thinking and the Socratic method[1] in my lessons alongside the language teaching.
[1] a form of a cooperative argumentative dialogue between individuals, based on asking and answering questions to stimulate critical thinking and to draw out ideas and underlying presuppositions.
Assignment 4.1 Language in theory
Foreign language teaching methods
Why, and how do we teach foreign languages in modern-day society? A question that has not one single answer. In this summary, I will investigate several methodologies found in modern-day education when it comes to language teaching. And try to explain how they can be utilized. As stated above, there is no one straight answer. It is key to find your way and make your own choices as to what method to use for a certain lesson.
Method 1: Grammar translation
The grammar-translation method[1] is one that has been around for decades. During the 15th century, the teaching of Latin and Greek. With a focus on the literature and grammar of the target language, this method uses a lot of translation exercises, such as fill-in-the-blanks. This method is still widely used today, but often seen in tandem with other methodologies.
Method 2: Communicative method
The communicative method[2] is the most widely used method to date. It is best described as a collection of all the previous other methods. In this method there is a large focus on the ability to communicate, things like asking and answering, making requests and narration are big topics in this method. With this method, grammar is not taught in isolation but rather in coexistence with communication, the learning of the language happens in context. Students will learn a language naturally and develop accurate speech through frequent use.
Method 3: Direct method
This method is the opposite of the grammar-translation method described earlier. It is also known as the natural approach[3]. The use of the native language is strictly forbidden in classrooms using this method, and it contains little to no grammatical explanation. Students are expected to figure out the rules for themselves. Habit-forming is a key feature in this method, allowing students to learn a language naturally, just like they learned their mother tongue when they were a child. It does feature some error correction and appraisal for correct usage, to guide the students towards understanding.
Method 4: Computer-assisted language learning[4]
In this method we see a strong connection with modern technology, utilizing the internet and applications as their main source of information. This method is often observed to be used by independent learnings, I believe, however, that this method will gain more and more ground in modern-day classical education. The correct implementation of complementary sources will greatly reduce stress on the teacher and allow them to do more interactive assignments in their lessons.
Applications such as DuoLingo, Fluentu, and Babbel are great additions to any classroom, much like challenging students to play Wordfeud against each other. Besides the mobile application, you can also use Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) as an addition to your program.
Method 5: Task-based learning
The method of using task-based learning[5] is a refinement of the communicative approach. Focusing on the completion of specific tasks. The method is best recognized by its usage of three to four-week segments for specific topics. Students will spend those weeks engaging with topics such as ecology, security, medicine, culture, etc. We already see some of this method used in well-known modules like Steppingstones. Each topic ends with a final project, which can range from written reports to presentations.
[1] https://www.tefl.net/methods/grammar-translation.htm
[2] https://www.fluentu.com/blog/educator/foreign-language-teaching-methodology/
[3] https://www.myenglishpages.com/blog/natural-approach/
[4] https://www.fluentu.com/blog/educator/what-is-computer-assisted-language-learning/
[5] https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/a-task-based-approach
Assignment 4.2 Personal experience
Over the years, I have encountered many different methods in language teaching. When I first was taught English in primary school, it is abundantly clear that they, back then, utilized grammatical translation as their main method. Focusing on specific error correction tasks, paired with concise grammar lessons. Soon after that first experience, I encountered another method in secondary school, namely the communicative method, with a slight undercurrent of task-based learning. We were given a lot of specific assignments, relating to the topic of that period. Each period of five weeks had its focus. Allowing us to not only learn the language we were being taught but additionally learning more about certain topics such as history, politics, culture, and art. This combination of methodology was utilized both in the English and French classes.
After a few years, at high school, I once again encountered a different methodology. This time, the direct method, native language speech was forbidden as we were instructed to only use English in class. However, there may be many downsides to the direct method, I believe they did utilize it efficiently. Combining the direct method with task-based learning, by setting up all classes to connect with the other subjects being taught. Assignments connecting to this ideology were often based around our occupation at the time, this being a pre-education to prepare young students for the army. Most of our assignments were about things relating to military topics such as chemical protection, situational awareness, exploration and mapping of surroundings, etc. During this time, we were also drilled on the usage of the NATO alphabet in communication.
The more recent years of my education were more neutral in that aspect, during my social work studies, our English classes consisted of a combination of the communicative method, task-based learning, and audio-lingual learning. We were given a great deal of freedom in paving our way through the course, with a lot of opportunities to prove that one was sufficiently skilled to pass a certain test. One thing that does strike me as significant, is that throughout all the years, exercises such as fill-in-the-blanks and verb conjugation were always present. The same could be said for task-based learning, all studies I have completed tried to tie the language classes to specific topics that were deemed important concerning the field of work.
Assignment 5.1 Teaching language
As you may have been able to determine, I have encountered many different methods over the course of a few years. With that experience and the knowledge gained during these assignments and courses, I would like to elaborate on how I plan to teach language based on the theory provided.
I aim to utilize most methodologies in my classes, searching for the best way to switch between different methods to create a better foundation for the students. The methods that speak to me most would be the communicative method (including task-based learning) and computer-assisted language learning. These methods are, in my vision, complementary to each other. Where the communicative method already is a collection of the other methodologies described, computer-assisted language learning perfectly caters to the technological age of the 21st century.
By utilizing a combination of these methods, I believe, the teacher provides a better foundation for students to take charge of their education. Students with a specific need for extra instruction can be provided with online material to help them further their progress.
Besides these arguments, I see a great opportunity to expand computer-assisted learning into most classrooms, not just the English classes. There are plenty of companies developing educational games and interactive websites to support educators in their teaching, this is something that I hope to become more familiar with by researching further on this subject.
I believe it to be of great importance that we provide the youth of today with clear and structured lessons, while also providing the freedom to specify their educational career. By developing a new way of support teaching (using computer-assisted learning) we can give the students a more specific course, tailored to their needs and interests. While all the while, during the development of such a course it would also be greatly beneficial to alter the course to connect to different aspects of the lives of these youth, as well as connecting them to practical uses in the work field that they are studying for.
