Anastasiia Kryzhanivska
ESL/ EFL Instructor
Teaching
Teaching Philosophy
I currently held a full-time position as an ESOL Instructor at Bowling Green State University. Having taught Reading and Vocabulary Development at Marshall University for three months, I enrich my professional experience by my current teaching academic Academic Composition I and Academic Speaking and Listening II at BGSU. My TESOL path has started at Ohio University, where I graduated from with a Master of Art degree in Applied Linguistics. Along with being a student, at that time I also hold a position of an instructor of record at Ohio University, where I taught Introduction to Linguistics; as well as a position of an assistant coordinator of the English Language Improvement Program (ELIP) Undergraduate Writing Lab. Last academic year I was engaged in working with children at the local school (East Elementary, Athens, OH) as an ESL tutor and instructor. Besides being a translator and English drama teacher in Ukraine, I also have experience in tutoring children and successfully functioning as a leader and as a part of a team. For example, my involvement in running a department of the All-Ukrainian NGO has also provided me with the insights of managing the organization in terms of finance, human resources, project development and implementation. Such various experiences allowed me not only to experience numerous professional and educational environments at different stages in my career, but also to communicate with a number of students and faculty members.
My experiences as a teacher, tutor and researcher have fueled my desire for problem solving and wearing multiple hats in different projects. As an instructor, I wish to inspire the students to find their ways in the future by incorporating my enthusiasm to pursue personal and professional development, and leadership knowledge.
Below I attempted to describe my philosophy of teaching, which roots in my personal experience of being a student.
SMART Objectives
In my classroom I try to follow SMART objectives: specific, measurable, assignable, realistic, time-related.
Student-Centered classroom
I have noticed that I can get the most out of the course only when the instructor steps back and serves mainly as a facilitator in the classroom, creating a learning student-centered environment.
Dialogic Approach
Being a tutor at the English Language Improvement Program Undergraduate Writing Lab also convinced me that dialogic approach (not giving the students the correct answers, but rather leading them to understanding their mistakes by asking them questions) might not be the easiest one, and definitely not the one that shows the results immediately after one session. However, so far it is the most effective method in the long run. It provides the students with an opportunity to make their own discovery of their strengths and weaknesses, remember it, and avoid mistakes in the future.
Focus on Form and Communicative Approach
In my language classroom I follow Focus on Form approach, when the key grammar points are presented to the students along with the communicative tasks. I strongly believe that group work should be an essential part of a lesson, since it gives students a chance both to get to know someone else’s opinion, as well as to share their own.
Flexibility and Orientation on Audience
Since there is no one-size-fits-all approach to teaching a language, there is a plenty of room for exploration. My classes as well as the feedback I give to students differs depending on the context of a class, students' age, as well as on their English proficiency level. I adapt my teaching style to the current audience, which affects not only teacher but also learner roles.
Written Feedback in a Process-based Class
In a process-based class, when the students produce multiple drafts of their papers, I do not focus much on grammar in their first draft. The content, structure, organization and source use are the most important grading criteria for me. It is only the second or final draft when I mark their grammar errors. The marking system would differ depending on their English proficiency and a type of errors made (treatable or untreatable), though. More proficient learners would benefit from the indirect feedback in a form of questions, or color-coded error identification. If the students are in the writing class I would expect them to be able to correct their mistakes on their own after me pointing out their presence. In case they have questions, I am always open for one-on-one conferences with the students. In my meetings with the students I follow the dialogic approach avoiding editing and appropriating students’ writing. My goal is to lead them to an understanding of how they can improve their writing, and not to appropriate their papers in order for them to get an ‘A.’
Written Feedback for Lower Level Students
With less proficient learners, however, indirect marginal comments might be confusing. In order to help them develop awareness of their grammar error patterns, I use direct feedback with explanations or references to particular grammar rules. Similar mistakes that fit one of the previously explained patterns would be highlighted or underlined with no direct feedback. Instead, some students would see a reference to the previously explained pattern.
Written "Sandwich"- type Feedback
Both advanced and beginning students would benefit from a combination of marginal comments and endnotes. The marginal comments provide a timely reference to a specific error, whereas the endnotes consist of a “sandwich”-type feedback. It starts with pointing out the strengths of the writing piece, describes the points for improvement, and ends with the encouragement and recommendations for the future editing.