10/22 Post

As an English Language learner myself, I have a deep understanding of what the articles say. I have been studied English as a curriculum since I was in 3rd grade. But to be honest, I don’t think that I’m a good English learner. Because I still make many mistakes today. Sometimes I was kind of afraid of speaking English because of making mistakes. I think this situation can happen in many Chinese students. For example, many of you must heard about TOEFL test. There are four sections of the examination. Most of Chinese students can get high scores on reading, listening and writing. But when it comes to speaking, it becomes the weakest link of the examination. And this is due to the design and purpose of English course in China. When I was in school like 5 years ago or longer, the teachers are more focus on grammars more than others. We almost never get a chance to speak English. We were encouraged more study hard on reading and writing rather than speaking, that can help us get a high English score during the examination. But in my opinion, speaking is the most important part in English learning. By learning speaking English, students can practice their sense of English language and encourage them to do more study. And I think this is not only for English but also every language learning should pay more attention on oral languages.

        I like that “ Culturally responsive instruction focuses on help students access and connect with their prior knowledge, tap into their interests, and use all of this to connect concepts they are learning in school to their everyday lives ( Klingner & Soltero-Gonzalez,2009 )”I think the part of culture in one language is ignored by some teachers. Each language has its own culture inside the core of it. I think it is an implicit part of languages. Many teachers are more engage with language itself and not to dig things inside the language. I think being a culturally responsive teacher would help more in students’ study on language. “Culturally responsive teachers facilitate achievement by making learning relevant for students. They are adept at using students’ experiences and interests as the basis for curricular connections (Ladson-billings,1994) “ Actually, I’m taking a course of CI 574 named Foundations Curriculum Studies. It is a difficult but educational course. It required us to be curriculum planner and design our own curriculum. What I was think exactly is a curriculum that using cultural elements to help Chinese students learning English. Cultural elements can arouse students' study interest and evoke students to think more. What I want to do is to make students not only focus on English linguistics, but also learning English by experiencing the language.

        After reading the articles of this week, what I think most is the thing I should do as an English teacher in the future. What should I do in my class to help Students more engaged in learning English. Actually, those content made me think of an article that I read before. It is about if English teachers have the responsibilities to teach students standard English and incorrect every mistake that students made. From my point of view, as a language teacher, what I should do is more than just teach students how to read or write. I want they can be interested in the language that they are learning and not just to get a high score. 

        Here is a question: What would you do if you become a language teacher in the future or when you teach students who are not English speakers within your field? I would really want to hear opinions from everyone. I think that can help me a lot.