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TESOL 427 Winter 2012 Thanathon Phosricha Personal Beliefs & Teaching Speaking How I Believe Speaking should

be taught to ESL Learners Teaching Speaking Philosophy: I believe that all successful ESL learners must explore and experience an immersion of English usage in realistic situations, so that the students are motivated to learn the target language. I speak from my personal experience of learning English as an academic language in a perspective of culture that I would like to teach and end up with. I have been in the English learning environment which the teacher who is one that feed us with non-motivated learning materials. I have also experienced in many great opportunities that the teachers are the greatest source of seeking the highest level of motivation of learning English because methods and highly motivated techniques and above all of these, the motivation of the teachers toward the students. 1. Diagnose to identify what type of the learning styles that each student has. 2. Seek to know each students personality, interests, and the most important is how each of the students approach to learn the target language. 3. I have to make sure that my speaking teaching and learning are in actions so the students can see the real life experience. 4. Methods, materials, and tasks in teaching speaking are the most important tools of an effective and successful language classroom. 5. Teach them correct and appropriate contents and grammar rules correctly are superior to the language leaning experience. 6. Assessing and seeking to the help students develop levels of fluency, accuracy, comprehension, and enjoyable learning experience in speaking are highest success in my opinion.

I believe that leaning experience does not come to any learner if he or she does not participate in, or involve with a reality of a real situation. Especially, learning to speak another language. In this case, English, being literate; to read and write does not reach any level of proficiency without learning to listen or speak the language first. I believe that to teach the students who are learning to use English as either foreign language or second language in any mean. They needed to be recognized and identified as applicable students or English learners by their teachers. So the teacher, as I am, I need to diagnose and identify what type of the learning styles that each student has, so that I can adapt my teaching materials and styles which suitable to each of them. I have a wonderful experience with my English high school teacher. She was just a normal high school teacher, but she could remember my name and knew my personal interests, and my weakness in learning English so I was dominated by her persuasion, teaching methods, materials, and her motivation of encouraging me to learn the language. Seeking to know each students personality, interests, and the most important, how each of the students approach to learn the target language are a must thing to do as a language teacher because if the teacher does not know who are being taught in the class, both students and the teacher do not really learn anything from each other. As a future teacher, I have to make sure that I really know each student in my class because a good relationship really encourages the students motivation of learning the language. I have experienced that friendship with my teachers while I participate in the process of learning English during my high school years and this university. I wish to teach my students with an opened-heart feeling both my students and I.

I have to make sure that my speaking teaching and learning are in actions so the students can see them in real life experience. Every time when I think of the best experience of learning English. I recollected my first year of high school while was joining my high school English camp nearby my school. So there were a few English native speakers from Australia and New Zealand. I remembered that I was super nervous and anxious to talk with them my high school friends and I just talking photographs because we were too shy to speak with those exchange students from Australia and New Zealand. I did my part as a good leaner and I did not want to waste my mother money for the fee on the English Camp, so I did practice it, but it was very tough time to just speak it out and deal with it. From that time until now I said to myself I will speak like them! So I think I do now. I believe that this feeling of cultural and realistic language approach can come to everyone who has a real intend to learn the language and speak it. Methods, materials, and tasks in teaching speaking are the most important tools of an effective and successful language classroom. Leaning a new language, especially English either as a foreign language or second language, is the most important to have good lesson plans and many additional back-up plans in order to keep the class be on tasks. I will carefully choose materials, textbooks, games, and visual aids, especially provided audio of the native-like CD so they will be able to compare their voice to the native speakers. My responsibility is to assist, correct, and encourage them learn the speaking skills. Practicing in class and real situation is necessary to the students progressing in speaking. In addition, I will choose articles, passages, audio materials, group activities, and anything that encourages level of on-going skill of speaking according to the interests of the students.

Teaching them correct and appropriate contents and grammar rules are superior to the language leaning experience because they learn new explicit knowledge when they know what is right from their mistakes. I would encourage them to ask questions, sharing ideas, discussing problems, participating in class discussions, by doing those practices enhances their speaking ability in fluency and accuracy. If errors occur I will not hesitate to correct any major mistakes because they learn by pointing out the mistakes. Assessing and seeking to the help students develop levels of fluency, accuracy, proficiency, comprehension, and enjoyable learning experience in speaking are highest success in my opinion. ESL learners expect to know certain rules and being evaluated or assessed. They are not familiar with any surprise moment because if they do not prepare they will not do the best that can on a test. They will not be able to accomplish their expectation if I do not assure them what I want them to do. So, I have plans and I will make sure that I notify them in advance so they have time to prepare themselves for what I expect them to be tested. For instance, when I have a speaking test. I would have the students prepare and practice similar or equivalent to what I will test them on the test. So, I have make sure that they will be able to understand it, then making sure they understood it thoroughly before they can that particular test. Teaching speaking can be a very challenging task for a new teacher like me. I have to make sure that have many great lesson plans and resourceful materials in order to assist the language learners will be able to accomplish learning objectives. Teaching speaking starts from the teachers preparation and in depth research what are the best for particular cultures, social practices, social norms in the culture that I will be ending up teaching the students.

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