STANDARD 4 – Content Knowledge The teacher understands the central concepts, tools of inquiry, and structures of the discipline(s) he or she teaches and creates learning experiences that make these aspects of the discipline accessible and meaningful for learners to assure mastery of the content.
Name of artifact: Textbook reviews Course: TSL 612 Options in the Teaching of Grammar TESOL/INTASC Standards Addressed: Standard 4.f., 4.i., 4.j., 4.k., 4.n., 4.o., 4.r. Rationale: To show my grasp of content knowledge which is Standard Four, I have chosen the Textbook Reviews I completed for TSL 612 Options in the Teaching of Grammar. I was required to review three ESL/EFL textbooks to explain how the grammar was presented in each. I was to evaluate the textbooks on the quality of the grammar explanations, activities and exercises. The Standard requires teachers evaluate the resources they have for usefulness, accuracy and comprehensiveness. A teacher must have in depth knowledge of the content area. The Textbook Review assignment was incorporated near the end of the semester of the spring of 2013 for the TSL 612 Options in Teaching Grammar. I was able to utilize the majority of the knowledge I gained on the teaching of grammar because the assignment was due after the textbook readings for the course were complete. The textbooks I reviewed were high-intermediate to advanced books which I chose since I teach high school or adult students. While taking the grammar course I learned that the new approach to grammar, in lieu of the traditional study of the written forms and translation, involved formal instruction and communicative use or ‘focus on form’. This ‘focus on form’ is meaning focused and the learner uses communicative output. I was able to see the use of the ‘focus on form’ and the ‘focus on formS’ approach, which in contrast uses the explicit instruction of grammar in the reviews of the textbooks. I liked the text by Maurer (2006) which offers grammar not only in context but from authentic sources. The pattern described by Fotos (1999) suggests that grammar have a three part lesson (1) explicit instruction (2) communicative activities and (3) summary focused activities. The textbooks don’t always follow this pattern but I realize it is incumbent on the teacher to use the best methods. The text by Maurer (2006) doesn’t present grammar at the beginning but I could rearrange the chapter to use the grammar section first. I learned the move away from grammar focus must be replaced with the task, or communicative task based activities. The textbooks are constrained to the “walls” of their front and back covers so my guess it is hard to incorporate a lot of authentic materials but the move to reflect natural use of grammar is important. I learned that as a teacher I can use my own judgment in teaching grammar and allow myself to be flexible with the textbooks. Having to critique the textbooks also made me realize what is important in teaching grammar as well as introducing variety to the teaching of grammar. I want to present teaching grammar with a more task based, meaning centered approach. Rules of grammar are absorbed better with meaningful practice. Also, it is best to work in a balanced manner. I learned that grammar followed by rules works with simple forms but with complex grammar formal instruction is needed with communicative examples (Fotos, 1999). It is important to create a meaningful classroom to enhance learning.
References at end of artifact.
Name of artifact: Position Paper on Vocabulary Course: TSL 692-The Teaching and Acquisition of Vocabulary TESOL/INTASC Standards addressed: Standard 4.a., 4.c., 4.e., 4.g., 4.h., 4.j., 4.k., 4.l., 4.n., 4.o., 4.r. Rationale: I demonstrated my grasp of content knowledge of vocabulary in the final paper I wrote for TSL 692-The Teaching and Acquisition of Vocabulary, which I took in the fall of 2013. I had to prepare a seven to nine page ‘position paper’ on my current position on vocabulary in the teaching of second languages. My views were constructed from research as well as the course with a minimum of ten references on the teaching and learning of vocabulary in regards to second language acquisition. I chose this artifact for Standard Four because I learned and developed an approach to teaching that is beyond the multiple choice responses for testing and challenged my current thinking on vocabulary instruction. I have selected several pages to show for this standard plus the reference page. What I learned in my research paper I entitled: Vocabulary: The key to second languagelearning is that there is not a consensus on how to teach vocabulary but many ways to teach. The typical ‘define twenty words and memorize them by Friday’ approach is ineffective in most cases. I believe that learning vocabulary is an essential skill to develop in teaching a second language. There is more on the learning of vocabulary that I thought so synthesizing an actual position paper seemed to be a daunting task. I learned that implicit and explicit learning takes place to learn vocabulary. Implicit knowledge is gained during instruction but explicit concentration on vocabulary or intentional learning is also needed. I discovered an article by Zhou (2009) where he described a desire of pre-university learners to have more depth and “harder” words in their vocabulary studies. I also believe through my research that writing tasks help vocabulary learning. Using the word, in fact, in syntactically different ways helps retention. I learned that my suspicions are correct in thinking that a variety of sources help with vocabulary learning. Authentic materials in print, newspapers, books, radio, T.V. etc. is actually more fun also than rote learning of lists in books. The research also showed me it is acceptable for the students to use bilingual dictionaries. My students now use the translator on their phone. I am teaching a class of beginning adults once a week and feel like if it helps them to use a dictionary, that’s OK. I have become more flexible in recognizing the task of learning the vocabulary is not entirely up to the learner. Incidental learning will occur but teacher-directed meaningful developmental activities are essential to helping the ESL learner increase their vocabulary. I am more willing to use both explicit and individual learning with needed strategies to help the learner with vocabulary learning. I was less knowledgeable before this class about how to enhance vocabulary learning and retention but now with training and some creativity there are many possibilities to explore.