WHY TALK ABOUT BELIEFS AND PRINCIPLES IN THE TEFL PROGRAM?

-


Ricardo Romero 
ricardo.romero@britishcouncil.org
Publicado en Capital Letter No. 5
Mayo de 2004


The English language teaching profession is not just about teaching grammar, vocabulary, and the four skills within a communicative approach. It entails various dimensions, some of them well documented, some still being revisited and assessed.


Tire first and most obvious dimension is the subject matter: The English language. In the curriculum, we learn the language (that is we become language users), we learn about the language (we become language analysts) and we teach the language (eventually we become language pedagogues). The end result of this interesting combination is a language teacher.


The second one is now being taken very seriously in most of the subjects. Tire reflection and research dimension. This dimension deals not only with classes on research techniques and theories, hut with the actual attitude towards most of the courses in the curriculum. When managed properly, this allows students to be the centre of the learning process, and promotes their capacity to learn how to learn, and to be autonomous learners.


The last one is sometimes taken for granted: Tire Beliefs and values dimension. When we claim that the language teaching profession goes beyond the subtleties of the language and reaches a more social perspective, we are talking about the power to influence and transform lives through languages. Language teaching does more than allowing the exchange of information. Languages serve in the process of creating or questioning paradigms, of generating awareness and promoting critical views. When we are aware of this dimension, we can understand the difference between being a teacher, and being an educator. That is why we have to be aware that the teaching profession has a tremendous social responsibility that we cannot overlook.

Comentarios

Publicar un comentario

Entradas populares de este blog

GLOBAL UNITY

-
Vivian Chu globalun@telus.net Publicado en Capital Letter No. 6 Noviembre de 2004 Vivian Chu is currently a curriculum developer, English teacher, and teacher educator in Vancouver, Canada. She has also taught English in Japan and China, and presented professional development workshops in Colombia, England, Hungary, and Canada. She has published two books for the ELT profession. Additional information on her project, "Global Unity'' is available at http://www.slobalunityed.com. She welcomes your comments and feedback on her work, via email to elobalunda) telus.net. What is "global unity," and what does it mean to different people? What kind of unity political, economic, religious, cultural, ethnic, or spiritual? Does it mean a world government under one political system, where everyone speaks one international language, forced together by economic trade, where a diversity of ethnicities and cultures are linked through intercultural marriage? How can we have
Leer más

STUDYING A POSTGRADUATE PROGRAMME ABROAD

-
Yoana Cristina Pinzón P. ycpinzonp@unal.edu .co Publicado en Capital Letter No. 6 Noviembre de 2004 Many people would say that studying abroad would be something perfect for you. Is it really so? Consider the following questions: •        What is a postgraduate degree? It is a program of study taken following the successful completion of an undergraduate, or Bachelor's degree. It will usually lead to a Master's degree, although postgraduate certificates are also available. PhD degrees and MBAs are advanced postgraduate awards. A postgraduate program can allow you to specialize in your chosen field. It can allow you to enter your career at a higher level than a Bachelor's degree would. Or it can simply be a stepping-stone to further education. •        Why would you study abroad? Are your reasons related to money, academic needs or cultural interests? If it is money, you should think of the value of the specific qualification in your own country. Will your qualificati
Leer más

THE JAPANESE TEACHER: INTERVIEW WITH PROFESSOR NAKANISHI

-
Imagen
Lina María Conde linamaconde@hotmail.com Publicado en Capital Letter No. 6 Noviembre de 2004 From 1994, Japanese volunteers from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) have been coming to the Universidad Nacional de Colombia to teach the Japanese language. They usually stay for two years, but Professor Junko Nagaoka, who returned to Japan last December, stayed for three. We talked to Professor Fujio Nakanishi about his life in Colombia and the experience of teaching Japanese at our university. Based on his students, Professor Nakanishi's opinion about the Universidad Nacional is that it is an outstanding University, but he said that he regrets the fact that he has not had the opportunity to talk to other teachers very often. Anyway, through his experience at this University, he said that one of the things he likes the most is its free character and the respect to freedom that students and professors show.  Before coming to Colombia, Professor Nakanishi was vice-
Leer más