What is Reddit's opinion of 120 Content Strategies for English Language Learners: Teaching for Academic Success in Secondary School (Teaching Strategies Series)?

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It will be easiest for me to take your questions on one by one.

>do you know much about the field of translation studies? is that something that would interest you as well?

I have never actually heard of that before, but after a brief google search it seems like I wouldn't mind reading about it. Perhaps just adding it to my repertoire. It interests me, insofar as the idea of translation interests me and how we interact through language.

>what are your thoughts on ESL pedagogy?

The current trend is toward communicative language teaching. Which, in my opinion, is far better than the methods that came before, as it focuses on having the students able to communicate and using all the faculties and materials available in order to facilitate that. Whilst there are some outmoded methods still being used, such as grammar translation (where one merely learns how to read in the target language) and the audio-lingual method (where one learns set phrases and cannot respond to spontaneous utterances), hopefully the need to communicate in the target language will force teachers to use a method that actually meshes with the goal of language teaching.

>What should I know about that in thinking about wanting to teach foreign languages to secondary school age kids?

That, like teaching anything else, every child is on a different level. That they can help each other, but depending upon their language ego and level of language (beginner, intermediate, advanced) may or may not accept that help. That getting the children to participate is the main goal of the teacher. That keeping the children motivated to learn is often going to be a struggle. That you are there to open them up to new paths of learning outside the classroom. You are there to give them a reason to learn and be better. That group work is necessary for using a language competently. That heterogeneous groups are your friend, whether the differences be levels, gender, culture, or anything in between.

>Any books you recommendation on teaching methodology?

I do have several books from my degree program. Although some I liked better than others.

120 Content Strategies for English Language Learners by Jodi Reiss Amazon

While ostensibly being about content classrooms, there is still a lot of good information in here for language teachers. There are many different strategies combined with examples of lessons and ways to teach a specific form of language. I read it this last semester and was very impressed by the amount of adaptable and usable information crammed into its mere 187 pages

Classroom Management: Models, Applications, and Cases by M. Lee Manning and Katherine T. Bucher Amazon

Classroom management is one of the most important aspects of the classroom. Without which no teaching can be done. This book gives several different methods and leaves it up to the reader to pick and choose their favourite aspects of each to use. It's really an overview of lots of different theorists. One of whom I was introduced to is Alfie Kohn, who I enjoy, but seems to be rather controversial. Maybe that's why I enjoy his philosophy.

Models of Teaching by Bruce Joyce, Marsha Weil and Emily Calhoun Amazon

There are loads of ideas for the classroom environment in here and ways to mould the classroom around specific methods.

Human Learning by Jeanne Ellis Ormrod Amazon

This book will give you an idea of where an individual or group is approximately at in their stages of development. This will have a great affect upon teaching young adolescents, as they take to different sets of information differently. She even put two chapters on motivation in the book, which, in my opinion, is the most important aspect to learning.

Of course, the best thing about textbooks is the references that you can look up and read about, so it's a never ending cycle of books.

>Thoughts on pedagogy?

This is a question about pedagogy in general I assume. I was looking through my writings for my internship last spring and I had to come up with an answer to several questions in that same vein, so I'll just link it here. And here is my philosophy of classroom management that I had to do for a different class, which may answer some questions as well.

>Also, do you think two people who are new to a language, and only using books/online resources, can they effectively become fluent together if they practice and learn together?

If they can keep each other motivated toward the goal of becoming fluent in the language, I don't see why they couldn't effectively learn. Although it is likely that one will become the better learner and start "teaching" the other, but there is value for both individuals in that as well.

>What do you think is an effective outline for an autodiact in language learning - for example, do you think they should set vocab goals every day, learn one grammar rule every day, listen to one podcast every day et al as a means of structuring learning or should it be less formal and more centered around "I want to recite X poem or translate X book" - making it more project oriented?

Well, I would say the first step is to try to find ways throughout the day to use the language, beyond that find someone to use it with. Along the way, they ought to be introduced to ways to use the language. Probably setting strict goals every day, but never the same thing consecutively. For example, Monday I'm going to learn vocabulary that is in Artist's album, Tuesday I'll listen to it and see what I understand, Wednesday I'll be using the vocabulary in some sentences , Thursday I will try to use the vocabulary in my day to day operations, Friday I will listen to the music again and see what I understand. Of course, the previous example is very basic and probably more suitable to intermediate or advanced learners. Overall, for such an individual to learn, it probably should be more project oriented, i.e. I want to learn this or that, specifically.

>What places do you want to teach ESL at?

I'm currently leaning more toward East Asia, perhaps Taiwan, South Korea or Japan. Who knows, maybe even China.

P.S. The MAT degree is generally for people who desire to teach content, while a MATESOL would be for an individual who is more interested in teaching English to speakers of other languages, but one can be just as easily endorsed in ESL, which is what I am doing.