Teaching Philosophy

My teaching philosophy pertains to the special job of guiding students to learn a

language. To teach a language is to introduce learners to another world. How they understand
and navigate this world is unique to each and every individual. If I likened language learning to a
true adventure, there are different tools a learner must be equipped with in order to navigate
successfully. It is a teachers job to help supply these tools.
However, students purposes and needs are different for each adventure. Therefore, a
language learning experience is different from one individual to the next, and dependent on their
needs for learning the language. To know how to fulfill students needs as learners of a second or
additional language (L2), a teacher must know what these are. A needs analysis helps to explore
students abilities/weaknesses, and their purpose for learning the language (Richards, 2001).
Once these language needs are determined, an appropriate set of objectives for a language course
will be set, as well as student learning outcomes that are clearly stated and able to be
operationalized. This helps to ensure that assessment of student progress is valid (Hughes, 2003).
A teacher should then base her curriculum and methods on research, experience, and the advice
of colleagues and experts, all the while being resilient and flexible.
Language carries meaning. Meaning must be negotiated in various ways in order for
communication to take place. A communicative language teacher focuses lessons on meaning,
because this has been proven to be an effective way to teach language (Brown & Lee, 2015; Ur,
2012; Matsuda, 2012; among many others). Language learners must reach communicative
competence in order to be able to understand and use the target language. Canale and Swain
(1980) said that students achieve communicative competence when they attain skills in the
following areas: grammar, discourse, sociolinguistics, and strategy. (Brown & Lee, 2015, p. 30).

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My philosophy of teaching language relies on experience and research, and exists under this
paradigm of language competencies.
Students must gain knowledge of the structure of a language in order to learn how to use
it. Having a strong base in linguistics will help language teachers find the best ways to help
students with grammar and other language particulars such as morphology, phonology, and
syntax. Instruction should be explicit or implicit, depending on the language item. Irregular
forms and structures foreign to students L1 (first language) should be taught carefully and
clearly. For other structures, teachers should get students to notice the forms by modeling the
target language and providing various examples. Using corpus and authentic text also gives
students opportunities to see the language used in many contexts and registers. When correcting
grammatical errors, implicit feedback tactics such as recasting students erroneous utterances or
asking for clarity will give students indirect, organic opportunities to self-correct. Rubin and
Thompson (1982) say that good language learners should be able to eventually find their own
way and achieve learner autonomy (in Brown & Lee, 2015, and Oxford, 2011).
Language teachers should also prepare students to be self-sufficient as they learn the four
essential language skills of reading, writing, listening, and speaking. They should teach their
students how to employ strategies whenever possible. As they read in their L2, learners need to
be aware of the purpose, the style, and the structure of the text that they are reading. Teachers
should help students learn strategies such as prediction, scanning, and skimming, and be able to
adjust such strategies to fit their own purpose for reading. Teaching of reading also involves
vocabulary instruction. Students need to know around 95-98% of the words in a text in order to
comprehend it (Ur, 2012, p. 63). Vocabulary lessons should therefore cover words that are most
frequent and useful.

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In turn, learners will use their reading strategies to become better writers. Teachers
should connect the skills of reading and writing by encouraging their students to use their
knowledge of genre in order to write something that is meant to be read. Teaching drafting,
editing, and revision strategies will help students see that writing is a process that requires
careful thought and planning.
Regarding L2 listening, students need to know about different purposes for listening, and
learn to be cognizant of style, accent, and register of spoken output. A language teacher should
expose students to a variety of dialects of the target language, and also should train students to be
aware of certain aspects of natural language: false starts, reduced and redundant forms, etc.
Training students to listen for main ideas and details will help students get the gist of spoken
output, and teaching them active listening strategies such as notetaking will help them to become
overall better listeners.
Interaction is essential for communication. If a language teacher agrees with this, and
Longs (1996) Interaction Hypothesis, she will provide as many opportunities for spoken
interaction in the classroom as possible (Brown & Lee, 2015, p. 56). Group and pair work, using
role play and dialogues, and choosing stimulating discourse topics are good ways for teachers
to get students to practice speaking. Task-based learning (TBL) activities (for example,
interview and information gap) also usually call for the necessity to interact. They are goaloriented and practical (Brown & Lee, 2015, Matsuda, 2012, Ur, 2012, et al.). With such
activities, students can be given tasks in the classroom that model tasks for which they will use
the target language outside of the classroom.
Classroom materials that engage learners in meaningful interaction and that give
reference to skills that students need outside of the classroom are referred by Stevick (1980) as

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Whole-Learner materials (Wajnryb 1992, pp. 126-127). Teachers should try to reach different
types of learners by presenting material in a variety of formats. Providing authentic text, realia,
and images complement the language lesson and keep students engaged. Students of the 21st
century are often very receptive to technology, so incorporating teaching tools such as interactive
online games or creative digital presentations into lessons is often a good practice to get into as a
language teacher.
Finally, students must be aware of social roles and how language is used to construct
these roles (Moran, 2001). Knowledge of sociolinguistics helps a language teacher to connect
language to culture. Pter Medgyes (1983) said, Learning a foreign language is emphatically
more than acquiring a new set of names for the same phenomena. It involves learning to see the
world as the speakers of that language habitually see it, as well as learning their culture or, if you
like, their whole 'Weltbild (p. 5). It is important for learners to reflect on their own culture as
they learn the target language. Activating schema and referring to personal experience aids in the
learning process (Shin, Eslai, & Chen, 2011). A culturally aware language teacher, therefore,
values students opinions and beliefs, and acts as a gentle mediator as they come to understand
the culture of the new language.

References
Brown, H. D., & Lee, H. (2015). Teaching by principles: An Interactive Approach to Language

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Pedagogy. 4th edition. White Plains, NY: Pearson Education, Inc.

Hughes, A. (2003). Testing for language teachers. 2nd Edition. Cambridge University Press.
Matsuda, A. (Ed.) (2012). Principles and practices of teaching English as an International
Language. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.
Medgyes (1983) The Schizophrenic Teacher. ELT Journal 37(1), 1-6. Retrieved from:
http://sakaienglishteachers.pbworks.com/f/The%2Bschizophrenic%2Bteacher.pdf
Moran, P. R. (2001). Teaching Culture: Perspectives in Practice. Boston: Heinle & Heinle.
Oxford, R.L. (2011) Strategies for learning a second or foreign language, Language Teaching,
44(2), pp. 167180.
Richards, J. (2001). Curriculum development in language teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
Shin, J., Eslami, Z., & Wen-Chun Chen (2011) Presentation of local and international culture in
current international English-language teaching textbooks. Language, Culture and
Curriculum, 24:3, 253-268
Ur, P. (2012). A course in English language teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Wajnryb, Ruth. (1992). Classroom Observation Tasks: a resource book for language teachers
and trainers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.