Competency In English Language Learning †MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Competency In English Language Learning. Answer: Introduction I have had a fruitful learning experience with many new things to learn and many things that I need to develop further. Preparing my own learning plan helped me greatly to realize my strengths and weaknesses in this area. Language learning is vital for any student to move ahead in his career. According to Richards (2015), language learning enables an individual to thrive in any field and understand the various cultures prevalent in different countries. In the given report, I have reflected upon my experiences of learning I received in this unit. The report mainly deals with the various goals that I had set for myself in order to achieve competency in English language learning. I got the opportunity to improve my language learning skills through different activities carried out throughout the unit. The report also includes recommendations following which I can further enhance my learning abilities to foster in my discipline. Time management skills development I have created a learning plan which include my learning goals (see appendix). In following the plan, I have come across numerous barriers which I needed to solve. Time management is one of the chief factors that has helped me to overcome many issues regarding my learning process. In the initial stage I found myself inexperienced to manage time to cover all the subjects because I had to spend maximum time in the university classes. I could never meet the deadlines given by my professors to submit my assignments. I had no appropriate plan for dividing time to invest on every subject. Therefore, I started to maintain a time table which I tried to implement in my regular life. In creating this daily routine, I followed POSEC method which includes Prioritizing, Organizing, Stream lining, economizing finally Contributing. POSEC method had helped me to focus my attention on my daily responsibilities (Morecroft 2018).Prioritising was mandatory forproper planning so I distinguished stuffs according to their priorities and organised them. I updated my learning goals to give more focus to complete one particular subject within given time. I reduced other activities that used to distract me from learning and invest more time in completing my dailyhome works. I attended all the lectures and noted them perfectly so I did not need to time to find the specific topics in my text books haphazardly (Liebowitz and Frank 2016). Previously I used to be obsessed with one topic which ultimately lagged me behind in other topics and I failed to produce my assignments within deadline but the method of listing and keeping routines updated helped me a great deal in my time management. Beside these, regular meditation helped me a great deal in increasing my concentration power (Parkinson and Musgrave 2014). For this, I now need less time to concentrate on my studies. Academic writing skills development Developing academic writing skill was one of the major challenges for me. Initially I had no idea about the procedures to write academic papers which was vital for me to complete my assignments. I faced a great challenge to distinguish the reliable source of data from the plethora of available data from books, eBooks, internet and journals. I did not know that there can be an issue with plagiarism that may affect my overall results and scores. After I gained full knowledge about plagiarism and wanted to remove from my assignments but the quality of my writings was fast deteriorating which again affected my marks. I was not aware that there are some criteria like proper paraphrasing or conceptual writing methods that the students use to avoid plagiarism. Moreover, I was unfamiliar with different referencing styles and citation methods that make an assignment rich in quality. Due to these reasons my assignments were full of grammatical and syntactical errors. To solve such problems, I first consulted mylecturers to suggest me ways to cope up with the situation and gain proper knowledge about the requirements. My professors guided me greatly by letting me know about the plagiarism issue as well as the referencing styles and citation methods (Langum and Sullivan 2017). I consulted my seniors who helped me in finding reliable websites andI had gone through numerous websites to get information about credible resources from which I could write my academic papers. I learnt to avoid plagiarism by improving my paraphrasing skill. I started to concentrate in reducing grammatical and syntactical mistakes in my papers. From the internet I attempted to follow the proper method of writing academic writings using formal language. My seniors suggested me to sit for short online exams focusing to reduce minute grammatical mistakes in my papers which had great impact on my later scores. Learning approach development In developing my learning approach, I faced huge barriers because English was not my first language. In addition to this, I needed to remember points as well as theories of my subjects from the text books, journals, university study materials and lectures which were all in English language. Language was on the major barriers that lagged me in proper understanding the lectures hence the topics of learning. Moreover, my learning procedure was quite different that only supported basic knowledge. On the other hand, the lecturers put more focus on the theoretical knowledge than a practical one.I was unable to connect the theories or models into the practical learning.My assignments therefore got affected as I failed to learn subjects properly. To solve these issues, I started to focus on the live lectures and make notes of every points so that I could be able to identify the theories associated with my subjects. This strategy helped me to build practical knowledge to prepare my papers. the seniors suggested me to keep present in the universities website so that I learn to relate my knowledgewith the university lectures (Abdelrahman et al. 2017). My professors advised me to grab the actual meaning or main idea that the texts want to convey rather than merely reading points. In this case doing regular meditation helped me greatly. Moreover, I got involved in collaborative learning with my peers so that I come across different perspectives and learn to connect them in my learning approach. Bedside learning formally in the university, I started learning informally where I learnt from interactions, discussions and group activities (Taylor 2017). I involved myself in eLearning process which proved to be easier to gain knowledge within limited time. Critical reading and thinking skills development While developing my learning plan initially, I noted down three barriers that confront my ability to develop critical reading and thinking skills. The first barrier, as mentioned is English being my second language. It is a universal fact that people tend to be apt in their first language while they find it difficult to comprehend the secondary languages. However, it is not the case with everyone, yet majority of people need assistance to develop skills on learning the second language. This is further validated by scholars and experts who have done extensive research in the field. According to Duxbury and Tsai (2014), students often suffer from anxiety while studying a foreign language that is a language not aligning with their native language. This adds up to my inability to read and think critically. Apart from that, I have difficulties in comprehending meanings of a specific sentence due to lack of my ability to understand English. It further leads to my inability to link to separate ideas and form a creative idea of my own. In addition, I find it difficult to participate in interactive decisions with my peers and teachers due to my unfamiliarity with these activities. It is vital to participate in creative activities to develop skills of critical thinking. As Kong (2014) states, critical thinking and reading can be enhanced through interactive sessions with the assistance from technology. Digital classrooms where students are given the opportunity to interact through online platforms greatly boost critical skills. In order to overcome these barriers, I implemented various strategies like attending extra classes and practicing with new words that I learnt. Apart from that, I also started participating in creative activities in the class that involved debating and arguing with peers on different issues. After evaluating the final learning plan, I realized that I have to develop innovative ways to acquire critical thinking abilities. Conclusion Thus, I can conclude by stating that the lesson plan developed for this language learning will assist me in developing all the skills required to proceed further in my future. When I started the course, I had little confidence on my abilities. However, with gradual progress in the unit, I developed my abilities and possessed more confidence. The initial stages were extremely difficult for me because I had little knowledge about the English language. My formal education during school and college days further restricted my abilities and skills in the language. Nonetheless, taking up new plans like participating in class activities involving debates and quiz competitions, contributed to my enhanced skills. Developing the lesson plan also helped me strategize new ways to tackle my learning barriers and formulate new plans. I was able to discover my potential along with my weaknesses through the learning plan. I am confident that I will be able to improve upon my weaknesses and turn those into my strengths. Recommendations In the future, I hope to pursue advanced courses in the English language in order to prepare myself for competent jobs after university ends. With a view to establish a good career, I need to follow the following recommendations: At first, I have to develop a clear idea on which career I want to pursue in the future. After that, I can prepare a list of steps that I must take to ensure I take the right decision I must be able to manage time properly as it is the most important aspect of learning irrespective of the discipline we pursue I should, in addition, develop my listening capabilities as well since the English language consists of words and phrases that are at times difficult to comprehend in first go I have to be proactive in attending lectures and seminars where I can note down new words and phrases used by the speakers and develop sentences using those words I must also attend workshops that are held from time to time in the university campus to sharpen my language skills. References: Abdelrahman, L.A.M., DeWitt, D., Alias, N. and Rahman, M.N.A., 2017. Flipped Learning for ESL Writing in a Sudanese School.Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology,16(3), p.60. Duxbury, J.G. and Tsai, L.L., 2014. The effects of cooperative learning on foreign language anxiety: A comparative study of Taiwanese and American universities.International Journal of Instruction,3(1). Kong, S.C., 2014. Developing information literacy and critical thinking skills through domain knowledge learning in digital classrooms: An experience of practicing flipped classroom strategy.Computers Education,78, pp.160-173. Langum, V. and Sullivan, K.P., 2017. Writing academic English as a doctoral student in Sweden: narrative perspectives.Journal of Second Language Writing,35, pp.20-25. Liebowitz, J. and Frank, M. eds., 2016.Knowledge management and e-learning. CRC press. Morecroft, J.D.W., 2018. Management attitudes, learning and scale in successful diversification: a dynamic and behavioural resource system view. InSystem Dynamics(pp. 69-106). Palgrave Macmillan, London. Parkinson, J. and Musgrave, J., 2014. Development of noun phrase complexity in the writing of English for Academic Purposes students.Journal of English for Academic Purposes,14, pp.48-59. Richards, J.C., 2015. The changing face of language learning: Learning beyond the classroom.RELC Journal,46(1), pp.5-22. Taylor, E.W., 2017. Transformative learning theory. InTransformative Learning Meets Bildung(pp. 17-29). SensePublishers, Rotterdam.