1. I don’thave teachingbackgroundbutas a motherof 2 I developedstronginterestineducation,and
teachingEnglishinparticular,whileIwasraisingandsupportingmyolderone throughhisearlystage of
education.NowI’mconfidentthatIwant to developteachingskillsetsothatI am able to supportboth
my childrenwhoare EFL learners,andalsobe able to helpotherchildrenwithEnglishlanguagelearning
inour community.
Talkingaboutthe metaphor“Language isLike Cake”I couldthinkof several aspects.Toexamine this
metaphorI wouldsuggestfirsttodefine the maincharacteristicsof acake.The cake is sweetand
delicious,itisdecoratedandvisuallyappealing,andismade bya recipe fromdifferentingredients.
Same goeswithlanguage,itcouldbe justenoughtoknow the basicsinorderto communicate with
othersbutthe more it isdecoratedthe more delightitgivesinusingit.Whenwe are havinga cake we
decide if we like itnotonlybyitstaste but alsoby itsappearance,smell,arrangement,etc.Thisishow
our sensesare engagedinlanguage communicationtoo.
Justlike the cake is made fromdifferentcomponentslike sugar,flourandcream, inlanguage we use
words(vocabulary),grammar,punctuation,intonation,accentinafusiontodeliverunderstandable and
pleasantcommunication.Anotherparallel Icouldthinkof isthat havinga cake is usuallyasocial act.
Whenlanguage isusedfordeliveringcommunicationitgetsalsosocial,andlearningalanguage ina
settingwithotherpeople couldbe funlikehave acake.
Takingthe teacher’sviewpoint,Ithinkthismetaphorrepresentsthatthe language isa complete system
of communicationbutitshouldbe servedineasilydigestible(andappealing) slicestostudents.Most
people likecake butif youare servedasmashedpiece of sponge andchocolate mostof us will be
reluctantto have is.Andjustlike areal Chef the teacher’srole istomake it inwell prepared,neatly
arrangedand delicioussmallslicesandthenlearninganew language wouldbe “apiece of cake”
