Becoming a Language Teacher： Personal Philosophy about Teaching

孙飞

bstract Education is the process of self-knowing， which can possess the capability of informed decision-making by logic and critical thinking development. The definition of language learning could be regarded as assessing the language knowledge and the communications skills by a cognitive process， memory， storage and practice. As a language teacher， you need to make language and methodology develop concurrently， and students' cognitive ability， preferences for pedagogical style， learning style， socioeconomic statues and personality traits should be addressed carefully as well.

Key words Teaching philosophy; cognitive process; methodology

中图分类号：G451   文献标识码：A DOI：10.16400/j.cnki.kjdkz.2015.09.040

The philosophy of teaching as a critical issue has been discussed for a long time， which is influenced by personal values， expectation， theoretical understanding， knowledge about particular subject and practical experience. This essay will demonstrate my personal values and expectation about teaching， especially language teaching; it will indicate the research I have done about language teaching; some key questions， like what teaching is all about， what role I might play as a teacher， how I teach， how I manage the classroom， how I make my students engage in my class etc， would be discussed in this essay as well.

Firstly， what is teaching about？ What role might I play as a language teacher？ According to Mark（cited by Peter，2009），education is the process of self-knowing， which can possess the capability of informed decision-making by logic and critical thinking development， students' cognitive ability， preferences for pedagogical style， learning style， socioeconomic statues and personality traits should be addressed carefully by teachers as well. Moreover， being a passionate teacher， he could build up a connection with his students， provide more creative， supportive learning environment to his students so that to achieve better teaching outcomes. Therefore， teaching seems like a process with a kind of responsibility and interaction with students. In addition， according to Pratt（2005）， teaching should be a learner-centered activity with questioning and critique. However， for some schools or institution， the teacher-centered pattern includes the following stages like memorization， understanding， application and questioning or modifying still exit generally， how to balance the two teaching strategies if working in a traditional working place would be a challenge for teachers. Lastly， Pike & Bradley （1997）indicate that， regarding the philosophy of teaching， it would be changed when teachers obtain certain experience， which will reshape their ideas about teaching and learning in order to address teachers own demands and the students' needs.

For teaching language particular，according to Slavin（cited by Brown， 2000）， learning is obtaining a kind of knowledge on a subject or a skill through study， experience or instruction. Therefore， Brown（2000） states that the definition of language learning could be regarded as assessing the language knowledge and the communications skills by a cognitive process， memory ，storage， practice， which also includes ‘active， conscious focus on and acting upon events outside or inside the organism'. Moreover， language teaching and learning is more like experience of discovery. As James and Dean（2007） indicate， ‘learner develops ability to use the language for specific communication purpose. Teacher models language use and facilitate students' development of language skills'.

Secondly， What's the curriculum like？ how should we teach？ How should we manage the classroom？ How should we communicate with students？ How should we engage the students in the classroom？ How should we carter for the diversity of learners？ In terms of curriculum， according to SASCSA framework， language program should be structured in three interrelated strands： Communication; Understanding language and Understanding culture. For the communication strand， it refers to macroskills which include listening， speaking， reading and writing. By communication approach， students could interact with others in target language orally in particular context， interpret and create texts in particular contexts for communication purpose. By understanding culture approach， learners could make comparison between their own culture and target culture on values and beliefs so that they can better understanding language and use them in real communication. Moreover， some issues arise from curriculum need to be addressed carefully. According to Van Lier（1996）， proper social interaction， ZPD theory and students knowing how to regulate their own language learning should be as important implications for the language teachers.

In terms of classroom management， first of all， according to Doyle（1986）， some teaching activities with high continuity on the class refer to reading books to the class， demonstration， playing phonograph records; some teaching activities with low continuity on the class include group discussions， role play， team work etc. Moreover， Gump（cited by Doyle， 1986） also states that involvement in teacher-led small groups， whole-class recitations， seatwork， and pupil presentation， account for 92%，80%，75%，72% respectively. Therefore， we should balance the activities with low continuity and low involvement and the activities with high continuity and high involvement. Moreover， studies show that the more the number of students' choice and mobility， the more monitor and manage should be conducted by teachers on the class. As a result， teachers would mainly make choices by themselves instead of choices made by students so that the management and monitor could be controlled in the classroom. Furthermore， as a language teacher， Kleinhenz demonstrates that （cited by Lo Bianco，2009 ）， you need to make language and methodology develop concurrently. So， keeping improving language you are teaching and methodology about teaching and learning would be the goal of career for every language teacher.

In conclusion， a language teacher looks like an instructor to lead the students to discover a series of language and culture knowledge; the classroom looks like a platform that sharing ideas that the students concern; the teaching feels like a journey that teachers could enjoy; the teaching sounds like a term representing knowledge transmitting， communication， and interchange.

References：

[1] Chonko，LB， 2007， 'A philosophy of teaching and more'， Journal of marketing  education，vol.29，no 111.

[2] Doyle， W. 1986， Ecological approaches to classroom management， Handbook of research on teaching， American educational research association， New York，2006.

[3] James E.A.& Dean E.2007， What language teaching is？ ，The essentials of language teaching. Viewed 22 March 2015， www.nclrc.org/essentials

[4] Lo Bianco J.2009， Second languages and Australian schooling， viewed 25 April 2015， http：//www.acer.edu.au/documents/AER_54-SecondLanguagesAndAustralinSchooling.pdf

[5] Pratt，D.2005，'Personal philosophies of teaching'， Academe ，vol.91，no.1 pp32-35.

[6] Peter， MA， Editorial，2009， ‘A teaching philosophy or a philosophy of teaching？'， Educational philosophy and theory， vol.41，no.2

[7] Pike，B & Bradley，F.1997， ‘The philosophy of teaching： developing a statement that thrives in the classroom'， The Clearing House： A Journal of Educational Strategies， Issues and Ideas. vol.70，no.3，p.125.

[8] Department of Education， Training and Employment， SACAS framework， viewed 25 April 2015， http：//www.sacsa.sa.edu.au/index_fsrc.asp？t=Home.

[9] The Report on Intercultural Language Learning， 2003，viewed 25 April 2015， http：//curriculum.edu.au/nalsas/pdf/intercultural.pdf.