At the beginning of my career, eleven years ago, I taught English using the audio lingual and grammar translation methods. I was teaching in the same way and by the methods my high school teacher used with my generation. My high school English teacher loved English, teaching, and working with teenagers. She expected a high level of quality and believed that each student was capable of achieving it. All it took was hard work, and she was the type of person who inspired students to do the work. She made the English language and culture come to life for me and my colleagues. When I started to compare my classroom to hers, I could clearly see that even if my technique or passion were not any different, it was something else that prevented me from having the same results: it was the students.
Lecturați gratuit Interactive strategies in teaching english to young learners, autor Cristina-Maria Blaga-Șureanu ISBN 978-630-317-212-5 Lucrarea poate fi citită online doar în Librăria Scriitorilor (www.librariascriitorilor.ro).
Today’s kids have the world at their fingertips due to affordable, portable and rapidly functioning electronic devices like computers, cell phones, tablets and so on. The World Wide Web provides them with endless hours of entertainment and instant gratification that schools cannot emulate, or keep up with. Not only does the computer satiate their knowledge, it keeps them coming back for more. Since technology is solving problems for them, they need to be challenged to think independently and creatively to set themselves apart from the rest. Secondly, they are sitting at home for hours in front of their computer becoming increasing socially inept and lacking the interpersonal skills which are important in life. These students are also lacking preparation for the real world where they must think independently, make complex decisions, work collaboratively and communicate effectively in order to be successful.