What led your path to joining the English Language Center at the University of Cape Town (UCT)?
After completing my DELTA in Cape Town I took a managerial position at the school I was working at for my current school as I had been teaching for over five years at this point and wanted a new challenge. I also wanted the chance to pass on what I had learned in my course to new teachers. Although I enjoyed the experience I was very aware that I still had a lot of things to learn as a teacher and so when the chance came along to work alongside some of the most qualified and experienced teachers in the country, it was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up on.
At reception desk with students
Can you tell us about your position as a Teacher and Assistant Director of Studies BA (Hons), DELTA, CELTA?
At UCT ELC we all alternate in teaching levels from Beginner through to Advanced. I usually prefer to run the exam classes, such as our IELTS class, as I find helping students pass an exam that will help them work towards a better future for themselves extremely Rewarding.
As Assistant Director of Studies, I assist our DOS in areas such as helping other staff with their own career development through the running of workshops, assisting in the development of syllabi to ensure teaching objectives are set that meet the needs of our learners, and assisting in the development of testing procedures.
My Bsc (Hons) was in Psychology which was completed in the U.K. The knowledge gained in Memory and Attention, Language Acquisition, and Critical Thinking modules have helped me a great deal in adapting materials and teaching learning strategies that help students get the most out of Lessons.
Why do you think education is so important and why have you dedicated your life to education?
Without an education behind you, your opportunities in life workwise are very limited as is the chance to lead a better life and provide one for your family. An education also better equips you to make a positive contribution to your community and society on the whole. I chose a career in education because for me, the most important aspect of any job is one where you feel that your efforts make a difference. Helping others towards realizing their goals and hopefully attaining a better life is something I derive a lot of satisfaction from.
On an excursion with students
You trained in Oxford and have a range of experience in teaching, training, and managing in Cape Town as well as in the UK. How do you use those experiences in your current role?
My role includes using what I have learned to help other staff with their own career development such as through the running of teaching skills workshops and facilitating in teacher training courses such as our TEFL program. I also use the knowledge and experienced I have gained to assist in the development of course syllabi including the setting
of teaching objectives and selecting of materials that meet the needs of our learners. Lastly, I assist in the development of testing procedures to help ensure learner progression is monitored accurately and that testing objectives coincide with teaching objectives.
When was a time you were particularly proud of the work you do?
My last group of IELTS exam students all passed with the scores they needed to join their respective universities. A lot of effort was put in both by the students and myself to achieve these scores and so I had a huge smile on my face when they all messaged me with their results and to say thank you.
What challenges do people often face when learning a new language? What advice do you have for overcoming those challenges?
I think the largest challenge for adult language learners is getting over their inhibitions. Young learners don’t typically fear public embarrassment and making mistakes so they are more willing to attempt producing new language irrespective of whether they think it’s right or wrong.
As with most skills, frequent practice and learning from your mistakes ultimately leads to quicker improvement – so the first tip is don’t worry about making mistakes or appearing stupid in front of your peers, it’s all part of the learning process and necessary if you hope to improve.
The second mistake adults tend to make is they approach learning like an intellectual puzzle or task and end up over-thinking and analyzing every grammatical and lexical point. Learning rules is important for helping to ensure accuracy, but spending hours revising grammar rules will not get you far.
The second tip is, therefore, don’t think, just do – if you’re going to dedicate time to learning a language spend this time immersing yourself in it by watching series, movies, listening to the radio or podcasts, reading for leisure, conversing or writing to others in the language.
What is your favorite part of your job?
Definitely the teaching of others – be it our English learners that come from all over the world to learn from us, other teachers at ELC who have just started teaching or aspiring language teachers on our TEFL programme. As explained, helping others progress towards their future goals and ambitions is something I get a lot of pleasure from doing. I also immensely enjoy working alongside the staff here as we have a very supportive system and all bring something different to this career in terms of teaching style, knowledge, or experience and so I am always learning something new.
Graduation day with student
Can you tell us about your interest in motivation in ELT, metacognitive learning strategies, and lexical retention and recall?
It is important for all students to remain as motivated as possible when learning a language mainly because a highly motivated student is in a better position mentally to acquire a language as this state allows for better processing and retention of it. For students who are here for long periods of time or as a requirement of their school or job, it can be difficult to maintain a high level of motivation. I place lot of importance therefore on equipping myself with the knowledge needed to combat this issue during teaching.
Improving in a language isn’t just about continual exposure and practice but also how efficiently we engage with it. When using our first language we unconsciously use a number of strategies to make our actions more efficient, for example, if we only wanted to know the gist of a story from a newspaper article we’d quickly look at the headlines, any pictures, and hone in on parts of the article that convey the main ideas. These strategies tend to be forgotten when studying a second language as untrained learners usually fall into the trap of trying to make sense of everything they don’t understand.
Lessons that help build awareness of how to better approach a reading task, prepare for an essay, or take notes during an extended listening help students get more out the language learning opportunities they are exposed to and increase their performance. The latter is particularly important in exam classes.
My interest in retention and recall comes from my studies into how our memory works when completing my degree in psychology. Vocabulary lessons that I teach focus on tasks that help students retain information for longer periods and demonstrate recording strategies they can use to help better remember new language they record in their vocabulary books.
What does meaningful travel mean to you?
To me, it means spending a longer period of time in a place rather than just going for two weeks and hiding in a hotel. For example, the EPIK program that takes teachers out to high schools in Korea, is a good example of meaningful travel. Teachers get to stay there for a year, and sometimes more if they so wish. This is experiencing the culture of a place rather than just being a tourist.
Are there any projects or developments at the English Language Center at UCT that you’d like to share?
We are very keen about getting our students’ writing. We issue each student with a writing book of their own that they use solely for writing. We have formalized writing, for example, learning to write a report, but then we also have times where students can write for fun as it has been shown that freewriting can help you engage better with the language, as it connects the language to your own personal life.
