TSL 3110 LINKING THEORY TO PRACTICE Reflection

I am really happy because I manage to complete my coursework before the due date given. In the process of completing the coursework, I began with searching for materials in the internet and in the library. The first thing that came to my mind was going to the library and search for books about teaching practice and theory for the primary classroom. At first it was very frustrating because most of the books that I found are not related to the topic in my coursework. After a few days, I managed to get some materials from the internet. I did some reading and trying to understand about the topic given to complete the coursework.

After doing some reading and research, I manage to get some information about teaching practice and the theories used to teach ESL for primary classroom. I be able to know more about the theories and some methods and link them to the teaching practice. I do face some problems in understanding the task because it was quite confusing. Luckily, I managed to overcome the problem by asking my colleagues and doing some more reading especially from books and blogs.

In order to complete this coursework, there are two challenges that I have faced. The main challenge for me is the time consuming. I was never being able to manage my time while completing this task. I was busy with my schools work and I did not have enough time to do the research and reading the materials that I managed to print from the internet. My second challenge was getting the materials. I did not manage to get more reading materials especially in the state library. Even so, I manage to overcome these problems by doing some collaboration with my group members. They were able to share their ideas and some information that they get. It helped me a lot especially in managing my time with schools work and the coursework.

This task is requiring us to prepare scheme of work and lesson plan. Scheme of work is a guideline that defines the structure and content of a course. It is usually an interpretation of a specification of a syllabus and can be used as a guide throughout the course to monitor the progress against the original plan. This course allows me to learn how to prepare good scheme of work and I can design it based on my experienced as a trainee teacher before. I also can improve my way of planning my lesson based on the scheme of work that I have

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TSL 3110 LINKING THEORY TO PRACTICE created. It helps me to have guidelines how to prepare my lesson based on the syllabus and using strategies and method that suit the pupils level.

Preparing lesson plan is not really a big problem for me since that I am used to it now. I am able to complete Part 1 of the task in two days after the coursework given to me. I decided to teach reading skills and I prepared the material for the lesson based on the pupils level. I learned that I need to consider the pupils level of proficiency since that not all pupils have the same ability conversing English language. This coursework allows me to plan my lesson well and it allows me to use appropriate method and strategies while conducting the micro teaching. It also reminded me on the first day of my teaching practical in school and my supervisor always reminded me on how I supposed to prepare the lesson plan.

Apart from that, designing the lesson plan teaches me to be aware of the pupils level and their interest. Some pupils may have great exposure to English Language and some might not have much experienced in learning the language because pupils may come from different culture and different family background. I must consider many factors that involved the pupils because it will affect the effectiveness and the smoothness of my lesson in the classroom. Knowing the pupils interest will help me to plan suitable activities and material based on the pupils interest. I also can create fun activities that allow pupils to interact with each other and they can share their experienced through the teaching and learning activities.

Part 2 of this coursework is conducting micro teaching using the lesson plan that we choose. We need to work in group and do our part as an individual. I was able to present the Practice stage well but I do realize that I need to improve myself especially in my communication skill. The way how I was giving the instruction must be clear and easy for the pupils to understand. I should be more confident and have good eye contact to ensure that pupils were paying attention while I was conducting the lesson. I learned that I need to improve myself so that I will be able to perform better and pupils will pay attention while I conducting the lesson. There was some changes that we make while conducting the micro teaching due to the inappropriate condition. We were supposed to use the computer lab but at last we agreed that we change the activities based on the situation on that day.

The micro teaching session also allows me to observe my peer conducting the lesson. It helps me to gain more information and give me clear ideas on how to use suitable method to create better environment for teaching and learning process. I can get feedback from others
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TSL 3110 LINKING THEORY TO PRACTICE on how I should improve my way of teaching and select materials that can motivate pupils in learning. I realized that giving clear and brief instructions to the class is an important skill as it avoids miscommunication and misunderstanding between teacher and pupils in the class.

I was very motivated while I saw one of my peers conducting the micro teaching. She was able to transform the plan into lively and enjoyable lesson. Pupils were very excited and able to pay attention while the teacher was explaining about the activity. I realized that she was using a great technique to manage her class well. Her activity was very motivating and the materials were fully used while she was teaching. She also has good command and she set rules for her pupils so that they know how to obey and follow instruction.

Through this course, I also have the opportunity to know more about theories that benefit for most ESL teacher. There are several theories that can be used as a guidance to help teachers to improve their Language teaching. Learning theories can be describes as conceptual or philosophical orientation about ways that human beings learn. It includes behaviourist, cognitive and socio cultural perspective.

Behavioural learning theory views learning as a response to environmental stimuli and can be manipulated, observed and describe (Watson; 1919, Skinner,1938). Teaching thus is through practice, repetition and rewards. Most teachers are using this theory in their every day teaching. Many teachers are found drilling the pupils with continuous grammatical exercises especially at the primary school. It helps pupils to produce the correct response to the appropriate stimulus. Pupils would then receive either instant positive or instant negative reinforcement such as praise or correction from teacher.

Based on my experienced I found that pupils have different learning style and different attitudes towards learning. This theory helps me know my pupils and enable me to select appropriate method and approach while teaching English Language in the class. For example, I am teaching reading skill for my pupils. I am focusing on the pronunciation and spelling. I usually use drilling method as my techniques to ensure that pupils will be able to memorize the sound of words and how it spelt. Teacher also may use the theory to shape pupils behaviour in learning the language. Most pupils who are low in proficiency are lack of motivation into learning English Language. The teacher plays important role to motivate the pupils so that they will have positive attitude towards learning. I believed that this theory

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TSL 3110 LINKING THEORY TO PRACTICE applied by most of teachers now and most pupils need positive reinforcement to enable them have the motivation and interested in the language learning.

In my opinion, children have their own behaviour through learning. They can only learn from direct experience and reward. For example, in my class there are 36 pupils. Half of them are very poor in understanding English. They might get bored easily and very passive during the class. I manage to overcome the problem by giving them praises and motivation by using simple English Language and create activities that can give them chances to interact to each other. It is for building up their self-confidence. I also create a corner for the pupils to show their great achievement during the lesson. I give them "star" so that they are able to compete with each other to get a better performance in the class activities. They are happy and very well motivated to see each "star " that I put on their name every time they get great achievement. They are trying hard to make sure that they get the star and I can see that there are some improvements in them. Activities being conducted during the lesson also can arouse pupils response. I may give them some punishment if they cannot do the activity well. I observe that they are trying hard to make sure that they done the activities in a correct way. They are able to response to the stimulus given and it is related to some of the behavioural theory.

Cognitive learning theory can be explained as deep, complex, psychological phenomena such as motivation, schemas and process for learning. (Bruner 1996; Piaget,1974). Teaching occurs in phases with gradual complexity. This theory can benefit teachers because Cognitive theories look beyond behaviour to explain brain-based learning. Cognitivists consider how human memory works to promote learning. For example, the physiological processes of sorting and encoding information and events into short term memory and long term memory are important to educator. Cognitivism has affected educational theory by emphasizing the role of the teacher in terms of the instructor's effectiveness of presentation of instructional material in a manner that facilitates students' learning (e.g., helping pupils to review and connect previous learning on a topic before moving to new ideas about that topic, helping students understand the material by organizing it effectively, understanding differences in pupils learning styles, etc.)

I used to teach English Language in Year 5 before. One of my pupils is not interested in learning English. This student always gives his excuses while he cannot do his school work or homework. His major problem is, he cannot understand simple English Language. From
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TSL 3110 LINKING THEORY TO PRACTICE my observation, this boy actually able to do the work given but he is lack of motivation. He learns English only at school. At home he cannot apply the language and there is no one

can assist him doing his homework. It makes him lazy and easy to forget simple English Language sentences. Even when he wants to go to the toilet, he rather waits until the English lesson finished than speak in English such as "Excuse me teacher. May I go to the toilet, please? " As a solution, I ask the pupil does he have any problem during English hour. He explained to me that he was afraid that his friends will laugh at him because he cannot speak English Language fluently. From the day onwards, as a English Language teacher, I always assist him in term of using simple sentences such as " May I go out to the toilet, please? ", " May I borrow your colour, please?", and etc.. Then I realise that he has his ability in learning but need assistance from the teacher and his friends. My second solution, I create reading corner to help other weak pupils. I can see that the pupils clearly change in his behaviour and started to like English Language. Some materials and simple instructions on the wall also can helps him to asks questions in English Language. Apart from that, he is now can write simple sentences such as " My friend and I are playing badminton". He can also asking questions in English Language such as " Can I borrow your pencil, please?".

Other theory can benefit teacher teaching is the social theory. It helps pupils to be more comfortable and easy to copy others behaviour. The connection between environment and people characteristics can influence the pupils characters. For example, one group of pupils were given a lyric of song without music. They can only read the lyric without even sing it, but when they were given the lyric with music, they started to read and begin to sing slowly until they know the song by heart. With this example, it shows that it is related to some of social learning theory by Bandura which he believes that, " experience the world is the process by which individuals learn through watching and perceiving their environment. An individual experiences something in the social world, and interactions occur between individuals, children learn a plethora of behaviours. This allows individuals to learn appropriate situations to act out behaviours. Behaviours are reinforced by other people in our environment, and because of that reinforcement, individuals become motivated to perform behaviours again. "

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TSL 3110 LINKING THEORY TO PRACTICE

I believed that these three theories will give more benefits to teacher while conducting teaching and learning session in the classroom. Teacher can use these theories as a guide for them to prepare and monitor their pupils behaviour. I also understand that by linking the theories to my teaching is very important because it gives me idea on how can I overcome problems that involves the pupils behaviour and planning the lesson based on the pupils ability and interest.

In conclusion, by linking the theory to practice will allows teacher to improve their teaching and enables them to motivates pupils to be more interested in learning English Language.

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