Philosophy of Teaching - Culture/ Motivation/ Enjoy
Philosophy is what everyone has based on his or her experience or knowledge. It could be changing when good teacher impresses them as well. My philosophy of teaching and learning had changed a lot when I came to Hawaii and learned English as a second language. My philosophy of learning and teaching language is that “everybody can master it, if they never give up”. Some people are born to be smart or talented, but most of the people build up their skills by studying or putting so much effort to become one of those smart people. When I first moved into the United States, I could not speak English at all, but these 8 years I spent in Hawaii, made it possible for me to acquire English and its culture. Therefore I believe most of the problem we encounter, especially in learning other languages, could be resolved by the effort. And I, as a learner, know how I overcame those problems to be able to speak second language, so I as a teacher, can also teach my methods for my future students.
Learning second language = Learning second culture
I believe learning second language in foreign country is also about learning the second cultures. Every culture has different way of thinking and speaking, and that uniqueness should be respected. The way the students speak in their native languages could be very different from the way they speak in second languages. As a teacher, wherever I teach English, I should be aware of those differences, because culture is very sensitive things to talk about in the classroom with people from all over the world. Even though I was to teach English in Japan as a foreign language, I should know about both cultures well to teach the correct information of those. For example, it would be interesting to pick up the article from online such as “10 things what American people think is weird about Japan”, and talk what students think. There are many blog entries that talk about those kinds of things, and I find it interesting, because how it is common thing in Japan might not be the same in another countries. I believe seeing those opinions from other perspectives help students to understand how we should act differently when we actually step out of our native countries. And also, to show how it is like outside of that country, I can show the movies and have students talk about what they noticed was different from their own countries such as how people acted. I will definitely use the Internet and medias to explain to the students, because how I teach the English and the culture could be biased, but also it could be what the students perceive about those countries especially if the students never been to outside of the country. I will help students to learn how to become more global, so that they can adopte easily when they actually go into the world.
Age < Motivation
There is no limit in learning languages. There is only one solution for being a bilingual, is to practice. In many researches, it is being said that the age matters when learning the second languages (Abello-Contesse, 2009), and I agree with this. However, there are always bilinguals, who started learning after the critical period, but still capable in communicating in their second languages. Therefore, I believe motivation could change that hypothesis. As a second language learner myself, I think you can be bilingual, if you never give up. Language is something that everybody can become an expert of. Of course Language is one of the most popular things that everybody is trying to master, yet not too many people can achieve.
I know how hard this is, because I went through all these things to learn the second language. I know how it feels like to be left out learning the new language with people who do not understand your native languages. However, I know how it feels when you can actually communicate with those people, who you never thought you could talk with. It is always tough to push yourself into the new environment to learn new things, but overcoming those obstacles that you face in learning the second language makes you strong. And what makes them want to learn is to have the fun lesson that can motivate them.
Students cannot be forced to learn?
I believe learning for fun makes the students great language learners. Students can be forced to learn? Maybe, but even if they did, they might not have good feeling of learning it. Especially for the young children, if they do not like it, they would not even listen to the teachers. To make the fun and engaging lesson, I would use something that is related to them. For example, I would do the survey, or ask children what they like to watch on TV or read, and research on it. And I can make the lessons such as watching those TVprograms in second language, and if they understood what it was about, since they already knew it in their native language. My ideal class will be something that everybody is engaging and having a lot of fun, but to make it fun, I think the preparation and the attitude of teacher, which is trying very hard to get to know the students, is really important.
This is the reason why I teach the language. I know having ideal lesson is huge goal to achieve, but I know how much opportunities you will have once you master it. In my classroom, I will not only teach the language and culture, but I will also teach how much you can do when you actually learn the language other than your native language. My experience is not the only things the students will experience when they master the second language, but because I have been living in those situations that they did not yet, I am sure I can show them the tips. Also the students will know, that the effort you put in will be always paid off at the end, because they are seeing the teacher that went through those experiences.
Learning second language = Learning second culture
I believe learning second language in foreign country is also about learning the second cultures. Every culture has different way of thinking and speaking, and that uniqueness should be respected. The way the students speak in their native languages could be very different from the way they speak in second languages. As a teacher, wherever I teach English, I should be aware of those differences, because culture is very sensitive things to talk about in the classroom with people from all over the world. Even though I was to teach English in Japan as a foreign language, I should know about both cultures well to teach the correct information of those. For example, it would be interesting to pick up the article from online such as “10 things what American people think is weird about Japan”, and talk what students think. There are many blog entries that talk about those kinds of things, and I find it interesting, because how it is common thing in Japan might not be the same in another countries. I believe seeing those opinions from other perspectives help students to understand how we should act differently when we actually step out of our native countries. And also, to show how it is like outside of that country, I can show the movies and have students talk about what they noticed was different from their own countries such as how people acted. I will definitely use the Internet and medias to explain to the students, because how I teach the English and the culture could be biased, but also it could be what the students perceive about those countries especially if the students never been to outside of the country. I will help students to learn how to become more global, so that they can adopte easily when they actually go into the world.
Age < Motivation
There is no limit in learning languages. There is only one solution for being a bilingual, is to practice. In many researches, it is being said that the age matters when learning the second languages (Abello-Contesse, 2009), and I agree with this. However, there are always bilinguals, who started learning after the critical period, but still capable in communicating in their second languages. Therefore, I believe motivation could change that hypothesis. As a second language learner myself, I think you can be bilingual, if you never give up. Language is something that everybody can become an expert of. Of course Language is one of the most popular things that everybody is trying to master, yet not too many people can achieve.
I know how hard this is, because I went through all these things to learn the second language. I know how it feels like to be left out learning the new language with people who do not understand your native languages. However, I know how it feels when you can actually communicate with those people, who you never thought you could talk with. It is always tough to push yourself into the new environment to learn new things, but overcoming those obstacles that you face in learning the second language makes you strong. And what makes them want to learn is to have the fun lesson that can motivate them.
Students cannot be forced to learn?
I believe learning for fun makes the students great language learners. Students can be forced to learn? Maybe, but even if they did, they might not have good feeling of learning it. Especially for the young children, if they do not like it, they would not even listen to the teachers. To make the fun and engaging lesson, I would use something that is related to them. For example, I would do the survey, or ask children what they like to watch on TV or read, and research on it. And I can make the lessons such as watching those TVprograms in second language, and if they understood what it was about, since they already knew it in their native language. My ideal class will be something that everybody is engaging and having a lot of fun, but to make it fun, I think the preparation and the attitude of teacher, which is trying very hard to get to know the students, is really important.
This is the reason why I teach the language. I know having ideal lesson is huge goal to achieve, but I know how much opportunities you will have once you master it. In my classroom, I will not only teach the language and culture, but I will also teach how much you can do when you actually learn the language other than your native language. My experience is not the only things the students will experience when they master the second language, but because I have been living in those situations that they did not yet, I am sure I can show them the tips. Also the students will know, that the effort you put in will be always paid off at the end, because they are seeing the teacher that went through those experiences.
Resource used:
Abello-Contesses, C. (2009). Age and the critical period hypothesis. Age and the critical period hypothesis, , 170-172.
Abello-Contesses, C. (2009). Age and the critical period hypothesis. Age and the critical period hypothesis, , 170-172.