Reflection on Communication Skills for Teachers course

I will touch mainly on the aspects of the CST course that left the deepest impression on me, i.e. giving speeches, being more conscious of my vocal health, learning how to pen e-mails, and skills required when asking questions.

I have given quite a number of speeches so far, but I have never had to and never wanted to analyze myself because I found it weird when I hear myself speak. However, after doing so as part of the course requirements, I have come to realize the habits I unconsciously exhibit when talking. For example, I tend to speak fast under pressurizing circumstances and fail to enunciate my vowels and consonants correctly, so I should be more aware of the speed I talk at as well as my pronunciation. It has provided me with a chance to reflect on these habits, make adequate improvements, and be more aware of my body language and posture in the future.

The module on vocal health was very useful because I have had no prior knowledge about maintaining vocal health or breathing methods. Since I will have to be addressing large number of students in the class for hours on end, what I have learnt from this module will prove to be useful. For example, diaphragmatic breathing will help counter the problem of running short of breath and also help raise my volume when I speak. Techniques on how to relieve excessive stress on the vocal chords, like stretching, massages, posture and dragging initial vowels, will also come into use when I experience strain while talking.

We now exchange so many convenient text messages and e-mails every day that we are take this form of communication tool for granted, and we tend to forget about the etiquette that should be exercised when using them. The videos that we viewed in class has made me more aware of the slips people tend to make with official e-mails, e.g. unnecessary carbon copying. E-mails should also be concise and to the point, and every paragraph should not be overly lengthy. I will definitely keep these tips at the back of my mind and be careful when writing official e-mails in the future.

I thought the session on asking questions was very informative too. As teachers, we need be very careful and ask the right questions, so as to guide students in their learning. I will try to apply what I have learnt from the class to the language that I will be teaching (Japanese), though putting out questions in Japanese may prove to be more challenging as beginning learners are still not used to the language. They may not be able to understand the question, or have enough lexicon / grammatical knowledge to phrase their replies to the questions, which will impede the function of Q&A. I will have to put in a lot of thought to the questions I want to pose in class, as well as be adaptive to the class situation / students’ understanding, so that I can make adjustments to my questions accordingly.