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Teaching Philosophy
With the popularity of second language acquisition, there are more and more second
language learners joining language learning programs. I myself also is one member of this huge
group. In my perspective, I think a good teacher is one of those important part during the process
of acquiring the second language.
Since I was in high school, I always dreamed about becoming an English teacher in the
future, and that is the reason why I chose TESOL as my major in the United States. Since 2001,
it has been the official policy that English should be learned from the age of 8 or 9 onwards, in
Grade 3 of the national education system of China (Wang, 2007). Besides this, China is a
developing country with a huge population. Based on my current study of my homeland, I know
China has a high demand for English teachers. So, I will go back to China to teach English when
I have finished my master’s degree in the TESOL program.
According to a 2010 China Daily article, the number of English learners in China is now
around 400 million, approximately one-third of China’s population, and also greater than the
entire population of the United States! Chinese society places high importance on the English
studies as sometimes it plays a vital role for a person who plans to pursue further education and
seek a better career. There is no doubt that people who have a good command of English are
more competitive than their peers. (China Daily, 2010a)
As a future English teacher, I will go back to my hometown to teach English in a public
high school. The key importance of English in educational advancement can be seen in the
National University Entrance Qualifying Exam (or Gaokao), which this year was taken by over 9
million students who are tested in three subjects: Chinese, Math, and English. I will try my best
to help my students to pass the English exam.
Based on the analysis of different approaches, there are three main theories in language
acquisition, these are behavioral approaches, activist approaches, and the functional approach.
However, I think a great teacher will not only focus on one approach, he/she will collect all the
advantages of different approaches, and apply them to his/her own future teaching plans. What
other elements do we need to consider before we create our teaching plan? Let’s find some
answers together.
Taking linguistic considerations of second language acquisition, there are lots of different
points between children and adults. Research claims that children acquire their first language
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easily, but adults can meet a significant challenge or they may fail in the second language
acquisition.
Also, based on the definition of bilingualism, we can divide it into two separate ideas.
One is coordinate bilinguals in which people operate with two meaning system, another one is
compound bilinguals, it means two languages operates in one meaning system. Most bilinguals,
including me, always engage in code-switching, such as inserting words phrases of one language
into the other. For me, I always insert Chinese into English. And some researchers pointed out
that compared the rate of acquisition of both languages in bilingual children with the typical
schedule for first language acquisition, and the former one is slightly slower than the latter.
Here are some differences in the speed a human cognition develops, when the cognition
develops in the first sixteen years, it develops rapidly, and it may become slower after that.
Piaget divided the intellectual development into different stages, according to this outline, people
draw a conclusion that children can do better than an adult at mastering a second language
because they are not aware that they are acquiring a language. And if mature cognition is
important during the process of learning a second language, there must be some variables which
affect people who are successful in second language acquisition. Such as implicit and explicit,
the lateralization hypothesis, equilibration, rote and meaningful learning. Of interest is the
distinction between rote and meaningful learning. In China, students do lots of rote learning
during the whole process of acquiring the second language. We do some repetition to remember
a word or a whole sentence. This is also different between children and adults, a child can
remember a word faster than an adult, at the same time, it is only a short memory for adults who
use rote learning. In my observation at Miramar College, I found some young teenagers will
remember a bunch of new words within minutes. However, compared to teenagers, those middle-
aged people showed that they have many difficulties to remember spelling or meaning of new
words.
Affective considerations include many factors, such as self-esteem, attitudes, inhibitions,
peer pressure and so forth. The sense of egocentricity may become less as a young child grows
older. A long time ago, Alexander Guiora proposed the concept of the language ego (Guiora et
al., 1972b; Ehrman, 1993; Dörnyei, 2005, 2009), he points out that a child’s ego is more dynamic
compared to adults, and it will become more stable with time. Also, peer pressure is an
interesting factor, and people may neglect this factor, but it also needs to be included in affective
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factors. This can be a powerful and useful motivator to children who are in the process of
acquiring the second language. They can help each other and motivate each other when they
have similar difficulties.
In my point of view, other affective factors can also influence learners during the
learning process. Such as self-esteem, the capability of using attribution theory and self-efficacy,
willingness to communicate, inhibition, risk taking, anxiety, empathy, and extroversion and
introversion. Among these factors, I think self-esteem, and a willingness to talk are more
important than others. Self-esteem is the basic component when we are learning. Take me as an
example; at first I don't have much confidence in achieving success in English. But with practice
and experiences, I build more situational self-esteem when I am learning English. Also, the more
tasks and assignments I finished, the more self-esteem I created.
At the same time, we need to abandon shyness, try to speak with our classmates, and
friends through English. We also need to act like a person who is willing to be risk taking. If you
are afraid of being wrong, then you will lack confidence. Just as cooking, if you are nervous
about the flavor, then you may have a bad control of the cooking time, or you may not know
which ingredients you should add in a meal. The direct result of nervousness when you are
cooking, is that you will fail the meal. So, we need to be brave to take the risk of being wrong
and don’t be nervous; then we can learn more knowledge from previous experiences.
As we all know, different countries and nations have different cultures. When we are
teaching students, who come from different countries, we need to learn their cultures to help
them to enhance their English levels. If you don’t understand some rules or taboos in your
students' home country. You may make some jokes or mistakes during the class. For example,
pointing with your pointer finger is considered rude in most Asian countries. You can’t touch
children’s head in Thailand, which is also rude in their country.
There are some factors that will affect Arabic students while they are studying English.
Such as the difference of phonology between Arabic language and English language, the
inconsistency of English language in letter sound, the similarities between the phonology of
some English words and some offensive and vulgar words of the Arabic language. The
comparison of reverse directionality of English writing system i.e. from left to right and writing
system of Arabic language i.e. right to left on reading speed and reception of a message. Also,
we need to find out what problems they have in common in their country. Most Arab English
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speakers replace p with b. As a result, when they say pear or pad it sounds bear or bad. The
allophonic variants in the Arabic language are f and v. Consequently, it becomes difficult for the
listener to distinguish between very and ferry, similarly fan and van. So, the awareness by the
English teachers about these alphabets helps the students in a long run. At the same time,
teachers should be used to of this kind of accent to understand students’ expressions.
In conclusion, different people may have different ways to teach English, during my time
of observation in Grossmont College, I learned lots of valuable ideas. Also, the style of teaching
may differ from person to person, we still need more time to practice, and to create our own
styles. As future teachers, we need to pay more attention and do more research to find more
useful methods to help those second language learners to acquire the target language. I want to
become a teacher who can cherish humility, embrace lovingness, and try to be more creative in
my class. Also, to be brave and curious in this lifelong journey. I know there will be more
challenges for me in the future. Every challenge is an opportunity to build my dream of teaching.
Always be passionate in education, and always living in the “I don’t know”.
Learn. Teach. Explore. A lifelong journey, a long way to go.
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References
Brown, H., D. (2014). Principles of language learning and teaching.
White Plains, NY:Pearson Education.
China Daily. 2010a. ‘Rush to learn English fuels quality issues.’ Online at <http://
www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2010-08/05/content_11098499.htm> (Accessed
June 6,2012).
Oxford, R.(2011b). Teaching and researching language learning strategies. Harlow,
UK: Person Education Ltd.
Shafi S. Alqahtani.(2016).Enhancing the Saudi EFL Students' Pronunciation of the
English Phoneme /v/ via Immersion in Virtual Platforms. Arab World English
Journal,7(3),1-2.
Wang, Q. 2007. ‘The national curriculum changes and their effects on English
language teaching in the People’s Republic of China.’ International Handbook
of English Language Teaching, 15(1), 87–105.