The first semester of Mrs. Grant’s tenth-grade Latin class was devoted to vocabulary memorization and sentence completion, leaving me with memories of chiming, “Matella est mater. Flavius est pater.”

  Although I had never studied a foreign language before, I remember thinking, “Even if Latin is a dead language, there must be a more lively way of learning and teaching it.” I have since traveled extensively, lived in other countries, and learned other languages. As my current passion for teaching developed, I often thought of Mrs. Grant’s Latin class as the antithesis of what I aimed for my classroom to be like.

  At age twenty-four, I was building a career as a restaurateur and earning a lucrative living when I rediscovered my passion for learning and for teaching through evening courses in French and seminars in teaching English as a second language. In particular, I realized my profound interest in teaching English to speakers of other languages, and so I made the difficult but ultimately invaluable decision to study in the Second Language Teaching program at theUniversityofOttawa.

  In this program, my interest evolved from a focus on teaching young adults to teaching adults at the post-secondary level. Opportunities to apply my knowledge in the classroom, in combination with my experiences learning two languages in foreign contexts, have served as integral guides to the development of my own approach to teaching second languages.

  In the classroom, it is particularly important for me to understand the second language learner’s point of view and use humor and real-life situations to get a point across. Yet a teacher's work goes beyond these techniques. In order to further understand the political, economical, social, and cultural issues underlying educational policies and procedures, I wish to join the Master of Education program atColumbiaUniversity. This foundation will serve as the critical bridge needed to further my career as an educator.

  Through my undergraduate studies in second language teaching, I developed my interest in pursuing research on the question of how sociocultural factors impact awareness in second language design, implementation, and assessment in a multicultural community versus those in a culturally homogeneous community. In my experience, moreover, sociocultural factors affect schooling in a variety of areas, including culture, gender identities, power roles, class markers and social markers. Research in this area as part of my studies atColumbiawill therefore help fill a pressing, practical educational need.

  Finally, while conducting this research, I hope to expand my analytical, statistical and examinationskills, and later to bring to my teaching an increased awareness of issues currently affecting educational pedagogy. The Master of Education program will therefore provide me with theeducational foundation to fully realize my professional and personal goals.

  文章点评：

  大纲：文章开篇点出第二语言教学的精髓。随后阐述了自己对这个专业兴趣产生的原因，并从个人兴趣转移谈到了第二语言教学的教学方法，并且从不断的实践中对教法有了不断的深入。对于自己技能的提高过程给了一定的说明。最后在实践中发现了第二语言教学的精髓所在就是“社会与文化的因素如何影响第二语言在那些类似同等的文化团体中的计划”。

  主题：作者通过自身的经历发现了对第二语言教育的兴趣。把自己的将来的理想定位在第二语言教学上，引出自己学习的必要性。

  取材：整篇文章以作者的经历为题材，通过自身的经历来渲染整篇的文章。让读者能了解到，他对该专业的兴趣并且为这一兴趣作了哪些工作，而且逐渐专业经历的积累又让他明白了该专业精髓所在，而此时又明确了未来专业学习的方向。

  借鉴：作者没有象其他作者只是详细的描写一些过程，是深度对教学方法进行了说明，而第二语言教学正式看重申请人在教学方法的钻研和兴趣。

  这篇文章主要的成功之处在于能从专业自身的特点出发，结合自己的兴趣明确未来专业学习方向。