Teaching Language

As a teacher to be I have a clear view on how I want to teach English. To me, language has a few basic elements that need to be taught in order for learners to ‘properly’ speak and understand English; vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation. Without vocabulary no learner will know how to translate a sentence from their mother tongue to the target language, and with no grammar sentences will sound weird or may come across wrong. For instance when it comes to tenses. On top of that students need to know how to pronounce words correctly in order for the message to come across. Native English speakers will not understand it if you pronounce worst as /wɒrst/ instead of /wɜːst/. In order for my students to get to a certain level of English I need them to learn the vocabulary presented in the textbook, though I don’t need them to learn functions as these are most of the time strictly limited to situations students will probably never come across. Instead I want students to use the vocabulary in a natural setting, by using drama techniques to motivate them to use their target language, create new sentences and learn from each other. I would never personally and publically correct a student’s speech errors, but I will collect all the errors I’ve heard during class sessions and treat them in a whole group session. I think it is important to build up students confidence by allowing them to make mistakes but giving them the opportunity to learn from them in an anonymous way; whom the cap fits, let him wear it.
               Besides this, I also want to offer students differentiated learning routes, so every student gets the opportunity to work on his or her own level and pace. To realise this I can give students who already perform on a higher level books from a higher grade, and students who perform below their level books from a lower grade. In the end language learning is all about self-confidence. And if you have the confidence I believe you are more motivated to learn and more likely to eventually receive a higher level of English.