My
teaching philosophy came into being from my dual identities: I have been a
teacher of CSL (Chinese as a second language) for 17 years, and a learner of
ESL (English as a second language) for 30 years. Both experiences provided rich soil for the
growth and ripeness of my perspectives of good teaching. Center to all my beliefs, is a key that opens
many doors—Differentiated Instruction:
there is no one-fit-all size with respect to efficient and successful teaching,
because there is always a need to differentiate our teaching, based on students
characteristics (age group, proficiency level, learning style, language and
cultural background, socioeconomic status, self expectation and purpose of
learning, etc.) as well as the characteristics of the language programs
students are put in (short term/long term, immersion, bilingual, weekend
school, high school, college, business, etc.).
I
would like to outline some general principles I adhere in my classroom practice
as the following.
1.
I teach with communicative methods focusing on students’ language
proficiency.
Second language is a
skill. I provide learning experiences
that help my students build up their language skills in listening, speaking,
reading and writing. For beginning
students, I create scenarios that resemble real life situations such as
greeting and self introduction, dining out, shopping, asking for directions,
replying a letter, etc., to work on their BICS (Basic Interpersonal
Communication Skills); Intermediate to advanced level students need to develop
their CALP (Cognitive and Academic Language Proficiency), so I use tasks such
as question asking and answering, summarizing a text, writing or talking about
the pros and cons of a topic, debating, and
translating English text to Chinese language. The focus of my lesson planning is
to create opportunities for students to use their Chinese proficiency so they
can survive, communicate with others, express themselves, and conduct
educational or professional activities in Chinese language.
2. Teaching vocabulary is the most fundamental part
in my teaching.
Vocabulary
size is the foundation on which language proficiency is built, the more words
students know, the better comprehension and language application they will
reach. My approach to teaching
vocabulary is “repeat, repeat, and repeat”.
Studies of human brains showed that in order to save a word in our
long-term memory, we need to review the word for 7 times across a period of
time. In my vocabulary teaching, I try
to present the key vocabulary in different modes and formats repetitively, and
provide students with opportunities to encounter and practicing using them
frequently. We watch pictures and videos
to learn the meanings of them, work on vocabulary brainstorm and word maps to
categorize them, we used flash cards, memory games, matching games and graphic
organizers to work on the definition, pronunciations, and parts of speech, we practice
using them in sentences, and compare them with their English equivalents. Since Chinese language has a different
writing system from the phonetic one, being able to pronounce the word does not
mean students can read it, I created videos teaching students about radicals—
the semantic elements of Chinese characters, so they could get a fix of the
meaning of new vocabulary by reading the radical of it.
3.
Maximize “Comprehensible Input” is a concept overarching my class design.
Many
people believe that “immersion” is the best way to learn a second language and
teachers should only use target language in the classroom. However, Krashen has mentioned that it is the
quality, other than the quantity of language input students are receiving that
counts. In order to learn a language,
students have to understand what is being talked about. From my own experience of learning English,
“total immersion”, without any support or aid from first language or other
forms, was frustrating and daunting, because I could not make any sense out of
the language I heard.
Now
as a teacher, I try to provide my students with various supports to increase the
amount of comprehensible input. Pictures, comics, slideshows, videos and movies
help students visualize and understand concepts and contents; Music, songs,
art, games, and TPR strategies help lower students’ affective filters and
increase understanding. I incorporate
cooperative learning activities so students can interact with and learn from
each other; I allow students’ use of English so they can find support from
their first language and transfer their English knowledge and literacy into
Chinese language; I encourage them to compare Chinese with English, and find
out the similarities and differences.
4. I make efforts to support
overall cognitive and academic development of learners, which is especially important
for students of young age.
At Dallas Modern Chinese School, my students
are teenagers aged 12-17, a stage characterized by rapid physical growth,
earnest desire to explore life and the world, constant searching for their
identities and pondering “Who am I?” I believe a Chinese as second language course
for these students should be a lens through which they see and learn about the
world, not only Chinese language and culture.
Therefore, I work on bringing the real world into the classroom
(example: use authentic materials from Chinese newspaper articles and ads for
teaching, talk about current affairs and events that happen in both China and
the U.S.), and making connections between Chinese language and other school
subjects (example: use texts on a variety of topics such as world history,
science, politics, art, music and social study). Two years ago, when Tiger Mom by Amy Chua aroused heated discussions in the U.S., I led
a similar talk among my Chinese-heritage students. We compared the different parenting styles
between the west and east, shared their feelings about their Chinese parents,
dug into the cultural roots of both parenting styles, and eventually came to
realized that there was really no formula for a standardized parenting style,
and that good parenting is a balance. Throughout this activity, we practiced
Chinese language, made connection to their family background and the real
world, and most importantly, raised the awareness of their cultural identity,
which I believe would play an essential role in their future adulthood.
5.
I promote global awareness and multiculturalism through teaching
Chinese.
Language
and culture are closely related and interdependent to each other. The experience of second language learning
will be inevitably expanded to a cultural dimension. Just like we cannot take for granted that
each English word will find an equivalent in Chinese, or each sentence in
English can be translated word by word into Chinese and still make sense (as
Google translator assumes), we need to be open-minded not only to the differences
of language, but also to those of culture, value system, religion, social
belief and so forth. In our explorations
of language and culture, I help students learn the equal importance of each
culture, and show respect to different views and opinions. I believe having this mindset will help them
effectively collaborate with people from other cultures, in this increasingly
globalized world.
6. Technology enhances second
language teaching and learning.
Technology
opened a new horizon of teaching second language. I am greatly passionate about
technology and use technology as my teaching assistant. I use photo editing and infographic tools to
create signs and posters, create videos to teach Chinese characters, make
podcasts on text recording, create online flash cards, word clouds, and games
to teach vocabulary, make Prezi presentations for culture events, offer online
learning experiences by making Sidevibes and Webquests, publish students’ work
on online blog, conduct online teaching via virtual classroom on WizIQ, and
create online learning groups on Voicethread.
I conduct assessment and surveys through online tools such as Google
forms. I also allow students to demonstrate their understandings in different
modes with help of technology. Examples
of my technology implementation can be found in my online portfolio: https://sites.google.com/site/xiaoyanwangsportfolio/home.
Using
technology in teaching increases students’ interest and motivation; provides
visual and aural aids for comprehension; help students gather information fast
and easily; enable them to present their learning in various modes and creative
ways, share their products with broad audience, and make learning fun! It also
helps students practice their computer skills called for by the future work
places.
As
I mentioned in the beginning, good teaching is all about
“differentiating”. I am always prepared
to tailor my instruction to meet students’ needs and help them succeed in their
study of Chinese language, as well as being a good learner of the world.
