ESL Section 9
Methods of Instruction

A variety of methods of instruction are used in ESL endorsement courses, each reflecting the content and focus of the course.  In TSLN502, “A Pedagogical Grammar and Phonology of ESL,” students are provided with grammatical samples from actual English language learners’ work.  Students analyze the samples for grammatical aspects that the learner has already mastered and those that are not yet controlled.  The phonology project requires that students analyze the oral performance of an English language learner to isolate sources of pronunciation problems and prioritize corrective work to be undertaken.

In TSLN525, “Second Language Acquisition for Classroom Teachers,” a narrative approach is used to encourage classroom teachers to reflect on their own language learning experiences and to develop a personal understanding of second language acquisition theories.  In TSLN503, “Observation and Analysis of Multicultural Classrooms,” a combination of a case study approach and action research approach is used to engage classroom teachers in analyzing their own classrooms, identifying problems, and researching for solutions.

Students in TSLN410G, “TESOL Methods,” develop ESL lesson plans for their current (or future) teaching settings; try them out on each other; analyze and revise their lesson plans with respect to peer input.  If the course is taught during regular school year, students implement their revised plans in their own teaching settings, tape and analyze the lesson. In TSLN521, “Content-based Materials and Testing in the ESL Classroom,” students undertake two projects.  First, they choose a unit of content, adapt it to match the curriculum from school district(s) and the ESL Standards. Second, students develop assessment measures for that unit.  If the course is taught during the regular school year, students try out the unit and revise it accordingly.

Students in FLAN540, “Cultural Issues in Language Teaching,” undertake two major projects in addition to doing extensive readings on cross-cultural learning and communication.  First, they explore the ways of learning in a second culture of their own choosing by means of background reading and extensive interviewing of one local representative of that target culture.  Through 6-8 hours of enquiry and note-taking with the informant, each student writes an ethnography of teaching and learning in that second culture. Second, students outline and develop in part a curriculum for teaching aspects of culture for either students of a foreign language or for teachers who are preparing to teach English in a second culture.

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