BEYOND STRUCTURES

BY: JHONNY SARMIENTO P.

ENGLISH DIDACTICS
PROFESSOR: MARTHA DUQUE

UNIVERSIDAD PONTIFICIA BOLIVARIANA

ENGLISH TEACHING SPECIALIZATION

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2004

BEYOND STRUCTURES

This work provides an opportunity to reflect on the way I have carried out my teaching activity in

the classroom. After having attended this course of English Didactics, I am able to consider that

the instruction I received has made significant contributions to my work in Academia Antioqueña

de Aviación. For years, I have defined myself as a teacher who attaches importance to the

necessity of developing communicative skills in my students. Taking into consideration the

methodology I have followed for seven years, I can determine that the most relevant goal when

doing my work is to improve my students' oral production, which is essential in language

learning. However, in this course I have become aware that there are lots of aspects to learn in

order to establish improvement deeds and steps in teaching process.

By working on the different topics that were discussed in this course, I acquired fairly valuable

knowledge that has helped me expand my view of English teaching. For instance, the

contributions made by the study of Multiple Intelligences were meaningful, since I have been

able to set up some activities that have fostered my students' participation in several ways

corresponding to the different learning styles they have. As a result of the implementation of

these conceptions about Multiple Intelligences in my daily work, some of my students who

considered themselves as shy people in previous courses, have shown a good performance and a
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high level of motivation when doing their work. Due to these valuable conceptions I acquired

during the course, my work has contributed to increase my students' oral production.

Because of the fact that in a class we have students who learn in different ways, have different

abilities and different levels of motivation, I have tried to establish the most appropriate learning

environment, an environment in which learners have been encouraged to develop their different

strengths. In this context, implementing some teaching strategies has been decisive.

Moreover, some other conceptions have played an essential role in my teaching activity since this

course started. By studying Methodology of Language Teaching, I was able to implement in my

class some key concepts from several approaches in language teaching. These foundations

provided clear ideas that have been put into practice when designing the activities I carry out. I

am aware that the most important goal in language learning is effective communication, and in

this context, the communicative approach sets up the most representative foundations. However, I

consider that some other conceptions complement this approach. I have also attached importance

to the internalization of structures through repetition of sentences. Thus, in my classes I fix an

environment in which my students take time to repeat, make substitution and transformation of

some sentences with changeable words in order for learners to internalize those structures, which

are applied in some specific situations.

I consider that the conversations and dialogs presented in the textbook I work with provide a

useful opportunity to use the structures my students internalize. I first illustrate by reading the

dialog for learners to listen to my pronunciation. Then, I ask them to read it and some corrections

are made. After that, I ask questions to check students' comprehension. But the most important

goal when studying a dialog is definitely to encourage my students' oral production by taking a
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specific word or situation in the dialog and starting a set of referential questions, which demand

real communication and meaningful interaction, not only the use of a specific structure. That is

what develops communicative skills in learners. By asking these referential questions, the

opportunity to encourage my students' participation is established. They usually express a

remarkable interest in speaking in the class, making some comments about the different topics

and reflecting on them. Everything is carried out in real contexts; it is, by applying the themes

presented in the book to our real life. My students really enjoy these activities. They find that

they are producing language by interacting in that way.

But I have also implemented some other teaching strategies. Readings, for instance, provide an

effective opportunity to foster my students' oral production. The readings we have made within

this semester have been useful to set up some activities like round tables, which have taken in

some cases two hours when carried out. Another strategy I follow is the analysis of charts. The

book I work with has some charts called Snapshots that introduce real information about the

world and culture. I profit from these Snapshots and encourage discussion in my students. When

carrying out my work, there have been occasions in which the discussion starting from a chart has

taken two hours. After a class, my students usually comment on how profitable those activities

have been. It makes me feel fairly satisfied, since I find that my work is contributing to the

improvement of my students' communicative skills. I also work on the development of listening

and writing skills. However, the most important aspect in my classes is oral production.

This work doesn't have the purpose of defining myself as the best teacher, but rather, the one of

humbly sharing something about my teaching experience, which has been enriched due to the

relevant contributions English Didactics made during this quarter. This is one experience in
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which importance is attached to the goal of working in order to increase language production and

go beyond structures.