What are Effective Ways of Coping with Anxiety and Nervousness in Teaching - Essay Example

 Learners for the lessons were non-native English-speaking students. The English Language Institution was chosen for this teaching practice. This course is designed for someone who wishes to visit an English-speaking country soon, and it is also suitable for students who are studying English for educational reasons. At the moment, the learners level of English is approximately the lower intermediate level. The class size will be no more than 10 students, who will be at least 16 years old.

The main purpose of this lesson is to introduce new vocabulary and simple grammar. Students will be able to improve their communication skills for leisurely and social purposes by engaging in authentic conversational activities; they also gain practice in using English language patterns through reading the customized text and completing predetermined gaps in the text meaningfully. By providing both controlled and freer practice, it is intended that students will become more confident in their use of English.

Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) is the methodological framework for a lesson where tasks are used as “the core unit of planning and instruction” (Richards and Rodegers, 2001: 223). By setting difficult but achievable tasks, the students are challenged, which then facilitates learning. This lesson emphasizes the process of learning, provides the students with a natural context for language use and focuses on tasks that are meaningful, as, without meaning, there can be no learning (Larsen-Freeman, 2000; Littlewood, 2004).

Based on the TBLT, some useful lesson procedures for teaching receptive skills are developed. However, since tasks are defined in terms of what people actually do in authentic situations, there is flexibility in the pedagogical approach, so long as the learners complete the tasks meaningfully and are not expected to regurgitate others' meaning. What it means to be a teacher covers a wide scope of responsibility. As teaching is a ‘people-oriented’ field, many considerations must be taken into account when making decisions that would benefit the majority.

This peer-teaching practice has pushed me to the deepest level of introspection regarding my own beliefs and principles on teaching and education.