Self-Analysis Report
Below is a reflection I completed at the end of my graduate studies at the University of Arizona in 2016.
For several decades, the Communicative language teaching (CLT) has dominated the field of FL teaching. CLT's emphasis on oral language use in primarily generic, practical contexts; its lack of concern for accuracy of expression; and its inability to help students develop their interpretive and creative textual processes, have been called into question. Many scholars argue for the implementation of a pedagogy of multiliteracies as a means to narrow the pedagogical gap between lower-level language instruction and more advanced, content-centered instruction by reconciling the teaching of communication with that of textual analysis. During the course of this semester in the methods course, breakout session, and lesson study, I have had an opportunity to learn about the concepts and practices of a multiliteracies approach to teaching and learning language.
In the light of the recent changing social environment facing students and teachers, the multiplicity of communication channels and the increasing cultural and linguistic diversity in the world today call for a much broader view of literacy than portrayed by traditional language-based approaches. The Multiliteracies approach “emphasize[s] interdependence among speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills and focuses students’ attention on the interactions between linguistic form, situational context, and communicative and expressive functions” (Kern, 2003, p. 51). Initially, the concept seemed abstract to me and what seemed even more impossible was its application especially because my own foreign language experiences were in a CLT classroom and so moving from that form of pedagogy that prioritizes functional oral language use to one that prioritizes meaning construction through interaction with target language texts was hard to grasp. However, after 16 or so weeks of immersion in the theory and practice of this framework I have come to appreciate it a lot more. I think that this multiliteracies-based teaching is not only reunites oral communication and written communication to improve the coherence of language study but it is also feasible for lower-level courses. Initially, I must admit I was a bit skeptical about introducing beginner FL students to textual analysis but that was only because I thought that they needed to gain a good linguistic competence in the language of study before moving on to the complicated stuff. How very flawed my thinking was! Now, I know that students do not necessarily need that to be able to adequately interpret texts, all they need is their available designs- their background knowledge in the topic of discussion.
I think that this multiliteracies-based way of teaching is not only reunites oral communication and written communication to improve the coherence of language study but it is also feasible for lower-level courses. Initially, I must admit I was a bit skeptical about introducing beginner FL students to textual analysis but that was only because I thought that they needed to gain a good linguistic competence in the language of study before moving on to the complicated stuff. How very flawed my thinking was! Now, I know that students do not necessarily need that to be able to adequately interpret texts, all they need is their available designs- their background knowledge in the topic of discussion. I believe that for a multiliteracies-based teaching to be more feasible and accessible to students, we as instructors need to design lesson plans that hands-on tasks that encourage students to think outside the box but at the same that ease the cognitive load on them. For instance, before engaging students in a new text, perhaps start with a brainstorming activity to activate students’ schemata, some new introductory activities that I have begun implementing include the think-pair-share activity and the give one, get one activity. I have used this activity before in my 102 class and it works great. What I did was I had my students take pieces of paper and fold it into two. Then I made them write “Give One” on top of one side and “Get One” on top of the other side. Then after brainstorming about what they already know about the day’s topic and writing their ideas in the “Give One” column, they discussed what was on their lists with their classmates. They then wrote the new information and the name of the person who gave them the information on the other column of the paper. We then discuss everyone’s information together as a class. By engaging students in tasks like these, even seemingly “advanced” texts can seem less frightening to students in lower level FL classes.
One thing I really admired from one of the expert lessons I observed was the fact that instructor had a clear and discernible lesson plan at the beginning of the class so that both her students and I could follow along. This is a great way to keep students focused and on task! I really want to incorporate this in my own classes. Often, for whatever reason, we, teachers, treat our lesson plans as though they were “nuclear codes”, “huge under-cover top secrets” that nobody should see. Showing our lesson plan at the start of each day can serve as not only as an outline for us but also for our students who can as result follow our every step we make and every train of thought we start and see how it leads to achieving the set goals and objectives for the day. Lesson plans and for that matter, teaching, should never be hidden! Becoming a great teacher requires collaboration and communication with fellow teachers. It entails learning from experience, which is difficult to do without colleagues. Another thing I learnt was having and keeping good classroom culture. Right from the start, if we establish certain traditions, even use certain expressions regularly and keep repeating them throughout the semester, it helps to build a not just a classroom where people come to study and go but it becomes a place of mutual solidarity.
Being observed was also very educational and enlightening to me. It's difficult to know exactly what went on in a lesson; that is why peer observations are so great! Our colleagues can help us to step back and see more clearly, and therefore learn from, their own teaching practice in a variety of ways--through direct classroom observation, videotape, and collaborative case studies of teaching practice. I received a lot of great, practical feedback from my colleagues that I plan to incorporate in my teaching praxis. From the feedback I received from my peers, there were a number of things I hope to improve on when teach this lesson again next semester. For instance, I plan on sharing my learning objectives with my class and perhaps increasing the authenticity of the transformed practice activity and making it multimodal by not just having them write a recipe but perhaps create a video or voice thread comparing stereotypical American food and stereotypical French food.
“Teaching is a livelong art”. Teaching, especially foreign language teaching could really be considered as an art because art is a personal act, something one does that creates change in another. Moreover, every teacher like every artist is unique; you cannot teach as someone else does. Becoming a great teacher requires collaboration and communication with fellow teachers. Teaching entails learning from experience, which is difficult to do without colleagues. It's difficult because to learn from experience, one must have a clear view, and that's hard to get in the booming, buzzing confusion of the classroom. Our colleagues can help us to step back and see more clearly, and therefore learn from, their own teaching practice in a variety of ways--through direct classroom observation, videotape, and collaborative case studies of teaching practice.
With regards to my effectiveness as a teacher, so far, I can say that I have been successful in implementing multiliteracies-based learning activities in my classes. However, I still have a few hurdles to overcome in my classes, I still have students who have problems in grammar both in the L2 and in the L1 and sometimes it’s hard to ignore them in a lesson so I’m sometimes forced to go and overtly teach grammar. Secondly, it’s sometimes a challenge to find authentic texts and it takes so much time to alter them to suit the needs of my students. Thirdly, I think I need to find more ways to incorporate web 2.0 in my teaching praxis. Also, from the feedback I received from my peers, there were a number of things that I hope to improve on next semester. For instance, I plan on sharing my learning objectives with my class and perhaps increasing the authenticity of my transformed practice activities and making them more multimodal.
Regardless, I am still hopeful that I will find opportunities in the future to implement this. I’m personally excited about using digital storytelling through perhaps voice thread, or similar spaces. I’m looking for an appropriate lesson or chapter to use it. Hopefully soon in the coming semester I will find an opportunity to do so.