Teaching Positions at INTERLINK/Al Yamamah University

INTERLINK believes that language learning is more like developing sports or piano skills than learning content or learning about content. A learner acquires the language primarily through using it in multiple situations — both familiar and unfamiliar. Instructors signal errors but require students to provide the corrections. Students are then led to reflect on and analyze those production experiences. In this way, the instructor guides while minimizing talking about the language or modeling it. Because language is a connected network of elements and not single, separate, disconnected elements,  regular participation in and reflection on a variety of language contexts is vital for the learner’s development of inner criteria for accuracy in meaning, grammar, and register.

To expose language learners to such multiple contexts, INTERLINK uses projects. Three different projects per class serve as frameworks for activities and experiences that are instructor-guided, specific, and conducted both in and out of class. Through reflection and discussion, students share and connect the language content that they themselves derive from the experiences. With students providing most of the content, instructors can then focus on guiding them to develop idiomatic expressions, vocabulary expansion, logical presentation of ideas, and teamwork etiquette & skills. For example, in a lower-intermediate oral skills class, for the “Dream Trip” project, students individually write down four countries they would like to visit. Then, in groups of 3-4, they share that information and indicate why they want to go there. Based on discussion, the group chooses one country with one backup (No duplication between groups-coin flip decides if duplication). Instructor’s role: No modeling but asking questions and managing logistics (time, groupings, etc.) Whole class discusses 1) information a traveler would want; 2) how a group will divide up information search. Homework involves progressive searches, with class time spent in mixing pairs from different groups in reporting and questioning, then sharing back in their own group, with individual or group writeups after each sharing. (Info collected on regions, climate, economy, travel and lodging, cultural customs, historic or recreational sites, etc.) The project culminates with (competing) group presentations (plus Q and A) before an audience which is more compelling. This helps students increase their ability to self-monitor and self-correct. The overall goal is not only to improve students’ language proficiency but also to assist them become critical thinkers and autonomous learners and develop habits of thought, personal initiative, and engagement necessary for academic success.  

For instructors to work happily and successfully in such a learning environment, several conditions must apply: they themselves are interested in innovative approaches and are willing to learn, change, and grow; their lesson planning leaves room for opportunistic exploitation of situations or student contributions that arise spontaneously during the course of a class and offer superior learning opportunities; they engage in regular teacher reflection (personal as well as peer and coordinator observation, analysis, action); their classroom activities engage student needs and interests through incorporation of student produced or identified ideas/materials; and their ongoing assessment of student learning and targeted feedback are systematically noted.