Letter of summation Tomomi Yuma At the beginning of the TESOL program, I set two goals for myself.

One was to expand my knowledge about teaching methods and ideas and the other was to learn how to train English teachers. These two goals have been achieved through beneficial TESOL classes, observation tasks, and many valuable experiences in this course. My knowledge was broadened with a better understanding of language learning and teaching theories. In the TESOL classes, I was required to make teaching plans with the notion of learned theories. For example, I created questions for a reading passage using Blooms taxonomy. These activities made me think about how to apply theories to actual classroom teaching. Furthermore, the application of theories was confirmed through the observations of actual ESL lessons at school. Reflections on what I observed made me realize which theories were used for the classroom activities. I learned many teaching methods and their theoretical bases in this program. The TESOL classes gave me an insight about teaching methods and techniques. Not only did I acquire the ideas but I also experienced many approaches. For example, I examined and evaluated ESL textbooks and websites and discussed them with other students. Through these activities, I actually did some exercises in the textbooks and the

websites and thought about how to use them in my future teaching. In addition to the TESOL classes, many other classmates who have different teaching and learning experiences helped me develop my knowledge. I liked sharing teaching ideas and experiences with them, and this has broadened my perspective. Teaching experience as a tutor also helped me get a new insight about teaching English in only English. Everything I experienced in this course inspired me to my teaching. Through the training in this course, I found what is important and effective for English teacher training. First, teachers need practical knowledge about teaching methods and techniques which they can actually use in the classroom. Knowing many variations of tasks or activities helps them choose how to teach according to their students or goals. If they know only one method, they cannot change their teaching style if it does not match their students. Second, teachers need to understand learning and teaching theories applied to activities in the classroom. Knowing many methods is not enough. They should be able to explain why they use the method and how effective it is from the perspectives of theories. This knowledge helps them to use methods more effectively. Finally, teachers need to reflect on their own teaching. Teachers cannot always get feedback for their lessons, so they need to think about their own lessons and find what was good and bad to improve their teaching. This reflection is necessary even

for veteran teachers. Teacher training should have teachers understand the importance of reflection. If teachers are trained in this way, they can develop their teaching by themselves after they start their career. During this course, I was always thinking about my own teaching experiences in Japan. When I got a new idea, I thought how I could change my lessons with the idea. I noticed what had been lacking in my teaching and found many ways to complement my lessons. Now I am very excited about using the many new ideas and techniques that I learned in this course in my future teaching. After I accumulate more teaching experience, I would like to train English teachers in Japan using the knowledge and experiences I gained in this TESOL course.