Book critique

An innovative resource book for teachers

 Language Hungry is a resource book for teachers who want to give their classes a twist.  The book contains twenty one chapters with original titles which immediately attract the reader`s attention. The first one is entitled The Roller Coaster of your Language Learning. It describes the learning process as an up and down way of interacting with language.  In this chapter, Murphy (2006), the writer of this unimaginary book, invites the reader to think and reflect upon which direction our students`roller coaster is going at the moment.  Other titles include Serious FUN!, Everyone is a juggler, and Passion Vision and Action, among others. At the beginning of each chapter the author includes some quotations from different well known people.  These citations reflect upon and anticipate what he will develop throughout the whole chapter.

The purpose of this book is for teachers to learn how to enjoy learning even more passionately than they do now.  As Murphy describes “Teachers can be happier when they welcome new opportunities around them and willingly take healthy risks that will challenge and thrill the mind and body” ( p. 5).  The author asserts that the information in this book can change your life when you choose to use it and improve yourself. Not only does he politely suggest the reader to use the information he provides, but he also challenges his audience to experiment with it, and risk finding more joy in learning.

Murphy (2006) confessed that he has written this book with “[his] students in mind” (p.4). He has used much feedback from them in the writing process. He asserted that the ideas and activities originated from his experiments with students on Alternative Learning Forms, Interaction and Language Acquisition, and Neuro Linguistic Programming. Various editions of Language Hungry have been used by teachers and learners in Switzerland, Finland, China, Thailand, New Zealand, and Japan. Many of the chapters were first published in a popular Japanese magazine.

The different ideas from this book are numerous. However, Murphy`s (2006) innovative and explorative work would have been more successful among Eastern countries if it had contained a more complete guide on how to use these activities with larger classes.  On the whole, it is  merely advisable to read this book which stimulates passion for learning making the reader hungry for language!

References

Murphy, T. New Edition: (2006)  Language Hungry! An Introduction to Language Learning Fun and Self-Esteem. Helbling Languages.

Critical Incident "Reflecting on my own practice"

When I started teaching English, approximately 10 years ago, I got a job in a state school in the night shift. Most of the students were young adults who could not finish the secondary school and were now making an attempt to achieve a degree which let them get better job opportunities and the possibility to choose a profession.

Most of them used to arrive to class late and without any intention to work.  They were really tired after having worked all day. As I was aware of that situation, I tried to have a short conversation with them before the class started so as to let them relax a little bit before getting to work. Meanwhile, we waited for the rest of the students to arrive. One day, only six students out of twenty had arrived on time. I thought I was being so permissive with the timetable, so when all the class was almost complete I talked to them about the situation. Nearly all the students started to complain about my requirements on arriving early, doing the homework and asking for class participation. They argued they had many things to deal with, such as family problems and work responsibilities. I let them speak for a while.  All of them had something to say. When all the students had expressed their views and feelings towards studying, I stood in front of them and asked them to reflect why they were there today if they could be at home, with their families. Nobody answered. I told them I was also studying to get my degree, working to get a salary, and I also had a family similar to those they had just talked about. In spite of all this, I was eager to come to class today and teach them the best of English. When I finished my short speech, we started working on the lesson.  From that day onwards, most of the students from that class arrived on time and participated actively.

Studies assert that teachers' positive and high self-efficacy beliefs have impact on students' achievements and motivations (Midgley, Feldlaufer & Eccles, 1989; Multon & Brown, 1991; Pajares, 2002). I remember that class as one of the best ones I have ever delivered, not for the contents, but for the positive effect it had on the students.  I felt very happy to be taken into account, not only as a teacher of English, but also as their companion, guide and supportive educator.

References

Midgley, C., Feldlaufer. H. & Eccles, J. S. (1989). Change in teacher efficacy and student self- and task related beliefs in mathematics during the transition to junior high school. Journal of Educational Pschology, 81(2), 247-258

Multon, K.D. & Brown, S.D. (1991). Relation of self-efficacy beliefs to academic outcomes: A meta-analytic investigation. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 38(1), 30-38.

Pajares, F. (2002). Overview of social cognitive theory and self-efficacy. [Online]: Retrieved on 16-March-2006, at URL: http://www.emory.edu/EDUCATION/mfp/eff.ht.

Journal entry "Creating a reflective consciousness"

Journal entry

Creating a reflective consciousness

A Critical Incident (CI) is a very useful tool defined as a method of refective practice  by Kennedy and Wyrick (1990) which allows teachers to reflect on real class situations and be able to take the correspondent actions. The events do not need to be dramatic; but they may have a significance to the person.

Critical incidents are one of the teaching strategies that science trainee teachers from the TEFL College in Zaragoza have to follow to reflect on their own practice as stated by Fernàndez Gonzalez, Elòrtegui Escartìn and Medina Perez (2003).  As this a well worth technique, any  student following a humanistic  career should work with CIs in order  to develop a reflective consciousness towards their jobs. In this way their own teaching could be reflected critically and analytically.  I think I would have profited a lot from this technique if It had been taught to me when I was doing the TEFL college. How would I have reacted myself to those situations which I found difficult to deal with if I had had a  written record of past experiences?. Monoreo (1999) argues that:

En este sentido desde la formación inicial y continuada, se tendrá que ofrecer a los profesores instrumentos de interpretación y análisis de la situación en la que se desarrolla su actividad, que les permitan tomar decisiones respecto a su actuación como aprendices y como docentes estratégicos, de manera que se vaya enriqueciendo y ampliando su formación en la interacción con la realidad cotidiana de la práctica profesional (p, 52).

We encounter lots of difficult situations in our daily practice which, if we were accustomed to keeping a written record of them, would serve as the basis for future similar problematic ones where the teacher spends a lot of time thinking how to solve them. Writing forces you to make a connection with your past and present  life.  That is why, critical incidents contain details of the place and time when the incident took place as well as  a brief description of the problematic situation, the causes and possible solutions to deal with the problem.

 How important it is to connect theory and practice, knowledge and experience, ideal classes and the every day classroom. We, as teachers, should be prepared to put into practice that load of knowledge, techniques, and approaches that we have once learnt and be able to respond coherently to real class situations. This professional resource will let the teachers get a high reflective methodology which will help them face their future teaching practice in a different  way.

References

Fernandez González, J., Elórtegui Escartín, N. & Medina Pérez, M. (2003). Los incidentes críticos en la formación y perfeccionamiento del profesorado de secundaria de ciencias de la naturaleza. Revista universitaria de Formación de Profesorado, 17- 001. Zaragoza, España: Universidad de Zaragoza. Retrieved December 2007, from

http://redalyc.uaemex.mx/redalyc/src/inicio/ArtPdfRed.jsp?iCve=274

Kennedy, R. L. & Wyrick, A. M. (1995). Teaching as reflective practice. Tennessee: The University of Tennessee.

Monereo, C. (Coord.) (1999). Estrategias de enseñanza aprendizaje. Formaciòn del profesorado y aplicación en la escuela. Barcelona: Graó

How to recognize a discourse community

How to recognize a discourse community

Swales`s (1990) characterization of a discourse community can be defined as such if it follows six basic criteria which would serve to prove if a given community would suit into this category. The aim of this paper is to find evidence of those elements in different groups of people in order to see if they follow those requirements.

The first element Swales (1990) mentions is that of having specific common goals. This implies the group should achieve certain objectives and have specific interests. The conceptualization of group work as a means for professional development is supported by Wenzlaff and Wiseman (2004) who describe a group of teachers who need teachers to grow with.

The second element Swales establishes is that of providing information and receiving feedback from the community. According to Wenzlaff and Wiseman, it is the exploration that occurs through group work conversation and collaboration that builds a relationship between group work and cohort. It is a cohort structure which fosters a collaborative culture to provide a powerful force to change. They reveal that group work may be a key factor to facilitate professional development.

As for the third element, which is connected to information exchange, Swales sates that group members should be intercommunicated.            Mc Laughlin and Talbert, (1993) argue that a “discourse community can not exist in the absence of a collaborative culture and an environment that supports risk-taking and reflection.” (as cited in Wenzlaff and Wieseman, 2004, p.9).  The community needs to interact and be in continuous change through the ideas and ways of thinking that its members bring to discourse.

The fourth established criterion involves making use of at least one genre that defines the group association.  Hoffman, Artiles and Lopez.Torres (2003) discuss that in the case of teachers` reflective practice, they may establish a culture in which reflection and enquiry are the normative ideal artifacts by which they learn.

A specialized jargon and a high level of expertise are two more requirements within a discourse community. That is the case of the UCLA community college mentioned by Kelly-Kleese (2004) where all their members are communicative competent.  “Higher education has a discourse community that governs the university`s spoken and written words” (p. 2). She adds that “[I]ts members have, over time, developed a common discourse that involves shared knowledge, common purposes, common relationships, and similar attitudes and values” ( p. 2).

To conclude, it has been found that there are many evidences which support Swales`s conceptualization of a discourse community making it of great importance among its members.

References

Hoffman-Kipp, P., Artiles, A. J., & Lopez Torres, L. (2003). Beyond reflection: teacher learning as praxis. Theory into Practice. Retrieved October 2011, from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0NQM/is_3_42/ai_108442653

Kelly-Kleese, C. (2004). UCLA community college review: community college scholarship and discourse. Community College Review. Retrieved October 2011, from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0HCZ/is_1_32/ai_n6361541

Swales, J. M. (1990). Genre analysis: English in academic and research settings. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Wenzlaff, T. L., & Wieseman, K. C. (2004). Teachers Need Teachers To Grow. Teacher Education Quarterly. Retrieved October 2011, from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3960/is_200404/ai_n9349405

My blog for academic purposes

Welcome to this blog. It is mine, but it is also yours. I would appreciate you share your views, opinions, thoughts and feelings towards our academic learning styles.
In this blog I will post my EAP writings in order to share them with the academic writing community I belong to. Developing academic writing skills is not an easy task but it is necessary if we want to become members of the world of academic writing.
Writing with authority and credibility enables professionalism in this area. Attending to style and clarity are of total importance to succeed in this field.
I am glad to be sharing with you my last version works. I hope we can all profit from them.