Philosophy On Education:

with a focus on language

Michael Drzymkowski
An introduction to effective language learning and teaching.
Of course, the most effective way to learn a language is to be raised within a target
language community. The love of one's parents & family in childhood can not be
reproduced to a crowd within a finite duration. Thus, creating a classroom that
facilitates the learning of a language & culture becomes a formidable task; being
passionate in language, culture, & teaching alone does not sanction qualifications. It
requires an instructor who has developed a refined philosophy on the relationship
between learner & instructor. The following is a vigorously investigated & revised
philosophy on the relationship between learner & instructor, with a focus on
language. It has been reviewed & refined by multiple individuals from 2014 - 2017.
This philosophy features statements based on real studies, theories & works of
language acquisition professionals from the early 1900s - modern dissertation &
inspiration from both acclaimed & renowned individuals.

Language
The limits of my language means the limits of my world.
Ludwig Wittgenstein

Why Learn Languages?

If you think about it, the languages we speak represent the world we live in; a botanist
can label every part of a plant and an artist knows thousands of colors by name. Language is
the doorway to the world you live in. By expanding language abilities you expand your world.
Speaking a new language you can open the doorway to a completely new world. Those bold
enough to open this doorway benefit cognitively, socially, and economically.
Peal and Lamberts study suggest that bilinguals outperform monolinguals in verbal and
nonverbal intelligence tests more than less(1962). Bilinguals have a metalinguistic advantage to
treat language as an object of thought. Vygotsky, a great pioneer in language acquisition,
described bilinguals in the 1930s as individuals with two ways to describe the world and thus
more flexible perceptions and interpretations(Schwieter, 456). Speaking another language also
provides access to deeper understanding of social situations. Gaging the communicative
situation, connecting with others, and facilitating a result that benefits all participants are
important qualities of an Instructor. This ability to connect with others, can open the door to new
and exciting opportunities. The foreign language ability stands out on applications and often
earns higher salaries.
All these benefits are just as exciting as they sound but, its important to remember the
foundational social quality of language: effectively communicating information. An instructor can

have a PhD from an Ivy League school yet a childs laughter can have a greater impact on
millions than an hour lecture from a PhD.
I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people
will never forget how you made them feel.
Maya Angelou

Aspects of Language Learning

I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.
Mark Twain

It is easy to get lost in the academic aspects of language as a student and as an

instructor. Getting caught up in good grades and meeting school standards. Although the
importance of these worries are unquestionable, it is important to keep in mind the purpose of
language: building bridges between communities and cultures, and sharing opportunities.
Language courses should mirror these expectations.

The Foundations of Language Learning(Activities)

Reading
Speaking
Vocabulary
Social

The Learner
Learner Expectations
The biggest disappointment a learner can experience is spending endless hours learning
something that does not affect their life in a personal way. People are most concerned with that
which will impact their lives and goals. Learners may have different goals but there is usually
some kind of pattern, a common goal among learners. Afterall, what would be the point of
learning something one does not have any interest in? The instructor has already been paid, the
learners expect the instructor to have an interest in teaching useful material. Therefore, it is
important to have a genuine interest in the students, find similarities and differences among
classmates and integrate the learners collective interests into the class while facilitating
tolerance for differences.
Translanguaging
You can never understand one language until you understand at least two.

 Geoffrey Willans
This quote by G. Willans could not define translanguaging any better. It is the equivalent
to sculpting in two-dimensions versus in three-dimensions. Translanguaging allows multilinguals
to [go] between and beyond systems and structures, including different modalities(Li, 2013)
according to W. Li who also explains translanguaging as follows.
The act of translanguaging is transformative in nature; it brings together different
dimensions of the multilingual speakers linguistic, cognitive, and social skills, their
knowledge and experience of the social world and their attitudes and beliefs, and in
doing so, develops and transforms the speakers skills, knowledge, experience,
attitudes, and beliefs; thus creating a new identity for the multilingual speaker.(Li, 2013)
Not taking advantage of all language abilities could be easily compared to disabling a
speaker. The languages we speak are a part of our culture, or experiences, and our
subconscious so it is important to encourage learners to take advantage of their abilities.
As the instructor, translanguaging in the classroom can be a wonderful thing. To be able
to code switch between the target language and the community language can be extremely
beneficial to the learners, especially when attempting to explain grammar translation. It is
important to keep in mind however that some students may not be able to understand the
community language. For example, parts of Southern California have a large Hispanic
population. A Hispanic instructor is teaching English to a group of largely Bilingual(English,
Spanish) learners however, there are a few monolingual students in the class.
Instructor: What does Mark Twain mean by Bulrushers?
Student A:Es que es como una planta acutica?
Is it like and aquatic plant?
Instructor: S exactamente!
Yes exactly!
Student B: *Silence*
As seen from this example, student B was left out and may have felt some social
discomfort. Translanguaging is a good tool that should not be overlooked and this is just one of
the many common situations that may arise as an instructor. In this case, the instructor should
be on the monolingual students side and stick to English but, it is still appropriate to
encouraging students to integrate heritage languages and community languages into their daily
lives.

The Instructor
Instructor Expectations and Responsibilities
The act of teaching is commonly defined as the act of showing or explaining how to do
something. Teaching is also so much more than that. A teacher is vendor who supplies
knowledge. A vendor who builds quality relationships and transactions with the consumer.

Effective teaching contributes to learning by facilitating the students ability to think. With
reference to Margaret Mead, a student should be taught how to think and not what to think. A
student can memorize on their own time.
Effective Teaching
Until the early 1900s, language was taught primarily by direct grammar translation in the
style of classic Latin and Greek. Although direct translation is essentially the foundation of
language learning research, we have come a long way. Today, there are an undefined number
of language teaching theories and opinions and it can be easy to dig even deeper to create
pseudo theories. Effective teaching leaves the research in the labs. These are 5 theories that
have greatly influenced my teaching philosophy. I have chosen them for their simplicity and
distinguished logic.
Input Hypothesis - Krashen
We acquire more language only when we are exposed to comprehensible input that is a
little beyond our current level of competence(Rodrigo, 2004) Krashen states that this
input should be one step ahead of the learners current ability, expressed as i + 1,
allowing learners to progress their language development.
Zone of proximal development - Vygotsky
Similar to the Input Hypothesis, this theory is based on Vygotskys idea: What the child
can do in cooperation today he can do alone tomorrow(Balakrishnan, 2012). Students
are active in their own learning through their language and interactions with others. For
learners, there is the known, the unknown, and skills too difficult to master alone but can
be acquired with guidance.
Affective filter hypothesis - Krashen
During language acquisition, there is one constant obstacle an instructor must adapt to.
This is the affective filter. Krashen refers this to a screen that is influenced by emotional
factors that can alter learning progress. This hypothetical filter does not impact
acquisition directly, it blocks input from entering the language acquisition part of the
brain. According to Krashen the affective filter can be stimulated by variables including
anxiety, self-confidence, motivation and stress.
TBLT - Prabhu
Popularized by N. Prabhu while working in India, task based language teaching(TBLT)
promotes learning by doing. The goal of using TBLT is to prepare learners to meet real
world language needs. Learning by doing integrates muscle memory thus resulting in a
higher chance of material making it to a learners long term memory bank.
Scaffolding - Vygotsky
Scaffolding can simply been imagined as a ladder. As the learner climbs, the Instructor
gradually adds rungs. With scaffolding, the learner can gradually meet increasing
challenging tasks.

 The Only Goal For Any Instructor

Building confidence in the students is an obvious goal for a teacher but, it is easier said
than done. The instructors confidence is directly proportional to the students confidence. Some
instructors dread lesson plans. They say, why spend hours preparing for a 45 minute class? A
smart instructor knows, a well thought out lesson plan can be used over and over. By using the
same format, the students will know what to expect. Students are smart and they catch on
quickly. The students intelligence should never be overlooked.
By using a similar routine, students will know, I need to use the five minutes before
class to review my notes because after roll call, there is going to be a pop-quiz...I better write
that in my notes because the instructor just used the red marker...I better get out my planner
because the instructor just said this will be homework and drew a black box around it. When
every day is different, the student will know, I can be late to class, the instructor doesnt take
roll and he spends the first five minutes getting ready anyway...I can just text on my phone, this
material has nothing to do with what we learned last week...the instructor didnt even say when
it's due, Ill just play video games and when he asks for the homework everyone will probably
say, what homework? A confident instructor is organised and creates lesson plans. Therefore,
student motivation is directly proportional to instructor organisation.
Organization isnt about Perfection. Its about efficiency, reducing stress & clutter, saving
time & money, & improving your overall quality of life.
Christina Scalise

Should An Instructor be Innovative?

Although a teacher should be creative and innovative, its important to be realistic. The
ideal teacher knows when to be innovative and when to follow pre-existing methods . A brand
new school could really appreciate out-of-the-box thinking. They are probably still settling into
the community and making adjustments and would really value some fresh eyes. However, if a
school has been around for a while and is already known for its prestigious curriculum and
outstanding pedagogy, innovation and change might not be something they are looking for and
could actually be seen as destructive.
Teacher Teacher relationship
The relationship between the instructors is very important and often it is overlooked.
Especially as a new instructor, learning what other instructors have done for specific students
and class activities can save time and effort as well as ensuring a stable environment for
students. The simplest patterns amongst other instructors can make the world of difference,
such as synergy between teachers. The number of students turning in homework could increase
by writing the homework in a designated homework box as well as reduce anxiety of instructors
and learners; both of which are directly proportional to student grades.

The Most important Day of School

The First Day Of Class

The first day of class is by far the most important day for the instructor and the learners.
This is the time for the instructor to introduce the course and set class standards and
expectations. The rest of the day is in the instructor's hands. It is more than an introduction, this
is an opportunity for the instructor to introduce themselves to the students and an opportunity to
learn about the students interests (e.g. Art, music, sports, food, trends, and fashion). It is a
chance to connect with the students, understand language learning abilities, and make any final
changes to the lesson plan. Here are some ways to get the ball rolling to transform the
classroom into a place where instructor becomes a guide and students become addicted to
learning. Create a list. Ask students to take 5-10 minutes and write down their learning
expectations for the course and personal interests. Introduce a question box to keep track of
stuff we want to learn about that can be reviewed the last part of class on Fridays. Assign
teams so students can socialize; the instructor shouldnt have to be the only one to promote
new ideas. Include surveys on the course that can help better assess learning needs. Model for
the students the process of learning using statements such as, I did not know that before...that
makes me feel sad...what do you think about it? Give students a chance to have three big tests
or, several quizzes and a final. In the end, the learner determines what they get out of the
course, so why not make that control available to them.

References
The relation of bilingualism to intelligence.
Peal, Elizabeth; Lambert, Wallace E.
Psychological Monographs: General and Applied, Vol 76(27), 1962, 1-23.
Kharkhurin, A. V. (2014). Creativity.4in1: Four-Criterion Construct of Creativity. Creativity Research
Journal, 26(3), 338-352.
Li, W., & Zhu, H. (2013). Translanguaging Identities and Ideologies: Creating Transnational Space
Through Flexible Multilingual Practices Amongst Chinese University Students in the UK.
Applied Linguistics, 34(5), 516-535.

Richards, Jack C.; Rodgers, Theodore S. (2001). Approaches and Methods in Language
Teaching (2nd ed.). Cambridge, New York: Cambridge University Press.
Rodrigo, V., Krashen, S., y Gribbons, B. 2004. "The effectiveness of two Comprehensible
input approaches to foreign language instruction at the intermediate level". System
32. 53-60.
Balakrishnan, V., & Claiborne, L. B. (2012). Vygotsky from ZPD to ZCD in moral education:
reshaping Western theory and practices in local context. Journal Of Moral Education,
41(2), 225-243.

Schwieter, J. W. (2011). Ofelia Garcia: Bilingual Education in the 21st Century: A Global
Perspective. Applied Linguistics, 32(4), 456-458
Sole, Y. R. (1994). The Input Hypothesis and the Bilingual Learner. Bilingual Review, 19(2),
99-110.
Benson, S. D. (2016). Task-based language teaching: An empirical study of task transfer.
Language Teaching Research, 20(3), 341-365.
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