TESOL Student's Experience-A Chasm ThatNeeded to be Crossed by English Learner -- Language Barrier

Asthe world develops, crosscultural communication has became more and morerelevant to people’s lives, in which we might encounter a variety ofchallenges. Specifically, cultural studies and critical pedagogy research havediscovered the issues of conflict, power, and control from interculturalcommunication. (Kramsch, 1998) Additionally, language barrier is also one ofthe most discussed topics as we engage in cross-cultural

communication andlanguage studies due to people’s inability to adjust themselves from culturaland language discrepancies. Indeed, there is a vast amount of other topicswithin the discussion of cross-cultural

communication. However, this paper willbe primarily focusing on the occurrences and potential solutions of languagebarriers, specifically regarding vocabulary and grammar studies.

Assomeone who extensively studied English in the United States for over tenyears, I have personally experienced language barriers in various forms. On agrand scale, language barriers could happen to anyone, including nativespeakers. For example, among the first few years of study, I have encounterlanguage learners from all over the world, such as Japan, Korea, France, andGermany. Although some of their languages share similarities or belong to thesame family of languages, language barriers still exist. On the other hand, Ilearned to look at languages from more diversified perspectives, which remindedme of languages’ intrinsic values. In other words, languages are theintegration and reflection of cultures, as mentioned in The SilentLanguage by Hall, “culture is communication and communication is culture.”(1959) Hence, to study English more effectively, I remind myself first to learnwords through cultural lenses and examine what underlies within the words, suchas their historical evolution, language context, and usage. In Sinclair’swords, people can engage in English teaching and learning through “authenticand naturally-occurring examples” (1991).

Duringmy teaching career, I find my students holding a misconception towardsvocabulary studies, which lead to inefficiency in memorization, comprehension,and composition. Meaning they only know the words when they see them. Such aphenomenon leads to a vicious cycle that the students excel quite well inreading but perform poorly in listening, speaking, and writing. Referenced toN. Ellis’s vocabulary-learning

continuum (1995), I designed two learningstrategies as follows:

1.     Asintroduced in The Cambridge Guide to Teaching English to Speakers of Other

Languages, morphology means how words are formed. (Carter & Nunan,2001) It will be a practical approach to learning words by focusing onvocabulary-building

practices like morphology, prefix, affix, and suffix.

2.     I wouldreverse their already existing “spoon-feeding”

vocabulary memorization methodsto broaden the breadth of their vocabulary count. For example, when weencounter the word “repeat,” in addition to the word’s definition, my studentsare required to know the meaning of “re-,” as well as the other words that areassociated with “re-.”

Afterestablishing a concrete foundation in morphology, I will shift my focus togrammar and speaking to prepare for EAP and professional purposes, which arelinked to the field of “critical language awareness” (Tang and John, 1999). Asmentioned in The Cambridge Guide to Teaching English to Speakers of OtherLanguages, there are many different views on the roles of grammar.(Carter & Nunan, 2001)

Some think that “Grammar is acquired naturally; andit need not be taught.” (Carter & Nunan, 2001) I think otherwise, at leastto the students of mine. My students often have difficulty shifting theirgrammatical mindset from Chinese to English due to their previous studies.Introducing grammar thoroughly to the learners will allow them to approachEnglish grammar from a more natural language context to avoid translationalambiguity. With such practices, students will be able to construct prolongedsentences and paragraphs while engaging in both writing and speaking.

Basedon my personal English learning experiences, the mentioned criteria helped meovercome the language barriers and acquired rather proficient communicativeskills. However, it is necessary to note, a well-rounded logical structure andextensive pronunciation practice will undoubtedly bring English speaking,reading, and writing to a more advanced level. As a language that will only bemore popularized as the world develops, it is more and more critical for peopleto master a second language. More importantly, as a vassal for culture andhistory, people need to overcome language barriers and carry forward humanitythrough more intercultural communication. Last but not least, language learningis a form of art; different people might have a different approach toward it.As an English teacher, our responsibilities are tailoring English learning tolearners. Ultimately, help them acquire expected language proficiency and bebetter prepared for academic and professional English.

免费领取更多英语教学法请联系我们　

TESOL中国官网：www.tesolinchina.com

TEFL中国官网: www.teflinchina.com

了解更多课程信息和最新开课信息

TESOL客服微信：13241000737

总部电话：400-6666-232

企业邮箱：admin@TESOLinchina.com

学员服务邮箱：hi@tesolinchina.com