In my personal view, I can definately say that the way I learned English according to my learning styles has affected me throughout my teaching experiences in quite a few different ways, specially regarding the way I perceive the whole ''learning a second language'' process and how I can help my students learn the language, since my experience learning English has been, in a way, quite peculiar.
My English learning experience started when I was 8 years old, and it has always been through an absolute self-taught manner, fueled by my growing motivation for learning the language which was born from my interpersonal learning style of the language, with the help of the internet, the place where I would communicate with native speakers on a daily basis, my experience learning the language has never really been anything formal, not until High School, but even then, my teachers didn't really leave me with more than what I already had learned throughout my own online social life that I had already built up in the course of about 6 years.
I have little to no memory of how I learned certain specific things about the language, it all came very naturally, I cannot pin-point strategies or habits I developed besides interacting with native speakers through online communities every single day of my childhood, adolescence and now adulthood. This affected the way I perceive how we learn a second language, I see it as something that is 100% motivation-driven and social-driven, which of course, isn't the case for every single learner.
Motivation is one of the basis of learning a second language, that's absolutely true, and it's known. But what happens when somebody learns English as a second language by themselves, without tutoring, or any kind of course throughout their life, and then that somebody decides to be an English teacher in the future? Well, the answer is that, as a self-taught teacher of the language, it becomes difficult to relate to most students who do not possess learning strategies, have no motivation for the language, or simply prefer to be taught and guided throughout the language because they have not recognized or thought about their learning styles.
It is important to take care of that as a professional English teacher, having empathy for those who learn in different ways is the absolute basis for a good learning experience in the classroom, which will allow all the participants of the class to discover ways of learning that may benefit them and make the process much more motivating and meaningful. It's important as teachers to recognize that we cannot just assume that our own learning strategies may be the only ways a student may learn, but we also shouldn't forget about our strategies, but use them as potential tools to help other students by giving them ideas on how they can develop abilities and skills regarding their interests in the language, styles of learning, previous knowledge, etc.
My English learning experience started when I was 8 years old, and it has always been through an absolute self-taught manner, fueled by my growing motivation for learning the language which was born from my interpersonal learning style of the language, with the help of the internet, the place where I would communicate with native speakers on a daily basis, my experience learning the language has never really been anything formal, not until High School, but even then, my teachers didn't really leave me with more than what I already had learned throughout my own online social life that I had already built up in the course of about 6 years.
I have little to no memory of how I learned certain specific things about the language, it all came very naturally, I cannot pin-point strategies or habits I developed besides interacting with native speakers through online communities every single day of my childhood, adolescence and now adulthood. This affected the way I perceive how we learn a second language, I see it as something that is 100% motivation-driven and social-driven, which of course, isn't the case for every single learner.
Motivation is one of the basis of learning a second language, that's absolutely true, and it's known. But what happens when somebody learns English as a second language by themselves, without tutoring, or any kind of course throughout their life, and then that somebody decides to be an English teacher in the future? Well, the answer is that, as a self-taught teacher of the language, it becomes difficult to relate to most students who do not possess learning strategies, have no motivation for the language, or simply prefer to be taught and guided throughout the language because they have not recognized or thought about their learning styles.
It is important to take care of that as a professional English teacher, having empathy for those who learn in different ways is the absolute basis for a good learning experience in the classroom, which will allow all the participants of the class to discover ways of learning that may benefit them and make the process much more motivating and meaningful. It's important as teachers to recognize that we cannot just assume that our own learning strategies may be the only ways a student may learn, but we also shouldn't forget about our strategies, but use them as potential tools to help other students by giving them ideas on how they can develop abilities and skills regarding their interests in the language, styles of learning, previous knowledge, etc.
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