Teaching Philosophy

My Statement of Teaching Philosophy

            My interest in second language acquisition started when I was a secondary school student in the Appalachian region of the United States. It was quite an eye opening experience when I entered college and discovered there was a “whole world” of languages actually being spoken.  I immediately started studying as many languages as were offered in whatever environment I was in. Thus began my experience with the evolving second language approaches throughout the seventies to the present day.  Grammar Translation, Audio Lingual, the Natural Approach, Total Physical Response, and the Communicative Approach just to name a few.  One characteristic I always had was motivation.  I believe motivation and survival are key components to acquiring a second language.

I provide this personal background of my second language acquisition experiences to now tell you I started my Graduate Certification TESL Program at UTSA very late in life and more of a second career opportunity.  I had no idea of these approaches until I started the UTSA program.  I am now aware I have personally experienced a half-century of second language acquisition theories.  And I now have a very clear idea of what my philosophy of ESL teaching is.  During my time in the UTSA program I became an advocate of Terrell and Krashen and the Natural Approach and a variation of Krashen’s Five Hypothesis.  Also, the Communicative Approach as a means of survival!  I will now explain how these have developed my Philosophy of ESL Teaching.

*          Motivation    Motivation is a two way street.  The teacher will expect the student to be motivated for some reason – either a professional, gaining social capital, or personal goal.  The goal of the teacher is to maintain a classroom environment fueling motivation with relevant and well-prepared instruction.  The teacher must assess the level of the second language learner, the resources available, and opportunities for exposure to the second language.

*          Comprehensible Input / Listening          I feel too often we teachers use situational or task based learning to walk students through conversations.  Listening is a very important skill and we must allow students to develop good listening skills and to interpret meaning(s) based upon their intuitive linguistic skills.  All to often, I see students practice their rehearsed situations but fail to understand the response from the targeted speaker.  My goal is to always increase the listening element / comprehensible input – the I = 1 hypothesis.

*          The Natural Order              As students get exposed to and more proficient to the targeted language, they eventually will naturally “acquire” grammar forms and higher level speaking abilities much the same way native speakers do.   Teachers should be aware of this and accept this as natural.

*          Acquired versus Learned Langauge        This is much the same as the natural order as our children acquire language skills rather than being taught.  I am a parent / grandparent and I can assure you I did not teach children conjugations and other grammar elements of English.  They just learned them from exposure and imitation of native speakers.  The children, like their parents, explained, “it just sounds better this way”!

*          Lowering the Affective Filter        Another element of second language instruction for the teacher is creating a warm and friendly environment.  An environment free from judgment, peer critique, and fear.  Interestingly, it has been written that seventy-five percent of the English spoken in the world is by non-native speakers!  So the communicative element of instruction is vital.

 

My goal as a teacher will always be to be a guide to assist my students to reach their goal.  The first thing necessary as I enter a teaching environment is to assess my classroom environment; the student’s needs, their level of preparedness, their motivation, and then develop a plan for success.   Their success will involve mastering the four skills of a second language – listening, speaking, reading, and writing, The emphasis a teacher focuses on these skills depends on the needs of the teacher and why they are desiring to master a second language.   And my desire will be to be part of helping the student in achieve success and mastery of that language.