Scaffolding English

Seminar paper from the year 2011 in the subject Didactics - English - Pedagogy, Literature Studies, grade: 14 Punkte, Justus-Liebig-University Giessen (Anglisitk), course: Scaffolding English, language: English, abstract: I think learning languages is really important nowadays, because it is necessary almost everywhere. We need to be able to speak another language, especially English, in almost every job, we are a multicultural earth, we communicate over the internet to people all over the world and English is the language most spoken. Even if you work at Burger King, it can happen that customers come in who are not able to speak German and you will have to communicate with them somehow.

When I think back to what I have learned about a good teacher and a successful language learner, I remember that the teacher plays an important role because he manages the whole classroom including the atmosphere and the motivation. If he is not motivated, the class won¿t be either because they will be bored. A good teacher should know about different learner types and should be able to handle them with the right strategies. Many problems can show up like different cultures and backgrounds of the learners. So the teacher and the learners have to find a way to collaborate with each other. Another important fact is that the teacher has to teach the learners all four skills of language learning instead of focusing at one. Writing, listening, speaking and reading skills should be taught on the same level. Furthermore, the materials a teachers uses should be interesting for the learners and motivate them. So if the students are not motivated or do not respect their teacher, he or she has to find a way how to change it. I see the major problems individuals face when learning languages in the different ways pupils learn. No class is homogenous and every single student in it has his/her own way of learning and dealing with another language. Some are more motivated or even already in touch with another language and some seem to despise to learn another language. Some are stronger and some are weaker in learning. And the teacher has to deal with all of them at the same time. So you have to manage to help the weaker ones without to letting the stronger pupils become demotivated.

I think languages fit in with other subjects in many different ways. We always communicate in a language. This is mostly German. So I do not see a real difference in the communication in German or English in a subject. The only one is probably the fact that the students or pupils have to learn the vocabulary for being able to speak in other subjects in English also. So you could teach every subject in anothe