Dr. Martha Clark Cummings, Associate Professor, The University of Aizu
3 Credits - Core TESOL (I) for Group 18
Pass/Fail (Letter Grade option)

Course Description

This course will introduce fundamental concepts and principles of the language teaching approaches that have been influential in the 20th century. This will cover generalized discussions of the major views of language [linguistic models], the major theories of human learning, and views of society. Students will be asked to prepare demonstrations of several of the prominent approaches and 'methods' and to detail in their presentations how the principles and techniques central to these methods might be adapted to support language teaching in the situations they know best (a very important aspect of this course). This course will involve lectures, assigned readings and workshop discussions where students will have the opportunity to present papers and hold discussions in small groups. Students will be required to critique and discuss many of the issues raised by the assigned readings, and to apply them to their own situations.

TEXTBOOKS

• Brown, H. D. (2001) Teaching by Principles : An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy. New York: Pearson Educational.
• Richards, J.C. & Rodgers, T. S. (2001) Approaches and methods in language teaching, 2nd edition. Cambridge University Press.

TC LIBRARY RESERVE TEXTS

• Larsen-Freeman, D. (1986) Techniques and principles in language teaching (Techniques in Teaching English As a Second Language) Oxford Univ. Press; Also Video Tapes distributed by USIS to accompany this text.
• Brown, H. D. (2000) Principles of Language Learning and Teaching, 3rd edition, New York: Regents/Prentice Hall.

PRE-COURSE ASSIGNMENTS

Please bring to the first orientation class on Sunday July 20th a report (maximum 3 to 4 pages), typed (1.5 line spacing), font (size 10 to 12), which describes the following about your teaching situation:

Physical context:
Describe the school where you teach - its name, physical context in terms of classroom types, spatial arrangements, availability of a/v, internet, desks, chairs etc

Students: Describe the students in your classes in terms of their age ranges, language levels, motivation for learning English, learning styles, language needs etc.

Student to student interaction:
Describe the main ways that the students interact with each other in your classes (in classroom activities and in general social terms).

Teacher to student interaction:
Describe the main ways, techniques or styles that you use to interact or communicate with the students while you are teaching.

Methodologies
List and briefly explain the main teaching/learning methodologies that you use in your classrooms. Evaluate or comment on them.
How do you plan your courses and your lessons?
How do you assess your students, why, and when?

Final Comment
If you could change one thing about your teaching (anything), what would that be, and why, and what do you think would happen if it did change?

BIO

Dr. Martha Clark Cummings has a BA in French literature from New York University, MA and EdD in TESOL from Columbia University, Teachers College. Before moving to Japan in 2002, she taught at the Monterey Institute of International Studies, the New School Online University, as well as at Teachers College in New York. She writes about writing, language classrooms, sociolinguistics, and language and gender. Her current research interests include Computer-Mediated Discourse, first-person narrative in Second Language Acquisition Research, and the changing definition of Academic Writing. She is the author of a collection of short stories, Mono Lake, and co-author of two ESL texts, Changes: Readings for Writers, and Inspired to Write. She is Courseware Leader for Academic Writing at the University of Aizu.