I have to say that I have learned a lot in this course. Being a native
english speaker, I was doing many of the language concepts naturally, but if I was asked to explain them to a foreign learner, I would have no idea how to. The information found in this course made me understand what and why I was doing naturally before so I would be able to explain them to
esl learners. This course has also helped me to understand how to plan lessons better. Prior to this, I had no idea on how to go about this other than explaining the material. However, I have realized now that there are various stages to a less plan, such as engage, study, and activate, which help the
teacher to structure his/her lessons and to make them more interesting to the students. The best thing is the
teacher can structure his/her lessons in a variety of ways depending on what is being taught and on the needs and levels of the students. This
offers the
teacher great flexibility yet structure at the same time, which is what I need. Lastly, this course has helped me to better understand the various types of
esl students that I may be teaching in the future. I now realize that young students are very different than adult and
business students. Each group has different needs and learning styles which the
teacher has to take into account if he/she is to succeed with teaching them.
I am planning to use what I have learned in this course to teach in Asia, preferably Korea. I am very much interested in learning more about Korean culture and experiencing daily life over there. I have grown up in
north america all of my life so it would be interesting to see how life in the eastern world differs from life in the western world. Ideally I would like to teach in a public school since it
offers me flexibility yet the support that I need as well. I believe the concepts that I have learned in this course will help with me tremendously when I am teaching my
esl students. I feel I will be better prepared and more relaxed because I know I will have the knowledge that is needed to teach my students well. A great thing is I will be able to refer back to my notes whenever I need help or a refresher as to what I've learned in this course. All of these factors will make me more confident and organized, and thus hopefully a more effective
teacher overall.