lunes, 25 de octubre de 2010

Thoughts About The Contextualized Language Video


As teachers, contextualizing the language with our class is strongly advised. Its importance stems from how much easier it is for a student to learn contents when those are explained in the most suitable context.


Collective activities meant to fulfill the group's needs, equally developing macro-skills, motivation and appealing topics are just some of the advantages and intentions of contextualized language.

I think teachers should be required to always display an open mind in their profession, showing keenness to apply new methodologies.

The was something on the video that caught my attention. Most students seemed eager to participate, rather than show any shyness at all, which would be the most common case in our environment. So it is not far-fetched to say that class was interested in the topic and did not fully relied on the teacher to push them or ask them, they had undeniable initiative.

Contextualized language could presumably work in our reality, although not to the same degree. The success level would depend on several factors, such as the students' background, age, personality, etc. However, the consistent practice of contextualized language could very much lead to a satisfying learning process, as long as patience and effort are part of the teacher's vision.

I believe more than just a few learners may not necessarily have a positive attitude when facing the contextualized language approach.

As the video presents, some activities include dynamic games, and very interactive classes. Not everybody will be thrilled to partake in such activities. Therefore, I assume it would be a key measure, not to overuse the method.

Another point regarding contextualized language to take into consideration is the fact that many teachers are not quite prepared to make proper use of the approach.

It is a shame that currently there are not many places where teachers can be truly trained for developing contextualized language. In order to counteract, teachers do not have much of a choice but to become self-taught in the area.

This does not mean to randomly improvise, but to read tips and articles online from professionals in the subject matter, who have had the chance to put contextualized language to use for years in foreign institutions.

4 comentarios:

  1. Jonathan,

    you are right the use of contextualized language will depend on students´ background, the teachers´ preparation, and the like. A teacher might be quite determined to use contextualization but if students are not used to, the teachers´intention might drift away. Anyways these are some of the challenges you will face and you will find a way to get people involved in a new teaching trend.

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  2. hello! I believe you are totally right when you say teachers have to be open mind. And a teacher open mind is someone who is motivating and trying to involve his/her students in the topic in the best comprehensible way.

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  3. most of the succes of any activity or strategy to deal with teaching a foreign language will depend on the students´ background, and of course the teacher´s preparation takes an important role in the contextualized language as he/she in the one who prepares the activities and everyhing in this strategy.

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  4. It´s interesting what you say about student´s participation in the class. I think that in our country and our environment it´s kind of difficult to have a class like the one we saw in the video. But we as teacher have to try and try new methodologies and techniques in order to get our students learn better.

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