Teach English in Dongzhai Zhen - Xinzhou Shi

Foreword: When i initially saw this list i had to admit i felt somewhat daunted.Two reasons for my feelings were first of all the fact that from a professionel perspective,its been a while ever sincei had the time to reflect and write an essay about the nature and/or future of teaching and all its diverse aspects, but also because of the fact that the list contained so may elements which are all, in one form or another important to the profession and one could write and/or read an entire library pertaining to all of these subjects combined.As such,selecting a single subject within the list proved to be no small task in itself,as i had to go through a process of (mental) elimination.Which subject(s) do i decide to talk about and which one do i leave out and why? Thus,after a fair amount of preponderance i have decided to focus on vocabulary and the teaching thereof.I hesitated between writing an essay whereby i would focus either on teaching grammar or vocabulary.However, after some further tought,I finally decided to focus on vocabulary, as words are the most fundamental building blocks of any language.Young children,even when they are learning their own native tongue,learn the words before they learn how to apply them correctly and as a result,children often make mistakes in their grammarHowever, even when they do,it is mostly the vocabulary or the order of the words which still provides a degree of context which makes the message they intend to convey understandable and thus susceptible to improvement.It is exactly because of this fact that in this essay,I would like to dive into teaching vocabulary. Teaching vocabulary.Some professional reflections and advice With regard of teaching vocabulary i could say that the best way to teach any new set of words is to teach by doing/application.The first step i normally take is to activate previous knowledge, or at the very least inquire if the students possess any. To put it even more strongly, even before the a fore mentioned step,i would like to know what my target group is.Am i dealing with 5 year olds or are they adolecents? As this assignment does not specify what the target group is, i am put at a disadvantage in the sense that i am currently only able to provide general advice,comments or reflections. For instance, if students are asked to write a small essay about their future professions. That is,what would they like to become in the future,there is a real possibility that some of them might struggle to explain as to why they would like to become a insert profession here. It could be it is because lack of an available vocabulary.Simultaneously, a group of primary schoolers may not possess any pre-existing knowledge at all. I would like to get the more difficult part out of the way first,that is,the primary school level.Granted,this might seem easy at first glance but the younger children are. The more factors that come into play which might cause their distraction. Distractions will continue to play a role during later stages in life,but trying to teach a group of 5 year olds a group of new words when in reality they are more preoccupied with their new Lego can be more daunting than it initally seems. That said,it does not necessarily have to provide an obstacle. For instance,if children are in a private settingwhere they are still surrounded by their toys,those toys might be able to act as props in order to teach new words. For instance,one can use a toy truck to teach its seperate parts,or a toy house in order to teach them. The setting changes when they are in a true classroom.Here ,more than everything,the trick is to grab their attention with props,songs and pictures. Grabbing (young) childrens attention with the a fore mentioned articles in order to teach vocabulary could almost be a prime directive in a classroom filled with (small) children. We live in a visual age, where countless media outlets are vying for attention, a teacher has to compete with all of those. People in general fare well when ther is a certain element of structure in their lives. The younger children are,the more important this element of stability becomes. As such, it is the duty of the teacher/tutor/instructor to create that element of stability by making a list of words and set reasonable targets for a set of lessons. I myself have witnessed new teachers still create entire, meticulous lesson plans, whereas the oldest, most experienced teachers dont bother to do it at all anymore, as they have taught all of the various subjects more time than they either care to count or remember, and there for are no longer in need to prepare anything, or very little,just a few notes. Personally, whilst trying to refrain from judging which method works best, there are still a few cases in which i make notes.Either way, try to keep in mind that A:have a clear goal in your mind. B:the end justifies the means. If teaching vocabulary with props works with one group but doesnt work with another, try something else instead rather than rigidly sticking to set method of teaching. When it comes to adolecents,similar factors might come into play but in this case,toys are long gone by now and the activation of pre-existing knowledge can come into play. As i mentioned earlier, if one were to hand students an assignment whereby the are supposed to write an essay about their future profession,they might struggle to explain why they intend to become whatever it is they want to become. Here i would recommend to encourage them to use dictionaries.Granted, in this and age many people resort to Google translate when they are translating individual words and while that in itself doesnt necessarily have to be a bad thing,Google still fails to get the grammar right, a typical example of technology being simultaneously a tool as well as a burden, as it automatically present the teacher with the task of correcting grammar instead of teaching the vocabulary which was the initial goal of the lesson. Hence, to repeat myself:encourage the use of dictionaries and work out the grammar kinks later. Children, even adults dont always know actively know all the grammer rules, yet still subconsciously parrot them. As such, I shall refrain from focussing on grammar here, as it falls outside of the scope of this essay. Again, as a rule of thumb:try to create a set lesson plan with set goals in mind. Inquire if there is pre-existing knowledge. Are students willing and able to talk about what it is that you intend to teach them?if they are, ask a little further but as soon as one notices that the coversation starts to stall,summarize and present your new goal/target and,if required, inform them the motive behind the subject,what is its use? Note: the latter depends on the level one is working with. The higher the level, the greater the need for a motivation. After the goal has been introduced, let them read relevant texts about it and answer written questions. Later on, if and once they are able to do so, let them present and talk about the subject, thereby proving their mastery of something which was hitherto new to them. Summarized and based on experience i would provide the following advice: 1:Identify target group.How old are my children?Adapt ones lessonplan accordingly. Plan a structure but be careful not become the slave of your own plan! 2:Idetify level. This is not yet a major issue when it comes to young children,but the intelligence level of older students is a large factor when it comes to learning. So much so that it can and does form the basis of a bewildering amount of research,but suffice it to say that here again, the lesson plan should be adjusted to their level. 3:Set a number of clear goals for yourself and your students. Again,bear the level in mind. Hint try to keep it just outside of their comfort level.Do not make it unobtainable or unreachable, but they need to work (Hard? Thats up to you!) for it in order to achieve their goal. 4:Remain flexible. If one set of teaching tactics works for one group but not for the other, try something else. D not be afraid to experiment and see what works. Let them read, let them write, let them listen or speak. The end justifies the means. 5:Keep it entertaining.D no be a clown but people learn better when they are having fun than when they are irritated and bored.