To sum up the observation of the advanced level Vocabulary lesson, I want to discuss the most successful parts of the lesson and focus on the unsuccessful practices implemented by the teacher in my next entry. Since a journal is not only something that retells what happened in a lesson but also a written response to teaching events, discussing the teaching process helps outline the most significant insights about teaching (Richards & Lockhart, 1994, p. 7).
I would like to comment on the use of word walls in the lesson as a visual support for new vocabulary learning. This method of organization of words into themes assisted the students in attributing meanings to new words instead of just seeing the random sequence of words on the board. New vocabulary acquisition was faster than I anticipated; the students were divided into groups and given a specific set of words to make a short story with.
By using new words in a familiar context, students were inspired to create stories to share with their classmates. I think that the word wall organization strategy has been the most successful part of the vocabulary-teaching lesson since it made the learning process interactive.
Having discussed the most successful strategy implemented by the teacher in the previous entry, today I want to focus on the most unsuccessful one. After the lesson, I was able to interview some students and ask them about the techniques their teacher used. Most of them underlined the morphology technique the most boring. I have to agree with them since I noticed a decline in their energy when the teacher offered it during the lesson.
Being popular in vocabulary teaching, the morphology techniques means explaining new words by dividing them into parts. Since the students are at the advanced level of vocabulary learning, they saw no point in it. Understanding new words and remembering them was much more effective with the use of the word wall strategy that offered instant visualization. Despite being easy for students, the morphology technique did not bring anything new as well as did not challenge the efforts of students to be creative and innovative when it comes to vocabulary learning.
Since I have forgotten to talk about the teacher-student interaction during the lesson. In my opinion, the relationship that exists between students and teachers can go a long way and solve some issues that arise. After observing the lesson, I have to underline the fact that the behavior of the students fully reflected the attitude of the teacher towards the tasks provided in the lesson. For example, the teacher was quite unenthusiastic while explaining the morphological structure of new words hence the lack of enthusiasm reflected on the behavior of the students that were respectful of the teacher and sat through the explanations.
As discussed in my first entry, the word wall technique that was followed with dividing students into groups with assigned creative tasks elevated the atmosphere. The teacher encouraged students to use new words in the most unusual settings and stories possible thus evoking the creative imagination and teamwork among students. Thus, the effective interaction between the teacher and her students created emotional support, effective classroom organization as well as instructional support that is crucial to any class.
References
Richards, J., & Lockhart, C. (2007). Reflective Teaching in Second Language Classroom. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.