UNIVERSIDAD LATINOAMERICANA DE CIENCIA Y TECNOLOGIA
THEORY OF EDUCATION PORTFOLIO By: Mary Obando Barrantes
2015
ULACIT
WEEK 1
This week we didn’t do much. We just review the syllabus and introduce ourselves. For this part, we needed to say our names and answer other questions such as: what are your hobbies? What kind of teacher you think you would be? What do you like and dislike? Among other questions.
WEEK 2 This week we started with the course theory. The teacher introduced us to how the teaching methods have changed throughout
the
years.
We
began
with
the
grammar
translation method, the direct method and the audio-lingual method. These methods were focused on the development of just one skill without any context. very
important
when
learning
For me, the context is a
new
language.
It
is
important for the learners in order for them to understand the meaning of the phrases and when to use them. The development of every single skill (writing, reading, listening and speaking) as a whole is very important as well. This way, the learners will be improving all the skills and will be prepared to face real situations.
We also saw a video referring to the question: Why do we talk? Honestly, I have never wondered why until now. This video was very interesting because it showed how a little kid learned to speak. It showed that the parents, as well as the context, are one of the most important factors that are important during the learning a language process.
WEEK 3 This week the first presentation was about the Monitor model. This model was created by Stephen Krashen. This method is composed with 5 different hypotheses: 1) Acquisition
–
learning
Hypothesis
unconscious
learning 2) Monitor hypothesis the learning process will be monitored and the students can be corrected. 3) Natural order hypothesis the grammar structures should be taught in a specific order 4) Imput
hypothesis
If
the
students
receive
comprehensible imput the students learning will increase 5) Affective filter hypothesis
WEEK 4 This week we saw different topics. One of them was behaviorism. We refer to behaviorism when the students receive a positive or a negative feedback when they do an action. If they do it right, they receive a positive feedback, but if they do it wrong, they will get a negative one. I think I will use this method a lot. The bad thing is that, at some point, it will be useless depending on how often it is used and how it is used.
The other presentation was about the cognitive theory. Jean Piaget became intrigued with why the children gave wrong answers to the questions that required logical thinking. He was the first psychologist to make a systematic study of cognitive development. Some of his contributions are a theory of cognitive child development, detailed observational studies of cognition in children, and a series of simple but ingenious tests to reveal different cognitive abilities.
WEEK 5 This week we had three different presentations. The first one was about the grammar translation method. As its name says, it uses translation and grammar as the main teaching techniques. This method was usually used with Latin. The students are asked to translate a reading or a passage from the target language to their native language. I remember that the presenter showed us a video in which this method was used. For me, this method is kind of difficult since at some point is hard to translate the whole idea instead of translating word by word.
The other presentations were about the direct method and the audio lingual method (our presentation). I think that the main difference between them is that the DM is European and the AL is American. For the ALM, the grammar structure was the starting point. One of its principles was that the language was identified with speech and speech was approached through structure. This is why everything was spoken and not written. A common exercise for this method was the use of dialogues previously written. The students were supposed to memorize it and then presented it to the rest of the class. For me, since everything needed to be so structured and so stablished, these methods (DM and ALM), are very boring. For our presentation activity, we gave our classmates the freedom to use their imagination and create the dialogue based on the topic we gave them. The only rule was that the must use certain grammatical structures that were also given. It was very funny and I think everyone enjoyed it since everyone was laughing a lot.
WEEK 6 This
week
we
had
just
one
presentation
about
the
communicative competence. As its name says, it is our capacity to transmit a message. Speaking a language is not the only way we can communicate with other people. We can also use letters or e-mails. What if we are trying to communicate with a Chinese person and we can’t speak Chinese? We can also use body language, or even draw a picture to express what you need. As long as the other person understands the message, you are communicating. A good example will be deaf or mute people. These people have their own sign language to communicate with each other; but what happens when they need to communicate with other people that don’t know their sign language? They might be able to write or draw the message in a piece of paper, or maybe play charades with the other person.
WEEK 7 This week the teacher was the one in charge of the class. We discuss about the different learning styles. We discuss that this may be a useful tool for both the teacher and the students. For the learners, knowing this will be useful to determine
the
easiest
way
for
them
to
retain
new
information. For the teacher, this will be helpful when designing the activities and when developing the class. The teacher will be able to use the students’ learning styles to develop an attractive class for the students. Nevertheless, not all the students have the same learning style. Taking this into account, the teacher will have to vary the activities and the way the class will be developed, this depending in which learning style the class will be focused on.
WEEK 8 This week we saw something that, for me, it is a very important fact to take into consideration when teaching. As future teachers, we need to know that our students need to be prepared to apply everything learned in real situations to “survive� in the society. This is why we need to teach them using context. This week we saw how to adapt our teaching activities to the students’ learning strategies but, at the same time, use context. Of course, it is very hard, if not impossible, to design an activity that will work for all the students effectively, regarding to their learning styles. This is why we need to vary the learning strategy or strategies in which our activities will be focused on.
I really liked the activity that the teacher did. We needed to create two different activities. One activity needed to be a context activity, and the other one, a no- context activity. After designing the activities, we needed to present them in front of the class. This helped us to see how important is to use context when teaching a topic.
WEEK 9 This week, we didn’t have class because the teacher wasn’t in the country. Though, she left us some assignments to work on. For this week, the assignment was to read the chapter 6 from the handbook. This chapter was about contextualizing language instruction. It talks about different ways to do it by implementing the four basic skills at the same time. There are three modes in which we can add context to an activity: o Interpersonal mode o Interpretive mode o Presentational mode These modes offer different ways to develop an activity with reading and writing skills. The other part of the assignment was a homework that related to the chapter read.
LISTENING
READING
SPEAKING
WRITING
WEEK 10 For this week, the teacher was still out of the country, so she left some assignments for us. We needed to choose a reading or a listening file. Based on that, we had to create a lesson plan. It needed to include pre- , while- and post reading / listening activity. This Wednesday was the last day to upload this activity to blackboard. The reading or the listening file had to be included too.
WEEK 11 For this week, we needed to read the chapter 4 from the handbook in advanced. This chapter is about communication and
explains
that
the
voice
is
not
the
only
way
to
communicate with others. We can also communicate by writing letters or e mails to other people. We can use signs or mimics to deliver a message as well; or even by drawing what the message is about.
In this class, we discuss about the survival game in groups. After this, we needed to create or adapt an activity to use the same principle of the survival game. Our group did an activity that the others had to organize a dialogue in the correct order. The second group did a very funny activity. This activity consisted in that one has to come up with a
topic or part of a story and the others needed to complete it with whatever idea was on their minds at that moment. The last group did something in which the class was divided in tow groups. One group needed to describe a picture by doing mimics while the other group tried to figure out what the picture is about. At the end, the teacher concluded the class by doing a “would you rather?” activity. We needed to create 2 rows and be face to face to another classmate. The teacher showed us some “would you rather” questions that we needed to discuss with the person in front. It was very interesting to see the point of view of my other classmates and what were their choices.
WEEK 12 This week we talked about interlanguage. This is the level of English a person has. I think it is like the TESOL standards but more specific. It is also the own linguistic system of the learner or the unique language of each student. For this topic we did like a “panel of experts”. We were in groups and each group had to become an expert in a certain part and explain it later to the other groups. I think the information the teacher gave us was very interesting. Something that called my attention was that adults struggle more than young people when learning a foreign language. One of the reasons is that the language is fossilized. This means that, for example, the pronunciation of certain words is saved in their minds. For example, with the word “apple”; they may have thought that the pronunciation is “aple” (like reading it in Spanish). No matter how many times the person is corrected, it will keep saying “aple” instead of the correct way. This happens
because
the
“fossilized” in its mind.
person
has
that
pronunciation
I found a video that I think it is useful to understand this concept https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBPhIF5du_w
WEEK 13 This week we spent the class working in our final project report
and
presentation.
Both,
the
report
and
the
presentation, are based in the observations we did last Saturday at COTEPECOS. For this class, we also had to read in advanced, chapter 11 from the Handbook. This chapter was about the dialogic approach. For this part, we were supposed to bring a grammar activity. The teacher’s idea was to adapt this activity to the approach described in the book. We weren’t able to do this because of lack of time. I guess working in our reports took us more time than the teacher expected. At the end of the class, we did like a brief overview of the chapter and discussed a little bit about it.
Done by: Mary Obando B.