My Teaching Methods

I have been a Polish and English teacher since 1976.

Over the years, I have taught many classes. I introduce a new language mainly by listening and at the beginning all lessons consist of listening, speaking as well as repeating or performing only. I teach grammar simply through situations with no reference to grammar rules at all. My students listen and read a lot to improve their language communication skills. I do not take advantage of the bridge language L1.

I often find myself thinking in Polish and English, flying back and forth from the two languages.
It is difficult to manage exchanging thoughts in two languages simultaneously.  Anyhow, why would you like to? Generally speaking, I am for blended learning and teaching with no remark to L1.
Thinking in a foreign language from an early stage helps students gain a level of fluency making very few errors in communication.
I believe, the sooner a student learns to think in a foreign language, the faster she/he will learn. This can only take place if no reference at all is made to L1. My learners need to be free from the interruption of L1.
Maybe I am wrong because it is obviously much easier to teach/learn with the help of pure conversion.
On the other hand, I know that anyone who is learning a second language wishes and dreams about communicating and thinking in that language.
I teach a lot, approximately 4 Polish classes and 4 English classes a day, and I have to admit that my students are very successful learners.

HALINA'S LEARNING, TEACHING AND MUCH MORE....: Halina's English Tutoring

HALINA'S LEARNING, TEACHING AND MUCH MORE....: Halina's English Tutoring: Private Tutor Halina

Private Tutor Halina

There are many ways to learn English but the best way is to have a F2F or an online private tutor.

It is clear that a non-native who knows how to teach is way better than a native who doesn't know how to teach.You need someone who can motivate you, can help you learn how to enjoy studying English as well as speaking it.

Someone who can answer your questions, develop your skills, and design a learning package that meets your needs in English.

With an online English Coach, you can learn English from the comfort of your own home or from your office, at a time that suits you.

Communication in English nowadays is a MUST.

https://voicethread.com/share/5680749/
https://voicethread.com/#q.b4181272.i0.k0

 

 

Sugata Mitra

http://iatefl.britishcouncil.org/2014/sessions/2014-04-05/plenary-sugata-mitra?utm_source=09+April+2014&utm_campaign=ConstantContact+26+March&utm_medium=email
The future of learning In this talk, Sugata Mitra will take us through the origins of schooling as we know it, to the dematerialisation of institutions as we know them. Thirteen years of experiments in children's education takes us through a series of startling results – children can self-organise their own learning, they can achieve educational objectives on their own, they can read by themselves. Finally, the most startling of them all: groups of children with access to the internet can learn anything by themselves. From the slums of India, to the villages of India and Cambodia, to poor schools in Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, the USA and Italy, to the schools of Gateshead and the rich international schools of Washington and Hong Kong, Sugata's experimental results show a strange new future for learning. - See more at: http://iatefl.britishcouncil.org/2014/sessions/2014-04-05/plenary-sugata-mitra?utm_source=09+April+2014&utm_campaign=ConstantContact+26+March&utm_medium=email#sthash.LfTv1D2R.dpuf

The 4 Components of a DIY Professional Development Toolkit

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/4-components-diy-pd-toolkit-dave-guymon

 Education has always been a reflection of broader cultural values. As such, the roles of teachers and students have evolved as our models of education have moved from one iteration to another. Teachers who once traveled to town to instruct a heterogeneous room full of passive learners on matters of rote memorization have come to adopt new roles and philosophies toward learning. As these new models have emerged, educators have been required to hone their skills and adapt to ever changing sets of priorities, needs and expectations.
Where such trainings were once the sole responsibility of state and district organizations, many teachers are now seeing the value of venturing out to amalgamate their own professional learning experiences. While no two paths are the same, there are four components of effective do-it-yourself (DIY) professional development that all educational professionals should consider.

The benefits of learning a foreign language

http://www.newsminer.com/business/the-benefits-of-learning-a-foreign-language/article_d189bc9c-b7e0-11e3-b994-0017a43b2370.html

The research also found that “children who study a foreign language, even when this second language study takes time away from the study of mathematics, outperform students who do not study a foreign language and have more mathematical instruction during the school day.” Learning a second language “is an exercise in cognitive problem solving” and is “directly transferable to the area of mathematical skill development.” What’s more, speaking and writing in a second language requires learning multiple ways to express an idea, which in turn improves people’s ability to communicate more effectively in their native language.

Challenging the brain to memorize and negotiate the meaning of new words, symbols and rules strengthens “mental muscles.” Perception also increases as the brain learns to focus on important information, while excluding what’s irrelevant. According to a recent study in the journal “Neurology” written by Dr. Thomas Bak, being bilingual is an “effective type of mental training” that keeps the brain “nimble” and may delay the onset of dementia and Alzheimer’s by up to six years.

The incentives to learn a second language are compelling. Chris Thomas, manager of GE’s Commercial Leadership Program, says that job applicants who speak more than one language “are attractive and more marketable. There’s a growing need to understand and relate to customers and partners in a language that they are comfortable speaking.”

Teaching Foreign Language

As a non-native English teacher, I can make excellent role model for my students who may not have faith in their ability to learn the target language (" If I made it and speak this language thus you also can!").
I am against methods that emphasize learning about the language but for learning by using the language / expressions, collocations, models, patterns, language chunks......./.
I don't approve grammar classes explaining rules and language terminology. Speaking is the main reason for learning a language and the main motivational driver that keeps you trying and improving.
My experience tells that I ought to practice active learning principles to progress activities for my students that best mirror particular communication style and the topics, forms of thinking, and solving problems strategies which are needed to comprehend and relate to the topics.
In my view, the most important skill to master is speaking the language. This is difficult assignment especially if you don’t live or work in native speaking country. We can look for reliable supports to talk to. It is essential to find someone whom we’re comfortable speaking with.
Generally speaking in high schools worldwide, attention is still focused on the language in its written form and the objective is for the student to understand the structure and rules of the language, whose parts are dissected and analyzed. The body is of greater importance than communication. Teaching and learning are based on the syllabus. One studies the theory in the absence of the practice. One values the correct and represses the incorrect. Error correction is constant leaving little room for spontaneity. The student is taught how to form interrogative and negative sentences, memorize irregular verbs, study modal verbs, etc., but hardly ever masters the use of these structures in conversation.
I strongly believe that efficient teaching is personalized, takes place in a bicultural environment and is based on the personal skills of the language instructor in building interactions and creating situations of real communication with understandable input focusing on the learner's interests.

http://www.scoop.it/t/how-to-teach-online-efectivelly

http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/epaper/2014-03/06/content_17327762.htm

The Department of Polish Language for Foreigners

http://www.sjo.pwr.wroc.pl/89769,131.dhtml

The Department of Polish Language for Foreigners was established in 1985 by Ministry of Education and the Rector of Wroclaw University of Technology. Students from all over the world study here. Several thousand students have completed courses in Polish, at a variety of levels, and enrolled at diverse universities, in order to study areas such as electronics, medicine, law, economy and political science – at undergraduate or postgraduate programmes.

 

The fees for one-year course: €2,000 plus €200 admission fee. Students of Polish ancestry are entitled to a 30% reduction. 

The Department of Polish Language for Foreigners at Wroclaw University of Technology is the only institution in Wroclaw which issues certificates entitling its graduates to enroll at any university in Poland.

The teachers are highly qualified. We established methods of teaching Polish as a foreign language are tailored to students’ individual needs.

The learning takes place in a beautifully-located, modern building, equipped with language and computer laboratories, library and multimedia library.

Since 1990 we have organized National Polish Language Competitions for International Students.

Courses offered by the Polish Language Centre for Foreigners:

• The Polish language course

• The Polish language summer course

• The humanistic disciplines

• Polish Culture and History - 30h
   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  This course is an introduction to central issues in Polish history and culture. Poles in their past  lived under no less than seven different regimes. Our emphasis in the course will be on the dialectic of continuity and change that this political history has impressed on Polish culture and society.
   
  Contemporary Poland cultural and historical settings are discussed. The subjects connected with Wrocław are included. Wrocław is a city that can be seen as a metaphor of Central Europe, Europe, or even our globalizing world as a whole. The course of Wrocław history reflects the course of the Polish history and culture.
   
  Lecture:
  

  1. Introduction – general information. Contemporary Poland.
  2. Wrocław – a city of meeting, a city that unites, traditions of the West and the East. The role Wrocław has played in Europe, has been primary determined by its location.
  3. Polish society and everyday life in Poland. The Polish – myths, stereotypes and paradoxes.
  4. History of Poland – from the down to the present day.
  5. The Third Republic of Poland – collapse of the communist regime. Solidarność.
  6. The society and its environment – social order, ethnics groups, economy.
  7. Education and culture. Polish tradition and customs.
  8. Government and politics.
  9. Poland ant its neighbors.
  10. Health and welfare. 
  11. Environment and pollution.
  12. Foreign relations and Poles abroad. 
  13. 20th century – I and II World War and Poland under Communist rule.
  14. The Solidarity movement, with its charismatic leader Lech Wałęsa
  15. Poland after 1989 to 2010: remarkable people of Polish public life.

  Basic literature:
  

  1. Bubczyk R., A History of Poland in Outline, UMCS, Lublin 2006.
  2. Suchodolski  Bogdan, A History of Polish Culture, Interpress, Warsaw 1986.
  3. Wrobel P., Historical dictionary of Poland : 1945-1996, Greenwood Press, 1998.

  Additional literature:
  

  1. Ash, Timothy Garton. The Magic Lantern: The Revolution of '89  Witnessed in Warsaw, Budapest, Berlin, and Prague. New York: Random House, 1990.
  2. Banaszkiewicz-Zygmunt E., Olendzki, Krzysztof , Poland: An Encyclopedic Guide, Polish Scientific Publishers PWN, Warsaw 2000.
  3. Biskupski, Mieczyslaw B.,The history of Poland,  Greenwood Press, 2000.
  4. Brzozowska-Krajka, Anna, Polish traditional folklore : the magic of time , East European Monographs, 1998.
  5. Davies N., Heart of Europe: A Short History of Poland. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1986.
  6. Davies N., Roger Moorhouse, Microcosm: A Portrait of a Central European City, Pimlico edition, London 2003.
  7. Lukowski J., Hubert Zawadzki,  A Concise History of Poland, Cambridge University Press  2006.­
  8. Zamoyski, Adam, The Polish way : a thousand-year history of the Poles and their culture, F. Watts, 1988.

  ­Opracowała mgr Halina Ostańkowicz-Bazan
   

  do góry drukuj