Vicanda Ma

TESOL Listening & Speaking

Mathew Kutter
March 23, 2018
Final Lesson Reflection
In this short 30 minute lesson, I decided to teach the students about current slang words. I
focused on the informal side of conversations in the target language. Most students know formal
English language, but they may not always understand informal English language. Most native
speakers speak fast with a lot of intonations (to show their emotions), and they shorten their
speech or words using slangs. I hope that this lesson can help students understand native
speakers and build better relations with them and the cultural around the English language (in the
U.S).
In my lesson delivery, there were some strong points and some weak points. I was able to
ask a lot of comprehension checks before I or they started an activity. Although, my activities
could have been better if they were separated into smaller groups, so that there were more
participation between the students. I also realized that I did not completely follow my lesson
plan. There were some questions in relation to the dialogue, and I only had them answer one
question out of three. During answering the first question, this would have been a good
opportunity for a teaching moment. There was one slang word that I did not define in the
dialogue. I should have stated that the reason why I did not define this slang was because I
wanted them to infer the meaning through the context of the dialogue. Instead, I explained the
definition for them. Some other strong point was that I wanted them to practice reading and
speaking out loud in class, so I had them read the slang words or phrases and the definition.
Another point that was strong was that I was able to incorporate my philosophy of teaching
within this lesson. I wanted the students to be exposed to the culture around the language
because “language is immersed in a social and cultural context, and its central function is to
serve as a medium of communication” (Brown, 2014, p. 13). Slang is an important part of the
growth in the informal spoken language. If I had more time to deliver this lesson, I would have
shortly explained the origin of the slang words or phrases. I would have also gave less phrases or
words to the class, since twelve was a little bit too much for the students to remember.

Brown, H. (2014). Principles of Language Learning and Teaching. White Plains, NY. Pearson
Education.