Giving classroom instructions

Analyzing my Pronunciation

REPORT

In order to practice the sounds of vowels and consonants, I read aloud the tongue twisters the tutor provided. At the first attempt I did it very slowly to create confidence, and I struggled with “thorough”, “moth” and “thwart”. I searched for knowledge of the sound and meaning at the Merriam-Webster dictionary on the web, I listened to each word and repeated several times, until it I acknowledged the sound. This dictionary has been very helpful for me. Also I rehearsed with other tongue twisters that I found.

How different was it from the first attempt?

I felt I still say it slow, but more confident, and I thought I had better pronunciation, but when I listened to myself I realize I need to improve it.
Audio: MARIA DE LOS ANGELES AYALA_Act7_EngV

Explaining ELT-related concepts

Concept Map about Assessment:

          

  

This concept map describes Assessments and highlights the importance of its role on the students second language learning,  as means of revising the different types and tasks, that should fit the learner`s needs to have a fair evaluation or judgment of their development, in a certain period of time, through the  collection of data to acknowledge if the teaching methods or activities he/she is using are the appropriated, and if not, he/she has tools to support criteria to improve, or to try new ones searching in global, continuous and formative aspects, within a well planned assessment, to achieve students learning.

In the field of language teaching, there are multiple forms and reasons for assessment; sometimes our institution instructs how to do it, however for most of the cases, the teacher is the one who decide how to do it. Teachers and students have reacted positively to the assessment procedures and practice; therefore the assessment plan should show how students benefit from program presented, continually revising it and ensuring the goals and outcomes of the course and finally, revision of the program, because if it does not reflect development needs, there is always room for change and adaptation, in order to improve language learning.

Looking at my writing

THE MACDONALIZATION EFFECT ABOUT TEACHING ENGLISH AS SECOND LANGUAGE.

This article written by Andrew Littlejohn, in 2011, provides information relating the different events that happened in more than 60 years ago, when times were very optimistic about the future in the world, in areas to be improved such environment, social, intellectual, economic, etc., and more innovations  were manufactured, to make life more comfortable, while language education was trying to find “the single right method”, to enable “the masses to learn”, raising the alternative ways of living, or self-help groups in rejection of “the establishment”.

In the sixties, the methodologies that involved the “whole person” were more humanistic, like “learner-centred teaching” or “self-access centres”. So, this historical context issues allow us to look back, and reflect our classroom practices: Are they as we would like to be?

The following is an analysis of social change through the next decades: the concept of Culture changed to a “smaller communities”,  now it  refers to meanings, habits, and customs.; “Globalization” declined power and decisions in favor of greater supranational governments and economic enterprisers; technology caused disappearance of some jobs and creation of new ones;  standardization in the market, same products available everywhere; great dominance of electronic media and  expect anything endlessly eclectic, nothing can get one in “shock”, about news, fashion, politicians, and movie stars.

 Roger Ritzer in 1993 identified and titled this tendencies as the “McDonalisation of society” referring to the world`s biggest hamburger chain, suggesting the McDonald approach that had a high degree of control; very efficient, reutilized, standardized,  and dehumanized, which system was an example for areas such media, entertainment and education, resulting in products such “McNews”, “McCinema” and “McUniversity”, therefore,  knowledge was reduced to easily digestible forms, fast, fun and with effortless learning, like fast food. So, “McCoursebook”, the global text, produced standardized outcomes, with emphasis on the pop and consumer industries. Also standardization of the “good teacher” had to be certified by certification business.

     Nowadays, we have to ask ourselves, as teachers of communication; “is our teaching educationally nutritious?”  We can revise our practices with the guides that Littlejohn suggests:

1.        Are we using coherent lessons, topics and projects to provide learning?

2.        Is content worth knowing about?

3.        Are students participating in decisions, when structured plan is presented?

4.        Are students thinking, negotiating, planning and evaluating?

5.        Do texts and tasks promote cultural understanding?

6.        Do students reflect why language is used in some particular ways?

    To conclude, we must believe that the future is the one we shape, not standardized, and supply all the pedagogic tools our students need, to develop an analytic attitude about what they read, see and are told, to be able to raise awareness, as language learners and better people.

Transactional and Interactional English Content

BRIEF REPORT ONENCOUNTERED LANGUAGE PROBLEMS

       PHONOLOGICAL PROBLEMS:

       Incorrect pronunciation of vowels

       Sometimes I use the ones from Spanish language, but our pronunciation was pretty clear, confident and fluent; we were able to understand one to each other.

       LEXICAL PROBLEMS:

       Unnecessary repetitions.

       I used several times the pronoun they and from, but it was like taking time to think, like I was trying to find the correct words.

      Hesitations

      Too much uh. I think we used these hesitations to think ahead, to form the ideas, to use the appropriated vocabulary, according to the aspects of teaching we were talking about, but they are natural, in any language, unless speech is previously rehearsed or prepared.

     GRAMMATICAL PROBLEMS:

      Reinforcing or correcting an adjective.

     “It`s more easy, it`s easier”. With this expression, one is reflecting at the same times one is speaking, that if it is correct la first option, or should I say it with the second option.  

      Incorrect use of the verb to be in the past tense, third person

      I asked “Were your classroom too big?” Instead of: Was your classroom too big?. I did this mistake because I was going to ask something else.

       Lack of cohesion items.

       In the whole conversation, we followed an informal style, so we didn`t pay too much attention on the cohesion items, even when it was coherent, it made sense.

      INTERACTIONAL PROBLEMS:

       I felt that I took the control of the conversation.

       I asked and answered a little more than Mariana; I wished it would be more equal, but in general, it was a relaxed, nice and informal conversation.

      COMMUNICATIVE PROBLEMS:

       Repetition of the name of Mariana at the end of the questions

     

       I overused the name of Mariana, to seek for an answer. I was not sure if she listened to my questions, and sometimes I asked questions like she was still teaching, because I got confused about Mariana`s classes, and her answers were ambiguous, even when she mentioned since the beginning that she stopped teaching.

EFFECTIVE STRATEGIES TO SOLVE PROBLEMS

      I have to make an effort to improve my pronunciation with vowels; using the tools we can easily find on the internet. There are several sites where we can practice pronunciation and intonation, from different countries that speak English. Also, when we watch television or movies in English we can learn new vocabulary and expressions, even jargon.

      I just found out that, nowadays there are some channels in the television, in the U.S.A. that have subtitles in English and speaking English, it is amazing that they are narrating a game and the words are instantaneously appearing in the screen. I firmly believe that is an excellent choice to learn pronunciation along with vocabulary in an interesting way, either news, sports, entertainment, etc., according to any style.

Who am I linguistically: Investigating my English

BRIEF REPORT OF ENCOUNTERED LANGUAGE PROBLEMS

      About phonology, I think that I have to make an effort to improve my pronunciation on vowels, due to the fact that I spent only a year in the U.S.A., and I think is quite little time to be close to native speakers, in order to be able to distinguish their sounds. Also, it was difficult for me to notice that English vowel sounds are different from the Spanish ones. Therefore, I have fluency problems, so I am not confident enough to speak it as I should, however it is easy for me to understand written English.

      On the other hand, I consider that Grammar problems represented some slips, but not too much trouble.