Category: English Language

There is a lot of evidence pointing to the benefits of children’s learning English as a second language. However, choosing to raise a bilingual child is something it takes a lot of thought, preparation, and time. It is, therefore, a very personal decision that will affect the life of the child for years to come. This essay will explain the benefit for children of learning English as a second language and that online English courses offer something that other programs may lack.

According to Joan Kelly Hall and Guillaume G. Eggington, anglophones have a specific economic advantage. English offers increased educational and employment opportunities. By encouraging children to learn ESL at an early age, we are establishing they gain several benefits that will work for the rest of their lives. The 2002 U.S. Census indicated that approximately 14% (over 7.5 million) of children between 5 and 17 years of age are fluent in more than one language, and the number is expected to increase in the coming years.

However, the benefits of learning English extend beyond economics, education, and job benefits. It also increases a child’s language skills because he is bilingual. Children can better understand the complexities involved in the meaning and grammar of language. Since some words in different languages share the same similar pronunciation and vocabulary, the connection is made for children from the very beginning and makes learning a new language more accessible. In addition, children learning English as a second language can expand their vocabulary in both languages at a faster rate than their monolingual peers.

Due to extensive vocabulary and a deep understanding of many languages’ structures, it is believed that these children can also be more creatively active, have an increased attention span with the ability to block distractions, and exhibit superior reaction times, which prevents reasoning cognitive decline later in life. The areas of the brain involved in understanding and communicating in two languages are thought to be the same areas of the brain that affect most forms of cognitive reasoning. Because this area of the brain is reinforced, bilingual children can develop faster and better than monolingual people.

Bilingual children also develop improved social skills. Social interaction is an essential part of our lives and affects the quality of life in society, educationally and professionally. As a child learns a different language and a different culture into which he is more integrated community, and as he progresses in life, he is able to communicate at a higher level at all levels. When a child looks back and recalls the challenges he has faced while learning English, he can relate to sensitive issues and struggles others say poor meet each other. This common ground gives bilingual individuals a feeling of compassion towards others. In addition, bilinguals are generally more balanced and more comfortable in a multicultural environment.

Online English lessons have advantages that traditional classroom methods do not have. For example, with an online English course, parents and children can use it as a moment to reinforce and extend the learning process. In this way, the child actually experiences a bilingual lifestyle, because both parents and children can communicate in English as their mother tongue on a consistent basis. In addition, online English courses allow parents to encourage their children to pursue further education, in their areas of interest related to the English language and culture. Some online English lessons allow children to watch movies, play games, and learn geography or common food in English-speaking countries. Can decide based on the program they will find most beneficial to be rewarding, interesting, and less stressful than the traditional classroom method. Another benefit of learning English through online lessons is that children can experience the freedom that comes with learning another language and culture in their own homes. Being thrown into another culture or a classroom full of new faces can be scary for many children. On the other hand, it is possible to self-study speed allowing them to gain the confidence they need before joining the community or traveling to the United States.

Summing up, we can say that raising a bilingual child has many advantages. Some of these include economic, educational, and employment benefits, as well as improved language and creative abilities, improved attention span with the ability to block out distractions, better reaction time, improved social skills, and prevention of cognitive decline later in life. Promoting bilingualism through online English courses can benefit from the following advantages: a stronger relationship between parents and children when they learn together, less stress, a positive and helpful learning environment, as well as more freedom to structure the program according to their interests.

Teaching philosophy is an important statement for a teacher to create a clear portrait of their personality as a teacher. Every teacher has to write philosophy on how, what, and why they want to teach. This essay will introduce a teaching philosophy as English language teacher.

Teaching Philosophy

I believe that all students have different needs and expectations from education/school. Students in my class should leave school wanting to learn more. All children are unique and need a stimulating environment in class where they can grow mentally, emotionally and socially. As a teacher, my ambition is to create an environment where students can meet their full potential. Further, my wish is to provide a safe classroom where students can share their ideas and challenge themselves. According to Upper Secondary Curriculum, teachers should “take as the starting point each individual student’s needs, circumstances, experiences and thinking” (Natl. Ag. f. Ed.). All children are unique and have a different way of thinking and different needs. I believe that as a teacher it is essential to consider these aspects when creating lesson plans or strategies.

In every class, there will be students that will experience difficulties and need support. The Upper Secondary Curriculum states that teachers should “stimulate, guide and support students and provide special support to students experiencing difficulties” (Natl. Ag. f. Ed.). The teacher’s role should always be a supporting role. My aim as a teacher is to acknowledge the difficulties my students experience and create a well-balanced study material and tasks to help my students improve. Every classroom is unique; my role as a teacher will be to assist each student in developing their potential and learning styles. I will present a strategy where I will integrate different learning styles, as well as creating content relevant to students’ study profile/program. In my literature strategy, I will include projects, themes, cooperative learning, individual projects, and hands-on activities. I believe that students need a variety in the studies to be able to expand their knowledge and grow. I want to bring an open mind and a positive attitude. Furthermore, I will bring my expectations high to the classroom each day. I believe that by bringing consistency, diligence and warmth to my job that ultimately, I will inspire and encourage these traits in my students as well.

The Upper Secondary Curriculum stated that teachers should “reinforce each student’s self-confidence, as well as their willingness and ability to learn” (Natl. Ag. f. Ed.). I believe that a classroom should be a safe and caring environment where children are free to speak their minds and grow. I will use strategies to ensure my teaching strategies will help their willingness to learn, like positive vs. negative discipline, classroom activities, and problem-solving skills. I believe that by bringing discipline and group activities will bring my students closer to each other as well as help them grow and flourish in a safe environment.

What? How? Why?

My strong belief is that teaching classical literature is a strong foundation in literary studies. Without a strong foundation, it is almost impossible to cover literary studies without feeling overwhelmed. “The field of education in general, and of literary education in particular, is politically and theoretically charged” (Beach et al., 4). According to this statement, there are a lot of aspects to think about when choosing the right literature for students. Choosing the right literature to cover is a challenge for every teacher. Although taking into consideration classical literature from modernism, it can provide a helpful guideline to choose the right literature. Through well adapted classical literature a teacher can choose the right modern literature for their students according to their likes and dislikes. According to Upper Secondary Curriculum, “ensure that the teaching in terms of content and its organization is typified by a gender perspective” (Natl. Ag. f. Ed.). The choices that I have to make in choosing literature I have to consider gender studies in today’s society. Young minds are consistently involved in social issues in today’s society. In other words, as an educator, I have to consider their beliefs and raising questions to adapt proper literature to help my students learn and grow.

Every teacher has to make decisions about how to advance student learning. Beach says that these decisions are based on the beliefs on ‘what works’, and what we believe works. Beach means that these decisions reflect the teachers’ thoughts on what is important in teaching literature. The choices that we make, as educators, reflect our knowledge about the theories and our beliefs about teaching literature. My strong belief is to help my students to develop an interest in literature, not just send them to university and prepare them for future studies. But to help them grow and show them that reading literature could expand their general knowledge, expand their vocabulary, think critically and become more educated on everyday matters.

Introducing literature to today’s youth is not a simple task. Youth in today’s society have limited patience and are often busy with updating their Instagram accounts. As a new teacher, I will have high expectations. When coming into the classroom, my head is filled with ideas, theories I have learned in university. As an ambitious teacher, I would like to use this knowledge to my students. The reality in schools look different, teachers have to adjust to the students’ needs, abilities and difficulties. As a good teacher, I need to acknowledge these aspects and choose the right teaching method to achieve the expected results. In order to get the results, my strategy is to present the chosen piece of literature in shorter parts. The students will be able to familiarize themselves with the text. After each part of the text, the class will discuss the text together with the teacher. The reason for reading texts in this manner is to be able to go through the text and discuss the potential difficulties with the language or unfamiliar vocabulary. Each session with the text will require students to take notes. In addition, the students will be provided with shorter activities to complete after they have read the shorter part of the book.

A different approach to spark interest in desired literature is to provide the students with a visual presentation of the piece of literature. Visual presentations can take in shorter clips, movies or even graphic novels.

Literature Texts

Octavia’s Butler novel ‘Kindred’ is an engaging text for students; the narrative structure (first person) and ethical dilemmas make a close experience of the novel, very accessible for students. In order to build on a traditional Reader Response textual analysis, students can be encouraged to examine ‘Kindred’ for its’ postmodern structure. The novel provides an opportunity to explore the slave narrative (even fiction), or to examine the text through the Postcolonial Theory. Octavia Butler has found an ingenious way to tell a story about slavery with a modern voice. According to the Syllabus, the students should have “the ability to discuss and reflect on living conditions, social issues and cultural features in a different context and parts of the world where English is used” (Natl. Ag. f. Ed.). ‘Kindred’ is a perfect illustration of these aspects. The students will have the opportunity to discuss important topics like slavery and racism and the ability to respond to them in their own words. According to Parker, “racial studies have influenced literary studies by inviting readers to expand beyond the traditional range of white-written works and to read race in nonessentialist ways”. In other words, Kindred, that is told by a black woman, invites the opportunity to study race in a non-white-written narrative. ‘Kindred’ provides an opportunity to exercise creative writing in the form of Fanfiction. The teacher can allow the students to choose any moments from the story they think is important or interesting and challenge them to write their own stories.

Alice Sebold’s ‘The Lovely Bones’ is an intense read for students about rape and murder. However, the story is focused on the ethereal imagery and surrealism of Alice Sebold’s portrayal of heaven. Further, the author invites the reader to consider how valuable life is and how it truly means to move on from a tragedy. The opportunities for a teacher working with this particular story are wide. The first aspect that teachers should consider is to ask students to compare and contrast how the murder case is handled in the book’s setting (the 1970’s) and how it would be investigated today. The novel also invites the opportunity to study the theory of psychoanalysis. Although this theory is fairly new in literary studies, it focuses its’ theory on the characters and their minds. According to the theory of psychoanalysis, characters in a novel or film could be considered as real people (Parker, 124). Furthermore, Parker says that “the distinction between and people often proves challenging when readers first hear of it. Some readers consciously choose to think of characters as people, because that is how the readers engage in reading. Although, the theory suggests that characters are not real people, characters in a novel or film exist only in that film or on a page of that novel” (Parker, 124). Presenting ‘The Lovely Bones’ to students raises an opportunity to go outside the box and ask the students to place themselves as objective observers of the story. This approach allows the students to no sympathize with the character but to become observants or critics.

Teaching Literature to Adolescents

The article about how to teach literature poses questions on how teachers can teach literature to younger people having in mind the important aspects of teaching theories. As a teacher, it is important to think about how to plan your lessons, select right texts, planning response lessons, formulating written assignments, evaluating students, etc. Beach says that “you will ultimately need to formulate your own sense of purpose and theories of teaching literature”. As a beginner teacher, it is almost impossible to create a bulletproof strategy where you can include everything acquired in university. The strategy to create a good plan for the classroom is to learn by successes and mistakes. Every plan and strategy can change according to the students’ needs or difficulties.

Beach says that “The field of education in general, and of literary education in particular, is politically and theoretically charged”. Although it may difficult to adjust to the standards of teaching theories, syllabus or curriculum, this information is for teachers to use and reflect upon. I believe that these theories and debates are a solid foundation for teachers to help them choose the right material for their classes.

The article ‘Teaching Literature to Adolescents’ Beach describes transmission theories. “Transmission theories frame learning in terms of acquiring facts and knowledge bout literature” (Beach, 5). In other words, this theory suggests that the primary focus of teaching literature should consider only just the crucial aspects of literature. Furthermore, transmission theories suggest that the students could just learn, for example, what is the first- or third-person perspective. Beach proposes a problem with this theory “simply having knowledge about literature – for example, knowing the difference between metaphor and simile – doesn’t necessarily mean that students know how to insightfully interpret literature or that they have made meaningful connections to what they have read”. Acknowledging this, I believe that the students need to know how to use these terms in order to actually learn something. The transmission model proposes simple and vague explorations and interpretations of literary texts.

Conclusion

My future as a teacher involves double roles. For the first part, I am a private person with dreams, thoughts, and hopes for life. I am also a teacher who has the idea of how I want to be as a teacher and my reflections about teaching.

I believe that all children have the right to learn. All students are unique and have different approaches in studying. My role as a teacher is to be their leader and a guide. From my own experiences, downfalls, and accomplishments, I want to be able to guide my students to the right decisions. Nevertheless, I am a beginner teacher and still create my own identity as a language teacher. All students are unique and have something different to bring to their own education. As a good teacher, I need to able to help them to express themselves and accept themselves for who they are, as well as accept the differences of others.

Works Cited

1. Beach, Richard, et al. Teaching Literature to Adolescents. 3. ed., Routledge, 2016.
2. Parker, Robert Dale. How to Interpret Literature: Critical Theory for Literary and Cultural Studies. Third ed., Oxford University Press, 2014.
3. Nation Agency of Education. English Syllabi. Upper Secondary School. Skolverket.
4. Nation Agency of Education. Curriculum for the upper secondary school. Skolverket.

it is important for every child to acquire listening and speaking skills before starting to attend their primary school stated darwissyah irwan d nunun indrasari 2019 there are many strategies and techniques that promote and encourage listening and speaking skills in the foundation phase in this assignment i will critically analyse the types of listening and speaking skills activities to promote listening and speaking skills strategies to promote listening and speaking skills techniques to promote listening and speaking skills and challenges that efal learners face in the fp classroom.

According to Christopher D. Bond (2012), ‘ To listen well, students must understand the difference between hearing and listening while recognising and controlling the many listening barriers within the classroom’. It is imperative for learners to acquire listening skills in a classroom in order for the to understand what the teacher is communicating to them. ‘Speaking is one of the most important skills to be developed and enhanced as means of effective communication’ (Leong and Ahmadi,2017). Speaking skill is difficult because when it comes to learning many learners find it hard to speak another language like English if it is the medium language of communication not their home language. Mahdjouba Z. (2019) stated that there are six types of listening skills which are the intensive listening, selective listening, interactive listening, extensive listening and responsive listening and there are also five basic types of speaking which are the imitative speaking, the intensive speaking, responsive speaking, the interactive speaking and the extensive speaking.

Activities that can promote listening and speaking skills are games that makes learners communicate with each other. Some of the games that the teachers can give learners are guessing games so that learners can communicate with each other trying to guess the word to promote speaking skills and also the searching games can be used to promote speaking skills. As for promoting listening skills the teacher can ask the learners questions after or during the lesson so that she can check that when she is teaching are the learners listening attentively or not.

To promote and improve listening and speaking skills it is important that learners improve their skills by listening attentively when they are taught in class and ask questions to a teacher or fellow classmates when they do not know or understand them. When improving their speaking skills they need to practice speaking and discussing using English language with their fellow classmates so that they can learn to speak new words with each other and improve their vocabulary. According to Unit 5 of lecture notes by Mrs Zama (2021) the teacher can form listening triads where the learners each has their own task in the group to help each other to acquire better listening and speaking skills.

The learners in the Foundation Phase they lack self confidence and they end up being shy of speaking in English as it is not their home language thinking that they might end up pronouncing the words wrong. According to Mahdjouba (2019), it is believed that some learners face challenges in speaking English because they are introverts and they are scared of how the teacher will behave with them, if they speak English word in a wrong manner. As for listening the children need a quiet environment in order for them to focus on each and every word the teacher says, if they miss just one word they get stressed and freak out and they end up not understanding the whole text or conversation.

In conclusion, in the Foundation Phase it is important that the teacher helps the learners to acquire listening and speaking skills so that they can be able to be fluent in English and help learners engage in activities that help improve the learner’s additional language at a young age.

Learning a second language is never easy. Learning English as a second language is even more difficult, and here’s why.

First of all, learning English is difficult because of the limited learning environment. In most cases, students can speak sufficient English in class only under supervision. In addition, students do not always hear enough English from those around them. Therefore, learning correct English becomes more difficult. Learning materials refer to elements that contribute to the learning process. Books may be necessary materials, but books alone are not enough. Audio tools are also needed. If students see a sound symbol in a book, how do they know how to pronounce it? The fact is that English learners become English teachers after graduation, but they have never heard the correct pronunciation of native speakers. Students can also study at will. They have books to read, but they don’t know how to say certain words. How do students know the pronunciation of the word ‘sheep’? You should hear the correct pronunciation from your teacher or a native English speaker. Students tend to learn from the movies they watch, but they often learn the wrong things because movies contain jargon and dialects that are not suitable for multiple forms of communication.

Secondly, students do not value learning. They often think that the English they speak at home or on the street is the same as the English they write on the test. However, since communication does not have to be grammatically correct to be understood, students do not always follow the rules they learned in school, and therefore cannot receive a full education and/or pass exams. Students will not spend as much time learning English as they do on other subjects. In most cases, students only learn English in class while the teacher is teaching. After class, they put down their books and waited for the next class. They don’t learn pronunciation, they don’t write on paper, and they don’t struggle to learn new words. In class, they gave each little question to the teacher, including what they could find in the dictionary. When students make mistakes and correct themselves, they often say, “After all, this is not my language”. This will greatly affect your ability to learn English.

And finally, vocabulary is the biggest obstacle to learning English. However, English word training is an effective way to learn English, as it can help us correctly identify word forms and parts of speech, understand the meaning of words, and quickly expand our vocabulary. Among them, the affix is the strongest and constitutes the largest number of words, it is considered one of the best ways to learn English. Also, combining, converting, mixing, and adapting, acronyms and suffixes are also effective ways to learn English. The thesis analyzes the form and characteristics of words from the aspects of affix, compound, and conversion. For example, conversion includes the formation of new words by converting words from one type to another without changing the morphological structure. New words are new words only in the grammatical sense. For example, the word ‘paper’ as a noun has four meanings: 1) material in wood or cloth, 2) newspaper, 3) expert article, and 4) wallpaper. When it becomes a transitive verb, it is only related to the fourth meaning, such as ‘use green wallpaper in the room’.

In conclusion, learning English is not an easy process, but I think it is worth it. English is a language of opportunity, so we should all make an effort to master it to the fullest.

English 102 is critical thinking, writing, and research paper. I have learned basic essay structure, strategies for effective research, and other skills that develop the skills necessary for forming and analyzing arguments. English 102 is more challenges I faced, including critical thinking skills, research skills, and cited sources. During this semester, I learned types of writing techniques, different MLA forms, and how to find and use the right sources together. I have gained more knowledge, and better confidence, showing how much I understood from the articles when I write the essay assignment.

English 102 class allowed me to improve my overall knowledge of the language. We have more articles to read than ever before. We read textbooks and articles on the website in class together, and also read at home before the next class and answer discussion questions. I did a research paper about college education, and we were allowed to choose a topic of our interest. There were many steps to the audience paper: I have to write a good introduction with background information, including a thesis, three supporting arguments, one opposing argument, and a conclusion. This assignment explains for whom the article is intended, and how it appeals to that audience. Looking back at my papers, I don’t have a good thesis and I made some grammar mistakes in some of my essays. My professor helped me with how to use comma splices and quotation marks, and how to divide long sentences.

I have learned MLA format to write a research paper. I used the sources from the article to support the thesis statements in my essay. After I had used the sources, I needed in-text citations and MLA format. At first, I didn’t do well with how to properly write work cited pages. My professor helped me understand more about work cited and use MLA format because it will help the reader avoid plagiarism from the source documents. I did not understand much of the MLA format, until I glanced at my book again, noting only that, but my organization and details in my essay were irrelevant to the topic I had chosen. Later, my professor gave me feedback to help me know what I need to improve.

I have learned another important element of an essay is a thesis statement. In the essay ‘Toulmin Analysis’, a thesis statement such as claim and reason in this assignment. It attracts the reader’s attention and just only one sentence. I had a hard time developing the essay structure because I didn’t understand how to use logos, pathos, and ethos to support my essay. My professor allows me to rewrite the essay because I did not follow the instructions After I rewrote it, I felt that my ability to form my thesis argument has become stronger. This semester, English class focuses on the creation of the thesis statement and the effective manner most appropriate for each essay. English class helped me to easily build a dissertation and thesis better.

English 102 class was not easy for me, but I got through it. Over the course of the semester, I feel as though I improved my grammar errors, but I feel I could use more practice with it. Now, I know how to do the MLA format correctly and how to cite my sources. I also learn how to have a thesis statement in an essay. In the future, I hope to bring all the skills I have gained in my English courses. I think they will be very helpful for me, no matter what I am trying to achieve. I feel that I am much better now at convincing someone through my articles, which will definitely be useful in my career. The responsibility I had in this experience was incredible and taught me to become a much more organized person. During this semester, I was faced with deadlines, rules, and exercises that I could not work around. I feel that all these responsibilities have made me realize that I can definitely take the next step in my academic career. Every new experience I participate in keeps me growing and constantly learning new things. I have really enjoyed my English classes and knowing what I have learned will be extremely beneficial.

Since the world we are living in has been a global village, therefore, it is a requirement of the current scenario that people should be able to communicate around the globe, specifically for students in their academic careers. English language not only helps us to build our careers but also enhances confidence level that enables a person to talk and comprehend properly what is being said. In my opinion, it is absolutely required to know how to communicate in English properly with special reference to student life because it is a major medium of instruction in most colleges and universities.

According to Balan (2011), in the current scenario, English transforms into the most noteworthy and unmistakable strategy for overall correspondence that keeps our separation around the globe and a window to the brisk progression and improvement in our lives. It is the most spread and generally used language among different nations and individuals worldwide for social and enlightening exchange. Similarly, the use of the English language ends up being by and by an undeniable prerequisite for the element of neighborhood just as overall preparing too. Various countries a long time in the past have started using English. Subsequently, if understudies abroad examination from a non-English medium, may have issues. In addition, present-day preparation, as English is its best technique, is continually given fundamental essentialness to the worldwide guidance structures. Various countries over the world routinely sort out some phenomenal undertakings in and outside the country that go for extended understudies’ number in their very own countries.

Coleman (2010) said that various scientists and scholastics are passed on to their countries in a mission for cutting-edge instruction and academic degrees, whatever their ages, social orders, or specializations. One-of-a-kind activities of English language getting ready and social exchange are planned to help understudies and educators practice the use of English in local English talking systems such as the UK, USA, Canada, Australia, etc. to keep awake with the most recent, with the front-line English spoken worldwide and appearing for ESL/EFL.

Barton and Appleby (2008) have suggested that the spread of English and its necessity has been discussed in etymological, informative, and financial additionally, parties. Regardless, the impact of English on understudies’ progressively broad lives is just once in a while investigated. Talks and open financing in ESOL (English as a moment or other language) will all in all drive plans of employability and joining, declaring vagrants are a channel on the economy or – discrediting that taking neighborhood jobs. Inadequate is circulated on the impact of ESOL game plan on understudies’ callings, and especially their lives.

Griffler (2002) declared that from the second 50% of a decade ago, accentuation on having English language skills has been gathering force – there is an increasing interest for schools and colleges in many nations. Close by this, for migrated students, it is also mandatory to learn English; not simply in the UK and other English-talking nations, but also in Europe, in non-English-talking nations.

Cogo (2012) suggested that regardless of the nation, English is indeed a common medium of investigation or instruction. For advanced education, English isn’t just locally, but comprehensively, needed as a wellspring of getting to understudies’ significant information in all fields, speaking with the most rumored colleges around the world, seeking an assortment of degree projects, and securing amazing positions and positions in instructive foundations and outside organizations somewhere else.

Summing up, the significance of learning English, especially in student life, is huge, as absolutely everyone in modern times should be able to communicate in English properly.

References

1. Balan, J. (2011). English Global Dominance and the Other Languages of Higher Education & Research. Published Article in Columbia Global Centre. Columbia University.
2. Barton, D. and Appleby, Y. (2008). Responding to People’s Lives. UK: NIACE and NRDC.
3. Cogo, A. (2012). English as a Lingua Franca: Concepts, Use and Implications. ELT Journal 66/1: 97–105.
4. Coleman, H. (2010). The English Language in Development. London: British Council. Available online at: www.teachingenglish.org.uk/publications/english-language-development
5. Griffler, B. (2002). World English: A Study of Its Development. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.

There is a lot of evidence pointing to the benefits of children’s learning English as a second language. However, choosing to raise a bilingual child is something it takes a lot of thought, preparation, and time. It is, therefore, a very personal decision that will affect the life of the child for years to come. This essay will explain the benefit for children of learning English as a second language and that online English courses offer something that other programs may lack.

According to Joan Kelly Hall and Guillaume G. Eggington, anglophones have a specific economic advantage. English offers increased educational and employment opportunities. By encouraging children to learn ESL at an early age, we are establishing they gain several benefits that will work for the rest of their lives. The 2002 U.S. Census indicated that approximately 14% (over 7.5 million) of children between 5 and 17 years of age are fluent in more than one language, and the number is expected to increase in the coming years.

However, the benefits of learning English extend beyond economics, education, and job benefits. It also increases a child’s language skills because he is bilingual. Children can better understand the complexities involved in the meaning and grammar of language. Since some words in different languages share the same similar pronunciation and vocabulary, the connection is made for children from the very beginning and makes learning a new language more accessible. In addition, children learning English as a second language can expand their vocabulary in both languages at a faster rate than their monolingual peers.

Due to extensive vocabulary and a deep understanding of many languages’ structures, it is believed that these children can also be more creatively active, have an increased attention span with the ability to block distractions, and exhibit superior reaction times, which prevents reasoning cognitive decline later in life. The areas of the brain involved in understanding and communicating in two languages are thought to be the same areas of the brain that affect most forms of cognitive reasoning. Because this area of the brain is reinforced, bilingual children can develop faster and better than monolingual people.

Bilingual children also develop improved social skills. Social interaction is an essential part of our lives and affects the quality of life in society, educationally and professionally. As a child learns a different language and a different culture into which he is more integrated community, and as he progresses in life, he is able to communicate at a higher level at all levels. When a child looks back and recalls the challenges he has faced while learning English, he can relate to sensitive issues and struggles others say poor meet each other. This common ground gives bilingual individuals a feeling of compassion towards others. In addition, bilinguals are generally more balanced and more comfortable in a multicultural environment.

Online English lessons have advantages that traditional classroom methods do not have. For example, with an online English course, parents and children can use it as a moment to reinforce and extend the learning process. In this way, the child actually experiences a bilingual lifestyle, because both parents and children can communicate in English as their mother tongue on a consistent basis. In addition, online English courses allow parents to encourage their children to pursue further education, in their areas of interest related to the English language and culture. Some online English lessons allow children to watch movies, play games, and learn geography or common food in English-speaking countries. Can decide based on the program they will find most beneficial to be rewarding, interesting, and less stressful than the traditional classroom method. Another benefit of learning English through online lessons is that children can experience the freedom that comes with learning another language and culture in their own homes. Being thrown into another culture or a classroom full of new faces can be scary for many children. On the other hand, it is possible to self-study speed allowing them to gain the confidence they need before joining the community or traveling to the United States.

Summing up, we can say that raising a bilingual child has many advantages. Some of these include economic, educational, and employment benefits, as well as improved language and creative abilities, improved attention span with the ability to block out distractions, better reaction time, improved social skills, and prevention of cognitive decline later in life. Promoting bilingualism through online English courses can benefit from the following advantages: a stronger relationship between parents and children when they learn together, less stress, a positive and helpful learning environment, as well as more freedom to structure the program according to their interests.

Teaching philosophy is an important statement for a teacher to create a clear portrait of their personality as a teacher. Every teacher has to write philosophy on how, what, and why they want to teach. This essay will introduce a teaching philosophy as English language teacher.

Teaching Philosophy

I believe that all students have different needs and expectations from education/school. Students in my class should leave school wanting to learn more. All children are unique and need a stimulating environment in class where they can grow mentally, emotionally and socially. As a teacher, my ambition is to create an environment where students can meet their full potential. Further, my wish is to provide a safe classroom where students can share their ideas and challenge themselves. According to Upper Secondary Curriculum, teachers should “take as the starting point each individual student’s needs, circumstances, experiences and thinking” (Natl. Ag. f. Ed.). All children are unique and have a different way of thinking and different needs. I believe that as a teacher it is essential to consider these aspects when creating lesson plans or strategies.

In every class, there will be students that will experience difficulties and need support. The Upper Secondary Curriculum states that teachers should “stimulate, guide and support students and provide special support to students experiencing difficulties” (Natl. Ag. f. Ed.). The teacher’s role should always be a supporting role. My aim as a teacher is to acknowledge the difficulties my students experience and create a well-balanced study material and tasks to help my students improve. Every classroom is unique; my role as a teacher will be to assist each student in developing their potential and learning styles. I will present a strategy where I will integrate different learning styles, as well as creating content relevant to students’ study profile/program. In my literature strategy, I will include projects, themes, cooperative learning, individual projects, and hands-on activities. I believe that students need a variety in the studies to be able to expand their knowledge and grow. I want to bring an open mind and a positive attitude. Furthermore, I will bring my expectations high to the classroom each day. I believe that by bringing consistency, diligence and warmth to my job that ultimately, I will inspire and encourage these traits in my students as well.

The Upper Secondary Curriculum stated that teachers should “reinforce each student’s self-confidence, as well as their willingness and ability to learn” (Natl. Ag. f. Ed.). I believe that a classroom should be a safe and caring environment where children are free to speak their minds and grow. I will use strategies to ensure my teaching strategies will help their willingness to learn, like positive vs. negative discipline, classroom activities, and problem-solving skills. I believe that by bringing discipline and group activities will bring my students closer to each other as well as help them grow and flourish in a safe environment.

What? How? Why?

My strong belief is that teaching classical literature is a strong foundation in literary studies. Without a strong foundation, it is almost impossible to cover literary studies without feeling overwhelmed. “The field of education in general, and of literary education in particular, is politically and theoretically charged” (Beach et al., 4). According to this statement, there are a lot of aspects to think about when choosing the right literature for students. Choosing the right literature to cover is a challenge for every teacher. Although taking into consideration classical literature from modernism, it can provide a helpful guideline to choose the right literature. Through well adapted classical literature a teacher can choose the right modern literature for their students according to their likes and dislikes. According to Upper Secondary Curriculum, “ensure that the teaching in terms of content and its organization is typified by a gender perspective” (Natl. Ag. f. Ed.). The choices that I have to make in choosing literature I have to consider gender studies in today’s society. Young minds are consistently involved in social issues in today’s society. In other words, as an educator, I have to consider their beliefs and raising questions to adapt proper literature to help my students learn and grow.

Every teacher has to make decisions about how to advance student learning. Beach says that these decisions are based on the beliefs on ‘what works’, and what we believe works. Beach means that these decisions reflect the teachers’ thoughts on what is important in teaching literature. The choices that we make, as educators, reflect our knowledge about the theories and our beliefs about teaching literature. My strong belief is to help my students to develop an interest in literature, not just send them to university and prepare them for future studies. But to help them grow and show them that reading literature could expand their general knowledge, expand their vocabulary, think critically and become more educated on everyday matters.

Introducing literature to today’s youth is not a simple task. Youth in today’s society have limited patience and are often busy with updating their Instagram accounts. As a new teacher, I will have high expectations. When coming into the classroom, my head is filled with ideas, theories I have learned in university. As an ambitious teacher, I would like to use this knowledge to my students. The reality in schools look different, teachers have to adjust to the students’ needs, abilities and difficulties. As a good teacher, I need to acknowledge these aspects and choose the right teaching method to achieve the expected results. In order to get the results, my strategy is to present the chosen piece of literature in shorter parts. The students will be able to familiarize themselves with the text. After each part of the text, the class will discuss the text together with the teacher. The reason for reading texts in this manner is to be able to go through the text and discuss the potential difficulties with the language or unfamiliar vocabulary. Each session with the text will require students to take notes. In addition, the students will be provided with shorter activities to complete after they have read the shorter part of the book.

A different approach to spark interest in desired literature is to provide the students with a visual presentation of the piece of literature. Visual presentations can take in shorter clips, movies or even graphic novels.

Literature Texts

Octavia’s Butler novel ‘Kindred’ is an engaging text for students; the narrative structure (first person) and ethical dilemmas make a close experience of the novel, very accessible for students. In order to build on a traditional Reader Response textual analysis, students can be encouraged to examine ‘Kindred’ for its’ postmodern structure. The novel provides an opportunity to explore the slave narrative (even fiction), or to examine the text through the Postcolonial Theory. Octavia Butler has found an ingenious way to tell a story about slavery with a modern voice. According to the Syllabus, the students should have “the ability to discuss and reflect on living conditions, social issues and cultural features in a different context and parts of the world where English is used” (Natl. Ag. f. Ed.). ‘Kindred’ is a perfect illustration of these aspects. The students will have the opportunity to discuss important topics like slavery and racism and the ability to respond to them in their own words. According to Parker, “racial studies have influenced literary studies by inviting readers to expand beyond the traditional range of white-written works and to read race in nonessentialist ways”. In other words, Kindred, that is told by a black woman, invites the opportunity to study race in a non-white-written narrative. ‘Kindred’ provides an opportunity to exercise creative writing in the form of Fanfiction. The teacher can allow the students to choose any moments from the story they think is important or interesting and challenge them to write their own stories.

Alice Sebold’s ‘The Lovely Bones’ is an intense read for students about rape and murder. However, the story is focused on the ethereal imagery and surrealism of Alice Sebold’s portrayal of heaven. Further, the author invites the reader to consider how valuable life is and how it truly means to move on from a tragedy. The opportunities for a teacher working with this particular story are wide. The first aspect that teachers should consider is to ask students to compare and contrast how the murder case is handled in the book’s setting (the 1970’s) and how it would be investigated today. The novel also invites the opportunity to study the theory of psychoanalysis. Although this theory is fairly new in literary studies, it focuses its’ theory on the characters and their minds. According to the theory of psychoanalysis, characters in a novel or film could be considered as real people (Parker, 124). Furthermore, Parker says that “the distinction between and people often proves challenging when readers first hear of it. Some readers consciously choose to think of characters as people, because that is how the readers engage in reading. Although, the theory suggests that characters are not real people, characters in a novel or film exist only in that film or on a page of that novel” (Parker, 124). Presenting ‘The Lovely Bones’ to students raises an opportunity to go outside the box and ask the students to place themselves as objective observers of the story. This approach allows the students to no sympathize with the character but to become observants or critics.

Teaching Literature to Adolescents

The article about how to teach literature poses questions on how teachers can teach literature to younger people having in mind the important aspects of teaching theories. As a teacher, it is important to think about how to plan your lessons, select right texts, planning response lessons, formulating written assignments, evaluating students, etc. Beach says that “you will ultimately need to formulate your own sense of purpose and theories of teaching literature”. As a beginner teacher, it is almost impossible to create a bulletproof strategy where you can include everything acquired in university. The strategy to create a good plan for the classroom is to learn by successes and mistakes. Every plan and strategy can change according to the students’ needs or difficulties.

Beach says that “The field of education in general, and of literary education in particular, is politically and theoretically charged”. Although it may difficult to adjust to the standards of teaching theories, syllabus or curriculum, this information is for teachers to use and reflect upon. I believe that these theories and debates are a solid foundation for teachers to help them choose the right material for their classes.

The article ‘Teaching Literature to Adolescents’ Beach describes transmission theories. “Transmission theories frame learning in terms of acquiring facts and knowledge bout literature” (Beach, 5). In other words, this theory suggests that the primary focus of teaching literature should consider only just the crucial aspects of literature. Furthermore, transmission theories suggest that the students could just learn, for example, what is the first- or third-person perspective. Beach proposes a problem with this theory “simply having knowledge about literature – for example, knowing the difference between metaphor and simile – doesn’t necessarily mean that students know how to insightfully interpret literature or that they have made meaningful connections to what they have read”. Acknowledging this, I believe that the students need to know how to use these terms in order to actually learn something. The transmission model proposes simple and vague explorations and interpretations of literary texts.

Conclusion

My future as a teacher involves double roles. For the first part, I am a private person with dreams, thoughts, and hopes for life. I am also a teacher who has the idea of how I want to be as a teacher and my reflections about teaching.

I believe that all children have the right to learn. All students are unique and have different approaches in studying. My role as a teacher is to be their leader and a guide. From my own experiences, downfalls, and accomplishments, I want to be able to guide my students to the right decisions. Nevertheless, I am a beginner teacher and still create my own identity as a language teacher. All students are unique and have something different to bring to their own education. As a good teacher, I need to able to help them to express themselves and accept themselves for who they are, as well as accept the differences of others.

Works Cited

1. Beach, Richard, et al. Teaching Literature to Adolescents. 3. ed., Routledge, 2016.
2. Parker, Robert Dale. How to Interpret Literature: Critical Theory for Literary and Cultural Studies. Third ed., Oxford University Press, 2014.
3. Nation Agency of Education. English Syllabi. Upper Secondary School. Skolverket.
4. Nation Agency of Education. Curriculum for the upper secondary school. Skolverket.

it is important for every child to acquire listening and speaking skills before starting to attend their primary school stated darwissyah irwan d nunun indrasari 2019 there are many strategies and techniques that promote and encourage listening and speaking skills in the foundation phase in this assignment i will critically analyse the types of listening and speaking skills activities to promote listening and speaking skills strategies to promote listening and speaking skills techniques to promote listening and speaking skills and challenges that efal learners face in the fp classroom.

According to Christopher D. Bond (2012), ‘ To listen well, students must understand the difference between hearing and listening while recognising and controlling the many listening barriers within the classroom’. It is imperative for learners to acquire listening skills in a classroom in order for the to understand what the teacher is communicating to them. ‘Speaking is one of the most important skills to be developed and enhanced as means of effective communication’ (Leong and Ahmadi,2017). Speaking skill is difficult because when it comes to learning many learners find it hard to speak another language like English if it is the medium language of communication not their home language. Mahdjouba Z. (2019) stated that there are six types of listening skills which are the intensive listening, selective listening, interactive listening, extensive listening and responsive listening and there are also five basic types of speaking which are the imitative speaking, the intensive speaking, responsive speaking, the interactive speaking and the extensive speaking.

Activities that can promote listening and speaking skills are games that makes learners communicate with each other. Some of the games that the teachers can give learners are guessing games so that learners can communicate with each other trying to guess the word to promote speaking skills and also the searching games can be used to promote speaking skills. As for promoting listening skills the teacher can ask the learners questions after or during the lesson so that she can check that when she is teaching are the learners listening attentively or not.

To promote and improve listening and speaking skills it is important that learners improve their skills by listening attentively when they are taught in class and ask questions to a teacher or fellow classmates when they do not know or understand them. When improving their speaking skills they need to practice speaking and discussing using English language with their fellow classmates so that they can learn to speak new words with each other and improve their vocabulary. According to Unit 5 of lecture notes by Mrs Zama (2021) the teacher can form listening triads where the learners each has their own task in the group to help each other to acquire better listening and speaking skills.

The learners in the Foundation Phase they lack self confidence and they end up being shy of speaking in English as it is not their home language thinking that they might end up pronouncing the words wrong. According to Mahdjouba (2019), it is believed that some learners face challenges in speaking English because they are introverts and they are scared of how the teacher will behave with them, if they speak English word in a wrong manner. As for listening the children need a quiet environment in order for them to focus on each and every word the teacher says, if they miss just one word they get stressed and freak out and they end up not understanding the whole text or conversation.

In conclusion, in the Foundation Phase it is important that the teacher helps the learners to acquire listening and speaking skills so that they can be able to be fluent in English and help learners engage in activities that help improve the learner’s additional language at a young age.