4.0 TASK 3

(INDIVIDUAL

WORK)

4.1 WRITTEN REFLECTION

On 4th of February 2015, we have been given a project which consist three tasks for

the course of TSL3103 Linking Theory to Practice by our respective lecturer, Mr Jausip @

Joseph Yabai. Two of the three tasks are done in pair. In order to complete this project, I

have gone through a lot of process.

One most common hindrance in completing this project is the act of procrastination.

Most of us tend to procrastinate even though we have pretty ample time to complete this

project. I realised that this kind of attitude should be changed because it is not good to sit on

important things to the end. Actions should be taken immediately. When we become a

teacher later, there are many things that we need to do. If we tend to procrastinate and sit on

things, we will have more workload and what the most important thing we need to do that is

teaching may be affected. We should complete what we need to do immediately so that we

have more time to complete or do other commitments.

Besides that, throughout the process of completing this project, I also have identified

some strengths and weaknesses. One of the strengths is to be working in pairs. For me,

working in pairs will help completing the work faster and better. We can work together and

collaborate in preparing the scheme of work and planning the lesson. Being more open and

sharing each other’s ideas will help in producing a better scheme of work and lesson plan. In

a teaching profession, we will have to work with a lot of people. Being able to work with

others will reflect on our professionalism. Being a teacher does not mean we only need to

face the pupils and deliver our lesson but in a school environment, there is an organisation

and we have to work with them. Sometimes, we also need to go out of school environment

and meet new people related or not related to our work field. Thus, collaborating with my pair

is really helpful in preparing us to be working in the teaching field.

The second strength that I have identified is the reading activity we planned in our

lesson is done in group of three or five. We also have conducted our post reading activity in

a group. According to Harmer (2007), it is possible to say that small groups of around five

students provoke greater involvement and participation than larger groups. Hence, working

in group can help pupils to be more involved in the activity especially to the low proficiency

or weaker pupils. The rationale of us conducting the reading activity in group is to help the

weaker pupils to improve their reading skills. Some pupils may have high affective filter and

prevent them from learning from the teacher. In group, they can lower their affective filter

and learning to read from their peers.

Apart from that, the third strength that I have identified throughout the process of

completing this project is that we have conducted a good post-reading activity that can foster

creative and critical thinking of the pupils. The post-reading activity is done in group where

they have to create a “super-computer”. Brainstorming will really help as cited in Harmer

(2007) where in groupwork, there is also a greater chance of different opinions and varied

contributions than in pairwork. They also need to think critically how their desired “super-

computer” will be thus it promotes learner autonomy by allowing students to make their own

decisions in the group without being told what to do by the teacher (Harmer, 2007).

At the same time, throughout the process of completing this project, I also have

identified some weaknesses. First, I found that I need to improve on my language and

proficiency level. As an English teacher to be, I must improve a lot in my language and

proficiency level so that I can show a good example to my pupils. One of the roles of a

teacher in the classroom is assessing and evaluating students’ English language proficiency

(Chitravelu, Sithamparan &Teh, 2005). How I can assess and evaluate their language level if

I am also weak at my language level. We must be capable enough to be an English teacher

so that we can be the language model and impart knowledge for our students.

Next, the second weakness that I have identified is the assessment of the reading

skills in our lesson is conducted in group. Having reading practice in group is good as it can

lower the pupils’ affective filter and learn from their peers. However, assessing reading skills

in group may be impossible as it will be difficult to identify individual’s problems in reading.

Some pupils may just move their lips and pretend that they are reading. Assessment of

reading skills may be done individually, in pair or in a small group so that it is easier for the

teacher to find out individuals’ problem in reading. Assessment is important as it is the

indicator for the teacher to plan further practices for the weaker pupils. A teacher should

know what, when and how to assess the pupils’ performance throughout the lesson.

Additionally, the weakness that I have identified is the topic of the lesson that is

Technology at Home may be unfamiliar to some pupils especially pupils in the rural area.

Pupils in the rural area may not be exposed to various technologies unlike pupils in the

urban area. When the teacher plans to teach a topic that is a bit unfamiliar to the pupils, the

teacher should provide various appropriate teaching materials to help the pupils. For

example, during the set induction where the introduction of the topic is done, the teacher

must use appropriate teaching aids such as video presentation, picture cards or even real

objects to help the pupils to get the gist and provide a strong base for them to learn. In our

lessons, we used picture cards and regalia from the past and present so that the pupils will

get what they are going to learn that day.

Furthermore, from this project, I also have gained experiences that will help me in

improving myself and preparing myself in teaching-learning situations. One of them is

through the macro-teaching done in the class. We have done about four macro-teaching

sessions for four courses in the last two semesters. This course aims to provide us with the

suitable pedagogical content knowledge for us to carry out in the teaching and learning

activities effectively. Through feedback from our lecturer and peers, it helps me on improving

my pedagogical skills. On this semester, we will be facing our Phase 1 Practicum and this

macro-teaching session can be considered as a preparation or practice for the upcoming

practicum.

According to Sadiq Abdulwahed Ahmed Ismail (2011), a microteaching program

provides preservice teacher-trainees with a simulated situation to put the theories that they

have learned into practice and to develop confidence and teaching skills while conducting a

mini-lesson to their colleagues. Microteaching is also intended to provide teacher trainees

with additional practical experience before they start their clinical practice in real classes.

From this statement, I realised that micro/macro-teaching is important to be conducted

whole-heartedly and not just perfunctorily for the sake of completing the assignment. Bell

(2007) said that microteaching provides students with valuable teaching experiences and

made them aware of the benefits and relationships between theories and practice (as cited

in Ahmed Ismal, 2011). For me, microteaching gives me chances to exploring various

pedagogical and teaching skills and later on, reflecting on what I did good or bad and what

are the improvements need to be taken.

Through this project, I also have learned how to do the scheme of work. According to

Chitravelu, Sithamparan &The (2005), scheme of work is a plan that indicates what will be

taught for the semester/year and in what order it will be taught. In Semester 2, we have been

exposed on what is scheme of work and how to do it. However, we did not manage to do

scheme of work properly. Through this course, we have learned how to do the scheme of

work especially it is a requirement in the project where we have to prepare a one week

scheme of work. For me, it is important for teacher to have a scheme of work of what he or

she is planning to teach as it will give time for the teacher to prepare appropriate and

suitable teaching materials and resources.

Having a scheme of work will help the teacher in planning a lesson in a week. Lesson

planning is very important as planning will gives the teacher opportunity to weigh the various

options available and to make his choices before the lesson is done in the class. We

planned our lesson for any one day based on the scheme of work that we have prepared.

This reflects on what we are going to do when we have become a real teacher in the future.

To plan a lesson in a week, we will look at the scheme of work that we have prepared

earlier. Having no scheme of work wills double the work of teacher and we may teach the

same skills almost every day of the year. Preparing scheme of work can help in varying the

skills need to be learned and make the teaching and learning process to be more meaningful

as the teacher has time to prepare the teaching resources and materials.

Furthermore, through this project, I also have learned some values that I think are

important in a teaching-learning situation or a teaching field. One of them is the value of

teamwork. Task 1 and Task 2 are pair work where we have to work together to ensure that

we will do it successfully. In order to do it successfully, we need to have a good teamwork. I

am glad that I have been working together with Junichiro before and it is a plus point for us

as we can cooperate and collaborate nicely to complete both tasks. To avoid

misunderstanding or dissatisfaction, we discussed a lot to decide on what we will do in the

scheme of work, lesson plan and how to conduct our macro-teaching. Thankfully, we have

done our macro-teaching smoothly and accordingly. I realised that in working with other

people, the most important thing is to have cooperation and good communication. In a

teaching field, we need to work with lots of people. I know that it is not very easy to work with

other people, but it is possible to work it out. We need to be cooperative and communicative.

Moreover, the value that I have learned is to be more open-minded in order to

improve ourselves. In the macro-teaching sessions, my other friends will provide feedback

based on what they saw in our macro-teaching sessions. For me, the feedback provided by

them is really helpful. We cannot see ourselves as others will see us. Thus, feedback from

them gives us another view of ourselves. To be able to accept their comments and

feedbacks, we need to be more open-minded and consider their comments are constructive

and beneficial for us.

On the whole, completing this project makes me reflect on many things that I tend to

overlook. The experiences and values of the whole assignment help me to understand more

about the teaching and learning situations that happen in the teaching field. There are still

many things needed to be improved but I believe there are always room for improvements

for those who want to improve. I really want to improve myself so that I will be more

prepared to enter this teaching profession. The experiences that I gained from this project

have helped me a lot.

5.0 CONCLUSION

Throughout the process of completing this project task, I have gained so much

knowledge about teaching practices. The experiences that I have gained and values that I

have learned help me to understand of the process involved in a teaching learning situation.

The macro-teaching task is really helpful to prepare myself for the upcoming teaching

practices. In conclusion, this project helped and taught me a lot about pedagogical strategies

that will be helpful in getting ready to be an English teacher in the future.

REFERENCES

Ahmed Ismail, S. (2011). Student Teachers' Microteaching Experiences in a Preservice English Teacher Education Program. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, Vol. 2, No. 5, 1043-1051.

Chitravelu, N., Sithamparam, S., & Teh, S. C. (2005). ELT Methodology: Principles and Practice 2nd Edition. Shah Alam: Oxford Fajar Sdn. Bhd.

Harmer, J. (2007). The Practice of English Language Teaching . England: Pearson Education Limited.

Lim, E. S., Kaur, M., & Awang, Z. (2012). English Year 3 Sekolah Kebangsaan Textbook. Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka.