Dialogue Journal 5

In the fifth lesson, I learn more knowledge about form- focused instruction as well as some key principles on how to teach grammar and vocabulary. Since I plan to focus my micro teaching on reading part, I would like to combine these grammar and vocabulary teaching skills in my microteaching. Besides, when I recall my learning process in junior or senior high school, it seems like teaching grammar and vocabulary are both really important things because most of the lesson are taught in Grammar translation method and the tests and exams focus on these language forms most of the time. I estimate the significance of learning forms is undeniable and it will indeed help learners to gain structured input by teaching those forms with explicit treatment of rules or just use grammar teaching as noticing and consciousness-raising techniques to raise learners’ attention on appropriate use.
Besides, during the discussion time in this class, I also realized that almost all of my classmates experienced grammar translation method before in their former learning stage. Undoubtedly, this method was really common and widely used in teaching in Taiwan and most of us just got used to it no matter we liked it or not. However, I still found out that many of them, in fact, had some complaints about using this method in junior high or senior high school. I, as well as most of classmates, thought it was really a traditional and acceptable way to use this method to teach students. But this method will easily make teaching quite boring, unable to raise students’ interests and motivation to learn. There are both positive and negative attitudes toward this method. Actually, this method was really effective in teaching students who wanted to get high scores in traditional pen-and-paper tests. Even though the forms of language like grammar and vocabulary are indeed highly concerned and emphasized in Taiwan, the teaching style we have to learn should be more interesting, challengeable, creative, and inspiring to students.