TEACHING PORTFOLIO IN SUPPORT OF
RANK ADVANCEMENT APPLICATION
SUBMITTED TO FPS OF DLI APRIL 15, 2003
Lan Yu SAA-CA 1
831-242-4904
As
a language teacher, I firmly believe that learning a language is a socialization
process in which the students grow linguistically and culturally to become a
functioning member of the target society. Therefore, I advocate teaching the
language as it is actually used in the target language society and making use
of as many authentic resources as possible in the teaching. I believe in
inputting the target language in a variety of forms such as printed materials,
video materials and audio materials, in a variety of genres such as text book
materials, edited authentic materials, fictions and non-fictions, prose and
poetry, and in a variety of activities such as reading and writing, translating
and interpreting, speaking and singing.
I
regard the learner as the center of learning and prefer empowering the learner
to limiting his/her potential in language development. In classroom teaching, I
act as facilitator and organizer and
give students as much time as possible for actually doing the learning by
themselves.
In
the tradition of Confucianism, I follow the idea that a teacher’s task is to
pass to the students what he believes is right, teach them the necessary skills
for their professional development and answer the questions to rid them of
confused ideas about what they learn. In my teaching I am glad to advise
students on their problems in learning the target language and in coping with a
study life featuring a high pressure of fast scheduling and loads of learning
tasks, if they bring their problems to me.
I
believe that a teacher should be a role model for the students in that he or
she should set an example of an avid learner for acquiring new knowledge. In my
own case, I constantly manifest an interest in learning a new language and
culture. Also by incorporating creative writing into teaching materials
development, I try to stimulate students’ desire for developing better literacy
in the target language.
II.
CREDENTIALS AND EXPERIENCE IN LANGUAGE TEACHING
I
graduated in 1985 from China’s PLA Foreign Language Institute with a Master
degree in the area of English linguistics. Since then I taught English to
English majors in two universities from 1985 to 1995. I graduated from the
Department of Anthropology of the University of New Brunswick, Canada, in 1998
with a Master degree in Cultural Anthropology. The research is in the area of
discourse analysis or criticism. My transcripts and degrees have been evaluated
by an agency whose authority is acknowledged by DLI. All my transcripts and the evaluation documentation are filed
with the civilian personnel office.
During
the ten years when I was teaching English in China, I published many articles
on language teaching and on translation, which was one of my teaching areas. I
participated in the writing of two textbooks on English-Chinese translation,
which were both published In 1997 a textbook on English-Chinese translation
that was written by myself independently was published. I also published an
English article on translation in Perspectives, a journal of the English Department of the
University of Copenhagen.
(http://www.engelsk.ku.dk/translationstudies)
In
Aug.1995- May 96 I taught Chinese as Second Language in the Foreign Language
Department of Baylor University for two semesters. My teaching received good
comments from my supervisor.
III.
DUTIES, TASKS AND CONTRIBUTIONS
I
came to DLI in June, 1999 first as senior instructor and then assistant
professor and I have been doing my job according to the job descriptions for
these two titles. In addition, I volunteered as team leader for a class when my
team was still “leader-less” two or three weeks after the start of the program.
I summarize my work since I came here briefly as follows:
A.
Teaching the required hours of class and actually exceeding the minimum working
hours. I do not think I need to elaborate on this point. All I wish to emphasize is
that my teaching method is focused on communicative activities as much as the
rigid and fast schedule allows. I appreciate the communicative approach in
language teaching and have applied communicative methods in my classroom teaching.
I also try to use as much as authentic materials in my listening and reading
classes.
B.
Actively engaging myself in curriculum development by writing supplementary
reading and listening materials, quizzes and tests to compensate for the
inadequacies of the teaching materials. This work started as soon as I arrived here at DLI
and has been continuing since then. The materials are mainly of two kinds:
supplementary listening and reading materials and grammar notes aimed at
clarifying difficult grammar points for the students. My handouts were welcomed
by many students and were helpful to them. The class leader of the first class
that I taught specifically told me that he wanted those handouts to be given to
all the three sections. In writing my supplementary materials, I keep in mind
the FLOs and the future needs of military linguists when deciding on the
content of the materials.
My specific contributions are summarized as
follows:
1.
In 2002-03, I participated in the Asian School One’s Third Term Textbook
Writing Project. I was in charge of
writing review exercises for five lessons in one unit. The exercises consist of
listening in FLO format (10 pages), reading in FLO format (10 pages), listening
in DLPT format (8 pages) and reading in DLPT format (12 pages). The project
involves writing, selecting and editing passage items, designing comprehension
questions, providing answer keys and voicing the transcripts.
2.
For Class CM 500, I wrote the homework for Term II lessons except one that was
written by another teacher but was edited by me. The homework was
systematically designed to lead students in a gradual transition towards
proficiency training.
3.
For Term III of CM 500, I compiled News Classified by Subjects to provide
higher rate of vocabulary repetition and semantic concentration. I, adapting to
the reality of a higher proportion of proficiency-shy students in this class,
re-organized the reading passages of a HSK exercise book (HSK is like TOEFL in
format) by subject matter to give it better structure. I re-ordered the reading
items by subject matter of existing textbooks such as News
Brief (a random collection of news items) for the same
purpose of satisfying students’ needs for structured input.
4.
In 2002, I wrote no less than fourteen lessons’ new supplementary readings for Chinese
Basic Course and Speaking Chinese about China. The format of these
supplementary readings is helpful for student’s review of their vocabulary and
texts and projection of reading skills from non-authentic materials to
authentic materials. I also prepared sample texts for the purpose of providing
vocabulary and discourse patterns useful in completing OPI tasks.
5. When the new class started in September,
2002, which is the fourth class since I came to DLI, I began writing reading
materials to support the text book 500 Characters. It consists of 25 reading
articles for 25 lessons of the first term. The readings are helpful for
students to learn vocabulary in a meaningful context.
C.
Collecting Authentic Materials. Starting from the beginning of my employment, I
have been collecting potentially useful authentic teaching materials. The
authentic materials that I collect consist of both written materials and
video-aural materials.
D.
Other work in support of teaching and curriculum development:
1.
I was in charge of downloading current news and writing corresponding exercises
for Term III, even though sometimes the teaching sessions were assigned to
other teachers.
2. I supervised and participated in the revision
of team-developed quiz materials for Term I and wrote the tests for Term III
according to the goals of training FLO skills.
3.
I compiled glossaries and wrote comprehension questions and abstracts for seven
episodes of a Chinese TV series about Chinese army that I recorded from Chinese
TV station.
4.
I organized the adaptation of English
standardized listening tests (TOEFL). This involves many hours of translating
and voicing of the scripts. Some of them were used in the listening labs.
Likewise, I, together with the team, adapted HSK listening materials to suit
the format of DLPT. Such materials
provide an exercise bank to choose items from.
5.
During my home visits in China, I took pictures and video-taped street signs,
functional communication scenarios etc. I also collected authentic forms that
are commonly used in hospitals, post offices and banks. These have been used
effectively in organizing communicative activities and in preparing
communication oriented teaching materials.
6.
I often try to make use of technology to enhance my teaching. I built a virtual
classroom to store my handouts for the students to use at their convenient
time. The site is http://www.geocities.com/unit790/CSL.
I
also have used my own camcorder to make some video tapes that can be used to
enhance teaching and stimulate students’ interest. Some video clips are
especially useful in training description of spatial physical settings. I also
made a trial tape to accompany the textbook Talking
about China In Chinese (did 3 lessons).
Since
the installation of Smart Board, I actively participate in trainings and also
did demonstrations to other teachers as to the basic use of it in the classroom
teaching.
E. Leadership and Mentoring
In
June-July 2000, I, with a colleague to assist me, took up the work of
organizing the team’s work for class CM500. At that time, there was some
disorganization in the team due to a lack of
a functioning team leader. I offered to do the job on a temporary basis,
but the department never found a replacement later. Since the official
nomination, I devoted much time in the administrative aspects of the teamwork,
from supervising operation to preparing paper works. I fulfilled all the tasks required
of a team leader, scheduling classes, reporting CTARS, etc. In doing this
seemingly mechanic work, I put in much time and effort into accommodating
students' feedback so that a better learning environment for them could be
ensured. I also provided guidance to my team members so that our teaching could
follow the total immersion requirement. I issued copies of academic discourse
on whole language teaching and urged my fellow teachers to accommodate the
teaching method as much as possible.
In
other occasions, sometimes younger teachers came up to me for advice as to how
to teach a certain part of the text. I would suggest what I considered an
effective method. In the area of technology, my colleagues often ask me to
provide guidance as to how to use the computer and the smart board.
F.
Academic Development
1.
I regularly update my knowledge of second language teaching by reading academic
journals. I also have checked out books on teaching in particular fields, such
as listening, from both MIIS and DLI libraries.
2.
I participated in all the required training sessions, such as how to create
speaking opportunities in class, how to do counseling, etc. In 2000, I
participated in Task-Based Language Learning Training and Oral Proficiency
Development Workshop.
3.
I also participated in academic activities organized by both state level
professional associations such as the Foreign Language Association of North
California and by local academic groups of DLI and Chinese department.
4.
I constantly contemplate on teaching issues that are very concrete and specific
to DLI and shared my thoughts with colleagues via emails and conversations as
well as short notes on language points.
G.
Other Contributions to DLI
In
August, 1999 I participated in the Language Day demonstration teaching and was
awarded a Certificate of Appreciation.
In
October, 2000, I was given the task of translating a presentation for Fort
Jackson. The presentation was a lengthy briefing on military training for a
Chinese military delegation headed by General Yu Yongbo that was invited to
visit the United States by DOD. I translated the document and went to Fort
Jackson to present the briefing to the Chinese delegates. I was awarded a medal
of excellence by the Commander of the base.
In
April 2003, I served as judge in a Chinese speech contest held in San
Francisco, organized by the Chinese Language Teachers Association of
California. A student of mine whom I tutored was awarded by other judges the
second place prize in her group.
IV.
STUDENT FEEDBACK, EVALUATIONS, AWARDS
I,
with other team members, was awarded a teaching excellence award in June 2000.
Most
of my student feedback has been positive. My chairperson’s evaluation of my
work performance has also been positive (rated as Excellence 25-74% Obj)
A.
Written English I can effectively use the English language to write academic papers as
well as other genres of writings such as essays. When I taught English in
China, I presented an English paper on teaching extensive reading at an
international conference on TESL held in Zhengzhou city (circa 1992). As I
mentioned in Section II, I published a paper on translation studies in an
English language journal. Another article in English on translation can be read
here:
http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Field/5650/writings/meta.html
B.
Spoken English I can use spoken English to
effectively discuss academic issues as well as other serious and casual
subjects, be they abstract or concrete. When I taught English in China, the English language was the classroom language
that the teacher must use for class material presentation and explanation. Here
at DLI, my students comments on my English are: “ Incredible mastery of
English.” “ Very fluent.” “ His English is very good, especially when
translating Chinese texts.” “ Good knowledge of English. ”
A.
Resume, Writing Samples:
http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Field/5650/
B.
Third Term Textbook Writing Project: (if required for interview)
C.
Teaching materials that I wrote:
http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Plaza/8638/CSL
D.
Publications (if required for interview)