Activities to Prevent Loss of Proficiency in Non-native TEFL Teachers
Reza Abbasian, Iran
Reza Abbasian holds an MA in TEFL. He is a faculty member of English Language Department at Islamic Azad University, Izeh branch, Iran. He is interested in psycholinguistic and materials development. E-mail: abasian.reza@gmail.com
Menu
Introduction
Language exposure in four skills
Real Situation
Communication through social network
Chat room and mobile messenger conversation
Letter writing
Non-real situation
Keeping a diary
Watching favorite audiovisual materials
Studying English books
In-service training
In-service training for general English
In-service Training for special English
Conclusion
References
In this article, some techniques and activities are presented to prevent loss of proficiency in non-native English teachers who have spent several years of teaching low level students like elementary or intermediate ones and generally have no exposure to high level English contexts especially in non-native communities where English is their foreign language. Due to low level of English exposure, these teachers feel they have lost a lot of their proficiency during the years since graduation, so they have a mood of stagnation affecting all aspects of their lives especially efficiency in teaching. Therefore, they not only feel their proficiency has decreased during these years but also suffer from lack of self-fulfillment and finally become depressed. They feel as if they were an outcast in the realm of English. As a result, it is significant to suggest some remedies for getting rid of these feelings and devising some strategies to prevent loss of proficiency in non-native TEFL teachers in different communities. In this paper, some techniques and activities are elaborated under two titles, namely language exposure and in-service training.
For non-native TEFL teachers not to have loss of proficiency, they should be exposed to the language in all four skills via different activities. The activities that are interactive, i.e. the learner can give and receive feedback and foster language proficiency in general. Since the authenticity of material is subjected to the type of situation, activities are described in two categories namely real and non-real situation.
As there exist interactions between two persons (addresser and addressee) in those activities either virtual or non-virtual and these interactions arise from the necessity to convey their messages either in written or spoken form, they are called real situations such as communication through social networks, chat rooms conversation and letter writing.
Since the sequence of skills in communication is listening, speaking, reading and writing, and these could be practiced in social networks free of charge, it is a very appropriate activity for the learners to communicate with other people via these networks; moreover, as this communication is derived from necessity and is in all four skills, so natural and spontaneous speech which is the main property of productive skills is fostered (Chartrand, 2012).
These networks can be divided into three categories based on the level of formality of language use: popular social network, that is used by all people such as Facebook, Google Plus, Twitter and YouTube where learners are mostly familiarized with colloquial language and teachers and learners can post their videos for educational purposes (Chartrand, 2012); business social networks like Biznik and SunZu, that are related to different occupations where learners are acquainted with jargons of that business; the last one is academic social networks like LinkedIn and Academia where learners learn the standard language mostly in formal situations (Mini Devi 2013). Also, there exist some social networks specially built for language learning like Livemocha and Bussu. Since language learners have the opportunity to determine the level, the network automatically introduces the learner the appropriate syllabus and some native and non-native peers to converse with.
Conversation through chat room is an excellent activity to enhance listening and speaking skills regarding the pragmatics and discourse of the language. One of the most famous chat rooms is Yahoo Messenger and since there is no direct face to face contact between the two members of conversations, it is suitable for a beginner who is mostly anxious and shy. Another advantage of these chat rooms is that one can find his/her peer to have contact through voice and text encompassing all four skills.
Mobile Messenger conversation such as Viber, Tango, Skype and Whats App have the capability of finding different people all around the world and offering either live communication with them to enhance listening and speaking skills or written communication to improve reading and writing skills.
Composing and receiving either mail or email with one’s peers make learners familiar with the level of diction of the language. It is related to particular expressions that are appropriate to a kind of written communication, to a particular reader, and to a particular purpose, and since one has sufficient time to compose, it is very suitable for those who have difficulty in some skills or sub skills of language.
The situation in which there is no interaction either virtual or real between the two members of a communication and no feedback is exchanged is called non-real situation. As it doesn’t need to use any facilities, it is cheap and accessible in all conditions, such as the following.
One of the techniques that can enhance one’s writing skill is recording diaries. Learners can keep a record of all daily events and write their feelings about the event and also ask others to write their reactions and comments about the very event plus the why of that reaction and comment in order to enhance their productive skills and create a memorable work to review later on.
Learners can get access to different sources of these files in various ways: downloading audio-video files from the internet like podcasts which are similar to planning a syllabus (Chartrand, 2009), watching educational, documentary programs, cartoons and movies, and purchasing software and audio-video files from educational companies. The level and liking of the learners should be taken into account while choosing these files. When they watch their favorite subjects, they have strong tendency to follow them with high concentration and therefore high efficiency. Furthermore, they have communication with authentic sources of language.
Reading different books with various topics could enhance language knowledge since reading is a kind of communication. The book should primarily be of interest to the reader and match their level of proficiency and should afford the needs of the reader, so the content will be retained more, and learners feel less tired and are more energetic his way.
Another remedy to protect against teacher’s loss of proficiency is in-service training that is held by educational offices in most countries. In order to increase the efficiency of these classes, it’s better to run two placement tests: one for general English and the other for special English to homogenize the teachers.
Since general English is the building block of every activity in the realm of English language, it’s essential to devise a suitable syllabus considering all characteristics of the teachers and to hold some classes to keep teachers up to date. These classes not only enrich their knowledge of English language but also inspire feeling of freshness and liveliness. As a result, it will stimulate their sense of responsibility and diligence.
Now, teaching English for the speakers of other languages is an interdisciplinary major that is resulted from a lot of investigation by researchers and practitioners not only in SLA but also in different branches of linguistics and psychology. To make teachers get benefit from the latest outcomes of these researches, a suitable syllabus could be devised to set up a course in special English. Apart from the above mentioned points, some group discussions could be held for teachers to share one another’s experiences.
Language exposure and in-service training classes through different ways and via various means can surely prevent loss of proficiency not only in non-native TEFL teachers but also in all learners of English who are prone to foreign language loss. It must be noted that syllabuses, techniques and activities depend on learners’ characteristics and facilities.
Chartrand, R. (2012), Social networking for language learners: Creating meaningful output with Web 2.0 tools. Knowledge Management & E-Learning: An International Journal, 4(1), pp.97-99.
Chartrand, R. (2009). From podcasting to YouTube: How to make use of Internet 2.0 for speaking practice. In T. Stewart (Ed.), Insights on Teaching Speaking in TESOL (pp. 91–106). Alexandria, VA: Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages.
Mini Devi B. (2013), Scientific communication through Social networking sites. Science Communicator: Inter-Disciplinary Journal for Science Communication and Journalism.
4(1, 2), pp.12-34.
Useful links
Academia www.academia.edu
Biznik http://biznik.com/
Bussu www.busuu.com/
Facebook www.facebook.com
Google+ https://plus.google.com
LinkedIn www.linkedin.com
Livemocha www.livemocha.com
Podcast http://a4esl.org/podcasts
Skype www.skype.com
SunZu www.sunzu.com/
Tango www.tango.me
Twitter http://twitter.com
Viber www.viber.com
WhatsApp www.whatsapp.com
YouTube www.youtube.com
Please check the How to be a Teacher Trainer course at Pilgrims website.
|
