11/15

I have a lot of mixed thoughts about testing and assessments. As a bilingual education major, I'm the first one to say that I don't agree with how much importance is given to standardized tests. I really disagree with the fact that a single test can determine one person's future. After learning so much about validity and reliability in ENG 346, I see so many more reasons why a standardized test isn't the best way to assess a student. Factors like how clear the instructions are, the person scoring the test, and the time of day or setting can all impact the outcome of the test taker.

With this in mind, it's clear why alternative assessments are much more beneficial. They are more low-stakes and allow the students to use their background knowledge and interests to produce their work. The teacher also has the opportunity to get multiple samples of their work, rather than using one instance to determine their skills. Assessments like portfolios are especially great because it gives the student a chance to see how much they have progressed, something a standardized test does not do. These assessments also allow the teacher to give immediate feedback to the students which can help them start improving on their weaker areas right away.

Although I am a huge supporter of alternative assessments, ESPECIALLY for English language learners, I think it's important to play "devil's advocate" or look at it from the opposite perspective. From the government's point of view, standardized tests are used to make sure there is some sort of structure in our education and to make sure our teachers are teaching what they are supposed to. Is there another way to maintain some sort of structure and "check up" with schools to make sure they are teaching meaningful lessons? Personally, I feel like standardized tests might be more useful if they were more low-stakes and there was more emphasis on areas of alternative assessment to determine what level the student is at. The way our educational system is currently structured is putting a lot of pressure on students and leaving less room for teachers to be creative in the classroom because of these high stakes test.

11/8

As it was stated in the closing paragraph of Chapter 11, I agree that teachers need to be very honest about the power that politics has on language. We need to explain to our students that the language and culture that they bring with them makes them unique, but in order to keep up with society they need to adjust to the "game" that's being played or they will have a very difficult time (pg 266).

The part of the chapter that captured my attention the most was the talk about the role of the first language. As a bilingual education major, I've learned so much about how resourceful the student's first language is, especially in a learning environment. In our education classes we've learned a million times how when a student can tap into their prior knowledge, or relate what they are learning to a personal experience, they will have an easier time understanding the new concept. This makes it shocking to me that the use of the first language in the classroom is always a debate. Clearly, if it is the only language being used in the classroom the students aren't going to make progress in their L2, but if it is used as a resource it can greatly enhance their understanding. I feel like this isn't always clear to the learners themselves either. A lot of the time they have their mind set on learning English as quickly as possible and never want to tap into their L1. As teachers we need to explain that their first language can provide them a lot of help with their second language. In our classroom it might be beneficial to do different activities that can link their home language to their second language. This way they can find some similarities or differences between the two and make helpful connections either within the grammar, communication styles, or speech acts. The use of the L1 in any ESL classroom is too great of a resource to ignore and if this is explained to the students and their parents they will understand how much it can really help.

11/3

Creating and fostering language awareness is especially important in an ESL classroom because there is most likely going to be several forms and variations of English being spoken in the classroom. As a teacher of ESL students I think that it's so important that we are sensitive and accepting of the variations that they bring into the classroom. This doesn't mean though, that they shouldn't be informed of formal and academic English. As a bilingual education major we always talk about how there is not only one correct way to speak English, but there are proper ways to speak in different settings. ESL students should be taught that the language they bring with them and the variation of English that they speak is accepted and valued, but in certain contexts they need to speak standard English to be appropriate. This is why I found critical language awareness to be important in the classroom. As ESL students, they are all going to come from different backgrounds, speak differently, and interpret things differently. This is why it is crucial for them to be able to analyze aspects of language critically. ESL teachers need to make it clear to their students that there isn't always one way to do something. This goes for any area of a language. There isn't simply one way to respond to an argument, ask a question, or write a phrase. I think to make this the least complicated as possible for them. they need to be taught to look at the context and surroundings of the situations. Are they speaking to someone in a more formal setting or one of their friends? Are they at church or on the playground? Could someone have interpreted the question differently than they did? All of these things come into play when learning a language. If the students aren't made aware that they need to look at language critically, then they will have a very difficult time learning the standard form of English and using it appropriately.

10/25

I have a lot of opinions about the way grammar should be taught, because personally, I wish I was taught differently. I was taught in a way where grammar instruction was explicit and we covered a new structure each week and then we took a test on it. It was simply memorization and teaching to the test. Learning this way made it EXTREMELY difficult when I was presented in real world situations. I struggle a lot in the area of fluency and communication with native speakers, but I can do the grammar perfectly.


Because of my personal experience, I feel very strongly about how grammar should be taught. When I read the quote in the book on page 149 "Learning grammar is a lot simpler than learning a language", I agreed completely. Grammar should not be the only area that a language learner practices, because they are still going to have a very difficult time communicating in the real world. I wish that my teachers would have presented our lessons with more task work. I do think that some explicit grammar instruction is necessary to have a basic understanding of the language, but after that is taught I think there should be a lot of focus on task work and grammar lessons can be incorporated into that. Obviously, some people are learning the language for different purposes so there might be cases of people that need more grammar instruction than others, but I still feel that including grammar lessons into more task focused instruction is the best way to go about teaching it. Learners will focus less on using every correct structure and more on getting the point across and communicating effectively with the native speakers.

10/20

In my opinion, learner autonomy is similar to learning how to ride a bike. It takes a lot of trial and error, but once it is accomplished, it becomes autonomous and you don't have to think about each part of the process anymore. The only downside to learner autonomy is that it does take a long time to accomplish, even in a first language. When I think about my own learning experience, I don't think I learned "how to learn" until I was in college. Even my freshman year I really struggled with my classes because I didn't know my preferred way to study or learn. The learner needs to be familiar with their own learning styles and strategies in order to move forward with this. In my case, I realized that simply reading the chapters didn't help me retain information at all. I needed to write things into my own words and make flash cards for myself to start understanding the information and applying it to my life. It also takes some effort from the teacher's side as well. Teachers can do their part by cherishing the learning strategies that the students bring to class as well as teaching them some new ones to try out. Once the teacher has done this, they need to step back and let the students try it on their own. "Spoon-feeding" the student every step of the way will not allow them to develop autonomy. Each student is going to have a different experience learning how to learn depending on the background that they have and the experiences that they bring with them, especially if they are in a new country with a new language. Once they begin to realize what works for them, this process should become natural.

10/11

I had a lot of strong opinions and personal connections after reading chapter 18 in section 9 of Anthology. To begin, I feel like there are a great amount of underlying factors that affect the success of ANY age language learner. I don't agree with the fact that adults will not become as proficient as children who start to learn it at a young age. I think it really depends on the circumstances. If an adult is simply learning the language for a required class, then it's a possibility that they might not become as proficient, but if their job depends on learning this new language they probably have the motivation to become very proficient. The affective factors are very influential in these situations as well. When I think about myself when learning Spanish as a second language, if I felt more comfortable practicing my Spanish with native speakers and making mistakes all the time I would probably be a lot more proficient that I am right now. My self-esteem and anxiety of making mistakes really limits me at times. This is something that teachers really need to take into consideration when designing the environment in their classroom. It should be a place where students feel comfortable messing up and speaking out, because this will only enhance their success at learning the language.

Along with this is the sociolinguistic competence. I have a lot of personal experiences with this as well after studying abroad in Spain over the summer. I believe that it's great for learners to be great at grammar and able to conjugate verbs and write out sentences correctly, but if if they cannot communicate correctly with the native speakers there is still going to be a huge barrier for them. For example, if they don't know how to appropriately make a complaint or compliment someone, they might not be able to get their point across. This also relates to other matters such as gestures, eye contact, etc. In some cultures if someone is yelling at you, it is disrespectful to look that person in the eye. In our culture, if someone is yelling at you, it is disrespectful not to make eye contact. Even though someone has learned the language, small interactions like this will still give the student a hard time adjusting to the culture. This is why a simple conversation class to learn about speech acts and communication strategies is probably a great resource for language learners to have. It will help them adjust to the day to day interactions that they have with people and truly make it easier for them.

10/6

Learning to write in a second language is definitely not easy and I can say that from experience. Because I have felt the difficulty and effort that it takes to learn how to write in another language, I think I can relate to my students more when it comes to assigning them writing tasks. When I have my own classroom with ESL students I am going to make my best effort to try and incorporate the student's interests into each writing task that is presented to them. This is the best way to get students excited about what they are learning in class. It works the same way for reading. When we want students to enjoy reading, we let them choose a book that they want to read, so why not do the same for writing? Giving the students the option to write about something that interests them will help get the creative ideas flowing and allow them to have some prior knowledge on the topic, meaning they might already know some of the vocabulary words. Along with that, I think ELL's should be given the opportunity to practice several types of writing in the classroom, not just formal essays. In the real world they will need to know how to write letters, complaints, thank you's, etc. Small activities like these could end up being extremely beneficial for them, instead of only knowing how to write formally.

I also feel that with English language learners especially, they should be given time to write and reflect on their own experiences. I think in this case, it should be allowed in either their L1 or L1. They can write about what they are having trouble with or how their experiences in their new culture are going. Giving them this personal writing time will not only give the teacher an inside to what they are thinking, but help them express their own feelings. From what they have written, we can then guide the lessons in the direction that we feel is necessary.

However a teacher chooses to incorporate writing in the classroom is really up to them. In my classroom the students will experience writing in a variety of genres and will get the chance to write for pleasure as well as for a purpose. Writing is a skill that the students will need to be good at to eventually use in the professional world. I want my students to feel comfortable when they are in a situation where they have to write. Giving the students multiple ways to practice will only prepare them for the future.

Final Application Project

For my final application project I would like to write about my experiences and reflections working with ELL's at UNITY community center in Normal. I work with them every Tuesday and Wednesday from 4:30-6:45 on their homework or on different activities that promote leadership and important values. I get the chance to work with children from the Congo, Mexico, and the Dominican Republic. I learn a lot from these children and I think it would be the perfect opportunity to write about my experiences and the knowledge that I have gained there.

9/27

After reading Chapter 3 in Anthology, I formed a lot of opinions of my own about how I feel about lesson plans. I do agree that good planning is crucial to make sure the lesson has a purpose and that accomplishments are made from it. I don't think its the end of the world if the lesson doesn't go completely as planned, IF the main objectives are still accomplished. I'm aware that questions will pop up during class and the schedule might not go exactly as it should. I believe that forming a meaningful lesson plan is going to take a lot of trial and error and experience. I think the more experience we gain, the more we can make adjustments to our lesson plan to make them turn out better the next time. This is where the evaluation aspect of the lesson plan will really come into play. Each time we evaluate our lesson plan, we can improve it for the next time or find out what worked and what didn't work depending on the students, environment, resources available, etc. Next year I will be doing PDS in Little Village, Chicago, which is basically a full year of student teaching before I'm completely on my own in the classroom. The nice part about this is, I will have a full year of trial and error with lesson plans before I have my own classroom. I can get opinions from the students as well as my cooperating teacher to evaluate the lessons that I'm planning.

As far as curriculums go, I agree with what the author said at the end of the chapter. The perfect curriculum would really be a blend of all three because it would include the content, objectives, and the process. This is very similar to how I feel with the different methods and approaches that are available. Instead of choosing one particular way that is exclusive and doesn't include a little bit of everything for the variety of students and the variety of needs, choose something that can capture a little bit of everything to accommodate more for the students. For example, instead of choosing one approach that only covers grammar, but not communicative teaching, why not choose one that includes some of each? Each student isn't going to have the same needs and some students might need one more than the othe. By choosing a curriculum or approach that is all inclusive we can make sure we are really accommodating the diverse needs of our students.

9/22

I have seen the SIOP model in action and I feel like this is a great model to use. Teachers are still able to use whatever method they prefer, while giving some extra reinforcement to the students. This model can benefit everyone in the class, whether ELL's or not. It allows the ELL's to still be engaged in the activity and learn what the rest of the class is learning. It's great that the teacher does not have to be specialized in ESL or bilingual education either, which makes it a perfect tool for mainstream teachers that have a few ELL's in their classroom. It is unfortunate though, that many elementary education majors are not taught this model in their education classes at the university level. This is probably why so often we have ELL's failing in the school system. If these teachers were given some knowledge about this model it would take some stress off of them as well as the ELL student. In my opinion, the administrators of the school should take it upon themselves to make sure their teachers are qualified to do this. A simple course or workshop could go a long way to help the ELL students that aren't in bilingual education classrooms.

The quote "the rich get richer and the poor get poorer" was stated in chapter 2 of the article, and it made me think. If we as teachers don't take action and work with our ELL students that are continuously in our classrooms, they will keep falling further and further behind while the native speakers are progressing far ahead of them. This then turns into a downward spiral of scoring poorly on standardized testing and even eventually dropping out of school. Something so simple as using the SIOP model to reinforce concepts, use repetition, and even visual aids could make such a difference in the long run for our students.

9/20

After reading Chapter 9 in Anthology and Skehan's article I have mixed opinions about task-based language teaching. I like the idea of it, because I could see how it could push the students and get them doing real-life interactions, but I don't think it would be a good idea to have this as the only approach used in a classroom. If it were to be the only approach, it seems like it would work better with more advanced language learners. In my opinion, the beginner level still needs explicit grammar instruction as well as some communicative language teaching. After both of these have been implemented, I think the task-based teaching would work best.

I was most  confused about how to measure the student's performance during and after the task is being done. With the example in the book of the Japanese students completing a 12 week task, the students are doing so much of the interaction and research outside of the classroom that it would be difficult to see which areas they are struggling in and which areas are easiest for them. I'm also wondering, if all of the students are at different language levels in the classroom, how do we differentiate for them? Some students might have a way easier time completing a certain task while someone else in the class may find it nearly impossible. Is this still considered beneficial for all of the students? Shouldn't the tasks be assigned according to their abilities? I remember learning that with content areas, we should have the students work in their "zone of proximal development." I'm sure this is the same for language learning, but its not going to be possible that every student in the class is at the same level. This confirms my realization that grammar instruction combined with CLT is most beneficial in a language learning classroom.

9/15

After reading a lot about how the Chinese view education, I can see why CLT might not have worked out for them. The beliefs about education in the U.S. and the education in China are very different, which is probably why this approach wasn't as successful for this group. The article explained how the Chinese love textbooks and are always reading and getting all of their information from different textbooks. The CLT method differs a lot in this aspect. We try to stay away from textbooks when teaching communicative language because it doesn't give us hands-on, real life experiences that we can practice from. We can read all about them, but we don't get to interact with other learners. Role-plays, interviews, and skits are a lot more common than the textbook is in this case. Another area that is very different from education in the U.S. is the fact that in China, the learners are not supposed to question or challenge the material. They expect them to keep their own ideas to themselves until the material is mastered. This is completely opposite from what we encourage our students to do here. We are always wanting the learners to "think critically" and ask any questions that they have. According to Piaget, without doing this the student would never make it to the formal operational cognitive stage of development, which is crucial to have for higher-order thinking.
The differences among the educational beliefs within these two countries made me think a lot. The majority of the teachers in our classrooms in the U.S. probably have no idea about this cultural difference. If a student from China transfered into our classroom we would expect them to go about learning as we do here, never explaining to them that it's ok to ask questions and participate in class. We would assume that they would already know this, but this is completely wrong and almost scary. It's the teacher's job and obligation to make themselves knowledgeable about the background of their students and  research how things might be different for them here. This is also a clear sign of how a certain method doesn't automatically work for everyone in any context. Different methods need to be used for different settings. It's not a "one size fits all" situation.  Clearly, this situation shows that the CLT method might not be best for this group of learners. In my opinion, the Chinese culture sounds like it would fit best with a direct grammar-based approach.

9/13

In my opinion, communicative language teaching is completely necessary and a fun, interactive way to learn a language. I do feel that it is important to have some sort of explicit grammar instruction, but following that should be a lot of focus on communication. Whether the student is learning the language for academic or personal purposes, they will need to know how to communicate using the language. Learning this aspect is so important because every language and culture communicates differently. Simply teaching the student grammar and sending them on their way wouldn't be beneficial at all. We use expressions and conversation techniques that, often times, aren't taught in the grammar class. I loved the idea of the card game that the students played in Larsen-Freeman's article. The students got to interact with each other while learning how to do things like describe and predict what sport was on the card. Both of these strategies are commonly used and are essential for the students to know if they want to succeed with the native language speakers.

In chapter 3 of Kuma's book, I really agreed with the first couple of pages that discussed how a teacher's agenda, materials, and syllabus can have serious limitations. This almost seems like common sense to me. If the teacher is stuck on one specific agenda then there will never be time to stop and discuss the 'spur of the moment' topics and questions. The same goes for the materials that he/she decides to use. Kind of like what we talked about with methods, they should be used as a starting point for the lesson and be able to be adjusted as the students develop questions. I also liked the way that Kuma described how a teacher should utilize the learning environment and not just have the teacher be the only one talking. It made me think about how much I really do learn from the other students in my classes. Letting the students build off what they each say could benefit them alot, rather than just having the teacher be the only one talking. Overall, I found both of the readings to be very informative and I could truly see myself using these techniques in my future.

9/7

I found the area of the article that discusses how to approach "differences" in the classroom to be most interesting and beneficial to me. This is something that I've often thought about. What's the best way to address the differences that the students have? Are they feeling inferior compared to the people around them? This could be a very uncomfortable and sensitive area to discuss if you don't know how to go about it. I also feel like avoiding it is the wrong decision as well because it could have major affect on the students. As Pennycock stated, most of the ESL textbooks that we use today are filled with the wholesome white families that look like they should be on the back of a Kellogg's Cornflakes box. Seeing this all the time and never discussing differences would make me feel inferior as well. I thought the pedagogy of engagement approach is a smart way to bring this topic up with the students. I loved the fact that rather than just discussing issues of gender, race, class, and sexuality, it helps the students to see the background and history of it. It recognizes how people have come to be who they are. This approach seems more settling because it gives the students some knowledge about the issue. A discussion would allow the students to talk about the topic but still doesn't give them that feeling of closure and sincerity.

9/6

In chapter 2 the Postmethod pedagogy made me think the most. Thinking about what I learn in my education classes today made me realize how much times have changed in the "education world". For the longest time we have been searching for the "best" and "correct" method, but why? Isn't it common sense that not everyone learns the same way? I wouldn't go as far as saying that we should never use a method at all, but rather as a template and adjust it as you teach. There are so many limitations when using only one method. As stated in chapter 2, "no idealized method can visualize all the variables in advance." I agree with this completely. Every country, state, school, classroom, and individual needs to be taken into account. The method should be used as a starting point and adjusted according to the context. Along with this, it made me think about what kind of teacher I wanted to be. In Chapter 1 I came across a quote that described my philosophy of teaching perfectly. The quote said "Learning to teach does not end with obtaining a diploma or a degree in teacher education, but is an ongoing process throughout one's teaching career. " As we read about the methods and descriptions of teachers I'm seeing how quickly the "best" idea changes into something new. I believe this is the reality of teaching and by keeping up with the times and learning from experiences my teaching will improve and benefit the students more and more. I feel that when one gives up on learning new styles and methods, they have given up on the success of their students.

8/31

I found it rather interesting to learn about CLT, because I feel that this is the method that almost all of my teachers used within my Spanish classes in high school. We were always playing games and learning role plays to get ready for "real-life situations" that could occur. Personally, I thought this method was useful because it made the material and language fun to learn. It got the class active and moving around and prepared us for real encounters with native speakers. I disagree with what Legutke and Thomas (1991) say when they state that "very little is communicated in the L2 classroom because it does not stimulate the wish of learners to say something." I really disagree with this statement because I feel like if the learners are intrinsically motivated and feel comfortable speaking out in the classroom, this method is great practice for situations that might happen out in the real world.

I agree that it is important for a language teacher to know the history about the past methods and approaches that have been used, but I also believe when choosing which one to use, it should not be determined by one that is "most popular" during this time period. We should choose the approach based on the needs of the students and which will benefit them most. Overall, this article was very informative in seeing the different aspects as well as the similarities and differences among the variety of approaches. I think it really comes down to fitting the needs of the students depending on their characteristics and their situation.

8/29

Anthology Chapters 1 and 2

I found the most beneficial part of chapter 1 to be about the diagnosis, treatment, and assessment of English Language Learners. The paragraph about diagnosis taught me how to recognize if a person has a need for language instruction. Then, after reading about the treatment, I felt like this was something that I was more familiar with and had learned about last year in my education classes. I had never seen the list of the ten strategic investments for language learning/teaching, but I found them make a lot of sense and I understood why they would be appropriate in certain contexts or with specific students. Chapter 2 was much easier to follow along and was interesting to read. It was shocking to me that "effective teachers" are considered ones that have students who perform better on standardized tests. In all of the education classes that I've taken I've been taught that teachers shouldn't "teach to the test" and that standardized tests are ineffective ways to assess students, especially ELL's. In general, I believe that a variety of approaches should be used to teach any students whether ELL's or not. I could see myself using several of the approaches mentioned including the value-based and art-craft approach. In my opinion, all students learn differently and should be given several ways to learn the language and content.

8/24

Diaz-Rico & Weed.

I found this article to be extremely interesting, but very typical to some other articles that I have read during my TESOL classes. What I loved about this article was the fact that almost the first 10 pages were about how the United States has been diverse since the very beginning. This makes me wonder why so many people think that anyone other than a white, middle class, english-speaking person deserves less respect and should be treated differently. It's a great eye-opening article because it shows that there are so many other types of people in this country that are in need of help. We started as a diverse country and we are continuing to be a diverse country, so we should be accommodating for all of the languages and backgrounds that we have here. It saddens me that the education of families that speak a language other than English is very poor. Is the country simply not educated about the high demand for teachers that can work with immigrant students? Clearly the population of "minority groups" is increasingly rapidly, so this makes me wonder why universities aren't promoting the high need for qualified teachers in this area. I've come across several articles similar to this one, and it makes me curious to know if we Americans are taking something away from these statistics and helping out the people that need it most.

Jenkins

I found this article to be much more complex and almost confusing. It did open my eyes a lot to how many people in the world actually do speak English. It was shocking. It really made me think about how many people around the world learn English as their second, third, or forth language and how most people in the United States that speak English as their first language do not speak anything other than English. This is why we are in such high demand for educators that can help these students who speak other languages. I also found it interesting to see how many varieties of English there are within regions. For example, even though we say that English is a common language in the US, we never think about how many different types of English there actually is like southern, black english, etc. It's crazy how in depth this article gets about one single language. It makes me assume that this is probably the same for several other languages across the world. I feel like when someone says they speak "English" I'll never be able to think about it the same knowing how many forms there actually are.