Republic of the Philippines

Nueva Ecija University of Science and Technology

Cabanatuan City, Nueva Ecija

GRADUATE SCHOOL

The Cross – Road of 21st Century Language Teacher

(Academic Paper # 1)

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements in ALB 211- Current Issues and

Development in Language Education

SUBMITTED BY:
HEIDI M. LADIGNON
MAE-Applied Linguistics

SUBMITTED TO:
MR. REYNALDO ILUMIN
Course Professor

2nd Semester S.Y. 2019-2020

A. Introduction

Everyone has its own likes and dislikes. So, same with the case of choosing a career.

Some wants to become an engineer, architect, doctor, pilot, etc. and a few wanted to become a

teacher

Being a teacher is not an easy job, it is very demanding and takes a lot of efforts. You

need to spend a lot of hours in school teaching students, reading books, doing lesson plans and

instructional materials. In short, this profession needs hard work and patience, but it is a most

rewarding profession in the work force today. It is an ideal and noble profession in the sense that

teacher remains honest and studious in his/her profession.

The teachers are the ones who give their gems from their minds to their students. The

storehouse of knowledge and information. Also, the ones who mold the characters and

personalities of learners. The ones who guide and help the students in their most critical periods

and the maker of their lives. The teachers are held in high esteem by everyone ─ students as well

as the society.

B. Body

In 20th century, our teachers were the stars of the classroom. They gave out knowledge

and leaners would just memorize it, especially on the English subject. English teachers during

that time were focused on giving lectures, storytelling, and they usually taught their lessons

based on their textbooks. They were not familiar with the technology integration and they gave

lots of assignments. Also, they always asked their students to write a composition on a formal

theme book then they would read it in front of the class. For the learners, they were not good
when it comes on speaking in English, in fact they find this subject difficult, so they didn’t talk

that much during their English periods.

Today, we are living in the 21 st century. Changes happened. The digital technology has

been spread out systematically and it truly affects all of us, our educational systems and of

course, our learners. The teachers now are merely “facilitators” or “guide on the side”. They are

not the only ones who will speak during the whole period of discussion but rather the students

need to participate; they have to voice out their own ideas, they have to express themselves or in

short, it should have a classroom interaction.

The learners will not just seat on the one side of the classroom, but they will seat with

their other classmates; they will form a group and they will do communicating and collaborating

which is effective because they will know the perspectives of their classmates about a certain

lesson and they will also learn something from them.

The English teachers nowadays are not just relying on the textbook, but they are fond of

using authentic materials like audiobooks, videos, audiovisuals etc. which have a great impact

because learners started to like English subject.

On the other hand, there are some learners who are already good on speaking in English

since they have a background about the language, or they have access to other resources. So,

what the English teachers do for this type of learner is that he/she will try to think of other

techniques that can further enhance their English communication skills like they will ask them to

do a role-play, to have a debate or speech choir . With that the learners will not just improve

their speaking skills, but they can also show their talents. That’s the reason why teachers must

use rubrics and it is very common assessment tools in schools today.

 However, I think it is not a technology that is having a biggest influence on our lives, it is

the speed of change that we are experiencing. For us teachers to cope with these various changes,

we must know better, we have to do better. Let’s find out first what are the characteristics that

we need to possess in order to be an effective 21st teacher.

CHARACTERISTICS OF A 21ST CENTURY TEACHER

Adaptive

Being a teacher in today’s world means you must know how to adapt the ever-changing

tools and the change that happened in the schools. For example, before English language

teachers use books to tell stories or discuss literature but now, they just look for a video about

literature or they just download an audiobook. As a teacher we must accept this reality when it

comes in teaching English.

Life-long learners

Our journey as a teacher will not end once we finished our bachelor’s degree and passed

our licensure examination; we must be a life-long learner. We must be keep updated to all the

current education trends and technology. We also need to attend seminars and trainings for our

professional development.

As an English teacher, we can improve ourselves by doing a lot of readings, watching

English documentaries, exploring the library about the different researches etc.

Tech Savvy
 21st century teachers should be good with the usage of technology. The latest technology

can allow the teacher and student to be able to learn better and faster. We, teachers should not

just familiar on the current trends, but we should really know how to master them.

Know how to collaborate

One of the most important characteristics that a 21 st century teacher should develop

within himself is knowing how to collaborate and work well within a team. For us 21 st English

teachers, collaborating and communicating are two powerful practices that we nee to do because

it can help us to improve our English communication skills and at the same time it can enrich our

vocabulary. Learning can be more effective when you share your ideas and knowledge with

others. Sharing your expertise and experience and communicating and learning from others is an

important part of the learning and teaching process.

Forward thinker

An effective 21st century educator thinks about the future of their learners. They are

always planning a strategies and techniques that can cover all the needs of their learners and can

prepare them for their tomorrow’s future.

Our main role as a 21st century English language teacher is to help our students to

enhance their English oral and written communication skills since it is essential once they look

for a job especially if it is in abroad.

Advocates for the Profession

 All of us teachers no matter what specific subject we teach, it is our duty to stand for our

profession and for ourselves. Also, we must advocate for our students. Nowadays classrooms are

filled with children with diverse needs and they need someone to look out for them, give them

advice, encouragement, and a listening ear. We, teachers should act as a role model for our

students.

C. Implications

The world is rapidly becoming a different place, and the challenges to individuals and

societies imposed by globalization and modernization are widely acknowledged. The speed of

educational improvement is sustained by media and digital technology usage which is known as

information superhighway. The internet was started in the commercial world in early 1970,

information spread widely to whole world.

In this century, education becomes more relevant to guarantee that the learners will get a

skill, innovation ability, creativity, teamwork, and learn how to use life skill in their life.

Our advantage as an English language educator working in the classroom today is that we

have already adjusted ahead our peers and colleagues teaching math, science, and good old-

fashioned grammar. The 21st century skills can be summarized by the 4Cs: Communication,

Critical thinking, Creativity, Collaboration. This list of skills are our goals as an English

language teacher. However, when depicting these skills, we aren’t just talking about teaching

English, but skills that can be used to prepare learners for the 21st century. The changes that

happened in educational curriculum make students to be able to:

 Perform independently and with groups in a highly technologically advanced

atmosphere

 Be ready for daily, global interaction

  Be cable of adaptive, flexible and creative thinking

 Understand how to plan for, build, and include collaboration with peers who are

colleagues and experts in the field.

New trends technologies have supplemented English teaching in authenticity and literacy

such as reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills of students. English is the universal

language that all people in the world can understand. Students can learn the English language

faster and easier because they have more resources and they have access to the technology in and

out of the school. Learning English through the web and using new trends in education in schools

make students willing to learn the language. It is very clear that English has become a necessity

today. We need it in almost all aspects of our life. In addition, it gives a chance for the learners to

work collaboratively and easily access the information that can further develop their learning

experience.

D. Conclusion

Many nations around the world accepted the reforms of curriculum, instructions, and

assessment with the goal of making the children ready for the higher educational demand of life

and work in the 21st century. These higher demands have been placed on the shoulders of the 21 st

century teachers. They need to be well-versed in the subject they teach in order to be

knowledgeable at using different methods and, if required, changing their styles, approaches, and

strategies to optimize learning. They need a rich storage of teaching strategies, the capableness to

combine approaches, and the mindfulness of knowing how and when to use a certain methods and

strategies.
 Importantly, we, teachers also need to have a better and deep understanding of how

learning occurs, in general, and of individual learner’s motivations, emotion, and lives outside the

classroom, in particular. We need to develop how to collaborate with others, working with other

teachers, professionals and para-professionals, within the same organization, or with individuals in

other organizations, networks of professional communities and different partnership arrangements,

which may include mentoring teachers. Lastly, we have to acquire the strong skills of using

technology and integrating it in our classrooms since it is reliable to for the students to improve

the development of their learnings and also, it is an effective tool that can track the students’

performance.

E. References

Cavus, Nadire & Sarica, Gulcin (2009). World Conferences on Educational Sciences 2009: New

trends in 21st Century English learning.

Costley, Kevin C. (2014). The Positive Effects of Technology on Teaching and Student

Learning. Unpublished: Arkansas Tech University.

Cox, Janelle (2019). Characteristics of a 21st-Century Teacher. ThoughtCo, Feb.11, 2020.

Fatimah, Asri Siti (2017). Script Journal: Journal of Linguistic and English Teaching, Teaching

In 21st Century: Students-Teachers’ Perceptions Of Technology Use In The Classroom.

Santiana, Siliwangi University.

Schleicher, Andreas (ed.) (2012), “Preparing teachers to deliver 21st-century skills”, in

Preparing Teachers and Developing School Leaders for the 21st Century: Lessons from

the world, OECD Publishing, Paris.

Tumapon, Teresita (2019), The 21st Century Teacher. The Manila Times.
Criteria for Evaluation of Academic Paper:

Criteria Points Actual Assessment

Content, Substance, and 50
Significance
Organization and Completeness 25
Accuracy and Correctness 25
Total 100