In what sense does foreign language teaching methodology help you in your professional development?

<p> A foreign language teacher has to not only make his students understand the language| namely the pronunciation| vocabulary| grammar| etc.| he must also develop their communicative competence so that they can use the language they have learned correctly| appropriately and expressively in real situations. In order to do well this complicated job| the teacher needs to know| apart from a comprehensive knowledge of the language and the ability to use it| as many teaching methods and techniques as possible| and understand the underlying theories and principles| therefore he not only knows what to teach and how to do it| but also why he should do it in a certain way and how to solve problems when they arise. In this way he will have full confidence in doing his job well.<br> Foreign language teachers understand that knowing a language does not necessarily mean that you can teach the language well. Teaching is an art as well as a science. If you do not know the theories| principles| methods or techniques of teaching| you might be able to teach a foreign language based on your experience| but you cannot hope to achieve good results| nor can you give your or your colleagues&rsquo; teaching a rational evaluation or a critical appraisal. There are surely limitations in teaching by drawing only on experience| though experience is important. The theory you learnt from the methodology course can guide| support and conceptualize practice. New insights you get by sharing ideas of other people will bring you great benefit. As the old saying goes: &ldquo;Travel broadens the mind&rdquo;. In the same way learning Foreign Language Teaching Methodology will surely broaden the mind of teachers.</p>