Professional Development
When working with language learners in the classroom, some teachers may believe that there is only limited ways in which to instruct their students. This page is designed for teachers to come and find alternative ways to teach a foreign language. You will find examples that I have created, but also examples from other scholars as well.
Micro-strategies
- The purpose of this micro-strategy is to help your students develop their writing skills. Help students to create an online blog (if computers are available), or journal in order to write about their thoughts, feelings, achievements, etc. throughout the course they are enrolled in. As the year goes on, you should be checking for more advanced grammar skills that are being taught in class. You may modify the activity depending on the proficiency level of your students.
- Ask students to interview a native speaker of English using a guide or preplanned questions. Then have students pair up with a classmate and share the interesting information they found on their native speaker. Walk around the classroom as they are discussing in order to monitor they use of language.
- Have students pick any famous author they have learned or heard about, and would like to know more about that person. Have them conduct research on this individual and create a poster of interesting and important facts of this author. Doing so will bring more culture into the classroom and help the teacher to know more about their students. You may alter the activity depending on the proficiency level in the classroom.
- Plan an exploratory project for your students that involves them going out to find additional information on learning their new language. Having students find different sources that are available to them will aid in their motivation. From here, have students create a flyer or brochure that is advertising the different programs available.
- When giving students text, make sure to give pre-reading and post-reading questions for comprehension. As the year goes on, have students create their own questions that they are to answer. This allows students to engage in critical thinking as well as practice in working with the language.
Strategies taken from B. Kumaravadivelu- Beyond Methods: Macrostrategies for Language Teaching
- To aid in learner autonomy, Kumaravadivelu suggests to identify the learning strategies and styles your students are using already, and what they hope to learn throughout the class. By giving students a questionnaire that identifies these areas, you are helping to create the learner's profile in the beginning of the course.
- Use a piece of text that would help students to understand "slang" of the English language. Help them to understand the setting of the text and unfamiliar objects in them, as well as different phrases they may be unaware of (i.e. "died laughing"). Then have students form groups and create a short story or joke based on a cultural misunderstanding. Remind them the focus is "linguistic jokes" not "ethnic jokes", which could hurt someone's feelings.
- Plan a lesson that focuses completely on learner exchanges. Doing so will help to focus on learning comprehension as well as challenge students at their current proficiency level.
- Have students form groups and watch a reality television show such as "Survivor". Guide them through discussing the episode, then ask them what was real and unreal. Have students report back to the class about what they watched and what was discussed, followed by a question-and-answer session.
- Observe your own teaching methods through video recording or having a colleague take extensive notes if technology is not available. Continue this minimum of a week or until you are ready to stop. Doing so helps you to see your growth and development as a teacher, as well as helping you begin constructing your own theory of practice.
