1. Analyse your own foreign language teaching
European PROFESSIONALISM - School Concepts in Europe
How we learn foreign languages is constantly being subjected to new theories leading to the
development of curricula and course books which means that teachers have to reconsider
whether changes are to be made in the classroom. Methods experienced during one’s own
schooling or while teaching now have to be reflected upon and amended. The following
distinctions should be taken into consideration:
a) What are one’s own subjective theories on teaching methods which are not based on
scientific theories?
b) Which aspects of former methods are still useful in certain settings and can be justified?
c) Which aspects of teaching methods should no longer be used in the future on the basis of
what we know today?
Think carefully about these points and solve the following tasks:
Which methods did you experience at school when learning a foreign language? And how?
• Reflect on these methods using the questions in the table ‘Analysis of your own
foreign language teaching’.
• Write your comments in the table ‘Analysis of your own foreign language teaching’.
• Talk to your colleagues: What experiences did you have in common? Do you feel the
same about the same methods?
• Think about the consequences this might have on your own teaching.
Table: Analysis of your own foreign language teaching
Adapted from Do you parlez andere lingue? Fremdsprachen lernen in der Schule; 2008.
Zurich Verlag Pestalozzianum.
www.european-teachers.eu