The first unit in the TESL 0110 zooms in on who we are as travelers in the journey of learning. I like how the introduction to the unit compares us, teachers-to-be, with arctic landscape travelers, who are guided by inuksuits – messages of support from the experienced TESL practitioners.
I am excited about starting a new chapter in my professional career but I also have a lot of questions. Can I call myself an ESL teacher without knowing the fundamentals of ESL learning? Can this course change my teaching philosophy? Where do I start? How will I transfer all the theoretical information about language acquisition into fun and successful lessons? Will there be a fine balance between my social roles in life as I’m a mother, a wife, and a daughter ( more about me) Right now, everything is kind of blurring.
One of the first terms that is introduced by the Fundamentals course is the PLN term. Before I interpreted this acronym as a community of ESL teachers, who I can turn to for an advice. I was surprised to know that my family can be my PLN too as well as my neighbour, who is just passionate about the language and is great at explaining new concepts. Another thing that stood out for me was that our PLN is not only about people who we are similar with and who encourage us but, also, those who challenge us and push our thinking. I was happy to discover that my PLN is actually wider that I thought it was. (I mostly teach individually, and a lot of times feel very lonely, so knowing that was big relief for me.)
One of the concepts that I found fascinating is the concept of the relationship between language and culture. “… the two are intricately interwoven so that one cannot separate then without losing the significance of either language or culture” (Brown & Lee, 2015, p. 157). Followed by “… when learning and teaching an additional language, we must be aware of the complex and dynamic relationship between language and cultural customs, values, and beliefs that are embedded in language practice.” (Brown & Lee, 2015, p. 157), which for me means that language is not simply a tool to deliver a message from one person to another but a defining principle of who are and our identity.
I have already started using this knowledge in my lessons with students. The other day I taught a lesson on greetings and added some information about body language and tone of voice we use when meeting someone. We talked about formal and casual ways of greetings in Canada and how they are different from ways of greeting people in Russia.
So, my journey is just beginning, and I have more questions than answers right now. I see a lot of words like “agency” and “discourse” and wonder if I will ever be able to completely understand these concepts and use them when planning my lessons ( and will I have to?). But I have a good feeling, surrounded by supportive group members and my instructors – my inuksuits.
References
Brown & Lee, H. (2015). Teaching by principles: An interactive approach to language pedagogy ( 4th ed. revised)
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