The Native Speaker Ideal in the EFL Classroom

Developing a Language Teaching Philosophy

Studienarbeit aus dem Jahr 2010 im Fachbereich Englisch - Pädagogik, Didaktik, Sprachwissenschaft, Note: 1,3, Universität Bremen, Sprache: Deutsch, Abstract: In my very first language teaching class I was asked to write a personal philosophy on language acquisition and its impact on my teaching English as a foreign language. I remember back in the days I was rather clueless as to where I should even begin my research. I was in my third semester then and hadn't had any real experience in teaching a foreign language, at all. Frankly, at the time I had no idea what material would assist me to make a statement in this specific area. However, after some time of desperate research it occurred to me that no one had ever told me what the cornerstone for language teachers should be. Neither did I know what the guidelines were nor did I know where to find them. Although, I eventually wrote that statement in my third semester it took me much longer to find out that there are no guidelines. Constructing our teaching philosophy is a personal and highly individual process. As I come to think of it now, back then I couldn't really ask anyone but myself.