Instructional
Beliefs & Practices
My objective as not just a foreign language teacher, but overall as an educator is to create a classroom that successfully develops students to communicate and integrate effectively into the real world. I accomplish this goal by utilizing post-method foreign language pedagogies, and intercultural competency focused lessons, which form a critical and empathetic understanding of various cultures. Furthermore, I aim to provide students with a learning experience embedded in artistic influences drawn from my extensive graphic design and dance studies background.
Proficiency Development
I develop proficiency in the three communicative modes through task-based language teaching, influenced by my past language learning and teaching education, with significant objectives centered around the ACTFL's Proficiency Benchmarks and Performance Indicators (2017).
Intercultural Awareness
I develop intercultural awareness by integrating authentic cultural artifacts into tasks that have students relate them to their own. By interpreting and relating, they expand their knowledge of other cultures while simultaneously learning how to decenter from subjective beliefs of the other. Students then engage in meta-reflective activities that facilitate critically evaluating different cultures from a native's view based on explicit socio-cultural and geographical influences (Byram et al., 2002).
Engagement & Motivation
I engage and motivate learners by incorporating tasks and activities relevant to their interests and communicative goals associated with the target language or lesson objectives that extend outside of the classroom. Furthermore, I integrate authentic linguistic artifacts from the target language or lesson objective to demonstrate to learners that the language knowledge or other educational skills they are acquiring is relevant to interacting effectively with products and people in the real world.
Grammar & Vocabulary
Dependent on the language features being addressed, using a mixture of implicit and explicit teaching methods, I teach learners grammar and vocabulary through focus-on-forms, communicative-based, interpersonal speaking and listening practices designed around learners' social needs in the target language.