My learning and teaching approach

My Learning and Teaching Approaches

At the time I decided to start learning English, the Behaviourist Approach was mainly used in the classrooms. Consequently, memorizations of dialogues, choral repetition of structural patterns and drills were the common excercises. After giving us an excercise, my teachers usually emphasised on the importance of possitive or negative reinforcements, depending on learners´ performance.

Therefore, as the educator was considered the only individual who confered his/her knowledge to the class in the front, our role as learners was mostly passive and it carried a little engagement in analising the language.

I can´t deny that the beginning of my teacher was influenced by the mentioned approach.

However, when I started the teaching training course, I was luckely presented other significant teaching and learning theories and approaches which helped me understand that there were also other meaningful ways to teach.
Personally, I think that the following theories and approaches represent useful ideas about how to deal with teaching and learning:

1. Gardner´s Multiple Intelligence Theory: I strongly agree with Gardner´s theory since he claims that each individual has different learning styles. In other words, every human being has certain physiological and cognitive characteristics which are relatively stable factors that aid educators percieve the way students respond to the learning environment. For this reason, as educators, we should be able to offer our students a variety of meaningful resources in order to help them learn things on their own way and at their own pace.
2. Gardner´s sociological model of language learning: In this model, Garder includes the learners´cultural beliefs, their attitude towards the learning experience, their integrativeness and motivation. I support this model since Garner stresses that the chief element is motivation. As aducators, we are aware that motivation plays a really important part in the students´learning process.
3. The Communicative Language Teaching Approach: I agree with Freman´s idea that the purpose of teaching and learning a second language is the enable learners to communicate in the target language. In addition, I support Harmer´s idea that "plentiful exposure to language in use and plenty of opportunities to use it are vital important for a student´s development of knowledge and skill." For this reason, I consider that envolving learners in authentic communicative situations would be the most appropriate way to help them understand how the language works in real contexts.
4. Contructivist Theory: I think it is a valuable theory because it considers the different ways students make their self sense of learning tasks, their environment, the teacher and the actual process of learning. As a consequence, students are able to become autonomous, self aware and construct meaning.
5. The naturalistic methods( TPR and Natural Approaches): I support this approaches since learners are exposed to the target language but they don´t have the pressure to produce it instantaneously. As a consequence, it gives students the chance to internalize the target language sound system at their own pace. I think this can be associated as the natural process babies go through when they are acquiring and learning their first language.
6. Last, I believe that learning can be summarised considering the ideas and concepts provided below: