Assignment - FTW

FINAL TASK FOR UNIT 10:

FINAL TASK: WRITING

Student: Yesenia Idrobo

Group: 2019-02
Unit: Final task: writing
The correct files name would be: 2019-02YIdrobo_FTW

Read the following text and the information provided in this link
http://www.jeanmcniff.com/ar-booklet.asp about the topic of Observation and
Research.
`Research` is the process of collecting and analyzing data with the purpose of
proving a hypothesis (or a theory) which may eventually lead on to new
insights. In a way, we are all unofficial researchers due to the fact that we
observe events of our daily lives, analyze them, try to understand them, ask
questions, adventure hypotheses and even come out with our own conclusions.
It is assumed that teachers can improve their knowledge and skills, not
necessarily by following a particular method or the results of an `official´
research, but rather by questioning their own everyday teaching contexts.
Teachers` theories or ideas come from a variety of sources.

 The teacher`s education

 The teacher`s experience as a learner
 The teacher`s classroom practice
 The teacher`s personal beliefs

However, even though we may find a close connection between `scientific

research` and our `daily life research`, there is an important difference, and it is
the fact that scientific research is usually expressed by concepts such as
`organized`, `structured`, `methodical`, `systematic`, `testable`, and specifically
by the notion of disciplinary inquiry, compared to our daily life research which

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deals more with common sense and intuition. It is also important to differentiate
between different types of research:

 The theoretical research (or basic): provides abstract theories which

explain L2 teaching-learning.
 The applied research: applies the abstract theories to different fields of
study (e.g. education).
 The practical research (or `classroom research`): uses the abstract
theories and the applied research when testing a hypothesis. It explains
what actually happens in a particular scenario (e.g. a classroom) taking
into account the direct and indirect influence of internal and external
factors.
Since very little is known about what goes on in our classrooms and all the
variables that play a role in it, research becomes an important tool for
examining the relations between variables that continually interact. The
classroom has long been considered one of the most difficult places to do
research. The connection between the input (what the students receive) and
the output (what the students produce) is often characterized as a black box`,
reflecting the idea that what actually goes on in this process is dark and
unknown.

As you have read “teachers can improve their knowledge and skills, not
necessarily by following a particular method or the results of an `official´
research, but rather by questioning their own everyday teaching contexts”.
Following the information you have read, write an essay on how you could
improve your practice as a teacher or your performance as a student.

As you know, this unit aims at reviewing all the information studied since unit 3.
So, great attention must be paid to following the instructions seen in subjects
studied there:
 Unit 3_Spelling, vocabulary and grammar
 Unit 4_Style guides and punctuation
 Unit 5_Sentences and paragraphs

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 Unit 6_Characteristics of academic texts and formal requirements

 Unit 7_Introduction, conclusion and understandability
 Unit 8_Description, explanation and academic grammar
 Unit 9_Argumentation and academic vocabulary
Also, remember that you must use the personal experience, but always justifying
it with the theory studied during the units 3 to 10. The extension must be from
300 to 600 words. You can seek and use additional bibliography if you want.
Remember that you have to use the concepts learnt in the past units to write the
text.

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HOW TO IMPROVE TEACHING PRACTICE

According to Marais and Meier (2004:221) assert that the “teaching practice” represents the
range of experiences to which student teachers are exposed when they work in classrooms and
schools. Actually, there are many strategies, methods, and courses how help educators to
enhance their abilities and learning in the classroom. The actual assignment for the teachers are
to modify these strategies or methodologies inside the classroom. As the text specified before
teachers could enhance their learning and abilities by interrogating their own teaching context.
It is not fundamentally just to based on a specific strategy and depend on this strategy expand all
the task or activities because each student or group has different performance. So, we have to
modify teacher’s approaches from a diversity of resources. We are researchers as teachers. Each
class has a new experience with our learners, and help us to comprehend in a better way our
function. I would like to make reference three principal points that will aid us to improve our
teaching practice.
• Establishing good relations to improve our function as teachers
• Enhance the content of knowledge
• Enhancing our teaching practice
The first view is “ Establishing good relations to improve our function as teachers”. It indicates
that the teacher has a principal function in the classroom. He has the obligation to go and
investigate deeper. It indicates that teachers have to establish good relations with students and
colleagues. We can establish collegiality in our function in the subsequent way: students
behavior, lesson planning and working effectively with parents. It is important to have a
supportive system of colleagues. And also, it is essential to base on learner experience; one of
the significant part of working as teachers is to tend some difficulties or problems of the
learners and find experiences out of the class sharing by others partners that has the same
interest on teaching.

The second view is “Enhance the content of knowledge”. Teachers are familiar with the topics
what, when and how to teach and develop it. It becomes a habit for them. Teachers regularly
create and build their knowledge of the subject matter content of their class. In the case, it is
crucial to focus some tips to enhance our teaching practice: learn and study more alternatives to
teach with colleagues.

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The third view “enhancing our teaching practice” involves regularly working to be better every
day as teachers. To support our learners to enhance their skills and abilities step by step. What
should we do to enhance all these aspects? We can look our partners and modify useful
methodologies and keep going in this development with them. Using apps and new programs in
the class could make more dynamic the teaching and motivate our students. To conclude, we do
not have to ignore that we teach children or teenagers, we do not teach subject matters.

References:

 Marais P & Meier C 2004. Hear our voices: student teacher’s experience during
practical teaching. Africa Education Review, 1:220-233.