Unit 3 The Teaching and Learning of EFL

Module 1 The Basic Principles of TESOL

Each task should be between 500 and 750 words long.

TASK 1

Using what you have read in this introduction to TESOL and your own
knowledge, what do you consider to be the blocks which may prevent
language learning?

TASK 2

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"............it seems reasonable to suggest that the motivation that students

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bring to class is the biggest single factor affecting their success" ( The
Practice of English Language Teaching' Harmer)

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From your own experience and from what you have read can you
comment on this statement?
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TASK 3
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" Knowing a language is not just a matter of having grammatical

'competence' ........ We have seen that we also need to add
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communicative competence - that is the understanding of what language

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is appropriate within certain situations." (The Practice of English Language

Teaching' Harmer)
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Is there any place for teaching grammar in a formal manner? Give

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reasons for your answer and include a discussion of what you mean by
‘a formal manner’.

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 TASK 1
Using your own knowledge, what do you consider to be the blocks which may prevent
language learning?
It is certain that everyone is different in terms of abilities, learning styles and
circumstances. The blocks which may prevent language learning are difficult to handle. In
short, I would divide such blocks into inner and outer issues. Inner ones relate to mental and
physical challenges, whereas outer ones focus on obstacles standing in our way.
First and foremost, inner problems blocking our learning affect our body and mind,
namely stress and lack of motivation. Stress harms our physical bodies as well as ability to
memorize information, while apathy harms our productivity. As an illustration, experts
believe that stressful life events can have profound effects on our leaning abilities. Studies of
the effects of stress on memory and learning indicate that low levels may decrease learning
abilities, whereas higher levels harm overall productivity of the mind. To clarify, our ability
to retrieve and encode information from stored memories can be quite easily hijacked by
stressful situations. Notably, most relevant findings on the topic indicate that stress leads to a
substantial decrease in mind activity while processing memory-related information. In

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general, learning is a process, sometimes the stress can be avoided just by slowing things

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down, learning can still be effective if the priorities are taken into account without

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overworking. Moreover, as explained in task 2, motivation is everything when learning a

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foreign langue, lack of thereof hurts productivity dramatically resulting in failure and loss of
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valuable time.
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Correspondingly, outer issues may involve teachers, who fail to motivate and
educate students to the best of their abilities. Unless person studies foreign language by
himself, it is of paramount importance to have an inspiring and highly professional instructor
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by our side. After all, teaching is a performance art, the master has to educate as well as to
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engage. My language learning journey had a rough start, I had to self educate myself before
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circumstances changed and the door of opportunities opened with the new professor greatly
helping me out along the way. As the saying goes - in teaching others we teach ourselves. By
developing passion for learning we will never cease to grow and to inspire others to do the
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same. Good educators are high in demand, but to be an effective teacher she or he needs to
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have a set of professional skills to complete the package. My issue with the first teacher was
connected to teaching from the book rather than from heart because teaching from heart
implies being inspirational to others. Anyone can teach from a book, but from heart and soul
only rare professionals. Students, who are inspired by their teachers, can accomplish amazing
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things, and that motivation almost always stays with them. That is because inspiration is one
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of the most important gifts a teacher can provide students. A teacher that inspires is a role
model, an influence that goes far beyond academic achievements. Therefore, in order not to
be an obstacle in somebody else’s language learning journey an educator has to be inspiring
and motivating.
Lastly, at the end of the day language learning is a process that requires a lot of
memorizing. Inner and outer factors aside, it may simply be a challenge to hold everything
we need to remember in our head. Point often overlooked - when we actively engage in ways
to make remembering information easier, our brain becomes better at it. This means that
nobody is forgetful by nature. If we treat our brain like a muscle, we can use it and make it
stronger. The less we try to actively memorize information, the lazier the brain gets. That is
why, memorizing techniques are essential when working towards preventing language
learning blocks. There is no point of using all of them, the key is to find and to pick the one

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 that works for us personally. In my experience, “The Storytelling Technique” works wonders
as in includes practical element of studying. It is considered that our brains love stories, from
childhood fairytales to more serious books in adulthood. Stories encompass all the qualities of
information that makes our brain love and remember it such as vivid and colorful picture and
engaging plotlines about other beings that are alive. Unfortunately, we are unable to remember
everything forever, but if we eliminate stress, increase our motivation, train our memory like
a muscle and make sure that our professor is suitable for us, then every obstacle in learning
language can transform into opportunity to grow and to learn even more.
Word count:746

TASK 2
"............it seems reasonable to suggest that the motivation that students bring to class is the
biggest single factor affecting their success" (The Practice of English Language Teaching'

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Harmer)

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From your own experience and from what you have read can you comment on this statement?

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This is not particularly new and has been used for many years in the field of teaching
English or any other language or discipline. That is to say, the phenomenon of motivation as
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the biggest single factor affecting students’ success has been widely observed. To put it
another way, according to Friedrich Nietzsche, if we have a why to live for, we can tolerate
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any how. In that regard, motivation equals hard work, because people tend to work
exceptionally hard when they are motivated enough to keep going no matter what.
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As for my own opinion on the statement coupled with experience in the area, I am
convinced that hard work beats talent, when talent does not work hard enough. That is to say,
the process of learning foreign language is not all fun and games granted that the outcome is
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always up to students and the work that they put into it. It is a matter of experience that such
process takes time, practice, dedication and motivation. Over the years I have witnessed
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dozens of students wasting away their talents because of their lack of commitment, discipline,
motivation and passion for the things that they were learning.
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To emphasize, it is a matter of common knowledge that the rule of 10 thousand

hours popularized by Malcolm Gladwell implies dedication and determination of students,
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when learning new things. As it follows, the number of hours that it takes to become an
expert in something is determined by that particular standard. Therefore, the process of
learning English can be compared to two sided street with hard work on one side and success
on the other. As Chinese proverb highlights - a journey of a thousand miles begins with a
single step. As a result, when a student takes a step towards hard work, he or she gains that
momentum and motivation essential for the successful outcome.
Must be remembered that it is easier to learn a language when the student has the
right motivations for it because mostly practice helps learn language well with repetition and
dedication to the cause of studying. Point often overlooked, undertaking the study of a
language is not a trivial matter. There is a lot of material to master, and it takes a great deal of
time, energy, and commitment. It also requires constant practice. For that reason, motivation
plays a critical role. For a lack of a better cliché, motivation in terms of success can be

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 compared to the process of watering a plant. If we do not water the plant whenever it needs it
will die, similarly to our desire to learn. People say will is a skill and I wholeheartedly agree
with that assumption in the light of watering a plant analogy. Notably, success in whatever we
are doing depends on our hard work which is fueled mostly by motivation. Otherwise our
minds and learning abilities are wasted like the plant which did not get any water for survival.
Lastly, we are all different, that is why it is essential to pick a learning style that suits
us the best. It is a matter of common knowledge that some perceive information better from
visual sources, while the others prefer audio. At the end of the day, it all depends on the
learner’s personality, yet motivation and hard work are quite universal regardless of the
preferences. In the grand scheme of things, everybody wants to grow on a personal level and
to be successful. Theoretically speaking, people know about the process of achieving certain
things, the mechanics and details of it all, however, when time comes, majority of people
freeze not knowing when or how to start. That is where the motivation comes into picture, as
a person directly involved in other’s learning processes it is up to me to be that stepping stone
that motivates students to work hard.
Turning to the final point, motivation has a lot of beneficial effects on students’

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success as it guides them towards particular goals. Additionally, it enhances cognitive

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processing as it directs them towards their aims while helping to achieve millstones along the

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way. In a nutshell, motivation itself involves goals and requires action. In turn, goals provide

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the driving force and direction of activity because naturally action requires effort. Ergo, to

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achieve long term success, lasting motivated hard work is required.
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Word count:726
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TASK 3
v i y re

" Knowing a language is not just a matter of having grammatical 'competence' ........ We have
seen that we also need to add communicative competence - that is the understanding of what
language is appropriate within certain situations." (The Practice of English Language
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Teaching' Harmer)
ar stu

Is there any place for teaching grammar in a formal manner? Give reasons for your answer
and include a discussion of what you mean by ‘a formal manner’.
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In teaching same as in life, balance is the ultimate goal, balance between formal and
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informal ways, strict rules and creativity, obedience and self expression. The overall goal of
language learning is the ability to use it when appropriate. However, one cannot exist without
the other, implying grammar and communicative competence. The problem of people
knowing grammar and not being able to speak properly in another language has been largely
studied. Recent discovery provides solution to the problem by choosing practical side over
theoretical one. I cannot fully agree with such method because everything is good in
moderation.
From one point of view it appears only logical to practice more avoiding dry and
formal grammatical side of the question. After all, the whole reason of studying theory is to
apply it to practice. Nevertheless, the opposite viewpoint suggests that the grammar is the
foundation of the language itself, neglecting that side will not be efficient in the long run.
That being said, the main advantage of the method that I use is that it takes the best of two

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 worlds by transforming the knowledge into highly effective program. I appreciate and
practice the old formal ways of teaching grammar, while equally focusing on the modern
practical aspect of communicative competence.
It is often said that the grammar with all its rules is the foundation of the language.
Even though sadly it seems no longer important to use proper grammar in life, professional
and academic fields still require high grammatical proficiency. To explain, if the grammar is
the foundation, then the communication is what we do with the help of that foundation.
Formally taught grammar implies the use of textbook materials, their memorization and
acknowledgement before turning to communication itself. Moreover, if to compare language
to bricks, we can understand that we will not build a proper house without the foundation, we
can surround ourselves with the piles of useless constructions, phrases and proverbs, but they
will be useless if we cannot base them on theoretical knowledge.
Most compelling evidence - grammar does not exist for its own sake, instead it
exists to aid in communication. To repeat, if we divide sandwich into separate ingredients –
we will not be calling it sandwich anymore, nor will it serve its rightful purpose, same can be
applicable to grammar and communication existing separately. Grammar allows sentences to

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be in order, it invites sense to the discussion. My semi formal principle of teaching grammar

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includes the classical textbook memorization of grammatical rules and constructions, coupled

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with practical part of the question. Meaning – we learn and we practice right away.

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To sum it up, it may be said that one cannot exist without the other. Grammatical and
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communicative competences go hand in hand if we allow them to. Grammar does not need to
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be a question of drill, taught in a boring practice free way, nor is it helpful to encourage
students to speak right away disregarding rules. My semi formal manner is user friendly as it
encourages people to speak up and to apply everything on practice only after theoretical part
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is taken care of. Students usually dislike learning grammar, because it is difficult and boring,
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however, I do believe that teaching grammar is important, and it helps students to start
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speaking correctly almost right away.

Word count:551
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Name: Malinina Kira

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Course: 220 Hour Online TESOL with TEYL, TBE and TP Group_3
18/05/2020
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