Group Reflection.docx

Reflection According to Ramesh (2013), micro teaching simulation is a platform that provide opportunities for teacher trainees to explore and practise various techniques and strategies to be applied in teaching and learning process to create pupils’ learning experiences. The purpose of micro-teaching is to develop and properly manipulate teaching skills. Moreover, it develops teacher trainees’ confidence, improves the ability of managing classroom situations and preparation of lesson plans besides reduces anxiety and fear. It also empowers students’ ability in asking questions and speaking in a group (Tata et al., 2015). Based on our microteaching, there were several strengths and weaknesses identified in our lesson and we looked for several innovative methods to improve on our flaws. One of the strengths that can be spotted was the variety of the instructional materials. We had acquired various types of teaching materials tailored to the content used to facilitate the students’ learning. As an analogy, the flashcards was used for teaching vocabulary, guided writing worksheets for teaching writing, matching pictures with the correct prepositions activity for teaching grammar. Instead of using the traditional method of teaching, we had acquired of different types of materials based on the content taught. Hence, implicitly, the students’ attention could be sustained as they showed high curiosity to know more about the teaching materials. When they had high curiosity in the materials, the students’ enthusiasm for learning could be enhanced. Hence, the variation of teaching materials in the classroom could be also considered as a key factor to develop the motivation for learning of the students. Besides, the use of drilling technique was another strength that is identified from the micro teaching simulation. Drilling technique is an effective way of language teaching especially in exposure and introduction of new vocabulary and language items. Albay (2014) states that drilling is mechanical way of getting students to demonstrate and practise their ability to use specific language items in a controlled manner. During our teaching process, drilling technique was used with flash cards to introduce vocabulary. It helps the learners to memorise new vocabulary through meaningful practice. We also use drilling technique in teaching preposition by explaining the use of prepositions with pictures accordingly. Repetition of prepositions through oral practice has been done in order to enhance pupils’ understanding. By using this way, we are able to get all learners involved in making language more meaningful. Additionally, we also maintained a proper eye-contact with the pupils while giving the instruction or delivering the lesson. According to Ray and Barbara (2014), the majority of presentation trainers and coaches consider eye contact to be the most important of the non-

verbal speaking skills. Thus, great eye contact with the pupils while conducting a lesson is very important because it structures our image of confidence. Pupils will be convinced by the content being delivered. As we know, eye contact is essential to make communication effective. Eye contact is also a kind of non-verbal communication used to check whether the students understood or puzzled (Canan 2009). Students’ expressions will quickly tell the teacher what should be revised or repeated. Students are constantly shy to voice out when they are in miserable, hence eye contact is very important for us to connect with the students. Moreover, we can easily track the behaviour of the pupils in the class such as being off-task or distracted from the lesson. The pupils will be impressed and stay focus in the class. On the other hand, there were several issues found during the microteaching. It is no doubt that pronunciation is always the main core issue during speaking. Pronunciation is the most important and difficult problem that non-native English speakers have to face when study English (Mohammad, 2011). For instance teacher failed to pronounce diphthongs like ‘ei’, ‘ie’, ‘e’, ‘ou’ or ‘ae’ properly when speaking. This improper sounding inevitably leads to pupils’ misunderstanding of the message conveyed during the lesson or instruction delivery. Apart from that, seating arrangement is another shortcoming that identified from our micro teaching session. Rachel and Kathy (2008) states that seating arrangements are important classroom setting events because they have the potential to help prevent problem behaviours that decrease student attention and diminish available instructional time. During the microteaching we did not take into account the seat arrangement of the students in the class. The seat arrangement in fact had made the class looks congested and uncomfortable for the teaching and learning to go on. When students were doing their worksheets, it is not free for us to go around to supervise the students. Some of the students is distracted because they are not in the vision area of the teacher, so they tended to be distracted from the lesson. In short, seating arrangement is important as it can promote a positive learning culture that can enhance academic outcome. In looking back, we also realised that our questioning techniques were poor. Reflecting upon our questioning techniques, we seldom asked students questions to see if they understood. We also used ‘close-ended’ questions during the lesson where students with no opinion or no knowledge can answer anyway. This in turn could not reflect exactly the students’ answer. For instance, the problems emerged when the students did the worksheets. They were not confident enough to write down the correct answers. Thus, in my hindsight, our questioning techniques needed to be improved to assess the students’ learning.

There were several alternatives to overcome the weaknesses we found in the microteaching. First, we as an English teacher should portray a good role model for the pupils by having a fluent and proficient English level. According to Fraser (2000) in Abbas (2016), teachers should be provided with courses and materials that help them improve their pronunciation instruction. The critical role of an English teacher is to check and guide modifications of spoken English among the students. Hence, it is very significant for us as a teacher to practise a high level of English literacy. During our daily conversation, we can use English to communicate with our friends around in order to improve speaking skills. We should surround ourselves with English wherever we are. We can watch more English Channel show to learn how the native speakers pronounce and speak the words. A method of drilling will be the wonderful method to practise and learn the pronunciation. We can start by breaking down the words into sounds like ‘beer’ pronounced as /biɚ/. Read slowly and go even faster after that. We can use recording to record our speaking and listen to it. We can figure out the weird pronunciation and make improvement on it. Besides, we should always make sure that the classroom seat arrangement is fulfil the standard of 21st century seating style. Jowati (2012) claims that students should be seated where their attention is directed towards the instructor and classroom arrangements should allow for various activities to be conducted. A seat arrangement should encourage the two ways interaction among the students- teacher and students-students. Students learn better when there are multi-interaction during the lessons. To curb with the poor questioning techniques, we should use open-ended questions where students were asked to supply their own answers in anyway. For example, we could ask some completely unstructured questions in which a teacher openly asked the opinion or view of the students (Types of Survey Questions, 2008). Implicitly, a teacher could further explore the meaning of the students and also assessed the their understanding level which could become useful feedback of the teacher’s teaching style and method. All in all, it can be argued that microteaching is a challenging task but with efforts and teamwork, we are able to cope with it to carry out the lesson systematically and effectively. We should make use of this microteaching experience to excel in this profession.

References Abbas Pourhosein Gilakjani. (2016). English Pronunciation Instruction: A Literature Review. International Journal of Research in English Education, 1(1), 1-6. Albay, M. (2014, April). The use of drills in ESL teaching. Paper presented at 5th International Visible Conference, Ishik University, Erbil. Canan Zeki. (2009). The importance of non-verbal communication in classroom management. Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences, 1443-1449. Jowati Juhary. (2012). An Assigned Seating Arrangement Based on Students’ Performance: A Critical Review. Journal of Education and Practice, 3(14), 10-16. Rachel Wannakra & Kathy Ruhl. (2008). Seating arrangements that promote positive academic and behavioural outcomes: a review of empirical research. Journal compilation, 23(2), 89-93. Ray Anthony & Barbara Boyd. (2014). Innnovative Presentations For Dummies. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. Tata Umar et al. (2015). The Impact of Micro-Teaching on the Teaching Practice Performance of Undergraduate Agricultural Education Students in College of Education, Azare. Journal of Education and Practice, 6(26), 109-115. Types

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