WANTOK LANGUAGE INITIATIVE INSTRUCTOR SPOTLIGHT

Interested in how teachers approach their career? Read Anne Barkow's teaching philosophy to understand her perspective on classes.

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My personal beliefs about teaching stem from my personality, my education, and my experiences in the classroom.  I believe that every student has the desire to learn and a deep curiosity about the world, and it is my duty to peak and nurture this inquisitiveness.  I do this in the classroom by creating a student-centered atmosphere that celebrates personalized learning.  Each student has his or her own unique personality and learning style, and I try to address each one.  

In addition, I create a positive class environment though rapport and community building activities so that the students feel comfortable experimenting with language and being linguistically vulnerable in front of their peers.

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These views have greatly affected my methodology. The typical structure of my classes consists of an introduction, analysis, and then production. The ways I fulfill these niches varies, and I often manipulate the order of the segments. However, we spend the majority of the class on production. Like learning to play a sport, learning a language requires ample active practice.  Students need to be producing the language as much as possible to ensure intake and uptake, which will help them apply forms and vocabulary in real world situations.  Moreover, weaving cultural awareness with language acquisition changes the way students perceive the language, its speakers, and the world.  This knowledge will remain with them long after forgetting a verb conjugation.

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I emphasize communication in my classes. The production exercises focus heavily on speaking.  However, the integration of skills is vital. For example, we may read a paragraph, analyze it, summarize it, and then tell a classmate what it said.  In this way, the student has utilized several skills in one activity. I use a range of diverse exercises to appeal to visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learners.  I think variety is key to novelty, which aids retention of forms.  I use exercises such as A/B communicative charts, songs, find someone who, dictogloss, and order the sentences.   I use an eclectic approach in my classroom to pull the best of each teaching method to facilitate learning. I think there is a place for all types of activities in the classroom. Even Total Physical Response (TPR) can be appropriately used with adults. For example, in Spanish 101, I use the Spanish song Soy una taza to introduce kitchen vocabulary, and then I show the students Youtube wedding video where native speakers are dancing the song. This seamlessly combines culture with vocabulary acquisition. Next, we discuss weddings in the United States and in Hispanic countries.  We learn the dance, and then follow an authentic video. Will we dance everyday in class? Of course not, but there are learners who do connect with this type of activity; therefore, it is beneficial to include them. Also, I am a big proponent of pair work, essentially, everything except tests are completed in-group. This lets students ask each other questions, and solidify knowledge by explaining to classmates. While cooperating, I encourage students to use the target language.

 

While I have many linguistics goals for my students, I focus more on building positive associations with language. Many students never surpass their fear of using Spanish.  They do not progress in their studies due to their lack of confidence. Giving them many opportunities to practice in class helps them to be bolder in real world encounters. I believe that by overcoming this obstacle, they will be more willing to explore new structures and play with language and in time, they will cultivate fluency.

 

While none of these ideas is revolutionary, I believe my focus on creating a student-centered encouraging atmosphere makes a significant difference. Rapport building is vital in the language classroom. I am friendly and open with my students. I give plenty of opportunities to ask questions. I laugh at myself when I notice that I made a mistake. This sets a productive tone in my classroom. I ensure that each student receives individual attention by circulating the class while they are working.  This allows me to answer questions, provide feedback, and check answers as they work. Students notice when you show a personal interest in their learning, and they become more motivated.

 

As a language teacher, you realize that not every student will become a fluent speaker. However, I believe the merits of language education are many.  For instance, learning a language has been linked to increased neural pathways among other benefits.  However, more importantly, learning a language can change a students’ understanding of the world.  In my classes, I strive to give students a strong communicative base and a window into a new worldview. Learning to explore this connection of language and culture will create well-rounded students, and also a better world.