Kuma & Celce-Murcia

Kuma's article mentions the shifts that TESOL theories have undergone in the past few decades. One of the important points he makes is that critical pedagogy theories have been a strong focus which prompts new ways of looking at classroom practices.Kuma makes note of a 1999 article by Canagarajah, where he communicates an importance of a "reflexivity on the strategies and discourses that students bring with them" as well as "productively exploiting students own cultural and linguistic resources" (Kuma 70). Lin (1999) also mentions importance of  connecting with students to help them transform their attitudes, disposition, skills, and self-image. The focus on the learner made me think of the article we read last semester and discussed last class, and indeed the same article by Bonny Norton is quoted in this article. Exploring the local realities and backgrounds that students implant into their language learning experience can help an English language instructor provide the best methods for the students and enable them to make their vision of their L2 identity clearer.

In the second article, which discusses methods for language teaching that are no surprise to me, the humanistic-affective approach stuck out to me due to its focus on the learner and making meaningful connections through self-actualization, respect, and a nurturing class atmosphere. I feel it is related to the idea of working to help students create meaningful identities and attitudes in L2 learning. Something else that also stuck out to me was the mention of semantic identity being emphasized through the communicative approach rather than simply the linguistic skills.