ESL Teaching Philosophy: A 15-Year Experience Analysis

This assignment presents the teaching philosophy of an ESL teacher with 15 years of experience across multiple countries. The essay details the teacher's conceptualization of learning and teaching, emphasizing vocabulary acquisition and practical application through a 'dancing training' metaphor. It outlines various teaching methodologies, including content-based instruction and game-based learning, tailored to diverse student needs. The teacher highlights the importance of student motivation through games and awards, providing additional support through extra and online classes. The essay discusses the ability to teach in multicultural settings, fostering collaboration and inclusivity, and the use of debates, forums, and performances for assessment. Finally, it outlines future plans for personal growth, including expanding knowledge and incorporating technology to enhance teaching practices. References to relevant research are included.

Running head: TEACHING PHILOSOPHY FOR A LANGUAGE TEACHER
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Teaching Philosophy for a Language Teacher Assign
Name
Institution

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My Philosophy of Teaching
Being an ESL teacher for 15 years, I have made significant observations that are my
strong-holds in teaching success. To me, ESL teaching is fun especially when I use metaphor
in my teaching as ‘dancing training’ and my students as ‘trainee dancers’. My explanation for
the dancing training theory is as simple as follows:
Conceptualization of ESL-learning
As an ESL teacher, I believe that learning vocabularies and their appropriate usage is the
foundation of second language mastery. My ‘dancing training’ theory compares learning of
vocabularies to learning how to respond to different speeds of music and sounds and the
application in conversation as the appropriate dancing moves. Conversations applying the
vocabularies are like a dancer’s solo-practice; they perfect the art of speaking the language and
inscribe the vocabularies in the learner’s language. I opine that the best way to begin learning a
foreign language is through mastering the surrounding environment vocabularies because of
the often used by the learners and thus will be like the daily songs that a dancer thinks of
dancing perfectly. When a learner is in class, the brains think of the environs; knowing this in
the foreign language is advantageous (Anderson, 2018). My students will be able to express
most of their thoughts in the language when they know the vocabularies that rhyme their
community’s.
Conceptualization of Teaching
As a ‘dancers’ trainer’, I always make the moves while students watch and admire my
prowess. This will inculcate perfection wishes. Afterwards, they are required to remember my
moves and demonstrate to me. I look at their mastery of my moves and correct them
appropriately (Krasnow & Wilmerding, 2018). This is my teaching theory. I research on
vocabularies that marry the community’s, articulate them and use them in sentences as my
students follow up. Thereafter, I will repeat my actions. I’m not tied to a specific methodology

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because students are different. I have a mastery of several methodologies that I apply
depending on the students and the context of learning. The methodologies include content-
based instruction, game-based, task-based, audio-lingual, flipped-model, digital-model and the
community language learning that has turned me into a linguistic researcher. My main
motivation for my students is word-games and awards at the end of the games. The goal of the
games is mastering the language and not winning. I have extra classes and online classes that
are free for the struggling students as well as videos that I dedicate to the struggling students.
My ability to teach in multi-cultural settings
I have taught students from different countries with a variety of cultures; however, they
end up having common values and prowess that reflect my teaching philosophy. The game-
based methodology inculcates a sense of aggressiveness and focus on objectives. The
corrections amongst the students and from me also build positive attitudes towards perfection
and teamwork; this leads to success even in future careers (Kaivanpanah et al.2015).
Implementation and Assessment
How fast my students gain fluency and mastery of the language explains my success. I
use debates, forums and performances as exposure to my students. As an instructor, I prepare
assessment tests and assignments that are comprehensive. I encourage research in my students
because the goal of learning isn’t passing exams but gain mastery of the language in practices
(Guay et al.2016).
Future Plans for my Personal Growth
My teaching methodology makes me a researcher and a friend to the internet. As a teacher,
my goal is to expand my knowledge and deliver it to the students in the best way possible. This
explains why I apply technology in my teaching. My advancement can be seen in the way I
deliver my content especially using the current technology, something that has been a

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challenge for a while. I can claim technology application in my teaching as a signal for
meeting my goals.

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References
Anderson, R. (2018). Second Language Learning Motivation.
Guay, F., Lessard, V., & Dubois, P. (2016). How can we create better learning contexts for
children? Promoting students’ autonomous motivation as a way to foster enhanced
educational outcomes. In Building autonomous learners (pp. 83-106). Springer,
Singapore.
Kaivanpanah, S., Alavi, S. M., & Sepehrinia, S. (2015). Preferences for interactional
feedback: differences between learners and teachers. The Language Learning Journal,
43(1), 74-93.
Krasnow, D., & Wilmerding, M. V. (2018). Motor learning and control for dance: Principles
and practices for performers and teachers. Human Kinetics.