Statement of Teaching Philosophy
Teaching linguistics for me is certainly a calling. While I knew, in my naiveté, when I first decided to attend University that I wanted to be a “professor”, it was only when I discovered linguistics and all it had to offer that I knew what type of professor I wanted to be.
Two of my first lecturers in General Linguistics were women who inspired me with their insight and their free-spirited enthusiasm for the subject. Their encouragement led to me completing my Masters in Linguistics in 2001 and starting to teach in the General Linguistics department at Stellenbosch University, initially as a part-time junior lecturer and then, via incremental promotion, as a full time lecturer in 2006. Since then I have tried to emulate them in one important aspect, to inspire the same kind of enthusiasm for linguistics in my students.
Linguistics, as the systematic study of language and language-related phenomena, requires insight into what language is and the recognition of language as an object of inquiry rather than a skill to be acquired for communication. Our ability to use language to communicate is an extremely complex phenomenon, requiring the ability to structure knowledge, to encode it in and decode it from linguistic signals, and to interact with others using such signals. By showing students how to examine language and to foster in them an understanding of language and its role in fulfilling the communicative needs of an increasingly complex society, a teacher can equip her students for all manner of disciplines, not least of which is research in linguistics.
One of the most important questions asked in linguistics is “What are the cognitive faculties underlying human language in structure and use, and what principles govern their interaction?” A large part of theoretical research in linguistics is therefore focused on a characterization of the human language faculty. The idea is that this is manifested in the similarity of grammatical systems of different languages, and that these similarities primarily result from innate principles. From such a perspective the differences between languages are seen as partly given choices that are set during the acquisition process in conformity with the characteristics of the language to which the learner is exposed. It is this perspective, that research into the grammatical properties of natural language in general and of specific languages is geared towards a general theory of part of human cognition, which can lead to a light-bulb moment in a student’s academic career. And it is my task to help them achieve that moment.
The best way to convey the complexity of language is through the analysis of the factors involved and the way these factors interact. In order to do this a teacher needs to be able to teach a wide-range of aspects of linguistics, even if those aspects are not necessarily part of her research interests. This is my teaching philosophy and one which I have put into practice, sometimes through choice and sometimes through necessity, over the last seventeen years.
Some of my most enjoyable teaching moments have been when I have been explaining the structure of a tree diagram, or working out the formal aspects of a rule for some or other phonological process, and I have seen a light go on in a student’s eyes and the rush of expelled air as he or she just “gets it”. For this reason I rely heavily on illustrative material in my coursework and practical exercises undertaken by students. Often the only way to learn something is by doing it, whether ‘it’ be syntax, morphology, or code switching. By providing students with the tools to undertake linguistic analysis, for example being able to analyze the hierarchical structure of a sentence or to identify the motivations behind a particular language switch, they are able to engage with the concrete as well as abstract properties of theories of language.
Language is also an important aspect in the classroom at Stellenbosch University from a practical point of view. Stellenbosch University is a formerly Afrikaans medium University, however over the last few years the university’s language policy has become more focused on bilingualism – pioneered by the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, which started following what it called the “Bilingualism Option” more than a decade ago. This option meant that all lectures and course material were presented in at least 50% Afrikaans, with the remainder of the lectures and course material being presented in English. This has developed into the current language policy where all information is conveyed at least in English and summaries or emphasis on content are also given in Afrikaans, while questions in Afrikaans and English are, at the least, answered in the language of the question. The evolving language policy has therefore required from the start very good levels of bilingualism from all lecturing staff, especially as students are free to complete tutorials, assignments and exams in either Afrikaans or English. This challenging situation makes for fertile ground when it comes to discussing issues of bilingualism, language dominance, the globalization of English, language acquisition to name but a few. As a mother-tongue speaker of English the bilingual policy led me to increase my communicative skills, not only in my second language, Afrikaans, but also in my mother tongue.
Teaching in a multilingual, multiracial classroom through the medium of two languages has given me insight into the needs of a diverse student body, the members of which, given the challenges faced by primary and secondary education in South Africa, do not always come into the classroom with the strongest educational background.
I have also been involved in teaching course work modules at postgraduate level. While many of these modules have been administered via distance learning, I have had the opportunity to present seminars to postgraduate students in the department on formal linguistics, sociolinguistic and applied linguistic topics. As far as the distance learning modules go, the majority of the teaching takes place through feedback given on student assignments. This has equipped me with the necessary skills to provide sufficient comments on written work that students learn and progress to the point where they can undertake independent research. These skills have proven invaluable in the supervision of Honours research reports, Masters theses and PhD dissertations.
In terms of my presentation style, providing detailed lecture notes for students does not actually help students, as they have to remain engaged during face-to-face lectures, so for this reason my PowerPoints, which I provide to students before the lecture as far as possible, are outlines that require note taking and attention during lectures, not to mention actually attending class. In addition I provide readings that supplement my lectures, but do not overwhelm students either in terms of quantity of readings or in terms of level of theoretical knowledge required. I have experimented with various modes of assessment over the years, from lengthy essays to extended language analyses to multiple choice online quizzes, and I have found that a mixture of various assessment modes, depending on the module content of course, is the best approach. A useful activity that I have adopted in the last two years is peer marking. When students have the opportunity to mark each other’s work they learn even more, as they have to pay attention to both the memo answer as well as evaluating the mistakes that they and their peers make in the assessment. This also means that I am able to assign more, shorter assessments, for example, drawing tree diagram structures for different types of sentences, without being overwhelmed by the size of the class.
I have discovered over the course of my teaching career the importance of providing students with clear guidelines as to what they can expect from the course and from me, however it remains the students’ responsibility to participate in the learning opportunities, rather than expecting to have everything spoon-fed to them. One of the things students appreciate is a well-prepared lecturer, and student feedback over the years has meant that this aspect is one I try to improve on every year.
Teaching Goals
I am essentially a developmental teacher. My primary goal is to help students develop sophisticated and complex ways of thinking so that they can understand the content and apply the theory/ies appropriately. My strongest skills in enabling me to reach this goal are (i) using effective questioning that challenges students to move from relatively simplistic ways of thinking about things to more complex thinking and reasoning, and (ii) providing examples that are illustrative of the underlying theory and that are meaningful to the student and allow them to leverage their existing knowledge in order to understand the content. It is a constant challenge to adapt my developing knowledge, gained from my ongoing research and the ever-evolving theories of language and language structure, to my learners’ levels of understanding and ways of thinking. This approach is supplemented by my belief that effective teaching requires a substantial commitment to the subject matter that I am teaching – which has become more prominent in recent years when I have been able to focus on teaching content more closely related to my own research interests. And of course I try to provide encouragement and support to my students, creating an environment of caring and trust in my classroom and outside it, helping students to set challenging but achievable goals, and supporting effort as well as achievement.
Teaching Experience
I have taught undergraduate modules in most aspects of formal linguistics, including Syntax, Semantics, Pragmatics, Morphology, Psycholinguistics, Language Variation, Sociolinguistics, Sign Language Linguistics, Language genesis and death, Code switching, as well as modules that can be characterized as Applied Linguistics, such as Language and the Media, English in the Electronic Age, and Intercultural Communication.
At postgraduate level I have taught Language variation, Intercultural Communication, Computer-mediated Communication, theoretical Syntax, Sign Language Linguistics, (experimental) Pragmatics, Optimality theory, Second Language Acquisition and language variation.
When I first started teaching, my teaching aids included handwritten transparencies and writing on the blackboard, this developed into using typed up and printed transparencies and writing on the blackboard, followed by text-only PowerPoint presentations and writing on the blackboard, and in the last few years using PowerPoint presentations into which audio and video have been inserted and writing on the blackboard. While my presentation methods have been updated, the writing on the blackboard remains constant – the only thing that has remained constant. Language and language-related matters and theories do not stay static, they change and develop and my teaching materials have also constantly developed and changed both in terms of in-lecture content as well as lecture notes and supplementary material.
Teaching Effectiveness
I generally receive good student ratings and positive student feedback. Students think that I lecture well, and that my enthusiasm for the subject comes through. In some cases students have commented that my enthusiastic lecture style sometimes overwhelms the message, and means that they struggle with the foundational aspects of the theory/ies, however, I use discernment when interpreting both positive and negative feedback. Of course I value peer feedback more, but that is not as simple to obtain as student feedback is. Some examples of recent student comments and a few emails from students are included as an appendix.
I try to keep abreast of technological advancements, specifically in the e-learning platforms that are constantly developing, and I attempt to integrate new functionalities where possible, but time-constraints are often a barrier to what is typically a time-intensive investment in new technology.
Conclusion
I adhere to the philosophy that effective teaching must be planned and conducted from the students’ point of view, and that I am responsible for conveying the content and enabling students to create knowledge bridges from what they already know to what they need to know and understand. I consider both discipline-specific developments and student interest when setting up and revising lecture content. I have learnt a great deal over the last seventeen years of teaching at Stellenbosch University, but there is plenty that I can still learn. I have empathy for my students, and I enjoy teaching them and providing encouragement and support. As such I view teaching as a privilege and not as something that has to be done as quickly and painlessly as possible so that I can get back to my research. I care about my students and it is my goal to encourage their learning in an environment of trust, by providing challenging, but achievable goals and supporting effort as well as achievement.