TW30303 Reflective Essay

SHANTY TEO_CT11210246

Teaching English Language Skills : Challenges and the lesson learnt

English is taught as a second language in our Malaysian schools which is also a compulsory
subject in both primary and secondary schools. When we think of teaching English, we tend to
think about teachers and what they do. In fact, more importantly, we should think of the
students ; who are they ? where do they come from ? what do they know? what are their
experiences ? what motivates them ? how do they feel about English? and how do they learn ?
Thus, the starting point for all efforts in teaching English in Malaysian schools must necessary
be an understanding of differences amongst the students, as well as knowledge and
understanding of how people learn a second language and what processes are involved.
Ten years of being an English teacher. Many challenges, experiences and lessons I learnt. My
first year of teaching English was in urban area. Generally, urban students with greater
exposure to English have many opportunities to hear it being used and to use it themselves.
They were likely to have more positive attitude towards English. Furthermore, some came from
homes where English is spoken at all times. Currently, I am teaching in the area where the
students have limited exposure to English. The television and radio may the only source of
English. Many of my students are at a very basic English level and it is very challenging to
teach them. This challenge is doubled when you are learning it from a mentor who is also a
non-native speaker of the language that you are trying to learn. The challenge comes from the
fact that both myself as the teacher and the students think in our native language, then
mentally make translations of our thoughts and try to communicate to each other in a language
which is alien to us.
Despite the difficulties and challenges, I must go to great pains to create well-balanced lesson
plans to support our primary goal: enabling non-native speakers to communicate effectively in
English. A consensus within that TESL field holds that English should be taught using the four
skills in the order used during first language acquisition: listening, speaking, reading and finally,
writing. This theory makes sense. As babies, before we can speak, we listen, learning from our
parents how to form sounds and words. Later, we began to speak and still later, we learned

TW30303 Reflective Essay

SHANTY TEO_CT11210246
how to read and write. The four language skills are divided into two categories: speaking and
writing are productive skills; listening and reading are receptive skills.

Listening is the first and perhaps the most important skill to develop. Consider listening to be
the foundation on which we can build the rest of the learner's English language "house." In
addition to help to develop our speaking skills; listening helps develop writing and reading
skills. Often I found that teaching listening skill is difficult. This is because successful listening
skills are acquired over time and with lots of practice. One of the largest inhibitors for most of
my students often have aremental block. While listening, the students suddenly decide that he
or she doesn't understand what is being said. At this point, many students just tune out or get
caught up in an internal dialogue trying to translate a specific word. Some students convince
themselves that they are not able to understand spoken English well and create problems for
themselves. The key to help my students to improve their listening skills is to convince them
that not understanding is OK. This is more of an attitude adjustment than anything else, and it
is easier for some students to accept than others. However, for this strategy to work, students
must not expect improved understanding too quickly. The brain is capable of amazing things if
given time, students must have the patience to wait for results. If a student continues this
exercise over two to three months their listening comprehension skills will greatly improve.
Of the four language skills, I found that teaching the second skill is the most frustrating because it is the one most
affected by personality features. By the time English lessons are taught formally in the classroom, the students are
already proficient speakers of their mother tongue, Bahasa Malaysia. Most of them are proficient readers and
writers of Bahasa Malaysia. Their knowledge of L1 has influence their learning of English. The word order between
Bahasa and English is a source of difficulty for some of them. In teaching speaking, I always need to motivate them
and guide them ways to overcome their fears and practice as much as possible. I begin by focusing on accuracy and
pronunciation and later move to focusing on fluency. When working on accuracy we can do repetition activities,
drills and pronunciation practice to teach students. As they progress, move towards freer, more communicative
activities such as discussions, role-plays or impromptu speeches.
We should not be tempted to neglect our next skill, reading. TESL teachers may need to push students are little
harder because reading is a skill not loved by all. However even those students most opposed to reading may not
realize how much they use it daily while reading such authentic text sources as, the Internet, looking up videos on
YouTube, sending texts or emails or reading signs on the street or in stores. We always want our students to read
and understand what is red. As the students gain increased reading skills, we can provide different types of reading
activities to maintain learner enthusiasm.

TW30303 Reflective Essay

SHANTY TEO_CT11210246

I believe many of TESL teachers find writing difficult. Writing is the skill most students are least proficient in.
They are able to listen, speak and read but in the exam, they are failed to describe with correct structures where
readers able to understand.

To summarize, when teaching a language it is important not to neglect any skill within the language as foreign
language learners in particular need all four skills for travel, work or other reasons. Each skill should be taught
concurrently with one skill always reinforcing another.

There are approaches or means of learning English as a second language. The first approach is by knowing that
learning English or any second language, for that matter, consists more of the acquisition of a set of habits, rather
than an intellectual mastery of the technical aspect of English which is grammar, structural pattern, phonetics etc.
Complicated? Let us simplify it then: one learns English, or any second language, by using it, in accord with the
principle that practice makes perfect, which, in itself, is another challenge.