My name is Myriam Tielve. I am 55 years old. I am married and I have three children. I have been teaching English since I was 16 years old in private institutions and to private students who sit to national and international exams at the end of the term.
I had never had the possibility of formal studies before, so starting my studies in Lenguas Vivas was a really challenge for me. I had to deal with timetables at work, my duties as a housewife and my own ambitions but every effort has been rewarded as I am here writing my portfolio of my practicum experience.
I can tell you that I have my heart in my hands by the time being. Mixed feelings of getting my long desired goal and organising myself in order to fulfill with all its requirements. However, the last step is near and I hope I can reach it as soon as possible.
I started learning English with private teachers when I was 5 years old. At that time the only contact students had with the language was in a once a week lesson delivered by private institutes. At the age of sixteen I sat for my last national exam which gave me the degree in order to start teaching private students. However, I felt that my knowledge of the language was not enough and so I went on taking private courses in grammar, vocabulary, literature, methodology and phonetics among others.
After 5 or 6 years I sat for the FCE and CAE international exams and later for TKT exams which allowed me to improve my knowledge of the language and the way of delivering my lessons. As I was offered to work in a kindergarten I did a course during three years on this special level and then I attended lectures and congresses on education.
But Lenguas Vivas offered me a different perspective to what teaching a second language should be and even when I thought in leaving my studies due to work pressure I knew this was my opportunity to learn more and I really took advantage of it.
My teaching responsibilities
I consider myself a hardworking person and in consequence a hardworking teacher. I am all the time doing reseach in internet trying to find new resources to include in my lessons. Although I have been teaching for nearly forty years (Uff! How long!) I always plan my lessons beforehand and try to find new activities to teach the same topic.
In general I have a good rapport with my students and I try to build up a friendly atmosphere in which "respect" is the key word. If I do not respect my students, they will not respect me. I love being in contact with my students. Some of them can be quite difficult at times but in the end they will make me smile!
Not all of us learn a new language in the same way. Some people pick it up in a natural way without attending regular lessons and others need to go to language lessons and do a lot of effort to acquire it. Of the two situations, picking up the language would appear closer to first language acquisition. This was recognised by Howatt (2004) who helped English language teaching to become a "professionhood".
In his book The Principles of Language Study, Harold Palmer (1877) was interested in "spontaneous" and "studial" capabilities. The former described the ability to acquire language naturally and subconsciously, whereas the latter allowed students to organise their learning and apply their conscious knowledge to the task in hand. Palmer suggested that spontaneous capabilities are brought into play for the acquisition of the spoken language, whereas studial capabilities are required for the development of literacy.
In the early 1980s Krashen put forward what he called the Input hypothesis. He claimed that language we acquire subconsciously is language we can easily use in spontaneous conversation because it is instantly available when we need it. Language that is learnt, where "learnt" means studying grammar and vocabulary, is not available for spontaneous use in this way. Krashen also highlighted the importance of the language input students receive. It has to be comprehensible, even if it was slightly above their productive level.
In consequence, the most useful thing we can do with our students is to expose them to large amount of comprehensible input in a relaxed atmosphere. At the same time expose them to a more consciously learning to develop some skills as writing in later stages but promoting spontaneous communication both in writing and speaking. We shouldn´t forget that writing is totally related to reading as speaking is to listening.
Source used for research: The Practice of English Language; Jeremy Harmer; Fourth Edition; Pearson Longman; 2010.
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