Teaching Philosophy
Provided that a foreign language class is a class mainly related to the training and development of language skills, a teacher in a foreign language class should first
analysis students' needs and then be a tailor who makes expert use of related materials and resources to design effective practices and classroom activities to help
students master foreign language skills and knowledge. A foreign language teacher should combine different teaching methods to make language learning more
efficient and interesting instead of being limited to a textbook style or any kind of teaching pedagogy. No textbook or teaching method is perfect or set in stone. For
example, the teacher can use the same report from a newspaper to design a reading activity or a speaking activity, and tailor it to students at intermediate level or
higher levels.
For a course plan, a foreign language teacher should work on his or her teaching according to students’ aptitude, the goal of the course and the settings of the
course,then decide the focus of the course: accuracy or fluency. If the teacher regards fluency is the focus of the course, it does not means that the teacher can
ignore or underestimate the importance of accuracy. Therefore, for every class, the teacher should consider the specific situation of that class, make a teaching plan
(extra activities should be planned in advance in case of extra time remaining) and adjust the plan to fit the classroom at a specific point. For example, I designed a
role-play activity last week for my drill session at Columbia University, but there was not enough time left because of the fire alarm drill, so I switched it to a short
discussion activity and it worked. A quote I always bear in my mind is “A good teacher should be flexible for any case and any level.”
In addition, a foreign language class inevitably involves cross-culture communication. Therefore, a teacher in a student-centered classroom also plays the role of a
bridge or a conduit who helps students better understand the culture carried by the target language. This does not mean that the teacher has to deliver more cultural
knowledge to students. I think the best way to play the role of a bridge is to provide more activities to engage students in cross-cultural exchange of ideas. For
example, last summer, the fourth year Chinese students at the Columbia in Beijing Intensive Chinese Program, learned a famous essay “He Tang Yue Se (荷塘月色)” written by Zhu Zhiqing(朱自清). In order to help students master related vocabulary and enhance their understanding about this text, I tried to let students share
their opinions towards loneliness and share their reading experience about this topic. Their positive feedback about this activity made me believe that there exist
universal joys and emotions that can be shared across other cultures through language.
I have seen firsthand the positive experience that learning a second language can have on people’s lives in terms of the joy of learning and the increased
employment opportunities that bilingualism brings. I look forward to continuing my work on helping others learn Chinese and contributing to Chinese teaching.
Provided that a foreign language class is a class mainly related to the training and development of language skills, a teacher in a foreign language class should first
analysis students' needs and then be a tailor who makes expert use of related materials and resources to design effective practices and classroom activities to help
students master foreign language skills and knowledge. A foreign language teacher should combine different teaching methods to make language learning more
efficient and interesting instead of being limited to a textbook style or any kind of teaching pedagogy. No textbook or teaching method is perfect or set in stone. For
example, the teacher can use the same report from a newspaper to design a reading activity or a speaking activity, and tailor it to students at intermediate level or
higher levels.
For a course plan, a foreign language teacher should work on his or her teaching according to students’ aptitude, the goal of the course and the settings of the
course,then decide the focus of the course: accuracy or fluency. If the teacher regards fluency is the focus of the course, it does not means that the teacher can
ignore or underestimate the importance of accuracy. Therefore, for every class, the teacher should consider the specific situation of that class, make a teaching plan
(extra activities should be planned in advance in case of extra time remaining) and adjust the plan to fit the classroom at a specific point. For example, I designed a
role-play activity last week for my drill session at Columbia University, but there was not enough time left because of the fire alarm drill, so I switched it to a short
discussion activity and it worked. A quote I always bear in my mind is “A good teacher should be flexible for any case and any level.”
In addition, a foreign language class inevitably involves cross-culture communication. Therefore, a teacher in a student-centered classroom also plays the role of a
bridge or a conduit who helps students better understand the culture carried by the target language. This does not mean that the teacher has to deliver more cultural
knowledge to students. I think the best way to play the role of a bridge is to provide more activities to engage students in cross-cultural exchange of ideas. For
example, last summer, the fourth year Chinese students at the Columbia in Beijing Intensive Chinese Program, learned a famous essay “He Tang Yue Se (荷塘月色)” written by Zhu Zhiqing(朱自清). In order to help students master related vocabulary and enhance their understanding about this text, I tried to let students share
their opinions towards loneliness and share their reading experience about this topic. Their positive feedback about this activity made me believe that there exist
universal joys and emotions that can be shared across other cultures through language.
I have seen firsthand the positive experience that learning a second language can have on people’s lives in terms of the joy of learning and the increased
employment opportunities that bilingualism brings. I look forward to continuing my work on helping others learn Chinese and contributing to Chinese teaching.