My Professional Identity: The influence of My Work and Life Experiences and My Language contacts
My father was born in Hong Kong in 1929 into a family of English origin. Whilst living in Hong Kong, he learnt to speak fluent Cantonese and moved to Sydney at aged thirteen. He maintained his friendships and links with family colleagues from Hong Kong whilst I was growing up in Sydney and conversed in Cantonese at Chinese restaurants. When he cooked dinner, he cooked international dishes, especially curries, which was a rare cuisine in the 1970's in Australia.
I had some experience as a second language learner at school in Sydney in the early 1980's. I learnt French from Years 5 to 7 by an English speaking teacher. The teacher mainly used textbooks, which were used for students to practice grammatical forms. I also learnt German in Year 7. Again I was taught by an English speaking teacher, using mainly grammar drills from text books. This approach aligned with the Grammar-Translation approach to teaching languages. I found learning the languages boring and uninspiring and therefore did not pursue language learning after Year 8.
In 1987 during my final year of schooling, a Japanese family from my neighbourhood approached me about reading excerpts into a tape recorder from the American English learning text books they were using, so that they could listen to the Australian English accent. I also taught their two young daughters how to pronounce English vocabulary during weekly lessons. This was my first experience of teaching children English as a second language, which I enjoyed.
I began my primary school teaching career in 1994 and have taught in a variety of schools and roles on the NSW Central Coast, until the present. I have mainly taught in the role of a Learning and Support Teacher, but I have also taught on classes K-6 and occasionally in the TESOL position. During my roles as a Learning and Support Teacher and on class, there have been many students on my caseload from an English as a second language background. The students have come from a variety of nations, including China, India, Nepal, Russia and Japan, to name a few. When teaching literacy skills in these roles, I ensure that my lessons cater for the individual needs of my students, including taking into account their language background, culture, learning styles, age, religion and background knowledge. The approach that I take is not a one-size-fits all approach as each student is an individual, with their own identity and learning needs. As a teacher in a NSW public school, I am required to follow the K-6 English curriculum, so the content of my lessons as a classroom teacher needs to still adhere to the outcomes within the curriculum. I ensure however, that I make adjustments as needed for the students, to include their individual language requirements. I include the learners' culture wherever possible. An example of this in my present role as a Learning and Support Teacher where I am creating a weekly Power Point, for the Stage 1 classes, to include in the Component A part of the K-2 English curriculum. I ensure that the slides include images such as indigenous paintings and occasionally mother tongue vocabulary where possible, to create a culturally inclusive English lesson for the EAL/D students in the classes.
I have also worked occasionally as a TESOL teacher. In this capacity I have taught small groups of EALD students ranging from Kindergarten to Year 6. In this role the content and structure of the lessons are designed according to the individual needs of the students in the group. In the small group withdrawal groups the lessons are designed to teach a targeted language need, depending on the individual learners.
I agree with Celce-Murcia (2001), who acknowledges that there are five things to consider when deciding on an approach. Firstly assess student needs and then look at instructional constraints, such
as time and classroom or group size. Activities are chosen that are suitable for individual students’ attitudes
and learning styles. The discourse genres, speech activities and text types are chosen that students need to learn. Finally, the way the students' language learning will be assessed, needs to be decided upon..
During this role as TESOL teacher I have both worked within classrooms with the non TESOL classroom teacher and with a small group in a withdrawal capacity. To ensure my lessons remain relevant to the students, I collaborate regularly with the classroom teacher about their individual language needs, their strengths, weaknesses and learning styles. Within the classroom I have been required to adapt the curriculum for the EALD students so that they can access the outcomes of the curricula, including English, Science and Mathematics. This may involve temporary scaffolding for learning, to support the English language learners, with the aim of helping them gain new skills, leading to independence of the skill. The nature and type of scaffolding depends on the individual language needs of the students. Sometimes I jointly construct a text with learners which then leads to the independent construction by the learner. I have high expectations for the (English Language) EL learners and offer high support, to help them gain confidence, through the scaffolding provided.
I also include collaborative learning so that students can share knowledge and experience with myself and other learners. I encourage them to use their mother tongue to then learn concepts in English, thereby linking their mother tongue and English. If the students are learning about a particular genre of writing in class for instance, I explicitly teach the linguistic features of that genre. I include real-life events and texts as much as possible. This makes the teaching relevant to the learners' real lives and assists them with the acquisition of English. By making the content of the lesson relevant and accessible to the students, they are more likely to experience success, creating a positive affect and therefore more motivation to learn.
With the introduction of new technologies including the Internet and Social Media platforms and on line learning, the teaching styles are continually changing to adapt to these.
I am constantly learning new techniques for teaching my English language learners from the TESOL teacher colleague at my school and non TESOL teacher colleagues. I incorporate new techniques and activities into my teaching. The teaching style that I use continually evolves dependent on the students on my caseload.
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