Beliefs & Practices

In many ways, I feel very fortunate to have entered the MAFLT program before becoming a teacher. The theoretical foundation that it has given me has opened my eyes to the abstract nature of instruction, the absence of propriety among teaching methods, and to the simple fluidity of theory itself. I look forward to continuing to learn and exploring what is possible in the years to come.

Promoting Proficiency


Examples:
  • Ask students to articulate their opinions on a topic that is currently relevant in their country
  • Assign projects that require personal attention, for example an autobiography
  • Appeal to the human desire to express identity by allowing students to choose topics that are important to them to read about and present on in the target language
  • Involve art, poetry, and other cultural artifacts that may spark student desire to delve deeper into the target culture, acquiring language along the way to achieve this goal

Proficiency is a spectrum--one that is at once always and never achieved. To promote proficiency is simply to encourage language use, and put students in positions where they must challenge themselves to use language accurately in order to be understood. Much like challenges in other areas of life push us to develop, so does communication breakdown in the case of language use.

At the end of the day, language is a tool that exists to serve us in life. When we make this fact real to our students, by introducing real world consequences to language use, we have completed the most important step in promoting proficiency.

Throughout my time in the MAFLT program, motivation has emerged as the cornerstone of nearly every belief I hold about language teaching. These feelings, however, are not without their own evolutions. While I would like to believe that motivation is the mother of success, and had for a very long time, my experience as a student has led me to realize that motivation is sometimes only possible after success. This idea is one that I plan to explain explicitly to my future students, but also foster implicitly, by creating opportunities for small successes that can be used to motivate larger ones.

Engaging and Motivating Learners

L2 Motivational Self System

One of the most salient theories of motivation to me is Dörnyei's L2 Motivational Self System. As part of the MAFLT program's Fall 2020 FLeX Conference, I put together the following presentation on possible selves and utilizing authentic materials to foster motivation.

Nevin_FLT817_FLeXConference_Slides.pptx

Teaching Grammar and Vocabulary


Examples:
  • Assign tasks that require specific vocabulary, while still being relevant to a student's real life
    • To elicit food vocabulary: Have students think of their favorite dish that their family makes and eats together, and then teach the class what ingredients they need and how to make it.
  • Assign tasks that elicit specific grammatical forms, and that also encourage a student's desire to be understood
    • To elicit question forms: Form students into pairs. They will be roleplaying new roommates who are just meeting each other, and must ask each other questions until they find at least 3 commonalities.

Before entering this program, I viewed grammar and vocabulary as some of the most important features of language teaching and learning. Having now completed the program, I realize that grammar and vocabulary are merely assets to the larger goal of acquisition, or more specifically, meaningful language use.

Students will often only value these concepts as much as their corresponding real-world outcomes. By making grammar and vocabulary consequential to a student's life, we make learning them valuable.

The more I learn about teaching culture, the more I realize that culture cannot necessarily be taught. Rather, it must be demonstrated. Students must then assign value to it of their own accord.

The most effective way of teaching culture is thereby merely providing access. With the Internet, this has become increasingly possible. By bringing authentic artifacts into the classroom and creating opportunities for our students to interact with members of the target culture--ultimately to the point where they are able to develop a personal relationship with them--we not only raise intercultural awareness, but hopefully begin for our students a lifelong journey of cultural curiosity.

Raising Intercultural Awareness


Examples:
  • Bring authentic artifacts to class (menus, candies, CDs, toys, pamphlets, posters, etc.), even if they do not contain any language
  • Assign tasks that require students to do their own cultural reflection and introspection