UNIVESITY OF CANBERRA:

FACULTY OF ARTS AND DESIGN ASSIGNMENT COVER SHEET

8095/4: LANGUAGE TEACHING METHODOLOGY/ G

STUDENT NAME: NGOC VUONG DAI DO
STUDENT ID: 3124200
EMAIL: vuongdaingoc.linken@gmail.com
PHONE: 0403162848
TITLE OF ASSIGNMENT: Personal Language Teaching
Philosophy
WORD COUNT (Intro to Discussion, but not tables, figures
etc.):

In language learning acquisition approach, motivation in

second language learning is a complex phenomenon, which can be
described based on two factors: learnings communicative needs
and their attitudes towards the second language community. Hence,
I believe that students learn best when they are motivated to learn
by understanding the value and importance of the target language
knowledge presented in second language classroom. It is due to as
if students are not interested in the materials, they may not learn
actively and passionately thus the goal of the lesson may not be
achieved completely. Moreover, if learners have favourable attitudes
towards speakers of the language (it may be teachers or tutors),
they will desire more contact with them (Lightbown & Spada, 2013,
p.87). Robert Gardener and Wallace Lambert (1972) classified the
term motivation in two types: instrumental motivation (language
learning for immediate or practical goals) and integrative motivation
(language learning for personal growth and cultural enrichment
through contact with speakers of the other language). For a long
time, the latter was considered to be the stronger predictor of
successful learning, however; in some contexts, the former was
found to be a better predictor. In my opinion, both types of
motivations relate to the success of second language acquisition
and it is also difficult to consider which one is better in different
learning environments. In this reflection, my aim is focus on
classroom environment in which teachers are challenged the most
with

some

fixed

factors

including

both

advantages

and

disadvantages.
To motivate my students in class, I integrate logical sequence
to my teaching that requires teachers have a big picture of the
whole learning process how the pieces of each lesson build on the
previous lessons and lead to a final achievement. In nineteenth
century, Francois Gouin indicated that people would memorize
events in a logical sequence, even if they were not presented in that
order, so it means that students learn sentences based on an action

such as leaving a house in the order in which such would be

performed. In order to get the main goals I expect from my students
are develop and apply their reading, writing, speaking, listening,
problem solving, and study skills to their full potential, I always try
to prepare lesson plans for a long-term purpose in which four microskills are balance (even though they are taught separately or one is
focused more than others in one lesson) and each activity or task
are delivered by a stepped and sequence instruction. For instance,
each

lesson

should

be

divided

into

four

stages:

warm-up,

introduction, practice and product, and revision. New vocabulary will

be provided before each activity or task, for example, the
vocabulary in the listening records or in the reading texts. Depend
on students levels, grammar points can be presented in an explicit
way or implicit way in order to challenge students knowledge, but
in the end of the lessons, I always spend time for revision stage in
around five minutes to ensure that students can product the target
language in acceptable ways. I also use transition signals (e.g.
overall, first, then, after this lesson, now, etc.), which are the most
important in sequence guidance to help students understand and
follow teachers instruction during tasks, activities and to lead
students to the final goal of the lesson.
In teaching methodology, with various different approaches
and methods available, many teachers are unsure of which to select
and how to go about making that choice. To my knowledge, I believe
that good leaning occurs when students have more opportunities
to apply the target language knowledge presented in class into reallife situations, which requires teachers to exploit authentic materials
and create a real-life purpose for their lessons. According to
Donovan, S., Bransford, J., & Pellegrino (1999), authentic language
learning is an instructional approach that allows students to explore,
discuss, and meaningfully construct concepts and relationships in
contexts that involve real-world problems, and projects that are
relevant to the learner. The basic idea is that students are more

likely to be interested in what they are learning, more motivated to

learn new concepts and skills, and better prepared to succeed in
college, careers, and adulthood if what they are learning mirrors
real-life contexts, equips them with practical and useful skills, and
address topics that are relevant and applicable to their lives outside
of school (Authentic Learning. (n.d.) The Glossary of Education
Reform). For language learning in general and English learning as a
second or foreign language, I believe that authentic learning should
be highly concerned and considered to apply. By this way, students
will have an opportunity to learning new language, new culture and
sociolinguistic also. Moreover, authentic learning may help students
overcome the disadvantages of learning second language in nonnative speaking environment. Authentic material, for example,
western restaurant or coffee menu, real-life advertisement pictures,
panels or video clips in target language; will motivate students
learning attitudes because it may illustrate a real-life context in
class besides grammar books, which may make students tired and
bored with studying in traditional ways.
As a teacher in an ESL classroom, to motivate students, I
believe that learning should be interactive with learner-centre and
that students should have opportunities to produce target language
as much as possible. Hence, in my future teaching plan, I intend to
apply communicative approach (also known as communicative
language teaching CLT). The main methods that I did integrate into
my

teaching

are

task-based

teaching

for

students

at

pre-

intermediate level. Howatt (1984) claimed that task-based teaching

is a strong communicative approach comparing with the traditional
CLT that is called weak CLT in which students may lack of accuracy
while the approach over focuses on students fluency. Task-based
teaching aims not just to teach students communication as an
object (as is the case in the notional-function approach) but also to
engage students in authentic acts of communication in the
classroom.

It gives primacy to fluency over accuracy but also

claims that learners can achieve grammatical competence as a

result of learning to communicate while learners treat target
language as a tool (Ellis, 2005). In other words, task-based teaching
affords opportunities for students to focus-on-form in the context of
attempts to communicate, thus it will constitute the ideal condition
for learning acquisition to occur (Long & Robinson, 1998). According
to this approach, a real task will have four characteristics: involve a
primary focus on (pragmatic) meaning; having some kind of gap
such as information gap, reasoning gap and opinion gap; then
learners will choose the linguistic resources needed to complete the
task; and a task will has a clearly defined, non-linguistic outcome.
Besides grammar translation, CLT is a strongly method that
develop my students learning process in different skills, especially
in dealing with critical thinking and problem solving with real-life
contexts.
To conclude, I think that in order to achieve the ultimate goal
of students learning, it is important to use a combination of
teaching methods and to make the classroom environment as
stimulating and interactive as possible. This will significantly help
students learn and apply the course content to their future careers.

Bibliography
1. Donovan, S., Bransford, J., & Pellegrino. (1999). How People
Learn: Bridging Research and Practice. Washing, DC: National
Academy of Sciences.
2. Ellis, R. (2005). Instructed Second Language Acquisition. New
Auckland: The University of New Auckland
3. Gardner, R. C., & Lambert, W. E. (1972). Attitudes and
Motivation in Second Language Learning. Rowley, MA: Newbury
House.
4. Howatt, A. (1984). A history of English language teaching.
Oxford: Oxford University Press.
5. Lightbown, P. M., & Spada, N. (2013). How languages are
Learned. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
6. Long, M., & Robinson, P. (1998). Focus on form: Theory, research
and practice. In C. Doughty & J. Williams (Eds), Focus on form in
classroom second language acquisition (pp. 15-41). Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
7. Authentic Learning. (n.d.) The Glossary of Education Reform.
Retrieved from http://edglossary.org/authentic-learning/