The Genesis Center: Michele Rajotte,
Nancy Fritz, Dorothy Shaw, Anna Illingworth, Viginia Burke
Teacher/Learners as an Instructional
Tool
Question: Will participating in the teaching process provide ESOL learners
with a better understanding of the learning process and at the same time
improve reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills?
"When learning goals are focused on social interactions and knowledge
building that is meaningful, relevant, and interesting, multiple uses of
oral and written language follow naturally to accomplish those goals. With
student attention to function, the forms of language emerge gradually and
naturally." (Peregoy, Boyle, 1993, p.203).
We wanted the learners to experience the meaning of; "teaching is
learning." This was a qualitative study and our task was to analyze
the process, the performances, and the learners, and teacher/learners evaluations
in relation to the question.
Initially the learners were uncertain of their ability to stand before
the class and express themselves in English. To participate as a teacher/learner,
they were required to write a lesson plan, provide the necessary materials,
and write a self-evaluation. As the lead teacher in this project, my learners
were high intermediate and the class focus was "Workplace English."
There were other teacher/learners participating from a low intermediate
English level. All other learners participated in activities and wrote
evaluations of each lesson.
Teaching required the learners to spend time organizing, planning, and
reflecting the chosen lesson, and to think about the skills of their fellow
learners such as vocabulary, interests, culture, and levels of understanding.
They had to ask themselves: "How will I teach? How do I learn? What
vocabulary is necessary to teach? How can I make it interesting? Is the
class learning? Is it enjoyable? How can I make this lesson better?"
"Just as teachers must appreciate their students' native languages
and cultures, they must also appreciate their students' affective needs.
The literature suggests that affective variables such as motivation, and
interests are strongly related to successful second language development."
(Scarcella, 1990, p.57).
At Genesis, most of the learner/teachers had studied together since September
for five hours each day. This was a safe, comfortable environment, which
would lesson their anxiety as they used their second language to teach
their peers. "Research has shown for example, the effects of various
forms of anxiety on acquisition; the less anxious the learner, the better
language acquisition proceeds. Similarly, relaxed and comfortable students
apparently can learn more in shorter periods of time." (Dulay, Burt,
Krashen, 1982, P.51).
We discussed their favorite teachers and what qualities they possessed.
What makes a good teacher for some learners but not to others? We also
talked about their learning styles and the styles of their children. This
led into a lengthy discussion of their children and teachers and some problems
in the past and present. What could be done about it? Where to go? Who
to talk to?
The following are survey questions given to the learners in my class:
What would you like to teach?
How would you teach it?
What materials would you use?
Think about the steps necessary to teach it.
Can you list the steps?
To teach was an option and the subject was their choice. The learners were
not graded; therefore the motivating factors were personal desire and challenge.
We wanted students to be motivated to teach, have a passion for the content,
and to understand that to teach is the best way to learn. Some of the best
students would not volunteer to teach due to shyness or lack of self-confidence
in their English ability. "Students should be encouraged to communicate
when they are ready and have the competence to do so." (Scarcella,
1990, p.59)
Teacher/Learners:
Cece Jacques Monemou was a principal and teacher for 15 years
in Guinea, West Africa. In Guinea he taught Physics and Chemistry, but
could also teach French, his native language. He arrived in the United
States in January this year. As a highly respected professional in his
native country, Jacques was pleased to accept the teaching assignment and
he chose to teach French. He was well prepared, had full attention, and
was where he should be, in front of a classroom. He lived up to his own
expectations and the learners saw him in his element. Jacques volunteered
to teach the beginning levels the next week. Not all learners could read
his conversations in French, however, he had 35 students sharing French
conversation and some Haitian students to help. Describing his experience,
Jacques wrote: "Language seems to me to be the main tool to unite
people and make them love each other. It cancels geographical, racial,
historical and religious barriers between them and makes them live as members
of one family."
Blia Yang Vang is Hmong and has lived in Providence for 19 years.
She has her own business creating and selling her native art of Pan Dao,
a form of intricate thread design. Blia is very independent and has taught
her art of thread design to children and adults in various settings. She
agreed to teach if the class was limited to 8 or 9 students. She presented
a short but thoughtful written plan and was confident and attentive to
every need of each learner. This intricate pattern was difficult for some
students to follow. Blia is not always secure with her English pronunciation,
however, during her teaching that morning, she did not stop to question
her clarity. Her other goal was to show the learners how long it takes
to complete a small decorative piece. Customers often complained about
the price, and until they experienced the difficulty, they did not understand.
She accomplished her goal. Blia wrote: "I am very happy to teach if
they like to learn. I think we should learn something new from each other.
ItÕs a good idea."
Claudia Rojo grew up in Providence and attended our schools, however,
she lives in a Spanish speaking home. Her mother and grandmother are El
Salvadorian and her father, Dominican. She graduated from high school and
attended Genesis as a work-related participant. Claudia has special needs
and requires positive reinforcement in the classroom as well as writing
practice. She teaches young children the piano and chose the same content
to teach the learners in her session. She changed from a very shy and giggly
young woman into a knowledgeable, strong teacher who wanted each student
to understand music, what it looks like on paper, and how to play the scale.
A remarkable and exciting change. Claudia wrote; "Thank you to all
the students who were there. I'm very happy that I taught the learners
how to play the piano. Everybody in my family is very happy with me that
I did the piano lesson at the Genesis Center."
Ada Santos is from Puerto Rico and was very quiet upon arrival.
Her English speaking and listening skills are high, however, she is very
shy and I had to be careful of her emotional well being on specific days.
I was pleased that she agreed to teach how to prepare a flan, her specialty.
It was difficult to persuade her to write, although she expressed herself
well. The learners paid attention to her directions and ingredients, and
asked many questions. Some anecdotes about cooking experiences arose. After
teaching, Ada became more talkative and shared daily experiences with the
others in the class. Her attendance increased and she smiled more, blossoming
once again. Ada wrote: "I really liked introducing the flan because
I feel too shy to teach in front of people, but I did, so that is great
for me."
The low intermediate writing class had a few brave souls. I used a Language
Experience Approach to discuss the lesson plan with the three women who
chose to perform and teach their traditional dances.
Sonya Lopez: A Dominican Republic native, Sonya was very interested
in demonstrating her dance, and through the process, learned how to successfully
express how the Merengue should be performed. She was outgoing and pushed
herself in oral as well as written work. During class, Sonya and her partner
Sonya, stood in the center and slowly showed us the steps. Using the LEA,
we wrote the steps together on the board. In the next few weeks, they practiced
in two classrooms before the lesson was to be videotaped. The lesson was
very successful and SonyaÕs English was clear and understood by
all learners. Many learners danced and enjoyed the music together. On one
evaluation, a learner wrote, "Everyone paid attention because we were
happy." Sonya wrote the following and added it to the newsletter:
"I felt very happy because I brought the dance music to school. I
enjoyed having the class because I have a passion for teaching dancing,
and for Latin music. In the future I want to teach dance to the younger
children, eight to twelve. I want to have a business in my house."
Nina Karlin: recent Russian refugee from the Ukraine, Nina had a
high-level government position as a Special Detective. She was studious
and acquired English quickly. The other learners seemed to have kept her
at a distance because of her intellectual and professional manner. She
was happy to accept the challenge and teach a folk dance from Russia. She
participated as a learner in the LEA class for Sonya, and completed typing
her own lesson plan during her computer time using Sonya's as a model.
For the presentation, Nina followed the steps she had written on the board
and added the music. With her friend, Olga, Nina danced and other learners
joined in. Nina had become a part of the class, she was seen in a different
light and was socially accepted. One evaluation said, "I like the
Russian!"
Maria Andrade: Maria is from Cape Verde and originally expressed
interest in teaching her native dance called the 'Tourno'. She participated
during the LEA experience, and we wrote her steps on the board along with
SonyaÕs. She did not follow through with a typed lesson plan and
on the day of the dance instruction, she decided not to take part due to
a sudden death of a friend. Fortunately, after the dances had ended, she
smiled and stood in the center of the class ready to begin. Maria was enthusiastic
as she demonstrated a unique dance which must take considerable time and
practice to learn. The learners loved it and Maria was proud of her performance
and culture. A learner evaluated Maria by saying, "Maria can shake
her body a lot!"
We remained focused on the original inquiry question, however, because
of its broad view, we did not focus on details in specific language areas.
For example, in the future I might focus on one aspect of language learning,
such as speaking, and listen for the proper use of tenses. We planned on
having more teaching sessions but this process proved to be more time consuming
than we had thought due to time needed for practice and writing, absences
or scheduling. Our teaching team was pleased with the seven lessons and
felt that the teacher/learners achieved their teaching goals successfully,
increased their language skills, and enhanced their awareness of the learning
process. They utilized unique organization, planning, and creative skills.
Each lesson was appreciated by other learners who listened and responded
with respect and at the same time enjoyed and acquired English skills.
The next step would be to utilize the video cassettes as an extension of
English communication and writing skills. Teacher/learners would view and
critique their teaching method and style, creating a class discussion,
followed by writing. The other learners would also express ideas and continue
the writing process in computer class.
Bibliography
Burt, Marina, & Dulay, Heidi, & Krashen, Stephen, (1982). Language
Two. Oxford University Press. NY NY.
Clark, Virginia, P., & Eschholz, Paul A., & Rosa, Alfred F., (1985).
Language. St. MartinÕs Press Inc. NY NY
Larsen-Freeman, Diane (1986). Techniques and Principles in Language
Teaching. Oxford University Press. Oxford, England.
Peregoy, Suzanne F., & Boyle, Owen F. (1993). Reading, Writing,
& Learning in ESL. Longman Publishing Group. White Plains, NY.
Scarcella, Robin. (1990). Teaching Language Minority Students in the
Multicultural Classroom. Prentice-Hall, Inc. Englewood Cliffs, NJ.
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