1. ENGLISH 345: TESOL METHODS AND MATERIALS Dr. Lisya Seloni Week 1: Course Introduction

2. AgendaWelcome, TESOLers/Applied Linguists/LanguageEducators! Student Introduction: Who are WE? Class Activity: Six words memoir Course Introduction Critical Approaches in TESOL Course Blog Introduction:http://beyindmethodsfall2012.blogspot.com/

3. Six word memoirCan you write a six word story about yourself? Itcan be related to your passion in TESOL,language/culture, any experience. For sale: baby shoes, never used--Hemingway I love books more than people. Grown up, no money, loving life Never too old to climb trees. I recycle everything but my lies.Check out more life stories @http://www.smithmag.net/sixwords/

4. Group Work: Unpacking ourbeliefs What are some of the good language-teaching characteristics? Write down your description of top three-four characteristics, and discuss why you think they are important. How can we achieve our goals as language educators?

5. Keep in mind that We cannot prepare teachers to tackle so many unpredictable needs, wants and situations; we can only help them develop a capacity to generate varied and situation-specific ideas within a general framework that makes sense in terms of current pedagogical and theoretical knowledge. (Pennycook, 1992, p. 41)

6. This course aims to This course aims to help pre-service teachers advance their knowledge on how to develop pedagogical practices that accommodate academic and sociocultural needs of the 21st centurys diverse classroom contexts. Drawing on the principles of postmethod pedagogy and socioculturally oriented language education, the primary goal of this course is to prepare pre- service teachers to develop context-specific and culturally appropriate pedagogical spaces and artifacts for diverse student population.

7. Course ObjectivesThis course aims to: raise pre-service teachers awareness on the needs of different types of English language learners (e.g. ESL, EFL, 1.5 generation) in the U.S. school systems; move away from the traditional view of teacher as knowledge provider to teacher as facilitators and transformative practitioners; examine current issues related to language, identity, and culture in relation to ESL methods and material development; help pre-service teachers learn how to maximize language learning opportunities for diverse student population; learn how to facilitate negotiated interaction, contextualize linguistic input, integrate language skills, and raise cultural consciousness in classroom.

8. Course MaterialsRequired Materials and Texts:1. Kumaravadivelu, B. (2006). Beyond methods. Macrostrategies for language teaching. Yale University Press.2. Brown, D. (2007). Teaching by principles. Aninteractive approach to language pedagogy. PearsonLongman.2. An individual blog account/personal diary3. Research Articles are available on e-reserve

9. Overview of Course Projects Panel Discussion: 10 % Learning logs: 20% Midterm exam: 25 % Unit plan and teaching Demonstration: 15% Final term paper 30 %

10. Class Policies and Civility To create a safe learning environment for all, we must be mindful of some important classroom policies. Please carefully read this section from the syllabus.

11. Pedagogy of mainstream vs Critical pedagogy(Paulo Freire)MP CP Classroom is separated from Classrooms are dynamic the cultural and political contexts as situated in its context, social, political and historical contexts. Learning is perceived to be Learning is a socially- a detached and individual situated participatory activity practice. It is done in collaborative processes. Students experiences are Students are blank slates not only shaped by their past that needs to be filled with learning but also shaped by new information the (transmission/banking social, political, economic model) and cultural background and environment in which they Teaching is a value- have grown up. free, neutral activity. Teachings is a Teachers as technicians. dialogic, transformative and

12. Shifting Perspectives in TESOL:Emphasis on Critical Pedagogy Critical pedagogy is charged with empowering individuals, through education and critical reflection to realize how they are situated and situate themselves in broader context of power relations, and , more importantly with giving them the tools with which to attempt to escape and fight oppression (Reis, 2006, p. 32) Critical Pedagogy: Empowerment, racial, linguistic discrimination, social injustices, struggle for social change. Critical Pedagogy called for people living under conditions of oppression to develop a new

13. Some questions we will beasking: How do we include linguistically marginalized students into mainstream without asking them to assimilate? How do we provide diverse students with an access to dominant discourses while creating spaces for their home discourses? How can we move from authoritarian structures to more inclusive and egalitarian ones in TESOL? What are the most affective pedagogical practices to achieve an inclusive classroom context?

14. How to be criticallyconscious? According to Ira Shor (1992) a student can be critically conscious by: Thinking, reading, writing, and speaking while going beneath the surface meaning A student must go beyond: Myths, clichs, received wisdom, and mere opinions Amazon, 2008

15. Important terminology (Brown, 2007)Methodology: Pedagogical practices an umbrellaterm for the specifications and interrelation oftheory and practice (Richards & Rogers, 1982, p.82)Approach: theoretically informed positions andbeliefs about the nature of language, the nature oflanguage earning, and the applicability of both topedagogical settings.Method: a generalized set of classroom proceduresfor accomplishing goals (e.g. rhetorical, linguistic).Concerned with teacher and student roles.Curriculum/Syllabus: Designs for carrying out aparticular language program.

16. Some methods that raised and declinedthroughout language teaching history GTM ALM CLL Silent Way Suggestopedia TPR CLT Task-based Etc.

17. Fundamental weaknesses of theconcept of method Imposition of technique over theory Language teaching cannot be defined in terms of teaching methods alone. Each method being succeeded by a better one? The promise of even better techniques? Theres no one best method

18. Key ideas: Second Language education is involved in a complex nexus of social, cultural. Economic and political relationships that involve students, teachers, and theorists in different positions of power. Schools as reproduction of social and cultural inequalitiesHow can schools act as agents of social and cultural reproduction? How do schools question the status quo? Language and language teaching as inscribed in relations of power and therefore political issues.

19. Method is dead? From Method-based to Post-method GTM, TPR, CLT, Silent Waynot neutral? Methods reflects a particular view of the world and is articulated in the interests of unequal power relationships (Pennycook, 1998, pp. 589 590),Postmethod condition (Kumar): This perspectivefrees teachers and scholars to see their classroomsas they are, not as they should be. We should notenvision our classrooms through the lenses of bestapproaches, "methods and techniques

20. Sociocultural Theory and SecondLanguage Learning Language is not only a cognitive phenomenon, the product of the individuals brain; it is also fundamentally social phenomenon, acquired and used interactively, in a variety of contexts for myriad practical purposes. Firth &Wegner, 1997, p.297 Attacks towards Chomskys ideal speaker-listener in a completely homogeneous speech community Dell Hymes criticized Chomsky for being formalistic and context free: heterogeneous speech community (p.57) Language is not only viewed as linguistic codes but as ways of speakingKey words: Communicativecompetence, heterogeneous speech community, World

21. Assignments Read the syllabus carefully. Ask questions via email or visit me during my office hours. Intro Blog Posting:Please describe the context in which you teach/wish to teach. Feel free to comment on the social, economic and cultural aspects of your teaching environment.What are your goals as a language educator? What do you hope to gain as a result of this course?