Final Four Skills Paper: Key Learning from the Course

Because of how gracefully the MAT courses interlock with one another, it is difficult to write a paper that isolates my learning specifically about my Four Skills class. My brain is an eddy — rather, a maelstrom — of new information: ideas about teaching writing (from Four Skills) swirl around with a newly discovered interest in task-based instruction (from Approaches) which jumbles together with inspiration about stimulus and moves (from LALP).

THIS IS JUST WHAT THE PROGRAM IS SUPPOSED TO BE ABOUT.  SO GLAD TO KNOW YOU’RE MAKING THESE CONNECTIONS.

All this learning is accompanied by significant confusion as I try to synthesize it, and to envision theory in action. It is a daunting process, but I’ve realized something surprising in the past few weeks of class: I don’t have to reinvent myself to become part of the world of TESOL. The teaching theories and practices that I’ve begun to learn in Four Skills and other classes have illuminated possible pathways between my past and my future.

YES. ALTHOUGH YOU’LL PROBABLY FIND YOU’RE RE-INVENTING YOURSELF OVER AND OVER AGAIN AS YOU EXPLORE MORE PATHWAYS IN TESOL AND GET INTERESTED IN NEW AREAS.

As you know, I have a lifelong interest in oral history, folklore, popular and traditional culture, and other social issues: in essence, the stories, lives and challenges of “regular” people. I’d always known that there could be a connection between this and the field of TESOL. Now, at semester’s end, I have a more concrete sense of the potential to mesh my documentary experience with teaching in ways that address students’ goals and interests.

I HAVE RECENTLY BEEN IN CONTACT WITH SOMEONE AT WORLD LEARNING WHO WANTS TO WORK WITH MATS WITH DIGITAL STORYTELLING.  HE’S PLANNING TO CONTACT MATS ABOUT POSSIBLE COLLABORATIONS.  YOU’RE THE FIRST PERSON I THOUGHT ABOUT AS SOMEONE WHO MIGHT BE INTERESTED IN CONNECTING WITH HIM.

The Most Influential Aspects of “Teaching the Four Skills”

One general comment before I attempt to identify a few key areas of four-skills learning: I admit that I feared “the four skills” would be a deadly dull topic, which it was when I was in primary school. Fortunately, I was wrong. I also hadn’t known how closely integrated — and at times inseparable — the skills are: a fact that is obvious to you and other teachers but was a revelation to me. More exciting was the confirmation of my guess that there is infinite potential for creativity in teaching.

YES, YES, AND YES.  INTERESTING, CONNECTIONS, AND INFINITE POTENTIAL FOR CREATIVITY.  OTHERWISE, WHY ARE WE HERE?

On Lesson Plans

The opportunity to practice developing lesson plans, without topical constraint, was one of the most valuable aspects of the class. The process became the first step in what I’ve referenced above: finding the intersection between my experience and what is useful to English-learners. Unintentionally, a pattern emerged in the subjects I chose, as I sought common ground between my passions and the needs of my [imaginary] students): all explore human experience as a vehicle for learning an aspect of language.

I THINK THE CONNECTIONS HAPPEN AS YOU BEGIN TO DEVELOP LESSON PLANS EVEN IF THEY DON’T SEEM TO BE THERE INITIALLY.

Specifically: for writing I asked students to describe a place they love and something that happened there; for speaking, students drew from their childhood experience to invent a playground dialog; and for reading and listening, through the John Henry ballad they personalized the idea of challenging a person or institution more powerful then they.

It was eye-opening to realize that language objectives can be achieved by building lesson plans from the subject down: that is, to define an area of interest and drill into it for underlying, teachable linguistic structures. I later realized that this is a fundamental idea of task- and content-based instruction.

Finally, peer feedback during the presentation of lesson plans was extremely valuable. It helped me revise and focus my exercises and made me realize what outstanding resources I will have at my disposal when in Mexico. Not only that, but I believe my feedback to the others (and my lesson plans themselves) was equally helpful to them.

THERE IS A REASON BEHIND OUR GROUP WORK AND YOU’VE DISCOVERED IT I THINK IN THE LESSON SHARING SESSIONS.  I HOPE THIS SHARING IS CONTINUING IN MEXICO.  YOU ALL HAVE SO MUCH TO OFFER EACH OTHER, BUT THE CHALLENGE IS FINDING THE TIME.  I HOPE THAT THE INITIAL WORK IN THE 4 SKILLS GROUPS WILL CONTINUE IN THE INTERNSHIP PERIOD.

Frameworks

I appreciated the frameworks and central concepts to which we were exposed. There are, of course, too many to describe here; but briefly, my awareness of the following will strongly influence my work in the classroom:

• Pre-, during- and post-activities: helped me envision the functions of and pacing in these stages of lesson plans, specifically for the receptive skills.

• Comprehension strategies: top- and bottom-down listening/reading, etc.: important to recognize both as a student (using this awareness as a tool for understanding) and a lesson-planner (providing structure for the learner).

• Schema-activation: I tend to want to jump to the interactive part of the activity, without considering the need to provide sufficient (but not too much) context first.
  PRESENTING SUFFICIENT, BUT NOT TOO MUCH, CONTEXT FIRST IS THE CHALLENGE.  THE PRE STAGE CAN BE VERY EXCITING AND VERY NECESSARY, BUT IF IT’S TOO LONG, IT WILL  EITHER BORE THE STUDENTS OR NOT LEAVE ENOUGH TIME FOR THE DURING/POST STAGES OF THE LESSON.  IT’S SOMETHING TO KEEP IN MIND.

• Not surprisingly, the Language Experience Approach stood out as particularly intriguing, rooted as it is in the personal stories of students[1]: adaptable not just to production but to all the four skills.
• The complexity of spoken language — with its repetition, discourse rules, registers, etc.: I had been unaware of the extent of the differences between oral and written forms.

YES. ONE ADVANTAGE OF TAKING TIME TO LOOK AT EACH SKILL IS TO SEE THE COMPLEXITIES.  I HOPE SPEAKING IS AN AREA YOU’RE CONTINUING TO EXPLORE IN MEXICO. (DON’T FORGET THE DEL HYMES FRAMEWORK AS YOU PLAN SPEAKING LESSONS)

The Readings

I appreciated the wide range of concepts to which our readings exposed us, from theoretical to practical. Much of what we read dovetails neatly with readings from other classes, the effect of which is to help hammer home (to use a John Henry metaphor!) particularly dense or rich ideas.

One of our most recent readings (McAndrew, 2007), consists of ideas we’ve encountered in all our classes, yet in the reading they are combined in a new way. Finding himself in a teaching situation for which existing materials didn’t address students’ needs, the author concocted his own solution, consisting of: scaffolding; communicative language teaching; text-based approach, field, tenor and mode; genre writing; teaching-learning cycle; fluency versus accuracy; negotiation of meaning, and more.

What I glean from that, aside from the observation that resourceful teachers are wizards, is that as a teacher I (ideally) will pull from what I’ve learned in Four Skills (and other courses) to devise my own methodology suited to a particular circumstance. The Four Skills class has begun to stock my pantry with ingredients. It will be up to me to pull out only what I need, depending on whether I’m baking cookies or a soufflé.

THE INTERNSHIP IN THE MIDDLE OF THE PROGRAM GIVES EVERYONE A CHANCE TO CONNECT THE FALL LEARNING AND TO EXPLORE AND EXPAND NEW IDEAS.  (IT’S ONE OF THE BIG DIFFERENCES IN OUR MAT PROGRAM AND OTHER PROGRAMS WITHOUT THE MID-CYCLE INTERNSHIP). I LOOK FORWARD TO HEARING WHAT YOU’RE LEARNING AND DOING.

Questions I’m Grappling With

As is true when learning has taken place, for each piece of knowledge I’ve gained, four times as many questions have arisen.

What remains difficult for me (and I hope will become clearer) is how these ideas and principles are put into practice live. The lesson plan is similar to a radio script, so it is not difficult for me to conceptualize. But as I get ready to plunge into my internship, I wonder:

• How will I be able to ascertain the needs, levels, abilities and challenges of my students — while teaching? Your idea of engaging students before class in brief conversations is a good one. Sarah’s 2-5-2 exercise (talking to a student two minutes a day, five days a week for two weeks) is, while ambitious, another promising technique. More difficult will be to ascertain skill levels in the middle of class when I’m also thinking about what to do next.

AND OF COURSE WITH A RADIO SCRIPT, YOU DON’T CHANGE IT MID-COURSE SINCE YOU DON’T HAVE IMMEDIATE FEEDBACK FROM YOUR AUDIENCE.  IN A CLASS YOU’RE SURROUNDED BY 10-20 +/- PEOPLE WITH DIFFERENT LEVELS, ABILITIES, CHALLENGES, ETC.  AND YOU HAVE TO THINK QUICKLY.  KEEP NOTES IN YOUR JOURNAL ABOUT WHAT WORKS (AND WHAT DOESN’T).

• If learning is truly to be subordinate to teaching, how will I be able to adapt facets of a lesson plan (or even cast the whole thing out) spontaneously when the situation dictates? When, for example, a conversation exercise is clearly crashing, how will I pull out of the nosedive — and without losing credibility as a teacher?

GREAT QUESTION. I’M SURE YOU’LL DISCOVER YOUR OWN TECHNIQUES.  I FIND THAT A QUICK BREAK (WHICH LOOKS PLANNED) GIVES ME THE TIME TO RE-GROUP AND MAKE CHANGES—OR JUST RETURN TO CLASS AND DO SOMETHING ELSE.  OR YOU CAN JUST TELL THE STUDENTS THAT YOU THINK THE CLASS HAS SPENT ENOUGH TIME ON THE TOPIC AND YOU’LL COME BACK TO IT LATER.  (AND THEN YOU’LL HAVE DAY(S) TO RE-THINK THE PLAN.  THERE IS RARELY A TIME WHEN YOU’LL LOSE CREDIBILITY.

• How will I be able to assimilate the things I’ve learned in Four Skills and pluck from my weary brain just the most relevant to a particular situation? Will I even be able to access them under duress, or, alternately, will I get bogged down in the ocean of possibilities?

I DON’T KNOW.  BUT I THINK YOU WILL-AT LEAST SOME OF THEM AND EACH WEEK, THERE WILL BE MORE IDEAS AND NEW DISCOVERIES.

• I realize that many answers come from experience, that I’m going to Mexico with fabulous colleagues, and that the students there are wonderful — but what if I fail!

HOW CAN YOU FAIL WITH YOUR POSITIVE, INQUIRING ATTITUDE?!?

McAndrew, John (2007). Responding to learners’ language needs in an oral EFL class. In A. Burns and H. deSilva (Eds.), Planning and Teaching Creatively within a Required Curriculum for Adult Learners (pp 189–204). Alexandria, VA: TESOL.

GREAT PAPER THAT CLEARLY SYNTHESIZES YOUR LEARNING, GINNA.  I HOPE YOU’RE GETTING SOME OF YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED IN MEXICO.  I LOOK FORWARD TO HEARING ABOUT YOUR NEW QUESTIONS!

-Elizabeth

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[1]I first typed that as “stoodent,” which makes me doubt my capacity as a teetcher.