Preston Byers

Teaching Philosophy

I believe that instruction should be student centered and that the learning
process should be engaging and interesting. Instructional activities should be
contextualized and based on or have a strong connection with real life situations
and applications in which the language is or could realistically be used. Instruction
should also be relevant to the students lives, interests and goals. Students should be
given the opportunity to interact with authentic materials in order to negotiate
meaning, build vocabulary and discover the grammar and pragmatics of the target
language, as it exists in the target culture. I also believe that one of the greatest goals
of formal language instruction is to help students become communicatively
competent and able to use the language and their knowledge of target culture with
native speakers and in real situations.
Relevance and interest is paramount for language instruction because
language is produced and understood within the context of our lives. The interests
of the students, current trends, events, music, popular topics and themes of
discussion, can all be used for instruction instead of stale presentations of grammar
and vocabulary that are detached from the reality of students' lives. Learners
should be able to explore themes and topics of their choice and as appropriate and
have the freedom to personalized projects and communicative activities. I believe
that this element of personalization while learning and working with a language is

important for students in terms of creating a sense of ownership within the

language learning experience.
Instead of memorizing lists of vocabulary or decontextualized explanations
of grammar functions, students can encounter the grammar and lexicon of the
language in the authentic settings, communicative situations and the types of media
in which they occur in real life. By working collaboratively with the teacher and
fellow students, learners can construct meaning from such authentic sources such as
movies, websites, videos, newspapers and poems or short stories. Then, once the
language holds meaning for the learner within a relevant context, attention can be
drawn to its grammatical and lexical components in a concise manner. This way,
analysis of the language is contextualized and meaningful instead of detached and
artificial. The students also discover fresh vocabulary with each text or medium
that they explore while recognizing and revisiting familiar words and concepts.
Thus, acquisition of grammar and lexicon comes naturally along with exploration of
pertinent information and themes in the TL.
Ultimately, high value and priority should be placed on actual
communication; interpretive, interpersonal and presentational. Language learning
does not take place in a vacuum but instead, it is socially oriented, consequently,
much of the instructional activities, projects and practical applications of the
learning process should take place within a collaborative setting or with members of
a native speaker community in efforts to compel students to utilize the target
language to interact, communicate, negotiate meaning, solve problems, express
ideas and understand one another.

Along with the use authentic texts and media, efforts should be made to
facilitate interactions with native speakers and if possible, those pertaining to
different speaker and cultural groups. Learners need to be exposed to native forms
of the TL, different accents and pragmatic variations within the scope of the target
cultures that use the language. This can be achieve by using technologies such as
internet chats and video conferencing, by developing relationships with schools or
groups of students in other parts of the world, implementing a "key pal" program or
by developing connections with local speakers of the target language within the
community.
In conclusion, I believe that curriculum should be student-centered and
communicatively focused. Instructional activities should be contextualized and
linked to real life situations. Opportunity for hands-on learning should be provided
in order to establish tangible connections and experiences with authentic materials
and speakers of the target language, in efforts to help students to become
communicatively competent and able to use the language and their knowledge of
target culture in the greater world beyond the walls of the classroom.