Diary: Session 7

Nowadays, insights from theory and research have led to some fundamental changes in our beliefs about the nature of language and learning, and this has led to a change in the ways in which we go about the business of language teaching. The greatest challenge is to incorporate new ways of doing things into existing practices. In this sense, change will be evolutionary rather that revolutionary.

Evolutionary somehow looks like accommodation which uses existing ideas and makes some modification. Evolutionary is like this; we don't invent new things, but we try to use existing things and use accommodation as well. So why are these changes needed? The first reason is that of the learners' needs. The needs change, so we need some modifications in methods in order to adapt with those changes. The other is changes in the theories of language learning. We should remember that language teaching is based on theories of language teaching and learning. O any changes in theories, opens new windows in front of us. According to Nunan developing our proficiency can be facilitated if we base our teaching on theories.

The other subject discussed in this session was the syllabus. It includes the content (what to teach and the resources of teaching), methodology and evaluation. A good teacher should always revise her syllabus and listens to reactions and feedbacks.

According to Nunan the role of the teacher changes from banking to liberationist. In liberationist view, it is the learner who liberates herself and shows who she really is.

The role of learner is to be active. Who is an active learner: the one who evaluates herself by being reflective. Both student and the teacher should be reflect on what they are doing, reading, and what kind of discussion is going on.

Tasks are classified into two categories:

1- Reproductive tasks

2- Creative tasks

The class organization should change from the teacher-fronted to learner-centered or from high-structured to low-structured. In low-structured classes the students control the class, but in high-structured classes, the teacher controls the class. But low-structured class have got some problems:

1- Cultural variables

2- Facilities

3- Economic

Then we have the assessment; it is a continuous process to observe, interpret, and make decision. Testing is included in assessment and is a means for assessment. It is one way of getting information.