"Speaking English Was Hard at First But Now I Really Enjoy It"

Learning a new language is like becoming a member of the club – the community of speakers of that language. Therefore, learning English is becoming a member of the world’s most diverse club – the global club of English language speakers. A critical part of learning an additional language is learning the culture of its speakers. This way, the English language opens so many doors for the English Language Learners to go through, to discover, and to conquer new heights of which they might have not even thought were possible. Being a language learner of many additional languages made me realize that learning a new language is a gift of wisdom, knowledge, and respect. Only an English Language teacher, who has been a learner of at least one additional language can understand the importance of building an effective learning community for the students in their classroom. I firmly believe that to be a good teacher, one must be a good learner first.

I find myself juggling between many roles in my classroom such as those of motivator, a resource of knowledge, facilitator of learning, an agent of change for my students, a guide for them to explore, try and learn. The Communicative teaching approach that dominates my teaching practice engages my students in discussions, case analyses, sharing examples, and completing projects. Throughout the process, the students become more confident in using the English language, and their learning becomes engaging and efficient. In my classroom, students continually interact with each other, try new things, build connections, and learn from each other. I believe that acquiring knowledge, gaining understanding, and learning a new language are joyous, empowering events. When students learn new words, I provide them with opportunities to use those words in conversation. Thus, I create an environment for my students to master their L2 in a meaningful context, which will further stimulate them to think and solve real-life problems while using their target language.

I frequently witness how the language acquisition process can be daunting at times because it takes time, patience, and conscientious effort. This further emphasizes the importance of an effective English language teacher who supports their students' learning processes. I always build a strong rapport with my students. I learn about them and not their names only but who they really are, where do they come from, what are their goals in my class and in their education in general. That helps me to assess my students and learn about their learning needs. This way, I can provide my students with proper scaffolding and assist them so that, they can achieve what learning alone would have been too hard for them to achieve. In this regard, I agree with Krashen’s Input Hypothesis of i + 1 – comprehensible input, to help students to make progress in acquiring English. In a similar vein, I highly appreciate Vigotsky’s teaching of “Zone of Proximal Development”, which is the gap between the learner’s current developmental level and their potential level of development as determined by the ability of problem-solving. I aim to fill in the “gap” under my guidance and facilitate both independent and collaborative learning. During these, in and out of class activities, I rely heavily on the Vygotskian Sociocultural theory, where I provide my students with opportunities for interaction. According to my beliefs, social interaction provides learners with opportunities for language use, and I always say to my students not to be afraid to make mistakes because in learning an additional language nothing feels better than getting it right after getting it wrong for several times at first.

By including these strategies in my teaching practice, I help students feel more comfortable while using the English language; I motivate them to try over and over again in order to alleviate their learner anxiety. This way, I support my students’ learning to move from declarative into procedural (implicit) knowledge as they can recall it spontaneously when they need it. Frequently, I can hear my students say: “Speaking English was hard at first, but now I really enjoy it.” Hearing this from my students makes me proud of their progress, and I feel rewarded.

Cooperative learning that I organize in my classroom, based on Vygotsky’s theory helps me reinforce the atmosphere of a learning community, where everyone is respected, and everyone learns, the teacher comprised. I enjoy learning about my students’ native cultures. Engaging students in respectful dialogue about cultural diversity creates awareness of the similarities and differences in cultures around the world. Language and culture are inseparable; therefore, I believe that fostering cultural appreciation in the classroom can help students develop intercultural awareness and intercultural communicative competence. The research published by Claire Kramsch and Michael Byram influenced me as an ESL teacher, and I share their opinions about the importance of the cultural component in ELT. I discuss different cultural topics with my students in the classroom. These discussions expand students’ worldview and at the same time, improve their language skills. They also develop their imagination, creativity, and critical thinking skills. To model appreciation, I learn some words in students’ first languages such as greetings or polite requests, and I try to pronounce them correctly. This modeling shows my students that I respect diversity and helps me build close relationships with them.

I strongly believe that communication with other teachers is of high importance, to share and get support and feedback, to learn from each other's experiences, and to seek opportunities for professional development at conferences, workshops, seminars, and symposia. With these ideas in mind, I feel that the call to teach and educate is one of the greatest missions in life.