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This is an exercise that I conduct with my student in class. It is designed to help you gain some perspective on the task in which you are engaged: learning English. 

 

THE TEACHING PROCESS

 

Please think of a situation when you have had to teach something to someone.  What did you have to do? Say, for example, someone (a friend, a relative) has asked you to teach him or her to drive a car. What would you do first?  It is likely you would have the person sit in the driver’s seat and explain the controls, such as the steering wheel, the brakes, the gas pedal, the ignition switch, and the radio. You would also want to inform your pupil about the rules of the road, road signs, safety precautions and driver etiquette (manners). Think of this as “defining your terms”, which is the basis for communicating in the situation.

 

After you are sure that your pupil understands what you have explained, you might demonstrate to the person how each control works, explaining the safety features and the functions.  After which, you might have the person try out the controls (safely, before starting the car).  When you are confident that the person understands what to do, you might take your student to a safe place, a deserted road or an empty parking lot, and have him or her try to drive the car (with you observing closely).  You might try different driving situations, such as a country road, a city street, and, eventually, parallel parking. And after much practice, the individual would take a driving test and, if passed, would receive a driver’s license.

 

Consider the steps in the teaching process described above (or any process when you have had to teach something to someone):

 

Step 1 could be thought of as motivation: the student must want to learn. In the example above, you were asked by someone to teach him or her to drive.  Thus, the motivation to learn already existed: your student wanted to learn to drive. If you have ever tried to teach something to someone who has not been motivated to learn, or if you have ever been an unmotivated student yourself, you will appreciate the role motivation plays in the teaching process.

 

Each of you reading this book is already motivated to learn English. You have your goals, hopes and dreams and these serve as your motivation: whether it is a good job, an education or putting yourself in a position to help yourself, others, or those whom you love.

 

Step 2 could be thought of as to define the terms of discourse (exchange of ideas).  Defining one’s terms is essential, because if the person you are teaching does not understand what you mean by “steering wheel” or “parking brake”, then he or she would definitely not be able to learn to operate the vehicle. 

 

Please note that I am a firm believer in defining one’s terms, always. I see defining one’s terms as a fundamental step in communication at any time with any person about anything. For example, suppose you are discussing love with someone.  Well, there are many kinds of love, including parental love, spousal (romantic) love, love of family, the love one has for one’s friends, and so on. I would find it necessary to clarify what type of love we are discussing before proceeding.

 

Or suppose you are a student, receiving a writing assignment from a teacher.  You would want to make sure that you understand the assignment, and this might mean understanding the meaning of some of the terms the teacher uses (employs) to make the assignment.  For example, several of the exercises suggested in this book involve the direction: “Write a critical essay discussing (a topic)” As a student, you might want to know what I mean by critical.  If I did not make this clear, you must ask for a definition. 

 

What I mean by a critical essay is one that analyses an issue or provides an analysis of an issue. To analyze means to identify the component parts. An analysis is a presentation of the parts. A critical essay about love, for example, might analyze the concept of love by identifying and defining the different types of love.  

 

When I ask for a critical essay about love, I expect you to think about the concept and offer some definitions of the term love and perhaps some observations about the significance of or role of love in human life.  

 

Or I might be more specific, and ask for a critical essay that compares and contrasts the different types of love. Your task would be to identify characteristics (aspects, elements, parts) of the different types of love that are similar (compare) and those that are different (contrast).  

 

Or, if your professor asked for a critical essay about the teaching process, he or she might expect something involving the different steps in the teaching process, (such as I am doing now, for example).

 

In the case of this book, I am following the steps in the learning process as discussed above. First, I have defined the terms of discourse: chapter one discussed communication using formal and informal language. This was an exercise of defining the terms of discussion (discourse).

 

Step 3 could be thought of as an explanation of the whole concept or how the specific parts relate to the entire task, in this case, driving a car. Your explanation would attempt to put the pieces together to help the student understand the goal or entire task.  This could be considered providing ‘perspective’ (point of view or viewpoint’ for the student. The student driver must know what would happen if he or she floored the accelerator (gas pedal) at the same time as stomping on the brake!  

 

For example, I once taught someone to drive who thought that the steering wheel turned all four wheels!  (This might make parallel parking easier, but would create chaos (disorder, confusion) when attempting to turn a corner!) 

 

Step 4 could be thought of as asking and answering questions. This process can clarify ideas, relationships, and consequences. One of the great benefits of live interaction between a teacher and a student is the opportunity to ask questions. This is one way to determine whether the student and the teacher are communicating and understand each other.

 

Step 5 could be thought of as practice: the student would try each task, say, starting the car, turning off the car, putting the car in gear, taking it out of gear, and so on. This is similar to when I encourage you to read, read, and read some more. I am encouraging you to practice your communication (in this case reading/receiving written information) skills. Whether you read or write you are practicing your English comprehension/understanding skills.  

 

Step 6 would then be demonstration (proof): the student would put it all together and can actually drive the car (in a safe place). This step may also be considered as feedback.  In other words, as the teacher, you must be able to gauge whether your student understands what he or she must in order to succeed at the task.  

 

Of course, there is a road test (driving test) in order to receive a driver’s license. This is an objective measurement/judgment of whether the student has mastered the necessary skills and information. (An objective measure uses a standard scale to evaluate or measure accomplishments.) Teachers understand that testing their students is actually a test of their own communication abilities (their own effectiveness as a teacher).  

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In summary, the steps in the teaching process could be represented as follows:

 

                                    Step 1: Motivation

                                    Step 2: Define terms (establish communication)

                                    Step 3: Explain the whole and the parts

                                    Step 4: Ask and answer questions; clarify

                                    Step 5: Practice 

                                    Step 6: Demonstrate (or prove) 

 

THE LEARNING PROCESS

 

So far, the discussion has been from the point of view of teaching. The object has been to clue you in as to (let you know about) what is involved in the process as the teacher sees it (from the perspective of the teacher). This is a necessary part of becoming a self-confident learner: one who understands the process he or she is undergoing (experiencing) and who is aware of the contribution (input) required. 

 

Now let us take a look at the teaching/learning process as the student sees it (from the perspective of the learner).  

 

Think of a situation where you had to learn something or wanted to learn something. Maybe this was for work, or school, or family or even for recreation, such as a sport or a hobby. This could be learning to play football, to bake a cake or to read and write English. What did you do?

 

The first thing you probably did was to think about who could teach you. Perhaps, finally, you went to a school or a formal class or course of instruction. But, for this example, let us say that you asked your neighbor, friend or relative to teach you.  Whatever the situation, you will have chosen someone whom you believe can get the job done. 

 

Next, you would have had to ask them to teach you. It is likely that you would explain your reasons for wanting to learn and why you think that this person would be a good teacher. Assuming this person agrees to teach you, then you would undoubtedly discuss what was needed to be done (accomplished), the time it would take, scheduling arrangements, and so forth.

 

After all this was decided, you would begin to attend sessions where you would be taught and you would learn. You would be given tasks and information. You would be instructed to learn, read and understand the information presented. Eventually, you would be asked to demonstrate the skills you have learned.

 

Consider the steps in the learning process described above (or any process when you have had to learn something):

 

Step 1: Once again, the first step could be considered to be identifying your motivation. The student must want to learn.  Without this component, no learning will occur. As a student, you determine how much time and effort you invest in the learning process. 

This fact is critical for you, a student of English.  Your success depends on the extent that you invest your time and effort to think about the language, to acquire new vocabulary words, to learn formal ways of expressing yourself, and to adjust to the rules of discourse in an academic setting.  

  Success is up to you!

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Step 2: As in any learning/teaching situation, the specific terms and concepts that govern the task must be clearly defined. Whether you are learning to play football, to bake a cake or to read and write English, you must be aware of the vocabulary appropriate to these tasks. 

 

Step 3: Understanding both the whole and the parts of what is being learned. There is a saying: “one must be able to see the forest and the trees”. A forest is made up of many trees. The student of the forest must study each tree individually, in order to understand the differences in the way each grows, how each one looks, and what each needs to live. In this way, the student learns about each tree. 

 

Yet the student of the forest must also be able to “rise above” the individual trees and see the entire forest as important. Is the whole forest safe or is it in danger? Is the whole forest growing or shrinking? Is the forest threatened by human development?

 

Do not let yourself be stuck only looking at trees; make sure you sometimes see the entire forest. Do not be someone who “cannot see the forest for the trees” (someone who only looks at the trees and doesn’t see that they, taken all together, are a forest), that is, do not be someone who forgets about the bigger picture.

 

Step 4: As a learner (student), it is your task to ask questions.  Your teacher will spend some time explaining the entire situation or task, but will look for clues from you as to whether you actually understand what is said.  One way, as a student, that you can make sure that you understand is to ask questions.

It is important to realize that there are two types (or categories) of questions: those that seek to clarify a specific fact, term or concept and those that show that the student is thinking on his or her own and is attempting to understand the subject as part of a general body of knowledge. Only you know how well you understand.  In order to communicate this to the teacher, you must ask questions: whether to clarify your understanding or to demonstrate what you understand. 

 

Whenever I am teaching, I make sure to tell my students that they must ask questions.  Without this, I am liable to think (I may think) that the students have not understood: you see, I don’t think that I am such a great communicator that everything I say is clear as a bell (perfectly clear) the first time I say it.  Sometimes a single misunderstood word or idea can affect the way in which a student understands.

 

For this reason, I warn my students: if they don’t ask questions, I am likely to repeat what I have said.  To avoid this, I tell them, ask questions! 

 In your case, Look it up!

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Step 5: Practice: this is the time and effort you invest in the learning process.  You must practice the skills, the recall of information, and perform the tasks required.  Once again, success is up to you.  You can simply go to class, sit passively, and listen.  Or you can become actively involved in your learning, by seriously devoting yourself to learning.

In the case of learning to read and write formal English, you must read, read, read!

There is no substitute for this practice.  In my classes, I always require all of my students to be reading on their own, that is, to read in addition to any school assignments. They read books, short stories, magazines, and newspapers. I encourage them to own the new words they encounter (find, meet) while practicing.  

One way to do this is to write down the definition, look up a synonym and write a sentence that helps you remember what the word means and how it is used. Or use the sample sentence from the dictionary. Consider keeping an English word journal where you record all the new words you are learning.

Remember what you learned about Jack London: he hung up little pieces of paper with new words to learn. Try it!

Step 6: Demonstrating what you have learned (the proof that you have learned) is the final step.  As discussed above, this often takes the form of a test.  At the college level, a test could be a multiple-choice exam, an in-class essay, a take home exam question, or a research paper or project.  

 

Once again, if we summarize these steps, we have: 

 

                        Step 1: Motivation.

                        Step 2: Understanding of the terms 

                        Step 3: Understand the whole and the parts 

                        Step 4: Asking questions 

                        Step 5: Practice: Time & Effort

                        Step 6: Demonstration (or proof)

 

You will notice that the steps in the learning process are almost identical to the steps in the teaching process.  These processes could be thought of as mirror images of each other. 

 

As a self-confident learner, you should always maintain an awareness of the process you are engaged in and at which stage in the process you are at any time.  Knowing this will help you to understand what is happening and what will happen next.  This awareness will enable you to set realistic expectations for yourself, in terms of how much you can expect to learn in a specific period of time. 

 

For example, here you are learning formal English.  At a standard college, this course meets three hours a week for 15 weeks.  That is, 45 hours of class time.  However, college students are expected to spend at least three times as much time studying outside of class as in class.  

 

This means that, as a college student, you would be expected to study (read and write) for 135 hours (3 x 45 hours = 135 hours) at home, at a library or other study place. Altogether, this class requires 180 hours of your time (45 hours of class time + 135 hours of study time). 

hourglass sand timer

 

You began this course without the skill to read and write formal English (or with some skills and lacking others or with rusty skills that need to be brushed up).  During the course of studying, you are learning what is expected of you (how to read and write at the college level) and you are beginning to acquire and apply some skills (by reading and writing). At the conclusion, you will be expected to perform at a certain level (in this case, at freshman college level). 

 

You really need the entire 180 hours of work to achieve this result.  If you put in 18 hours, how much should you expect to learn? 10% (18 hours / 180 hours) I don’t even know what it would mean to learn 10% of what is in this book!  To the extent that you invest the proper amount of time, you will learn what is offered here.  This is up to you. 

 

My students often come to me during the semester upset with themselves for not making as much progress as they expected.  I always point out that the goal is to write at the college level when the class is finished.  I remind them that learning is a process with stages.  I tell them that, just as each of us thinks differently, each of us learns differently.  Everyone learns in different ways and at different rates. I also tell them that, over the course of 180 hours of studying, many, many students do learn to read and write English at the college level. And then I tell them to read, read, read! 

 

As a self-confident learner, you will understand all this.  You will recognize that the effort put into learning is the engine that determines how much you will learn and how well you will learn it.  In this way, your destiny is in your hands.  

This much is up to you! 

 

The final stage in both the learning and teaching processes, as defined above, is demonstration (proof). Now let us discuss proof or the proving process.  

 

THE PROVING PROCESS

 

Think of a situation when you had to prove something to someone.  Once again, this could be any situation in your personal, professional or academic life.  

 

A typical situation that students often bring up in class is when a young adult must prove to his or her parents that he or she can support him or herself and live on his or her own.  The parents would likely want to see some proof of their child’s ability to be responsible for him or herself even before allowing their son or daughter to move out.  The parents would likely discuss this with their child and agree on what would demonstrate his or her ability to care for his or herself.

 

What would the young adult have to do to support him or herself?  He or she would have to pay rent and utilities, buy food, cook, do laundry, clean the home, and so forth.  What would constitute proof in such a situation?  To prove one’s earning capacity or income, one could present a paycheck stub.  To prove that he or she can care for and clean the home, the parents could allow the student to demonstrate his or her abilities in the parents’ home.  The young adult could care for his or her own room, clean his or her clothing and the parents could have a home-cooked meal. 

 

What are these proofs?  When the parents visit, observe the clean home and taste the food, they see and confirm for themselves the facts of the situation.  In this case, the authority that they rely upon is their own senses: seeing and tasting. As Immanuel Kant said, the senses are the “spectacles with which we view the world” and most people would accept that seeing is believing.  The primary authority for human beings is our own experience (as confirmed by our senses).

 

But what about things that the senses can’t validate (that is, prove are true)? With regard to income, for example, such validation could come in the form of a paycheck stub in an official document, often computer generated, that states what funds were earned and how much was deducted for taxes, social security and other deductions.  

This piece of paper carries with it what can be considered to be an authority, that is, it is generally recognized as containing valid information (what you might consider to be truth).  As this is an official statement of earnings, recognized by the government and the employer, the parent should accept this as proof of the fact that their child is employed. 

 

A high school diploma and a college degree, for example, are proof that a person has mastered the skills and knowledge that are expected from an educated person in America. When you apply for a job, your diploma is proof that you can communicate (read, write, and speak) effectively and calculate accurately. Jobs that require a degree or diploma usually pay more than jobs that do not. This is one of the ways that a formal education can help you in your pursuit of (quest for) the American Dream.

 

This is the main point I am trying to make: that people believe authorities.  What constitutes an authority?  An authority is source of information that is a generally recognized to be true, valid, and legitimate.

 

For example, I am sure that you believe what your dictionary and thesaurus tell you about words.  Dictionaries are authorities on words.  However, there are different dictionaries, with somewhat different definitions for words. I often point this out in class, as students have different dictionaries with them. Then we compare the definitions of new words contained in these different dictionaries to see how different they are. You might try doing this on your own.  In fact, reading the dictionary, that is, browsing through and becoming familiar with unfamiliar words is a fine exercise for all people who want to improve their command of the language, regardless of how large their vocabulary may be. (Some students select and learn 5 new words every week and write them in their word journal!)

 

When considering proof (authorities), always consider the source. There is a children’s game called telephone, or whisper down the lane, that demonstrates this point.  If there are 10 people sitting in a row, and the first person whispers a sentence to the second person and asks him or her to whisper the sentence to the next person (and so on), then the last person in the line will likely not be able to repeat the sentence exactly as it began. 

 

The first person may say to the second, “Tell them he likes her a lot.” The second person might not repeat this exactly, word-for-word, and might say to the third person, “He really likes her a lot.”  The third person might say to the fourth, “He’s in love.” Each person hears the message but then, when they pass it on, they often change the message slightly. By the time the tenth person received the message, it could have changed completely, for example, to “They love each other.” 

 

This happens because human beings cannot help but interpret what they see, hear, feel; our experiences, as the German philosopher Immanuel Kant observed, are filtered through our senses and become our own individual experiences.  In the case of the telephone game, the filtering occurs both on the way in and on the way out.  

 

The point is that, if you want to get the whole, complete and accurate sentence, you will ask the first person (the primary person) and not the others. The further removed from the original sentence whisperer you get, the more likely that the sentence will not be the same.

 

This is true of all proofs.  First hand (primary) knowledge is usually more reliable than second-hand (secondary) information.  In the academic world, these are defined as primary sources and secondary sources. An eyewitness to an event is a primary source. Someone who is writing about the event and has learned his or her information from the primary source person (through an interview, for example) is a secondary source.

 

Other examples of primary sources:

 

            A diary

            A picture

            Letters, including business and personal correspondence    

            Original/public documents

            Any of these reproduced in a secondary source

 

Other examples of secondary sources:

 

            A textbook

            An essay or discussion reviewing ideas expressed by others on a topic

 

In your academic (college) or professional career, you will read many books, articles, and other sources of information. Always consider the source: you should know what you are reading, who the author is (who wrote it) and how much authority is accorded to that author’s work. 

 

One reason for this is that each writer has his or her own perspective, point of view or slant (bias) on the subject. Sometimes a writer’s perspective is related to his or her personal experiences and sometimes a writer’s point of view is the result of a philosophical, political or social outlook on life.

 

If you understand the writer’s point of view or why they are writing what they are writing (in slang we say, where they are coming from), then you can often better appreciate what they are saying and consider the information from a more instructive perspective.

 

To summarize the proving process, we can list the following steps:

 

Step 1 is motivation: step one, you will have noticed, is always motivation.  That is because human beings are independent agents: they have free will.  This means that one cannot force them to acquire skills and knowledge, they must want to do this.  I have made this point many times, especially in this chapter, and I rely on your ability to find your motivation to learn standard formal English.  Without this investment of yours, there will not be any teaching, learning, or proving. 

 

Step 2 could, once again, be considered defining your terms.  In this case, the terms that you need defined are the things (elements or aspects or facets) of what would be considered to be proof (what would constitute proof) in this situation. The young adult and the parents would have to agree, up front (at the beginning), as to what proof would convince the parents to allow the child to live on his or her own.  For example, after some discussion, it might turn out that the parents might want to see more income than the young adult might feel is necessary. The child might believe that $200 per week would be enough money, while the parents might think that $2,000 per month would be necessary.

 

In a college class, the students are told how they will be graded. For example, 10% for class discussion, 20% for quizzes, 30% for the mid-term and 40% for the final exam. On the job, workers are often evaluated and valued by such measures as their productivity (how much they produce), their reliability (whether they come to work on time), accuracy (how well they do their jobs, the quality of their work) and attitude towards the job (how seriously they take they work).

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Step 3 would be the presentation of the actual proof.  In this case, a paycheck, a clean room and clean clothes, and a home-cooked meal.  The reason these things would constitute proof is that all parties concerned have agreed that they would be the required proof.

 

In a formal learning/teaching situation, proof (demonstration of what has been learned) often comes in the form of a test.  

 

TESTS

 

Most students believe that a test shows whether the learners have been good students.  Tests really show how well (effectively) the teacher has taught the students.  It is really a test of the teacher, although the students take it.  As a teacher, whenever one of my students fails, or fails to grasp an important concept that could affect their lives, I regard it as my failure. The true test of a student is whether he or she can exceed the level of the teacher, by building on the knowledge, experience and wisdom the teacher shares.

 

A final note on the learning/teaching/proving process: when you identify the components (steps) in these processes, you are learning aspects of the discipline of education. The word discipline has many synonyms, including regulation, order, control, restraint and obedience. In this case, it means a formal organization of certain knowledge or knowledge that has been structured (organized, ordered) from a certain perspective (point of view or vantage point). In this case, the information is organized from the point of view of education, that is, the learning/teaching/proving process). The next chapter continues this idea of discipline and discusses the structure of knowledge.