TESL 0150 Unit 2: Reflection

TESL 0150 Unit 2 Reflection: Evaluating Learning Resources

(Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ghozt_Tramp_-_Business_Communication_Duplicat_model.jpg) 

While I was reading through some of the learning theories Tomlinson outlines in his book “Developing Materials for Language Teaching”, one that particularly stood out to me stated that “…the most important thing that learning materials have to do is to help the learner connect the learning experience in the classroom to their own life outside the course.” (2014) In other words, the material that the students learn must translate into something relevant and useful to them. This is especially true with studying any language.

 If a student learns a new language feature but has no way to use it elsewhere, they will most likely forget about it. Why hold onto information that will be of no use? I can remember many times when in high school, I studied grammar rules and conjugations in French class and couldn’t for the life of me remember them just a few months later. It’s not that I didn’t study them; I often passed my tests with flying colours, but rather, the material was irrelevant to me. I didn’t see the merit in remembering the material in the long-term. As such, I think it’s essential that teachers help their students to connect with the material taught in meaningful ways that will be applicable to situations outside of the classroom. This is one reason why I’ve really come to appreciate task-based and communicative language teaching approaches. These approaches help students to connect the language they learn in the classroom to their own personal lives, by being able to take what they learn and use it in the real world. In the future, I hope to be able to incorporate materials that will enable students to connect their learning to their own personal lives. As I take this course on resource assessment, I’m hoping that it will hone my skills in determining the best materials to use in what ever situation I find myself in.

References:

Tomlinson, B. (Ed.). (2014). Developing materials for language teaching. London, UK: Bloomsbury

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

TESL 0130: Unit 2 Reflection

Image
TESL 0130 Unit 2 Reflection: Think-Aloud               (Source:    http://www.phxtutoring.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/woman-reading-green-book-out-loud.jpg  )  During this unit, what stood out to me the most was the “Think-Aloud” activity. I think that it is a very effective way to not only help students process a reading text, but it allows the teacher to see the student’s comprehension first hand as they make their way through the reading passage. When I think back to the text I read while using this method, I can recall more clearly its details and the thoughts I had while reading it. By saying your thoughts out loud, you are reinforcing what you think and so if students use this method, I feel that the material they read will be easier to understand. Furthermore, I feel this method may be especially helpful to students reading longer reading materials, as each pause helps to break the material into chunks.                I also feel that this method is an exce
Read more

TESL 0170 Practicum - Teaching Lesson 1 Reflection

For today’s lesson, I covered the first half of Chapter 3: Part 2 of textbook “Real Talk 2: Authentic English in Context”, which focussed on banking. The lesson began with a bit of a bumpy start due to a technical difficulty. I was unable to get the projector to connect up to my laptop, so I started the class with introductions and a class discussion to prime the students on the topic. Once the projector was up and working, I was then able to play a game of Kahoot with the class to review vocabulary from the previous lesson, as well as introduce new words using a PowerPoint presentation. The students especially enjoyed the game of Kahoot, and it served as a great way to connect with the students. After having a ten-minute break, we then moved on to the listening component of the lesson, where students listened to a conversation between a bank employee and a customer. The listening material appeared to be difficult for a good number of the students, so to give them a break, I change
Read more

TESL 0110 Lesson Plan

Hi everyone! Feel free to check out my latest lesson plan below. It covers how to use 'let' and 'make' when talking about giving a person permission to do something, or forcing them to do something. Let me know what you think! If you have any thoughts or suggestions, feel free to comment below. TESL 0110 Lesson Plan - Let and Make
Read more