Live. Grow. Learn.

It is a surprise that Joseph Webbe’s attitude to grammar as early as 1622 mentioned the holistic approach to learning language as he quoted, “No man can run speedily to the mark of language that is shackled… with grammar precepts. By exercise of reading, writing, and speaking… all things belonging to Grammar, will without labour, and whether we will or no, thrust themselves upon us.” Surprisingly, English grammar is still taught in other countries using the “Rule of Law” transmission view as I experienced. Though I believe it is essential but lacks the speaking part to complete the holistic process of learning. ( Thornbury: How to Teach Grammar ; Chapter 2, pg. 17) Learning a second-language must be experiential (the knowledge-how argument). Speaking and writing practices are essential to express grammar learning. It is saddening that learners of a second-language are limiting themselves in speaking outside the classroom and practise the use of language at home. Learning must not b...

  Unit 4: Lesson Planning Learning these lesson types enlightened me on which I am most comfortable in practice. Present-Practice-Produce (PPP) type of lesson plan is where I see myself practicing the most. I now see the importance of a Task-Based lesson plan which I would want to try and incorporate in my class. I see it as beneficial because it focuses on fluency, and it is learner-centered whereas I currently practice the teacher-centered (PPP) lesson type. It can be challenging as it is difficult to monitor and unpredictable to teach in sequence for learning but because it is based on the learner's needs, it is quite promising to produce results. In my current practice, I assess my student’s needs based on their writing skills and then prepare the PPP practice. I look forward to trying out both skill-based and task-based approaches for my ELA lessons moving forward. I also had an idea to group my learners into each type of lesson plan. Task-based and skill-based lessons can...

  Grammar is the basic foundation of proper communication.  It becomes a major challenge to converse or write without this foundation. Grammar helps learners to be more proficient and confident in using their language in all aspects of communication, speaking, and writing and more so to enjoy listening and reading.                   Teachers do struggle too, “And that’s because, as I and other language experts have pointed out, they themselves were never taught much, if any, grammar. And appropriate teaching support and materials are lacking.” quoted from the 'grammar-still-matters'.                Though it is my professional responsibility to learn grammar for teaching purposes, it is beyond my present skill to be called an expert. It takes years to master grammar and knowing it all at the top of your head will require years of being in an environment where grammar is t...

Grammar is the organization of words set to follow a structure to properly communicate. I read once that without reading, learners won’t know words, and without words, learners won’t be able to write. This is true enough why grammar and writing should be taught together. Students must be able to write what they learned using proper grammar. How about those whose first language writing is not the alphabet? That makes it a totally different challenge.    Communicating through speaking and writing differs in a lot of aspects. Speaking requires spontaneity while writing on the other hand can be thought of at a given time. (S7-Crystal) Bright and Crystal’s lists magnify all required considerations when planning classroom instructions. It interests me that acquisitional ability is inborn rather than learned. (Bright) I would agree. Everyone is not gifted to adapt to a language or learn to speak and write proficiently.   Listening and speaking are the first senses that...

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...