Problem-Solving Activity in EFL Teaching (Chapter 5)

The problem-solving activities mentioned in chapter 5 impress me because they really motivate students to engage in learning effectively. However, it seems difficult to apply to foreign language teaching especially in outside circle (countries where English is not the first or second language). Take foreign language learners in Taiwan for example, they have little chances to interact with native speakers, which causes some difficulties with complex and realistic contexts required by anchored instruction.

But still, there are some resources for teachers to make use of. For example, a problem-solving activity which I participated in was produced with the help of American educational fair held twice every year in Taiwan. Since every year the school where I worked as a student teacher at that time held studying tour for studetns, the teachers addressed the problem “Which school in the fair will you choose for studying tour this summer?” Then teachers made a list of the schools in the fair and each group of students was in charge of five schools. Several aspects were assigned for evaluation: course, club, event, environment, and cost.

First teachers introduced related vocabulary of school life, such as semester, credit, drop, register, and dormitory. Then students surfed the websites, made some research of assigned schools, and used spreadsheets to list the characteristics under each aspect. Next each group had to figure out ten questions about each school which they would ask the representatives in the educational fair. Third, teachers guided student to learn communicative skills in American culture, such as how to greet, break the ice, change the topic, and end the conversation. Since students had to talk to the representatives who were native speakers of English, they felt the need to learn how to talk appropriately and politely. The next step was to go to the educational fair and have interview with the representatives. After the fair, students chose one of the five assigned schools and made power point to introduce it to other classmates. Finally all the students voted and decided on the best school for studying tour. This activity took several weeks and worked very well. By means of real interaction with native speakers, students in outer circle had opportunities to not only practice speaking but also applied what they had learned to real-life context, which made learning become more meaningful.

Teaching Structures in ESL (Chapter 4)

In chapter 4, it is shown that one important aspect of accessing knowledge is to grasp disciplinary structures. Instead of memorizing a collection of facts and theories, understanding the patterns can help students make connection between concepts and acquire the disciplinary knowledge more easily and effectively. It can also be applied to foreign language learning where memorization is emphasized a lot. When learning English vocabulary, it is helpful for students to know how words are structured ---- the concept of morphemes. With the database of lists of familiar words, teachers may assist students to analyze, categorize, and define what roots, suffixes, and prefixes are. By learning what common suffixes and prefixes mean, students are able to apply to unfamiliar words and infer their meanings. For example, “re” is a prefix added before a root,meaning “repeatedly” or “again.” Grasping it, students can get the big picture of what “reforest” or “reframe” mean even if they have not learned these words. Another example is the antonym. By analyzing the occurrence of prefixes “ir” “in” “im” and “il” used to make antonyms, students will find the rule of assimilation --- “ir” appears before words starting with the letter “r,” like irregular and “im” appears when the words starting with bilabial sounds. By grasping these basic patterns, L2 learners can remember English vocabulary more efficiently and guess the meaning of new words approximately. Therefore ESL teachers should teach students these underlying structures, which equip them with the ability of handling plenty of new but highly related information.

Related Links: Teaching Prefixes "ir" "im" "il" and "in"

Using Tools (Chapter 3)

In chapter 3, Wiburg talks about what kinds of tools educators can choose to enhance the design of opportunities for students to learn. With highly-developed technology, there are a variety of choices for teachers to present the same information. In recent years, in most educational settings, a myth has formed that students can learn better and faster through the use of technology. For example, in Taiwan, computer assisted language learning (CALL) has become popular for many years. Many educators, parents, and students think CALL not only helps students acquire new information efficiently but also makes courses more interesting. In order to meet the expectations, teachers apply as much technology as they can to the designed courses. For example, instead of books and blackboard, they make graphics, use power point, play videos, set up websites, or employ bulletin boards.

However, the learning result does not always improve and sometimes becomes worse because teachers do not really think about which tool works best for specified course, topic, context, and students. For instance, based on my teaching experiences, to teach English grammar, teachers can choose to explain with chalks on the blackboard or make power point with animation. Although using power point seems creative and stimulating for students, in fact there are some disadvantages teachers have to take into consideration. On the one hand, when power point is played and the light is turned off, it is hard for students to stay focus on the screen. Due to the darkness, students usually do something else instead of keeping paying attention to students. On the other hand, the fancy animation used to mark the change of sentence patterns might distract students’ attention. After the slideshow, learners may remember only what kind of animation is demonstrated instead of which sentence pattern is taught. In this case, the use of technology does not work at all. Therefore, in spite of many strong points of technology in educational settings, teachers cannot blindly employ different tools without considering their true effect.

Multiple Intelligence (Chapter 2)

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In chapter 2, a view of intelligence is taken into consideration when designing leaning opportunities for students. Nowadays most educators know that each student learns the same materials in different ways. Some students with linguistic intelligence learn better with words while some with spatial intelligence acquire better when pictures are used. Therefore, teachers have been trying hard to apply multiple intelligences to their teaching as much as possible. For example, when teaching numbers in the target language, teachers can read aloud (linguistic intelligence), ask math questions (logical-mathematical intelligence), sing a song of numbers (musical intelligence), or ask students to make hand gestures with numbers (bodily-kinesthetic intelligence). In this way, learners may have more chances to develop their distinct intelligences and access information better.

However, as a former teacher in a private school, I understand how difficult it is to teach a class of 50 students who have different levels and various intelligences. Because of limited class time, it is hard to apply so many intelligences to courses if they have to contain information prescribed by national or local standards. To control time and assure the efficiency, usually many educators still use the traditional way--- lectures -- for instruction. Although there are many difficulties practicing it in class, teachers can still make it after school. By designing different types of homework and assessments, students at home can choose the learning methods which work best for them. For instance, when learning historic events, such as civil war, students can select to write a report, produce a small play, make a time line, interview someone, or even visit a museum. Through these ways, students can cultivate their intelligences and find out the most appropriate and efficient ways of learning. Nevertheless, the only problem is how teachers can evaluate students' performance and understanding fairly and accurately through different assessments.