My Profile

Teaching English as a Foreign Language is a highly demanding job. The teacher is not only supposed to do specified tasks but also examine/study the learner and determine his/her policies and methodologies accordingly because each student has a different personality and learning style, which have crucial effect on language learning and for a dedicated and committed professional there is no way to ignore some students for the sake of majority. That is why the teacher is to be aware of the differences of the learners and find a way based on such differences.

 As an English teacher, I do not employ only one teaching approach as I have learned in my 18 years of experience that the composition of the classroom requires not only one approach and method. My teaching methodology is to study and examine the learners to understand their learning styles, their attitudes towards language learning, their interests and most importantly their needs. After identifying each student in terms of their personalities and learning styles as well as motivations, I try to employ all teaching methods where required. Some students learn in groups while others prefer independent learning, some are never afraid of doing mistakes and welcome error corrections while others are completely the opposite. So while teaching, I try my best to make needs analysis and employ eclectic method, which means sometimes I can be the knower giving information while in other cases just moderator, facilitator who create friendly atmosphere to help learners monitor, receive input, process it, practice it and make production.

 In my way of teaching, I always try to anticipate the problems encountered by the learners. Empathy is crucial for my teaching method. In my personal life I have experienced both language acquisition and language learning. Turkish is my second language and I acquired it when I started primary school while English is my foreign language which I learnt as a foreign language when I was 14 years old. Therefore, I know the difficulties that can be encountered by learners as language acquirers and language learners, and am highly familiar with the affective barrier suggested by Krashen in Natural Approach. While teaching I do take into consideration the learners’ emotional readiness for learning/acquiring whatever the case may be. For instance, while grouping students I take into account the personalities and such affective barriers of learners do my best to encourage the learners with such features. While preparing the atmosphere for teaching/learning I endeavor to take into account the needs of learners. Language learning / acquisition is the process of collaboration and cooperation among learners and the teacher. The more the collaboration is in the classroom the better the learners achieve the objectives.

 Language is a system for expressing meaning and the goal of language teaching is to develop the four dimensions of communicative competence: grammatical, sociolinguistic, discourse and strategic. Therefore, while designing the course they all have to be addressed and satisfied. During my teaching I emphasize on the functions of the language and lead the learner to understand the culture as I believe that language is the integral part of culture, and without integration with culture it would be a cold meal not giving the feeling of satisfaction but merely meeting a need. That is why I try to use activities involving real communication and meaningful to the learners.