A Novice Teacher’s Experience of Practicing Eclecticism in a Foreign Adult Classroom

Abstract

This article intends to highlight some of the experiences that an International novice English teacher had in the classroom of some pre-degree students of Malaysia, who werein their twenties. As a student of education, the author has some theoretical background in the field of teaching, with which he realized that an eclectic teacher is the one whom a classroom always needs; not a lesson plan-bounded teacher especially for adults, provided that he or she has an active and creative mind, not only inside, but also outside the four walls. The paper introduces some new approaches that the author practiced for a twomonth Intensive English course for Malay students, whose local language is unfamiliar to the former. Among these approaches were some new dimensions of self-disclosing approach, free talking approach, labeling approach, behavior diversion approach, translation approach, and teacher-student conversion approach. Being cognizant of both positive and negative consequences of eclecticism, this study would analyze some of the pros and cons, underpinned by an experience-based understanding. The research design used in this paper is basically observational method after which a narrative analysis method is exercised. The article concludes with some of the implications for the pre-degree students as well as early University students arguing that eclecticism should be valued not only for schools but also for post-school periods.