1 00:00:01,710 --> 00:00:09,310 In what ways was your work in the language assistant program an effective tool for students aged 12 to 16? 2 00:00:12,949 --> 00:00:25,609 Well, I think that the program, in general, it's an enriching program because most of the TAs that come, or the language assistants that come, they tend to be very young. 3 00:00:25,609 --> 00:00:33,850 So I feel like, in a sense, they're mentoring the students, and they get to exchange with the students different ideas. 4 00:00:33,850 --> 00:00:42,250 They get to learn about the culture, and then they see exactly the benefits of going abroad 5 00:00:42,250 --> 00:00:49,289 because they get to learn about the different experiences from someone from a different region. 6 00:00:49,810 --> 00:00:57,270 And I think this is just an effective tool because you get to speak with someone firsthand about their own experiences, 7 00:00:57,609 --> 00:01:01,409 and they exchange ideas and learn about current news. 8 00:01:01,409 --> 00:01:06,689 and I think this is makes it a very effective tool because you get to talk to someone firsthand. 9 00:01:08,370 --> 00:01:13,569 So I think there's a lot of reasons why my work as a language assistant is an effective tool. 10 00:01:14,769 --> 00:01:18,609 For me I think the most important is adding an extra dimension to the class. 11 00:01:19,170 --> 00:01:24,370 So my students are really used to coming into class and doing the same activities every day 12 00:01:24,370 --> 00:01:29,409 and having a language assistant is new and exciting for them. We can play games with them, 13 00:01:29,409 --> 00:01:33,689 we can do activities with them, we can teach them about our culture or our country, 14 00:01:34,390 --> 00:01:38,969 and I think that helps engage them more than maybe their normal grammar exercise. 15 00:01:39,730 --> 00:01:43,650 Also, I take a lot of small groups out of the classroom, 16 00:01:43,650 --> 00:01:50,590 and I think this is a really amazing tool because my collaborating teachers work with 30 to 35 students, 17 00:01:50,829 --> 00:01:55,689 and there's no way that all those students can practice speaking in 50 minutes. 18 00:01:55,689 --> 00:02:00,189 So when they come with me, it's sometimes their only chance to practice their speaking skills. 19 00:02:03,700 --> 00:02:09,819 What is the most helpful collaboration of language assistants to help students improve their English language skills? 20 00:02:10,659 --> 00:02:12,939 What are some of the difficulties encountered? 21 00:02:17,409 --> 00:02:23,550 Students, because at least in my institute, a lot of us had classes that overlapped. 22 00:02:23,550 --> 00:02:32,729 So some of us had, you know, third SO for biology, but another class had third SO also for biology. 23 00:02:33,229 --> 00:02:40,389 So what we would do, we would share information regarding the students' mood, what they were learning, and then we would share presentations. 24 00:02:40,990 --> 00:02:51,330 So if we had something to do that overlapped, we would share information so we could collaborate and figure out how to most effectively help the students. 25 00:02:51,330 --> 00:02:59,610 In terms of what the difficulties were, is if we only had a class once a week or something like that, 26 00:02:59,710 --> 00:03:03,430 and no one else had that class, it would be sometimes a little bit more difficult 27 00:03:03,430 --> 00:03:09,629 to figure out what those students' personalities were, stuff like that. 28 00:03:09,650 --> 00:03:13,810 So it was harder to tailor presentations to them and share information. 29 00:03:17,960 --> 00:03:22,099 How can a language assistant help students to improve their learning skills 30 00:03:22,099 --> 00:03:24,039 in other subjects taught through English? 31 00:03:24,639 --> 00:03:26,900 What are some of the difficulties encountered? 32 00:03:33,280 --> 00:03:41,599 I think one of the great things about the bilingual program is that most language assistants are placed in more than just English classes. 33 00:03:42,539 --> 00:03:47,560 And so if you come from a background of history or political science or physical sciences, 34 00:03:47,560 --> 00:03:54,400 you have a real opportunity to build upon what you've studied in college with your students in high schools. 35 00:03:54,400 --> 00:03:59,400 Some of the difficulties of that are just establishing a common vocabulary. 36 00:03:59,400 --> 00:04:07,400 So there's a lot of terminology that English speakers are used to using in history to talk about politics, 37 00:04:07,400 --> 00:04:15,400 to talk about science that don't enter into typical English language textbooks for students. 38 00:04:15,400 --> 00:04:22,759 for students. And so one thing that I noticed this year giving classes in fourth of ESSO history and 39 00:04:22,759 --> 00:04:28,399 social science is that I had to be very careful to make sure that the terminology that I was using 40 00:04:28,399 --> 00:04:36,199 to talk about the Enlightenment or liberalism or the American Revolution was a terminology that was 41 00:04:36,199 --> 00:04:42,600 usable for my students, not just that they could understand me, but so that later they could 42 00:04:42,600 --> 00:04:49,839 put that information into their own words. And I think the best thing about that part of the 43 00:04:49,839 --> 00:04:56,540 program is that you're really seeing them use a more technical English and something that might 44 00:04:56,540 --> 00:05:05,779 serve them further down the road, not just to pass the language exam, not just to go through their 45 00:05:05,779 --> 00:05:12,060 normal day-to-day English courses, but conversations that they'll have on the street with their 46 00:05:12,060 --> 00:05:20,500 friends or in other settings and may interest them down the road. Yeah, so I think one of the 47 00:05:20,500 --> 00:05:26,779 biggest trends that I kind of noticed at this school is the difference in the English language 48 00:05:26,779 --> 00:05:32,800 ability of the English teachers and then the bilingual teachers that are responsible for 49 00:05:32,800 --> 00:05:38,600 teaching other subjects. So obviously the English teachers, they have been studying English language 50 00:05:38,600 --> 00:05:42,800 and grammar and all of these difficult structures for so long, 51 00:05:43,139 --> 00:05:45,579 whereas teachers in other subjects, 52 00:05:45,720 --> 00:05:47,560 although they have a command of the English language, 53 00:05:47,560 --> 00:05:49,519 it's definitely not to the same degree. 54 00:05:49,759 --> 00:05:51,740 So I think a lot of times they really do struggle 55 00:05:51,740 --> 00:05:55,300 to describe some of these concepts, 56 00:05:55,480 --> 00:05:58,779 whether it's the anatomy of the human body 57 00:05:58,779 --> 00:06:03,319 or whether it's the history of the colonization of America. 58 00:06:03,319 --> 00:06:05,420 I think it's hard for them in English sometimes 59 00:06:05,420 --> 00:06:06,740 to describe these concepts, 60 00:06:06,740 --> 00:06:10,879 So I think this is where it's really important for the teaching assistant to come in. 61 00:06:11,360 --> 00:06:18,920 And even if you don't have the strongest background of that subject, just to be able to maybe explain different concepts in different words for the students. 62 00:06:19,600 --> 00:06:27,060 Also, I know that I've had the opportunity to lead some reviews and things outside of the classroom time that I think have really helped students. 63 00:06:27,360 --> 00:06:31,379 So a couple of weeks ago, I led a science review during the break time. 64 00:06:31,459 --> 00:06:35,160 And I think it does kind of help for the material to just be reiterated in a different way. 65 00:06:35,160 --> 00:06:39,959 So I think those are my, almost like the key classes where assistants are needed. 66 00:06:40,980 --> 00:06:46,259 Well, there are a lot of difficulties trying to teach a subject that is not English specifically. 67 00:06:46,800 --> 00:06:52,680 For example, there are subjects such as history and science and geography taught in English, 68 00:06:52,800 --> 00:07:00,439 and so the vocabulary is very different from that that you would learn in an original classroom of just English. 69 00:07:00,439 --> 00:07:06,540 And so I think that the best way to go about that is to create a foundation with the vocabulary 70 00:07:06,540 --> 00:07:10,579 in order for them to really understand what they're learning in the other subjects. 71 00:07:11,339 --> 00:07:18,300 I think what you compromise when you're teaching a subject that's not particularly English, for example history, 72 00:07:19,079 --> 00:07:24,339 you compromise that maybe they don't necessarily understand all of the words associated. 73 00:07:24,339 --> 00:07:30,100 And so I think that the most important thing is to create a solid foundation of the vocabulary. 74 00:07:30,439 --> 00:07:36,779 So I think that being able to teach English or teach other subjects in these 75 00:07:36,779 --> 00:07:41,579 schools in the English language is a great opportunity and I think that it 76 00:07:41,579 --> 00:07:45,279 should be taken advantage of if there are subjects that you would like to 77 00:07:45,279 --> 00:07:51,459 teach. For example in my school I teach English but in addition to that I teach 78 00:07:51,459 --> 00:07:58,420 biology, music, and physical education and these are all subjects that I love and 79 00:07:58,420 --> 00:08:02,079 especially biology, which make up half of my classes, 80 00:08:02,079 --> 00:08:06,000 I've found that it's really rewarding 81 00:08:06,000 --> 00:08:09,980 to be able to teach students vocabulary 82 00:08:09,980 --> 00:08:12,759 outside of the normal English vocabulary 83 00:08:12,759 --> 00:08:15,379 that they learn in their English language classes. 84 00:08:16,279 --> 00:08:18,740 When a student is in a biology class, for example, 85 00:08:18,740 --> 00:08:22,660 there is so much vocabulary, so many concepts 86 00:08:22,660 --> 00:08:26,819 that they don't really get 87 00:08:26,819 --> 00:08:32,559 in a normal English language class, and it's fun to be able to teach that alongside the 88 00:08:32,559 --> 00:08:38,080 subject. That being said, it is a bit difficult. Sometimes it can get a little frustrating 89 00:08:38,080 --> 00:08:44,600 as progress seems to go very slowly, but I think I have to keep reminding myself that 90 00:08:44,600 --> 00:08:50,419 it's because they're learning both a language and a subject at the same time, which is a 91 00:08:50,419 --> 00:08:55,379 very difficult thing to do, to ask these students to do, and the fact that they're able to do 92 00:08:55,379 --> 00:09:00,960 is pretty admirable and I think it's just to maintain perspective on how much 93 00:09:00,960 --> 00:09:06,179 they're expected to learn in a short amount of time and with that perspective 94 00:09:06,179 --> 00:09:12,100 I think comes the enjoyment of being able to teach both at the same time.