Reflections

Grammar and Writing Instructions 

Reflecting about my personal teaching style, deductive teaching represents me more. I prefer to be straightforward and on point when it comes to my lessons, especially in  ELA, Art and Math lessons. Just like Thornbury discusses the concept of deductive grammar teaching, which involves presenting grammatical rules explicitly before having students apply them in practice. He emphasised that grammar rules as a starting point in language instruction might be the most effective in the language classroom. Thornbury examines that role of grammar rules in language learning and discusses the benefits of providing learners with a systematic understanding of grammar rules, as it can help them make sense of the language. He mentioned the points of its critiques and argues the limitations that it can be overly prescriptive and may not always lead to effective language acquisition. I agree with the fact that he mentioned balancing approaches that while the deductive approach has its merits, it’s important for language teachers to consider a balanced approach to grammar instruction. This means incorporating deductive instruction alongside other methods, such as inductive or communicative approaches, to cater to different learning styles and preferences.  

Then I realised, I’m a bit of both. Teaching Social Studies and Science is learned more inductively in my class. I let students analyse, communicate and explore while learning. I ask questions and let them do research about the lessons they need to find out and figure out. I definitely do both approaches. 

Thinking about when to use which teaching approach will be effective depends on the lessons and of course the students. There are learners that will benefit more in deductive learning than inductive approach and of course there are learners who need an inductive approach rather than deductive learning style. It will all depend on your analysis on which student will benefit from what teaching style. This is all mentioned in Conti’s piece on changing the approach to grammar instruction and Lynch’s article on implicit versus explicit grammar instruction that delve into the ongoing debate within language education which encourages teachers to critically evaluate their own teaching methods and consider what works best for their students.  

The chapter on “Writing” from Jeremy Harmer’s book, “The Practice of English Language Teaching,” provides a comprehensive overview of the principles and techniques involved in teaching writing. Harmer emphasises the importance of integrating writing skills into language instruction and discusses various strategies for developing students’ writing abilities.  The chapter covers everything from the importance of writing as a skill to the process of teaching it effectively.  One takeaway from Harmer’s chapter is the idea that writing is an essential skill for language learners, as it enables them to express their thoughts, ideas, and creativity.  He suggests that  writing should not be seen as a separate skill but as an integral part of language learning, with its own unique challenges and opportunities.  Harmer points out that writing allows students to express themselves, practice vocabulary and grammar, and develop their ability to communicate effectively in writing, which is a vital skill for academic and professional contexts.  He discusses the process approach to teaching writing, which involves breaking down the writing process into stages such as pre-writing, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing.  This approach helps students understand that writing is a step-by-step process, not just a one-time task. 

Harmer touches on the topic of error correction in student writing. He discusses the balance between providing feedback on errors and encouraging students to express themselves without fear of making mistakes.  He provided insights into various ways to provide constructive feedback to help students improve their writing skills.  Harmer also emphasises the importance of teaching students to consider their target audience when writing and understanding the expectations of the reader is crucial in effective writing. 

Resources:

Harmer, J. (2004). The practice of English language teaching. Chapter 18: Writing (pp. 255-268).

Crystal, D. (2005). Speaking and Writing: Longman.

Thornbury, S. (1999). How to teach grammarChapter 3: How to teach Grammar from Rules (pp. 31-33).

Sikorzynska, A. (1995). Discover it yourself (pp. 8-9 & pp. 82-85).

Conti, G. (April, 2017). Why you should change your approach to grammar instruction.

Bright, W. (2012). What’s the Difference between Speech and Writing? Linguistic Society of America?

Larsen-Freeman, D. (n.d.). Teaching Grammar.

Lynch, L. (n.d.). Grammar Instruction: Implicit or Explicit.

The Effect of Implicit and Explicit Grammar Instruction

Corrective Feedback and Assessment in Writing

Correcting and providing feedback is definitely essential in the process of learning. This will help students be aware of their personal learning goals as it will provide a path for them to learn efficiently. 

“A Typology of Written Corrective Feedback Types” by Ellis (2009) classified different types of corrective feedback that can be used when evaluating and providing feedback on written assignments in language learning.  This will serve as a good framework to choose the most appropriate feedback method based on the specific needs of the student. Ellis categorises various approaches to providing feedback with Direct Error Correction, Indirect Feedback, and Metalinguistic Feedback. 

Direct Error Correction explicitly identifies and corrects errors made by the learner. This may include corrections related to grammar, vocabulary, spelling, and punctuation.  Direct Error Correction is highly specific and provides clear guidance on what needs improvement. However, it can be overwhelming if overused, potentially discouraging learners. I find this kind of correction inappropriate to beginning levels. This may be beneficial for the advanced learners. Appropriate assessment on providing corrective feedback may also be required to make sure that the student is prepared to accept such kind of feedback.  

Indirect Feedback doesn’t explicitly correct errors but rather guides the learner to recognize and correct mistakes independently. It often involves underlining or highlighting errors without providing the correct answers. This approach encourages self-correction and promotes active engagement in the learning process.  Indirect feedback can be less discouraging than direct correction, as it allows learners to take ownership of their mistakes. I find this beneficial to empower students to be independent learners. This approach is logical for self-sufficient learners who know how to navigate their way in language learning. 

Metalinguistic Feedback focuses on providing explanations, comments, or questions about the language used in the written assignment. Instead of directly correcting errors, instructors may offer explanations of grammar rules or ask questions that prompt learners to reflect on their language choices. This type of feedback fosters a deeper understanding of language concepts and encourages metacognition, where learners think about their language use and make improvements based on their understanding. This approach is very holistic and encouraging. Students will learn to process their understanding on a different level and be able to express their thinking and expand their awareness. 

Ellis’s typology serves as a valuable framework for language teachers to choose the most appropriate feedback method based on the specific needs and goals of the students. Different learners may benefit from different types of feedback, and instructors can tailor their approach to promote effective learning and improvement in written language skills. 

As a teacher, I see myself leaning towards indirect feedback as it is less discouraging and it allows learners to take ownership of their mistakes. I could also see myself doing metalinguistic feedback to promote deeper understanding of language concepts. 

“Language Differences” in “A Guide to Learning English” (2017), explores the variations and nuances in the English language.  It covers topics such as regional accents, dialects, and cultural differences in language use.  

It is argued that a person's gesture in intonational differences between languages or dialects are the same because human physiology is the same everywhere. When someone is showing a big reaction, it doesn’t matter what language they speak, you know that a person is upset, happy, or giving grand gestures by just looking at facial expression and listening to their voice pitch. Speaking about intonation, pauses and gestures in oral communication does not necessarily apply to grammar because these expressions are actually the same across all people. Intonation and Gesture: Dwight Bolinger However, it is important to consider pausing, stopping and voicing rise or fall intonation when speaking to purposely convey the correct message across, especially when you are speaking a second language. 

Language learners must be explicitly corrected to be able to deliver the correct intonation in reading and speaking. It is a learning process that affects their writing, so it is necessary to be able to properly punctuate and effectively get their message across. It is a good practice to teach learners to pause on commas, stop on periods, express rise and fall of voice when appropriate punctuation shows exclamation or question mark when reading. It will be a good learning awareness in writing that when we pause while speaking, a comma is required and that when we stop, a period is needed. The voice intonation actually shows punctuation as we speak. Imagine taking away all capitalization and punctuation in a paragraph and having a student read it. They will definitely read with intonation pauses, stop, and rise and fall of their voice as they deem appropriate. It will be an accomplishment when they realise how it works. (Grammar and Style)

In Chapter 7 of “The Practice of English Language Teaching” by Jeremy Harmer (2004) titled “Mistakes and Feedback.” He explores the role of mistakes and the importance of feedback in English language teaching.  

I agree with his points that mistakes are learning opportunities. Without our students' mistakes, we wouldn’t know which target lessons are helpful to present and lead on. He mentioned error correction, providing constructive feedback and balancing correction and feedback which I find exactly the same concept of Ellis’s typology. 

Resources: 

Harmer, J. (2004). The practice of English language teaching. Chapter 7: Mistakes and feedback (pp. 99-104 & 109-113).

A Guide to Learning English. (2017). Language differences.

The CAELA Guide for Adult ESL Trainers. (n.d.). Practice II: Revising – making it clear, (pp. 88-95).

Ellis, R. (2009). A typology of written corrective feedback types.

Teaching Methodology Reflection

Teaching in a call centre during the 2000’s reminded me of grammar translation techniques that trainees do as part of their thinking process to understand which is surely evident when they're speaking. We were tasked to teach product knowledge and soft skills training which does not include grammar teaching at that time. Trainees are kept reminded to shy away from translating the language when they are speaking and to use the thinking process: “Think in English, Speak in English” all the time. The trainees that do not meet a certain language skills are sent to a separate Intensive Training Program where they learn and practise grammar lessons, listening and speaking skills. I wonder, how those trainees shy away from translating to just “think in English, speak in English” way? How did that thought process help them?       

Trainees were encouraged to actually use the Direct/Natural Method of learning at that time. I didn’t even know what it’s called at the time. We were just encouraging trainees to watch English films instead of the local films. Speak in English in their room, pause the film, mimic how they pronounce their words and just act crazy immersing themselves in the language. I vividly remember one trainee saying, “The people in my house will think I’m crazy!”

Grammar Reflection

It is humbling to know how far I am from calling myself an SME when it comes to Grammar. There is so much to learn and study about grammar pedagogy and scope and sequence in learning. 

Learning about prescriptivist vs descriptivist language learners, I concur that second language learners are definitely descriptivist. Thinking about the way I speak and write, I see myself as one descriptivist. As a teacher, I have to learn how to be a prescriptivist to be able to effectively deliver grammar lessons. I am expected to be the subject matter expert in teaching ESL as I will be tasked to plan, organise teaching material, and assess student progress. It means proficiency and accuracy of the subject matter. It requires training, education, and experience to be called an expert. As experience being part of the journey to become an expert, I should enjoy my path in learning through continuous teaching, training and professional development. Though I am expected to know the subject matter, it is also a work in progress. As I work, grow and continue to thrive in teaching, I will be compelled through my student’s needs. Time and experience counts to be called a subject matter expert. It is comforting to know that one is not required to be a grammarian in order to teach grammar to ESL learners. One IELTS teacher mentioned, "I was a pretty good teacher and I did study grammar before each class that I taught. I prepared excellent lessons and my students learned quickly. In other words, my lack of formal grammar education did not prevent me from doing my job." - David Wills 

After my grammar assessment, I looked into my learning style and it showed that I am an auditory learner. I learn best by listening and watching.  Learning grammar prescriptively will be a long process though, I am challenged and positive that this is something that I would like to skillfully learn. 

TESL 110: Unit 3 Corrective Feedback and Assessment 

        Julian Edge’s three broad categories on mistakes and corrections resonated with me the most. (Harper, 2001 p.99) Slips, errors, and attempt categories help me label what I’m doing in my class. When students are trained to read their writing before they decide that they are done, it gives them that self awareness of checking their slips of work before submitting. What I see about ‘attempts’ that is good with kids is that they have that ability to try without thinking of whether they are making mistakes or following certain rules. Whereas adult learners are afraid to make mistakes because they don’t know the rules, or even afraid to try. The ‘error’ part is something that guides me when making decisions of what is needed either for one-on-one coaching or lessons needed as a class.   

        Developmental errors do not only happen to L2 learners but even English speaking kids do have the same developmental error. Adding -ed to adjectives and over generalising it are common mistakes. (Harper, 2001 p.100) This natural acquisition process is normal and eventually gets sorted out as they learn the language formally. It is crucial though that it should be part of formal language learning in shaping the L1 language acquisition and writing skills rather than let it pass and trust that it’ll come naturally as they mature. 

I remember one Taiwanese one-on-one tutoring I had.  I encouraged him to use his phone to record his daily reading aloud. (Harper, 2001 p.109)  He was tasked to catch words that he thought needed to be corrected. He had a problem pronouncing -s endings. I also gave him my feedback every week that we met and we both listened to his recording and practised words. We also used the Mirriam-Webster online pronunciation for his needs. 

        Based on experience, I should say that students do want their grammatical errors in writing to be corrected for improvement. It’s the feedback approach that will matter because students might take it differently. For elementary students, for sure they don’t like corrections on their papers. Individual coaching will be the most effective for this age. Once the editing/coding symbol is introduced and they know how it works, it’s more comfortable to correct their work that way. (Harper, 2001 p.112) It’s even fun for them to use it in group work or peer activity and enjoy the process of using the symbols. Focusing on punctuation and capitalization for a start makes sense for this group of students.  It is the same way in Adult learners.  Focus on one task at a time.  When they get to be comfortable writing sentences, then paragraphs and arranging their detailed sequences should follow. 

        Reformulation is for intermediate to advanced learners. I remember an experience about reformulation myself when I asked someone to check my essay. The person edited so much that it’s no longer my voice in my writing. I felt that she might have thought that the way she wrote it is better than how I did. (Harper, 2001 p.111) I’m very particular in making sure I don’t change the entire context or even words of the writer when making feedback. It is important to note that suggestions, or saying “if it’s me writing, I would do it this way” remark than changing it entirely. Learners would appreciate it better because they have that opportunity of learning, assessing and editing on their own. They will learn to strategize and think of a different way of writing.   

        Getting into a relaxed state before giving feedback is one way to positively guide and assess learners. A relaxed environment makes it more conducive to learning. Students are more welcome to suggestions and be open to criticism when they are calm. This is also one way of asking the student for any difficulty or concern that they may have in learning to further assist them in any way. (6 Tips You Should Know When Giving Feedback to ESL Students)

        Overall, offering corrective feedback in writing works both ways. Work must be praised and criticized. Praise for improvement and writing in context and feedback for improvement and goal setting. 

References:

Harmer, J. (2001). Chapter 7: Mistakes and feedback . In Harmer, J. (Eds.), The practice of English language teaching (pp. 99-104 & 109-113). Essex, England: Longman

6 Tips You Should Know When Giving Feedback to ESL Students

https://www.fluentu.com/blog/educator-english/giving-feedback-to-esl-students/

TESL 0120: Unit 4

Differentiating Speaking and Listening Activities: Reflection                

Knowing the challenges of multilevel classes provides expectations for teachers like me to prepare for various class-appropriate tools and resources for different levels. I liked the fact that administrators are aware of the needed support for teachers in terms of program design and professional development just like what “Immigrant Center” is offering to all volunteers. It is enlightening to recognize why multilevel classes are necessary for adult ESL programs and that they also enhance students’ English language experience. 

I now understand why one on one tutoring is also offered.  The student I handled for tutoring was done with his ESL class before enrolling himself for one on one tutorial.  He opts for tutoring to learn more idioms and correct his pronunciation. He was a very determined learner.  

Exploring the CLB Support Kit is a great tool for multilevel classes.  It will help to profile learners’ abilities across benchmark levels.   It also provides strategies and identifies specific purposes of language learners and how to better assist them in training.  Discovering about English for Academic Purposes (EAP), English for the Workplace and Special Needs Learners expound my understanding of how ESL is offered for learners.

The lesson plan provided in differentiating Speaking and Listening Activities gave me an idea to restructure my lesson activities by following the activating, acquiring, and applying practice.  It is maybe part of my lesson planning before but is now differentiated and simplified.

TESL 0100 Unit 1: 

September 22, 2018

In answering the question, “Who do you think you are?” reflecting on my identity towards my goals for this course and beyond is honestly to be determined as the process progress.  Going back to my experiences, my trainees would say that I would always aim for the minimum mistake possible and to maximize or perfect the process to the best of their ability.  My supervisors would say that my class is always disciplined and focused on improving themselves.  They do not hesitate to ask and are always open to feedback.  I remember once I was coached that I always find ways to make things easier for my trainees.  My one-on-one ESL student commented that I use all means of resources in technology to help him improve. That’s how others perceive me.  How do I perceive myself? With all the resources that we have now in teaching, I see myself to be enjoying teaching ESL either in adult or elementary students.  Pondering this question makes me ask myself to identify a lot of things.  What are my teaching preferences? Am I an effective teacher to the elementary level or am I better in Adult teaching? Now that I am immersing myself in elementary teaching, it is too early to tell.  The adult learning experience will be another journey as an ESL instructor.  

At this point in my life, I am learning, I am starting to build my PLN and I want to engage more in conversations as that is something that I’m not used to doing professionally online.  Listening to “Reasons I Love Teaching: My PLN Education Rethink,” I can actually relate to what he was saying.  Just like him, I am not safe or comfortable all the time in a professional environment.  But realizing that having a network of professionals where you talk about best practices and challenges makes you feel supported, comforted, and not alone.   Also, Tyson Seburn mentioned in his commentary, “When you see how you react to what others discuss when you see how your teaching experiences relate to others’ experiences when your contributions are valued–they shape and define your identity. It’s not static; its fluid through a new experience, but it’s a starting point.” I can comfortably say that my goal for this course and beyond would be to engage in my Professional Learning Network.

TESL 0120 Unit 1:
September 22, 2018

“Aha” Moment

One of my Aha moments in this Unit is knowing and understanding the “Audiolingual Method”

The learners’ abilities to respond quickly and accurately in speech situations to show knowledge or understanding would also depend on the familiarity with the situation.  They may know the answer but cannot express themselves clearly because of insufficient vocabulary and inaccurate grammar patterns. 

I liked the idea of “the main activities that would include reading aloud dialogues, repetitions of model sentences, and drilling.  Key structures from the dialogue serve as the basis for pattern drills of different kinds.  Lessons in the classroom focus on the correct imitation of the teacher by the students.  Not only are the students expected to produce the correct output, but attention is also paid to correct pronunciation.”

TESL 0120 Unit 2:
September 29, 2018

Pronunciation Corrective Feedback

In the video, the teacher keeps repeating how it is supposed to be said over and over. I remembered a quote about this, “Don’t repeat the same mistake and expect a different result.” If a student does not get it the first time you asked to mimic the words, then it means you find another way of making him do it.  It is the same in giving instruction. If the student did not understand what you are trying to say, paraphrase the instruction or give example and show how you expect them to do it. 

Giving corrective feedback is really not easy. There will be a lot of considerations to ponder as to how we give feedback to students.  It can be sensitivity to how they accept feedback; the way we think it will be effective for someone. In this video, they both lose it! They both exhausted themselves doing it over and over.

Now that we have technology on the tip of our fingers, one way to offer correction to this scenario is to let the student listen to how the word is pronounced, watch how the mouth and the tongue produce the sound, and practice saying the word in a sentence.  It may also be helpful to change the words with the same meaning like “I want a burger,” to “I want coffee” first to see the same intonation as to how you expect it to sound than changing the word when intonation is done correctly

“Aha” Moment

I liked the fact that part of the teaching pronunciation technique is self-directed learning. For students to define their own learning objective gives them the responsibility to self-monitor and correct themselves.  This is a great way for them to set realistic goals and take initiative to research the best ways for them to improve.

My “aha moment” in this unit is the “test of production” where diagnostic assessment uses recording and listening to the students read.  I did this with one of my students and he liked the fact that he can listen to his own recording, practice, and see what he mispronounces.  I just realized that the activity I was doing was really part of evaluation and feedback practice. In doing this practice, the student watches for intonation patterns, word stresses, and segmental corrections. Peer feedback is also a great idea as it helps them sharpen their own listening skills and put their knowledge of pronunciation rules to immediate use. (pg. 351)