Professional Development

Originated by Birmingham MA TEFL/TESL students

More than likely, you have heard student questions like, “How do I improve my English? What’s the best way to learn new words? ” So, you can imagine the challenges I predicted my first-year, intermediate level, medical students would face having to learn not only up to 130 unfamiliar medical terms from otolaryngology department to myocardial infarction, but also needing to know how to explain medical procedures such as endoscopy and X-ray. All this in a semester! As a teacher, what could I do to best help?

My solution was to introduce a new program of vocabulary learning strategies dovetailed with the medical English course. I had students investigate the strategies they had been using and then, on a weekly-basis, introduced and practiced new ones that students perceived most useful.

The anonymous course evaluations at the end of the semester proved significantly encouraging in most areas with comments such as, “I tried many strategies” and “From now on, I want to use my own vocabulary learning strategies.” Student feedback also highlighted important areas for change and improvement.

Comments:
Learners each bring their own learning history, style and preferences, all of which we can learn more about by giving them a ‘voice’. This often motivates learners and further provides teachers with invaluable information that can be used to create a more learner-centered teaching approach.

A thought or idea in progress
I am fascinated by three key areas - primarily in vocabulary acquisition: (1) how learners learn; (2) the effect of individual differences on learning and teaching strategies; (3) classroom-based research and teaching applications.

I am particularly keen to bridge the gaps between theory and practice, teaching and research by seeking to nurture sound teaching practices based on established theory, and inform theory with best teaching practice.

Comment:
Learning about how and why we learn what we do is a fascinating, and continually evolving research area that spans several fields and disciplines from cognitive psychology to sociology, education and linguistics. As we come to better understand these areas and benefit from interdisciplinary research, we hopefully become better equipped to investigate and innovate our own learning and teaching.

By sharing experiences and collaborating with fellow professionals, we invariably benefit from the opportunity to (1) clarify what we think we know, (2) confirm or indeed reject our previous beliefs and ideas, and (3) thus broaden and deepen our knowledge and understanding.

From teacher to teachers
Whilst developing our knowledge and expertise, an old maxim continues to ring true: the more I learn the more I discover there is to learn. And that is precisely where the fun, interest and curiosity continue to be generated.

So, if you share an interest, please feel free to contact me and let’s open more doors: philza2003[at]yahoo[dot]com

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