My TESL Journey

TESL 0110  Unit 4 Reflection  There are three main approaches to grammar-based lesson planning, and I think they all have some merit. In Present-Practice-Produce lessons, students are presented with a structure, practice it, and then produce that structure in a more communicative task. Task-based lessons begin and end with a task with grammar and language elements being taught in the middle. Grammar instruction is integrated into the teaching of a language skill in Skills-based lessons. I do not think that I necessarily gravitate to one approach entirely; I think the way I think of teaching a grammar lesson incorporates bits and pieces of each approach. In addition, my decision on how to teach a lesson would be primarily based on the needs of my students, the context I was teaching in, the length of the class, and a multitude of other factors.  Initially I was drawn to the Task-Based approach, but in a somewhat more structured way with a bit of Present-Practice-P...

TESL 0110 Unit 3 Reflection Teachers should be selective when correcting students' mistakes . This appears to be a topic that is hotly debated. According to Scott Thornbury's true or false quiz on myths and misconceptions about corrective feedback, this statemement is false. I  completely disagreed with Thornbury's answer to this question. I don't think it is beneficial to a student's learning or self-esteem to point out every single mistake that they make, in any skill area. If a student has many errors and they are all identified, it may be overwhelming and the student may not be able to process the amount of information they are being told. As a result, they are not likely to learn from those mistakes or correct them in future speaking or writing tasks.  In addition, pointing out all of a student's errors can have a negative effect on their self-worth. It can crush their self-confidence and cause them to not want to do further tasks. It may also result...

TESL 0110 Unit 2 Reflection Grammar Methods: I don't necessarily think that there is a right or wrong answer to this question, and as I read the history of methods presented in Thornbury's  Grammar and methods , I saw that a variety of methods have, and still exist. I found it fascinating to read through the evolution of methods and to see how current beliefs and practices actually incorporate elements from many of the methods of the past.  Learning a second language, and "picking it up" through immersion and repeated exposure, as in the Direct Method and the Natural Approach, are based on Noam Chomsky's belief that we have an "innate capacity" to learn languages. According to these methods, it is not necessary to explicitly teach grammar; we will acquire grammatical knowledge in a natural and automatic way, just as we did as children when we learned our first language. Deep-end Communicative Language Teaching was rooted in similar ideas. It ...

TESL 0110 Unit 1 Reflection In order to teach English as a second language, does a teacher have to be a "Grammar Expert?"  I think it is important for teachers to have a strong foundation in grammar, but I would not say that they need to be "experts." The purpose of grammar is to provide structure and patterns for how we communicate our thoughts and ideas to others, both in speech and in writing. An ESL teacher needs to know what sounds right or how we say something in English, but I don't think it is necessary for them to know the name of every single verb tense and part of speech. Being able to "name" these items of knowledge is not the same as being able to apply them in the context of speaking or writing or to understand them in listening or reading.  When I think back to my own schooling, I do have some memories of grammar instruction. I can remember identifying and labeling parts of speech in sentences, such as subject, verb, and object...