My name is Michael Cain and I am an ASL Instructor and teacher in an Interpreter Training Program. I have been teaching ASL to interpreting students since 2001. I want to discuss with you about my language teaching philosophy. My teaching beliefs are aligned with the following methods: Notional-Functional Syllabus (NFS), Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), and the Genre Model.
The first method I’d like to discuss is the Notional-Functional Syllabus (NFS), which was first used by the Signing Naturally series (Lentz, Mikos & Smith, 1989). Their theoretical foundation is focused on communicative and functional approach to language teaching (Richards & Rodgers, 2014). Teachers are responsible for including real-world experiences and situations into the classroom. The students will have opportunities to apply the language they just learned in their group interactions in class (Brown, 2007). A frequent staple in my classroom is paired dialogue following a general script, using varied videos and activities from different resources. As a teacher, I consider myself a language facilitator and guide, supporting students’ language development.
The second method I incorporate in my teaching curriculum is Communicative Language Teaching (CLT). Their theoretical foundation involves two main fundamental ideas: a) communicative competence is the goal of language teaching and b) emphasize the teaching of both language modalities (comprehension and production) (Richards & Rodgers, 2014). In the classroom, the teacher’s role is to bring in the real-world, authentic activities to promote interaction among students in class.
The third principle I incorporate in my teaching is the Genre Model. This refers to norms of language usage in specific scenarios (Richards & Rodgers, 2014). For example, members of police departments, nursing programs and fire departments have standard protocol involving specific questions and answers that they use with their consumers. As a teacher, I will customize my curriculum to include their standard discourse, vocabulary and sentences in an ASL class so when they encounter a Deaf person on the job they will have basic communication skills until the interpreter arrives.
Using the Notional-Functional Syllabus (NFS), Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), and the Genre Model with ASL students will result in successful language development.
References Brown, D. (2007). Teaching by Principles: An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy (3rd ed.). White Plains, NY: Pearson Education, Inc. Lentz, E. M., Mikos, K., & Smith, C. (1989). Signing Naturally level 2 Teacher’s Curriculum. San Diego, CA: Dawn Sign Press. Richards, Jack C. & Rodgers, Theodore S. (2014). Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching (3rd ed.). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.