Personalizing Language Learning in Large Classes
Chao-ching Lin
As an EFL college teacher in Taiwan, my objective was not only to teach from the textbooks but also to go beyond the textbooks and make learning related to the student`s life. It is very possible to create a personalized language learning environment in a big college classroom with 50 students or more. The critical element is to encourage students to find what their interests are. If they are interested in sports, they are encouraged to read and talk in English about anything to do with sports. If they are interested in arts, let them explore this topic in English.
Build on What Students Already Know
In my freshmen English class, most students` previous learning experience was all about teacher-centered instruction that focused on grammar and rote memorization. English as a mandatory subject has been taught in junior and senior high schools and colleges in Taiwan for decades. A typical college freshman will have learned English at least six years. Due to competitive college entrance exams, high school students usually have memorized a great deal of English vocabulary words and acquired a certain reading level. Unfortunately, when they go on to college, the teaching methodology remains the same as what they were taught in high schools, such as teacher directed curriculum, passive role of students, basal textbooks and so forth. Most college students still think English learning is all about memorizing vocabulary words and reading for academic purposes. As a college EFL teacher, I wanted to take advantage of students` vocabulary and reading capabilities and help them to explore the English world by using what they already know.
Convince Students that Learning Should Be Meaningful
At the beginning of the semester, they had a hard time to understand what I meant by "discovering your own interests" and start the learning from there. I spent a lot of time trying to convince students that "learning can and should be meaningful". I encouraged the students to find out what they were interested in and read about the topics in English. At the same time, they were learning English and getting information about what they enjoyed. If they continuously read about one topic, they would be more familiar with the vocabulary words commonly used to discuss that topic. It was a new concept for most students and I knew I would have to guide them carefully in the class so they could understand the "meaningful and personalized learning" I was trying to help them to obtain.
An Example of How I Created Personalized Learning
Here is an example of how I created personalized learning in my college freshman class of 55 students. I designed several class periods based on environmental issues. I told them why I chose the topic. I really care about the environment and am very interested in knowing what`s going on about the issues. I chose an article from the textbook about car recycling. Before the reading, we discussed different issues about recycling locally, nationally and globally. During the reading, I explicitly showed them how I read an article and what I would do if I did not understand the vocabulary words. I looked at the pictures and scanned through the subtitles. Did I check in the dictionary immediately or not and why not? I told students to keep in mind that we were learning information as well as English at the same time. We did not have to know every single word in order to get new information from our reading. If the same vocabulary words appeared more than three times, it must be an important word. I would circle the words and check with the dictionary either during or after reading. At the beginning, it is important to limit the topic yet still give students freedom to choose the articles they prefer. I assigned them to find an article from http://www.nationalwildlife.org. They can do the assignment individually or in a group of no more than three. There were a wide variety of environmental issues they could choose to read about. I also told them the reasons for this post-reading assignment from the Internet. In the computer lab, I have noticed most of the students only browsed web sites in Chinese. I wanted them to explore the enormous information available in English. They needed to print out the article, read, and share the information with the class. I asked them why they chose their article to read, how they read it, and what they did when they encountered unknown vocabulary words. I told them if they were interested in environmental topics, they should continue to read more and find out more. If they were not interested in the topic, they should find other topics.
In order for students to share with others, I used two class periods, two hours each and first asked if anyone would like to go in front of the classroom to share with their learning process. If there were no volunteers, I would randomly select students to share with their assignments. This was a good way to indirectly get students to do their homework. They knew they had to be prepared.
There were five questions asked about how they did their assignments.
First, why did they choose the articles?
Second, what was the article about?
Third