Live. Grow. Learn.

Classroom Management             Classroom management for me is defined as strategies done in class depending on the class need.   Sensitivity to certain situation is classroom management.   To identify a group of people that can work together is classroom management.   Bottom line is, to be able to succeed in teaching that would provide a nurturing learning environment, classroom management must take place.               It takes years to learn classroom management because every class is different.   You may be successful in handling a class at some point and then find yourself frustrated at some other class.   It is a process of learning behaviour and knowing how to deal with it.               Setting an expectation at the beginning of every class is a must. I have this p...

My Classroom Designing a classroom takes a lot of consideration with how we also create our lesson plans.   Considering all students English level is just one factor as to how the classroom will effectively function to cater all learning needs and abilities.   Being able to assess students’ needs and knowing their learning levels and techniques will help us identify a group that will work effectively together and those who are individual learners.                 Audiovisual Learners need an Independent Listening Lab. A Listening Lab is a computer space with headphones, laptop or even CD player where they can learn independently and improve their listening skills. They should be given a set of listening list and exercises that they can complete on their own pace based on their comprehension level. Student may be given activities from ESL Cyber Listening Lab [1] or ESL Lounge [2] .      ...

Language Acquisition             “We all acquire language in exactly the same way.” This is an outrageous claim by Stephen Krashen [1] on his Language Acquisition interview.   Indeed it is but I agree that it is true. As a child, we learn by listening and mimicking, based on our daily conversation.   We acquire language by watching and listening to someone speaks and subconsciously collecting words and understanding what is being said. When you watch children play using little people toys, what do they do?   They role play based on what happens around them.   They play going to the doctor, church, shopping, eating, cooking and everything that they can act based on daily activities. That’s when you can see language acquisition happen.               “Immigrant children don’t speak right away when they arrive.   It takes several months of...

Unit 2: Classrooms Around the World             English is a universal language.   You may go to any country in the world and you will eventually find someone who can speak English and be able to communicate. It has become one of the essential languages for global trade. Sadly, not all countries offer English language as part of their learning curriculum. In the Philippines, we learn English from the moment we start school.   Most of our subjects are taught in English and almost all modes of instructions are done in English.               Japanese value their language and use it very effectively.   They learn English only when they wish to. The Japan Exchange and Teaching Programme [1] (JET) aims to enhance foreign language education, and promote international exchange concerning the promotion of mutual understanding between nations. JET is ...

It is evident that anyone’s first language is acquired from birth. Some studies show that language is heard from the time a fetus can hear from the womb. Based on the study of US National Library of Medicine National Institute of Health about Development of fetal hearing elaborates, “The development of fetal behavioural responsiveness to pure tone auditory stimuli was examined from 19 to 35 weeks of gestational age. Stimuli were presented by a loudspeaker placed on the maternal abdomen and the fetus’s response, a movement, recorded by ultrasound.   The sensitivity of the fetus to sounds in the low frequency range may promote language acquisition.” Since the first language is what we call our “mother tongue”, it is not consciously learned compared to second language.   We acquire our first language through hearing, mimicking and collecting vocabulary words as we grow up until we learn how to speak on our own. We know our language by heart because it is part of our da...

How Language are Learned 1.       Languages are learned mainly through imitation. §   Indeed, languages are learned mainly through imitation.   The Principle of Automaticity explains how children learn foreign languages when they are living in the cultural and linguistic environment of the language.    It is also a fact that we all learned our first language through imitation.   Our parents thought us how to speak by asking us to imitate them. We all started as imitators before we subconsciously learned all words by listening and being in the environment of that language. Second language learners are also the same.   In my country, most kids learn English by watching English cartoons; mimic them through singing and understanding the conversation by answering questions through the audio-video activities. Imitation I should say is the first step and the best way to learn a language.       2. ...

   TESL 0100: Unit 3 English Language in a Diverse Intensity Reviewing my English language knowledge using the Common areas of difficulty of Bolitho Tomlinson made me realize that speaking the language and knowing how to teach is just a step from what should go further to what must be offered to language learners.   From identifying the difficulty of producing the correct sound through the proper tongue and mouth positions, dissecting the word formation, context and meaning then understanding language varieties really was a mind blowing fact to be familiar with.   This realization makes me go back to my language foundation to review and relearn the basics to complex need of language facts. Knowing is definitely far from explaining and making learners to be skilled in speaking and writing in proper context makes it challenging. Analysing which ones they need and who needs what is also part of the challenge as per handling a class is concern.   I wou...