Cause vs. Effect

Doing this paragraph was amazing. Writing about a free topic changed everything; it was so easy search for information. Also, I have noticed that now the process of writing is easier in comparison to the first paragraph that I have written. I have always been pleased to write, but in some of the paragraph for the course I have felt a lot of bad feelings such as frustration, and sadness. However, now everything is so different. I hope it won’t change, because I really like writing. 

After the Comparison Paragraph

The latest paragraph was a completely different job in comparison to the first one. For the comparison paragraph, I did not distress myself looking for a lot of information. I only read a few interesting facts about the two topics that we chose and I started to write. As it was in pairs, it was really easy because my pair was a close friend, we did not have problems connecting our ideas, and at the time to write we could develop easily the paragraph. Also, I felt more confident due to the knowledge of my friend. She knows a lot more than me, and I think that was one of the real reasons that made everything easier. So, I hope won’t have a mess in the next one. 

After the first paragraph...

The definition paragraph was a complete tragedy. I thought: “it will be fun”, but it was not. I think the biggest problem for me was reading a lot about my chosen topic. I chose to write about Bilingual Education, and I got a very interesting e-book about it. It was really interesting that I wanted to read it completely, but because of time I didn’t. The terrible thing was when I started to write. I had a lot of ideas in my mind, and those ideas didn’t fit together. It was horribly frustrating. So, I tried to work harder every day. The morning that I received my grade, I was really disappointed of all the hard work that I had done. I got really angry when I fixed it. After, I wasted hours and hours trying to do my best for a very bad grade, and in a couple of minutes I did another one that was really better than the first one. Just like that, without search for information. Without thinking really hard. Without a big effort, I did a good paragraph. It’s awful when you try really hard to do a good work, and that work doesn’t work. But a thing quickly done is better!! Now, I’m mad again.

How does the way in which Dr. Martin proposes to integrate the 4 skills in the language classroom resonate with your experience as FL students during the last two years?

At the last conference that we went, we listened to Dr. Martin who explained the technique of four skills in the language classroom. The technique involve: (1) listening, (2) writing, (3) speaking, and (4) reading. This technique has been successful used in my experience at the university, especially in signatures such Language, or the pedagogies ones. Teachers give a topic and/or a grammatical structure and a couple of minutes to write down some key words. Then, we share in groups or couples our answers or comments.

I think Dr. Martin’s proposal is a very good technique because, as she said, “those four skills are needed for a complete communication”. Inside the classroom is one of the few opportunities that we have to practice our English because we can have feedback from our classmates and the teacher, and it is because of that this technique is really useful, and in fact, it has been useful for me in the university. So, when the day of being teacher comes for me, I definitely will use it. 

What does good foreign language teaching entail to you?

For me, a good foreign language teaching depends fundamentally on the teacher. He (or she) should catch the students’ attention through creative activities, avoiding the usage of a book. He/she can be able to adapt the exercises by using motivating topics, related to the students’ lives, and their likes (for example: music, movies, TV shows, etc.). The teacher should be interested in what he/she is teaching, only with the appropriate attitude (energetic or happy) the teacher can approach the students to the subject. Therefore, if the teacher does not develop his/her knowledge catching the students’ attention, it does not matter what he/she is teaching because the students won’t be interested.

In my experience, my English teachers have always been very dynamic and energetic people. They always gave me interesting assignments such as create dessert recipes to do them in classes, we did short plays, sang songs, watched films, and more activities like those. They also were always encouraging us to improve, giving us some tips to learn in an effective way. Thus, when you ask me: “what does good foreign language teaching entail to you?” I only can say that it is the teacher.