Lucy Turnbull

I applied for and secured an internship in St. Andrews School, Leatherhead. I beat a number of other candidates for this position. I thoroughly enjoyed my time at the school. By the end of the internship I was being asked to prepare lessons for the children. This included making teaching resources, powerpoints, activity sheets and the setting and marking of homework. I also learnt how to engage with children to ensure they took the most they could from my lessons. I had a wonderful experience and am still in touch with some of the teachers I worked with. In addition, I am currently in the process of completing an online teaching course which is allowing me to expand my knowledge in this area. I have also learnt the important of using a variety of teaching methods to ensure optimal student engagement. The method I endeavour to use the most in all of my tutoring sessions is the communicative approach. Communicative language teaching is • ‘A set of principles about teaching including where the focus is on meaningful communication, not structure and grammar’. I believe that the main aim of classroom work is to help students reach an effective standard of communication outside the classroom. For me, accuracy in grammar etc . is important but it is less important than the ability to communicate in real life. Through this grammar-integrated communicative approach I will enable my tutees to communicate knowledge and proficiency through the medium of role-plays, discussions etc. Language learning is mainly about learning to communicate effectively. So, the main emphasis is always on the meaning and use of language items.