Blog 6 - McKay

The last chapter in McKay was very intriguing and kind of confirmed a lot of thoughts that I have had with teaching English in regards to method. In my methodology class, we are learning about so many different methods that it is causing my head to spin; trying to choose the "best one" and what will work for me. However, McKay has calmed my fears in saying that there is no "right method." As long as the students learn what they are supposed to learn, the teacher doesn't particularly have to follow a certain method.

In this last chapter, Teaching Methods and English as an International Language, McKay defines a culture of learning, the spread of English and communicative language learning, and outlines how to find an "appropriate methodology." With the culture of learning, McKay says that teachers need to be conscious of the culture in which they are teaching. Every culture is different, has different social/political rules and behaviors, and just the everyday activities are different in every culture. It reminded me of the time that my parents adopted my sister from China. She was older and had hearing problems, so my mother was trying to teach her some sign language to help with communication. She taught my sister the sign for "bathroom," since it is a sign that we use frequently in our family. My mother said that every time she would use the sign for "bathroom" in China, many Chinese people would look and stare at her. It wasn't until on the plane ride home that my mother found out that this sign means a bad word in Chinese. She was not conscious of this cultural difference. This being said, I think McKay makes it very clear that we need to be conscious of the culture's practices and beliefs so that we don't offend or misunderstand our students. I liked the comparison that McKay described with the differences in English learning and Asian learning. It helped to clarify that culture is very important to keep in mind.

McKay also wrote about CLT, or Communicative Language Teaching, which some educators have supported and others have rejected. CLT focuses on interaction with learning a language; interaction between students and students, students and teacher, and students with culture. I do believe that there is some truth in CLT. I believe that the more students can relate to the material, the more interest they will have. Many students like interacting with each other and often get in trouble for doing it when they should have been paying attention to the teacher lecture. With CLT, the students are able to interact with a specific purpose and goal. I also believe that interaction while learning a language is important. It is important to learn more about the students and about the culture.

All in all, I really liked McKay's book. It has helped confirm for me some beliefs and practices I have had with teaching English. Just as McKay writes, every student and every classroom will be different, and it is our job, as the teacher, to do make sure that the students learn what they are to learn. No one method will work for each student and each classroom. The trick is to take what will work from each method for a particular classroom/student. Of course, along the way, tweaking it to fit our classroom/student, but still have that foundation on which to base our practices in the classroom. I hope that I can take the valuable insight I have learned from McKay and apply it accordingly to my classroom.