Whether I am teaching a language class, an academic writing class, or whether it is a graduate or an undergraduate seminar in applied linguistics or in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL), the tenets that comprise my teaching philosophy revolve around the same basic principle: that I must aim at teaching my students, not the materials. By this I mean that although it is useful to have a curriculum and a lesson plan in mind, my main concern must be to make sure my students are going to meet the desired learning outcomes.

In addition, I believe that in order to empower my students, their voices should be heard. Participation is required and praised, and no-one’s opinion is ignored. In the university context, and in the field of applied linguistics and TESOL, most undergraduate and graduate students are likely to become teachers themselves, so it is imperative that they experience first-hand what the ideal classroom is like, starting from the theoretical classes they shall take with me.  Thus, language and TESOL classes should be student-centered, with a high amount of student-talk-time provided by group and pair work. A balance of deductive and inductive approaches to language teaching should be used to provide variety to lessons, and a good number of different types of practice activities should be used in order to cater to different learning styles. For that intent, materials must be personalized, engaging, and as authentic, meaningful, relevant, and current as possible.

Ongoing assessment is another key component of any teaching methodology. In an environment that makes use of communicative approaches, assessment is better done through evaluation of students’ production, both oral and written. I believe that it is important that rubrics and expectations are transparent, and that feedback is provided not only by the main instructor, but also by peers; moreover, feedback should focus on both fluency and accuracy, but the amount of each depends on the specific goals of a given activity. But regardless of how assessment and feedback are provided, they must represent fair and reasonable standards and expectations for the level I am teaching, or the group of students I have; for example, whether I am teaching undergraduate or graduate students, and intermediate or advance language learners. In my view, frequent formal and informal tests should be used as a motivator for students to keep up with their own work, and revisit their notes and textbooks frequently, and to take responsibility for their own learning process beyond the classroom. This means that active classroom participation, oral presentations, and in-class assignments should be given emphasis and grading weight.

The same way that there is no specific “ultimate proficiency level” where learners can say they have become proficient speakers, there is no amount of training and experience that will create the “perfect” teacher. For that reason, constant training through in-house meetings, workshops or conferences, dialogue with colleagues, and lesson planning are as important as keeping an open-mind and facing each quarter or semester, and each group of students as a “unique experience”. This is why teaching, for me, is never dull and is the most challenging and fun job there is.