JUNE, 2014

INTERNATIONAL HOUSE LONDON

MARIE WILLOUGHBY

ASSIGNMENT FOUR
CELTA 5

Word count 991

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Assignment 4

Strengths and Weaknesses as a Teacher

Teaching skills and methods adopted by a language teacher is

often a reflection of personal beliefs and theories a teacher has
about language and language learning. It is therefore natural that
these views influence attitudes to teaching as well as effecting
adopted teaching methods and activities in the classroom.
My initial views to language teaching and learning were very
different to my current views. Prior to the Celta course, my views on
teaching were limited to the general traditional beliefs held about a
teacher as an information giver rather than an elicitor (spoon
feeding) due to the fact that I used to work as a lecturer rather than
an English language trainer for the past seven years.
Strengths
One strength I have managed to pick up is lesson planning. I
believe that although I at times mix the aims and sub-aims sections
of my lesson plans, I often manage to put together a lesson plan
which enables me to meet most of my learning aims and objectives
for students. Having a good lesson plan often reflects on my
confidence whilst teaching, ensures I make good use of time and
gives the students an opportunity to learn and effectively practice
what they have just learnt.

I also believe that a linked strength I have gained over time is

working out my MFP (meaning, form and pronunciation) in terms of
teaching the skills of the language. Also, designing my CCQs to
make sure students can use the language taught in the classroom
instead of missing out items of the language such as Grammar
rules, vocabulary and language functions.

Finally I also believe that I have strength in presenting and

staging good feedback during teaching practices. I have learnt
during the course that presenting good feedback is necessary for
effective learning, as this helps learners get a good understanding
for the language being taught and further guides their learning

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Assignment 4
abilities. Moreover, it was the first time that I have been introduced
to language feedback (emerging language) which is an important
part of every lesson because it is the stage in which learning takes
place with accordance to free practice of course.

Areas to work on

I think the main area that I need to work on is giving

clear instructions in order to help students complete the task
smoothly instead of being left at lose or asking each other
questions. Also, I have to provide examples when giving a task so
that the students can relate easily to the task which will be
communicated clearly when succeeding in using it effectively inside
and outside the classroom.

Although I believe I have some areas that needs to be worked

on in terms of teaching practices, I believe that I have made some
major changes and it was not very difficult as I thought it would be;
such as encouraging students interaction and keeping students on
their toes during the classroom instead of having them sit and listen
passively. On much of my previous teaching practices, I have been
attempting to improve on this and have managed to improve my
instructions and students engagement in the classroom by looking
into my use of language and making sure that my instructions are
short, clear and to the point. I have noticed that from the
observations of experienced teachers (Ali, Joe, Marie and videos)
and it was really effective and efficient.

Practicing phonological chart

Apart from the teaching skills and methods I could improve

on, I also believe that I should memorize the phonological chart
because surprisingly students enjoy seeing it presented when
teaching vocabulary as well as doing stress marks and word
syllabus. Also, I have been making effort to memorise and learn
ways of teaching the phonemic script to students with

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pronunciation, I have yet to fulfil this goal. I believe that developing
my knowledge on phonemes would give me greater confidence in
writing phonemes on the board, using it to help students with
pronunciations and teaching it to students.

To improve my knowledge on phonemic scripts, I have been

reading and completing exercises from text books on English
pronunciation, in particular a book by Andrain Underhill *Sound
Foundations* . This book has been helpful in not just helping me
improve my knowledge on phonemes; it has also given me an
insight as to how best to teach it to students. From feedbacks and
lesson observations, I have also been working on my drilling process
of listening, repeating it chorally, then individually and then finally
writing it on the board.

As part of my continuing professional development, I would

like to gain experience by doing Module 2 DELTA which will enable
me to sharpen my techniques in English teaching and keep me
updated in the teaching field. As for other means of professional
development; Im already a member of TESOL (teaching English to
speakers of English) and I have a WordPress which contains some of
my research papers and articles about English language teaching in
general.