Marisol Kim 21 WK

TITLE: Second Language Acquisition

by

Marisol Kim (Okjin Kim)

Course: TESOL Weekend Class

Due Date: 12th September, 2009

Instructor: Martin Otterson

Location: Busan, South Korea

OUTLINE

1. Introduction

A. Being taught by the teachers with different teaching style at the same time was my key to success.

B. Each teacher focused on different area of language skills.

2. Body

A. Back to Basics; Kristina□s Grammar□based class strengthened my reading and writing skills.

a. Her lessons were done in a lecturing way so it was very similar to my previous experience.

b. Learning grammar in English was a new thing.

B. Made a connection between the classroom and the real world with Amanda.

a. She wanted us to learn practical English.

b. With her enthusiasm, the lessons were always enjoyable.

C. There was no course book or homework but always a challenge in Dick□s class

a. He always gave students challenging topics to think about.

b. He wanted us, the students, to express ourselves freely.

3. Conclusion

A. My English level has improved with three teachers□ help.

B. Each teacher□s different role in Language System completed a whole circle.

INTRODUCTION

As an international student who went to England to study English as a second language, my key to success was □Being taught by the teachers with different teaching style at the same time.□

I was 22 years old then and in the □Intermediate Class□ with 10~15 classmates from many different countries and of different ages. Three teachers I had were very different from each other in teaching style. Kristina was the teacher in a traditional way when Amanda was a very active, energetic Involver type and Dick was definitely an Enabler who challenged the students always. Each teacher focused on different area of the language skills but as a student, I could put every necessary skill together.

BODY

1. Back to Basics; Kristina□s Grammar□based class strengthened my writing and reading skills. She mainly focused on Grammar and Writing and did in the lecture type. We were usually given homework like writing a short story or doing an exercise book. Also we mostly worked individually in a classroom. Since her teaching style was not quite different from my English learning environment back home, I felt comfortable with it. I knew what to do and was good at it. On the other hand, I had never learned English grammar in English; it was like learning the new things and reviewing it at the same time. She was like an Explainer but also tried to get students involved in some activities like correcting common grammatical mistakes together or making sentences using the grammar we learned in class.

2. Made a connection between the classroom and the real world with Amanda. Amanda, not like Kristina, never sat on her chair during class. She always brought some fun games to play and used a lot of visual materials. She focused on how to develop students□ speaking and listening skills. For example, she would write many useful expressions and sentences on the board then asked us to think about in what situation we could use them. In groups, we made a short play then demonstrated it. When we misused them or mispronounced any, she quickly corrected it for us. It was always fun to be in her class as I never had a teacher so enthusiastically managed the class. Also, she tried to make the things we learned in a classroom as practical as possible so she often invited us to the pub where we could meet her other students and made conversation with them about anything. She knew it would make us more relaxed if we were outside of the classroom, having fun with friends and so we did.

3. There was no course book or homework but always a challenge in Dick□s class. I could say it was not easy to get used to his teaching style. In every class, we were given a topic to prepare a presentation or to discuss. One topic I can still remember is □Prepare a presentation to persuade an automobile company□s owner who wants to set up a new factory somewhere else. Explain why your country or town is the best choice for the auto industry.□ He expected us to bring our experience and reasons. After listening to every student□s presentation, we voted for the most persuasive one. By doing this kind of tasks, we could learn some new facts from the classmates who had different backgrounds. He did not try to give us his own ideas on topics nor correct the grammatical mistake if it was not seriously wrong. He just let us to think about the subjects then express ourselves freely.

Conclusion

Before I went to the U.K, I only studied English through middle and high school. There was no doubt that everything I had learned was how to read and the grammar. People often questioned me how my English could be improved so much after just one year□s course. Living and Studying in an English speaking country was definitely my great benefit to learn the language but without my teachers□ help, I am sure my English level would be very different from what it is now. In conclusion, the chart below will simply explain the difference between them, what their goals were and which part of Language skills I got help.

	Kristina	Amanda	Dick
Focus	Grammar, Writing, Reading	Speaking, Listening	Speaking, Listening
Teacher Type	Traditional, Explainer	Modern, Involver	Modern, Enabler
Feelings I had	Comfortable	Fun, Enjoyment	Challenge, Worth
Language System	Grammar, Lexis	Phonology, Function, Discourse	Discourse
How Students work	Individually	In Groups	In Groups or Individually
Hours per Week	8 Hours	8 Hours	4 Hours