CONTENT KNOWLEDGE AND PEDAGOGICAL STANDPOINT OF TEACHERS: WHY DO THEY MATTER?

LORENZO B. ICBAN

The English language is too vast. To achieve an encyclopedic competence in terms of using and teaching the language as a subject would require extensive efforts. English teachers, though they underwent countless seminars, pieces of training, and professional subjects in their undergraduate program, can’t guarantee to become completely effective in terms of developing the entire English competence of their learners.

Native English speakers as far as teaching English through English are concerned and as mentioned in this study, are better-qualified instructors than non-native speakers when they facilitate language learning with the savvy use of the language. The ability to know how to functionally utilize the language would be tantamount to holding a good command and authority in classroom management. Hence, positively impacting students’ performance and achievement. This is congruent to the Contrastive Analysis of Robert Lado in which he emphasized that once a person pursues further studies of his L1, he will be a successful user of the language as there is a continuity in cultivating the very structure of the L1, in contrary, there could be factors that would make it difficult for second language learners in learning its structures.

Language teachers could have various expertise in the core skill areas of the subject e.g., reading, writing, speaking, and listening depending on which the teacher has focused on during their undergraduate and teaching experiences. Having said this, we can’t say that all these skills are possessed by language teachers perse. There will certainly be those who are experts on teaching specific skill areas only or both, but certainly not all. In addition, we also must consider the students’ different learning styles and levels of knowledge as well. These factors can affect teachers’ abilities to stretch their efficacies in ensuring effective language learning. Furthermore, professional advancements and teaching experiences, on top of books, audio, and videos can boost language teachers’ potency in facilitating language teaching and learning. The more they are exposed to the language, and consider the appropriate pedagogy, the better their class instruction and performance will be.

I agree with Jack C. Richards that content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge and ability, and discourse skills are key points for the effective teaching of language courses. While holding robust language knowledge matters, the teaching abilities of language teachers are different things thus, these are very crucial aspects that should be scrutinized. However, content knowledge does not provide a sufficient basis for the teaching of a language. Teachers could know the subject matter, nonetheless how the message is communicated comprehensively, accurately, and fluently to their learners is disparate. For example, teachers may know what conjunctions are but how this is made understood by their learners may vary, according to their levels i.e., teachers and students. Therefore, the pedagogical knowledge ability, and discourse skills of teachers of teaching English through English will develop the delivery of the lesson but could also break the desired expectations as well.

When we design our lessons during the planning stage, we begin to formulate our learning outcomestargeting the competency, down to achieving the objectives. Nevertheless, during teaching, the way teachers plan for the lesson can be influenced by our student’s language proficiency level versus educators’. As a result, communication among the teachers, and low and high-proficient students could impact the learning opportunities as teachers may tend to scaffold the lower proficient instead of fully engaging them all through interactions. It helps to reflect the quality of our instructions: what adjustments should be made per the difficulties of our learners, identify our focus opportunities, and provide authentic assessments to properly evaluate students’ learning acquisition level.

In closing, language is indeed complex as there could be limitations in terms of language teachers’ abilities to lean back on their students’ proficiency levels. Even though this remains true, being in the constant pursuit of learning and development could be one of the mechanisms where we can unleash language learning velocity more effectively. Moreover, professional advancements and training can transcend the filters of language learning. Therefore, it is worth noting that school administrators should identify the very needs of their teachers of what prohibits them from becoming ideal language instructors and generate support and extend the resources that will best improve their overall teaching performance.

Reference:

Richards, J.C. (2017). Teaching English through English: Proficiency, pedagogy, and performance. Retrieved from https://www.professorjackrichards.com/wp-content/uploads/Teaching-English-throughEnglish.pdf

-oOoThe author is Teacher I at Calantas Elementary School