Annotated Working Draft of Final Project and Hot Spots in ESL Teaching

Component Assignments

1. Communication and Persuasion in ESLTeaching

This post explains how ESL teachers use communication in their teaching to student who usually want to learn English, as opposed to those who do not. Teachers have to adjust their teaching based on the students' speaking, comprehension, and interests.

2. Storytelling in ESL Teaching

In this post, I gave the example of a teacher telling a story of person learning and using the phrase “the apple does no fall far from the tree” to lower and higher-level English speakers. This story also illustrates the correct use of the term, giving an example of how ESL teachers teach certain phrases.

3. ESL Education in the History ofCivilization

This post outlines how ESL teaching first began back in Great Britain in the 15^th century, and how that has developed to teaching English all over the world. The British wanted to communicate with the countries with whom they were trading, so teachers were sent to teach English. Eventually, this spread to other countries, and soon the whole world.

4. Institutional Authority andCommunication in ESL Teaching

This post tells a story about a woman who is teaching in Korea, and is told about the Tesol International Association, an institution whose aim it is to ensure excellence in English language teaching to people who want to learn English. Through this story, the reader finds out what this institution is, what it does to solve problems, and what they do to present ideas that will help ESL teachers.

Hot Spots

Hotspot #1 (in the field): Teachers have to adjust their teaching based on the needs of the students. They cannot have just one set lesson for a broad range of students. Everyone is at a different level, and should therefore be taught at that level so that they can understand.

Hotspot #2 (personal): A lot of the times, ESL teaching is just seen as simply teaching English to a group of foreigners who want to learn English. You have to really connect and understand you students, their background, and even be their friend. There is a personal aspect as well as an academic one.

Hotspot #3 (authority/historical context): There has been a set curriculum in teaching English since it first started five-hundred or so years ago. This curriculum has changed over time, and now, teachers have to conform to this curriculum that their boss or another institution has created to meet the needs of the students and teachers.

International Authority and Communication in ESL Teaching

Amy could not believe it as she stepped off of the plane into the hot, humid Korean air. She actually was accepted as an English teacher at an English academy for adults! This was her dream career, and only needed a Bachelor's Degree in English and a hefty background check to become an English teacher. The government would even pay for half of her expenses.

On her first day of teaching, Amy arrived at the academy, which was a building connected to the City Hall. Her heart thudded as she walked into her classroom where her students were already sitting, ready for class.

Eventually, the class started, and Amy began her lesson. The focus for the class was preparing the students for the TESOL Test [2. Regulated Standard], a test that international English language learners have to take in order to get jobs where English speaking is a needed skill.

After class, and after all of her students have left, Amy noticed that a visitor came to her class. It was Lee Suk Ja, the ESL professor who hired her.

“Well done,” Professor Lee complimented her in English. “Your teaching skills are up to par with the actual professionals. Where did you learn your teaching abilities?”

“I took courses on teaching skills in college, and I came up with some of my own,” Amy told her.

“Well,” Professor Lee started with a satisfied smile, “I would love to hear some of them, and present them at the TESOL International Association Regional Conference [3. Influential Event] that I will be attending in a few weeks in Singapore. The conference is run by the TESOL International Association [1. Authoritative Organization], whose aim it is to ensure excellence in English language teaching to people who want to learn English.”

A flash of memory whizzed by in Amy's head. “Oh, yes, I read about that conference on a blog that is run by the TESOL International Association [4. Authoritative Publication]. I would be happy to present you with some of my teaching techniques.”

“Great!” Professor Lee chimed. “Let's sit down and talk about it. The President of the association will take those ideas and will discuss them with his committee, and see how they can incorporate them into the teaching curriculum” [5. Challenging Authority/Changing Standards].

Amy found herself really thankful that she took those extra teaching courses.

Communication and Persuasion in ESL Teaching

Teaching in and of itself is communication and persuasion because you are trying to communicate a certain subject to those who you are teaching, and persuade them to learn and apply the subject to their life, and/or pursue it as an actual vocation. ESL (English as a Second Language) teaching is no different. While teaching English as a second language, you are in a classroom setting like any other subject being taught, but these classrooms are usually set inside an academy or community building. It creates a good environment, as opposed to an actual school, because the people there are there because they want to be. For example, in Korea, a lot of children are put in English academies (after-school programs that are usually held in community buildings). English is also taught in public schools, but in those settings, many people there would be learning it because they have to, not because they want to.

The teachers are doing a lot of the communicating in the classroom because they are teaching their students, and the students are communicated to most of the time. But, the students communicate back to the teacher in the form of their progress in class, showing the teacher how much they were learning. Their progress reflects how well the teacher persuaded them to learn English. So in a way, both teacher and student do the communicating and are communicated to. Teachers can be the ones who are persuaded as well, because their students are people who are learning English, so they may not speak English all that well. This would compel the teacher to speak in simpler terms, and speak slower, so that their students can understand.

I want to teach in a foreign country (Korea, preferably), so having these people learn English in their own country from a native English speaker would create a desire for them to learn because the teacher is, in a sense, a symbol of America. For example, Korean people who I have talked to in the past said that when they see an American, they have that desire to learn English and go to America.

The English class in my first area, Seocho in Seoul, South Korea

I would say that there is a lot of the deliberative form of communication evident in teaching ESL. This is because the teachers are ever conscious about their students’ progress and there they will go in the future, and play a role in the decision these students will make to pursue a career where they need to speak English, go to live in America, or make a decision on some future action that requires them to speak English.

I am personal interested in this field because serving in Korea, I was teaching English as a second language as a free service. I loved it, and I found that I wanted to pursue it as a career. So, I would say that what I know about this career came from experience, and how that experience persuaded me to choose it as a potential vacation.