Eng 345 Post # 5

The readings from Kumar and Brown from this past week concentrated on teacher and student learning, cognitive, socio-effective and linguistic principles, and strategic based instruction.
To begin, I like how Kumar stated that it is the responsibility of the teacher and the student to utilize learning opportunities. Normally, I feel that it is always one way sided. I either hear that it is the fault of the teachers as to why students do not succeed and that it is only the teacher's responsibility to make sure every child is at the same level, or that the student is just a slacker or not smart enough and it is their fault that they are not succeeding.  There is a relationship between the two and that you can not have one with out the other. Although I do believe that it is the teachers responsibility to accommodate to students and make learning creative, there still needs to be involvement from the students. Brown talks about the idea of motivation and intrinsic motivation. For me, I feel that the most important quality a student can have in order to succeed is having the motivation to do well. Think about it, if there is something that you are not interested in and dread doing, the likelyhood of you excelling in that task is not high. If you are motivated and enjoy to a certain extent of what you are doing, the likelihood of success increases immensely. I know from my experience in learning Spanish I would not have been this successful with it if I had not been motivated. I wanted to learn the language on my own for my personal accomplishments. There was no demand in me having to learn the language. The kind of motivation that I had was intrinsic motivation, that Brown discussed, which does not depend on any outside factors. This is where the teacher role in learning comes in to play. The teacher should try and make learning more fun and exciting in order for the students to have better motivation and possibly obtain that intrinsic motivation.
To go off from here, Kumar then explains in the chapter about strategic- based instruction opportunities in order for teachers to use to increase student learning. One of the strategies that she commented on was also what Brown had mentioned, increasing motivation and also learners of diverse styles. By accommodating to these styles, students can feel more comfortable in their learning environment and have a better understanding.
All in all, it is important that this relationship between student and teacher learning continues to grow. The need from both parts is important in the success of education.
What are the some of the ways that we can try and increase this bond? Can we think of any classes that we had more motivation to learn in? Why or why not was this?

Eng 345 Post # 4

In the reading The End of CLT, it discussed a negative side of the what CLT (Communicative Learning Teaching) concentrates on which is something that has been used in the past. The idea of CLT is that if you are learning a language you need to be learning that language in the target language. With that said, there was a proposition in the idea that there can only be one method in teaching L2 learners and that in every situation it would be satisfactory. However, we all know that there is not just one method for teaching. As we have discussed numerous times, every classroom and L2 learner is diverse. Therefore, in order for a learner to learn in ways that are best fitting to them, the teaching in CLT needs to be accommodated to each learner and classroom. There can not simply be one method. I do, however, agree with the CLT that speaking in the target language is an important skill, it just may not be the most important. In my opinion, I feel that depending on the level of the learner in their L2 language depends on how much of the target language needs to be spoken. If they are advanced, of course it should be all in the target language, but at beginner and intermediate levels, there needs to be diverse methods in order for complete comprehension which is a huge factor in learning a language that needs to be adressed.
Another topic that branches off of what was talked in the earlier in regards to different methods  according to Skehan,  had to deal with input and interaction with communicative activity and task based structures. Skehan mentioned that although input and interaction combined were beneficial, it was not enough. What Skehan stated was the most important was form. When learning English as a young child, I never paid attention to form and any type of strategies for that matter. Therefore, when I think about my English language abilities I can never relate. However, in my L2, Spanish, I realized that form is a really important aspect in learning a language since I would compare comprehension and and structure to my L1 language.
After reading these, I took a moment to think about my experience  I had as an L2 learner and I thought about the methods that worked for me. Now that I am at a more advanced level, I prefer the concentration of my learning in that target language, however as I was learning, I preferred not only direct translations but also the translations as to how native speakers of the language say it. I also did like feedback and input. Although, the consistent error making helping would get annoying and make my self esteem go down, I did like knowing the correct way to say something so that I would not make the same mistake again. I want to take my experience as an L2 learner and take my methods of learning into my teaching but also adapting to those of my students. A question to consider, What were the ways in which we all learned our L2, and what methods did we appreciate the most, and how can we incorporate them in to our teaching?

Eng 345 Post # 2

The reading that I am going to focus on in this blog is Chapter 2 by Kumar.  In this reading Kumar focused on the understanding of post method pedagogy in regards to three broad main ideas. These include the traditional concept of method on language learning and teaching, learning teaching wants, needs, and situations, and lastly the primary task of in-service and pre-service teacher education programs. Throughout this chapter there was much talk of the dissatisfaction with the concept of method and moving towards post method pedagogy. Reasons for the dissatisfaction of a method pedagogy is due to,

• “Teachers who are trained in and swear by a particular method do not conform to its theoretical principles and classroom procedures,
• Teachers who claim to follow the same method often use different classroom procedures that are not consistent with the adopted method,
• Teachers who claim to follow different methods often use same classroom procedures, and
• Overtime, teachers develop and follow a carefully delineated task hierarchy, a weighted sequence of activities not necessarily associated with any established method.”

These reasons provoke why there needs to be a move from a method-based pedagogy to post method pedagogy. In my opinion and from my experiences I agree with Kumar. It is true that teachers do these above things and do not stay up to date with what skills and knowledge need to be applied in the classroom as the education field continues to progress. With having post method pedagogy there will be reflection on the specific needs, wants, situations and processing of teaching. Also, this will stretch the knowledge, skill, and attitude to stay informed and, updated, and involved. In this pedagogy, appropriate teaching strategies will be maximized along with the monitoring and evaluating of reactions in diverse situations.

The education field that is alive today continues to change every day through accommodations. Not only are the children learning, but the teachers are also learning with them through their ability and knowledge of doing different teaching techniques in regards to the children’s’ learning techniques. A post method pedagogy would be the best method for today’s schools.

Although we are trying to move in a better different direction, what are some of the complications that could come about from this pedagogy?