Discussion 4.1 – Classroom ideas and experiences

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I remember listening to a podcast episode (Bill VanPatten’s) in which him, his co-hosts and callers (who are usually teachers) were discussing the best term to use instead of “teacher” in the world of language instruction. I thought that was interesting and it speaks to the idea of object language rather than language subject, and how teaching a language is different than teaching math or history. The role is indeed of more of a facilitator, and I agree with the list in this unit of how to support active learning, rather than simply lecture. One note though, at more beginner levels of language use (to not call it “proficiency”!) the learner rarely knows how they prefer to learn, so perhaps more guidance from the instructor is necessary. Any thoughts?

To view past replies go to: https://changingenglishes.proboards.com/thread/21/classroom-ideas-experiences

• This topic was modified 1 year, 8 months ago by admin.

[Ahmed Abdullah Ali]

To increase STT (student talking time), rather than TTT (teacher talking time), is the key word to improve your students skills.

[Ahmed Abdullah Ali]

I usually use SPELLING CITY in vocab session as it is Personalized practice & multiple word exposures
Immediate feedback, self-testing, in-depth skill performance report
Access to vocabulary word lists for practice in every subject & grade level
Correlation to educational standards

[Angelica Marie Estrabela]

I always find teaching the English language with practical reasons effective. For example, I always teach the kind of English that they would need when they converse in daily setting and the kind of English that they would need in professional setting. I always stick with fluency over accuracy. I would just insert accuracy when it the topic is all about professional setups (e.g. Technical Writing or Business Correspondence).

[Buddhika Daladawaththa]

When it comes to error correction,most of the time I give corrective feedback especially after completing a speaking activity. Speaking skills is consideted a bit challenging for a teacher as most learners lack confidence to talk fearing errors and due to inhibition, personality and so many other factors.
Of course, language teaching/ learning is a life long process which never ends and it’s indeed different from learning a theory- based subject

[Dauda Pikawi]

Games and role play allows many of the students to feel free and flexible, they may not be so shy to express themselves. Reinforcement does help in many occasions. I am talking in relation to speaking activities.

[Pabasara Ponnamperuma]

When it comes to my teaching practice, I prepared myself before I enter to the classroom. I have a lesson plan which divides into three categories as pre-task activity, while-task activity and post-task activity. When it comes to the pre-task activity, I do some kind of an activity to warm up the students’ schemata like a game, asking short questions in order to warm up the students. Then, when it comes to the while – task activity, the main grammar part or the lesson will be covered through interactive sessions, students – centered activities like or group or pair activities. Then, for the post-task activity, in order to practice the lesson that is taught in the classroom, teacher will give a home work to do at the home. Most of the time, it can be writing an essay, review basically it is about reflecting own thoughts. In conclusion, I really need to engage every student in the classroom with the lesson and I consider about learner needed and interests before I plan my lesson.

• This reply was modified 1 year, 4 months ago by Pabasara Ponnamperuma.

[Deborah Ayers]

I definitely identify with the whole teach to the needs of the students in my classes. I teach at an open-enrollment school and I’ve always had to learn to adapt and accommodate the current and new students. The students are adults, so they do a lot of the work by starting conversations related to the lesson, and/or bringing in language questions they have due to interaction with others or because of something they watched. I get to play moderator/facilitator more often than not which is really great!

[Alexandra Pak]

From my point of view, any student should like what they listen to.

[Richard Zadori]

I love every single thing in English. Even what I do not like.

[Richard Zadori]

I think the role of a teacher has changed.
Especially because of covid.
I like to cala tuor or someone who guides people.

[Josephine Ricci]

There are many ways to engage students in the classroom such as games, dialogues, scenarios, role plays, conversations and lots of group work. Students needs to be using the language as much as possible.

[Alex Ferreira]

I always talk to my students to know what are their goals, what they are thinking of our classes.

[Eleni Verikaki]

Pair and group activities as well as peer checking motivate students to participate in the classroom. Communicative games engage students more in the learning process as they have plenty of opportunities to be involved in speaking, writing, reading and listening; they practise all four skills.

[Saul Santos]

While I agree with the beliefs expressed by teachers regarding teaching and learning a language, I do not necessarily agree that those features assignated to teaching or learning a language are necessarily not true for teaching or learning another subject: continuous process, cgnitive development, active engagement, etc. It seems to me as if we are comparing a very traditional way of teaching other subject matters and a very up-to-date way of teaching a language. There are certainly contexts in which languages are beeng taught traditionally, and other subject matters are being taught using up-to-date methodologies. Having said that, I believe there are ceirtant features that have to be present in a language classroom: exposure to input, oportunities for interaction and in general output production, time for reflextion on language form, meaning and use, especially in contexts where input exposure is limited, and so on…

[Manuel Cadeddu]

I’m really into helping students to learn how to learn, and I hope this is going to be useful for them both in language learning and in other things of life (including school subjects).

[Simon Fielding]

As I normally teach learners individually I can certainly empathise with the necessity of a needs analysis, especially as many of my students work full time alongside their studies. Therefore, my lessons need to help them in their context or with their goals. I often try and emphasise a particular skill if they enjoy it or need to use it more but generally my lessons involve communication or speaking practise. Finally, the idea of personalised learning is very important. If you can relate English to an existing hobby or interest of a learner then it can help them get into good habits of immersing themselves in English outside the classroom context. Through this, the teacher is a mediator for learning but a level of responsibility is given to the learner.

[Neill Porteous]

Definitely acting as a facilitator. It took some getting used to, but it is much better for students. However, why student talk time is being prioritized over teacher talk time may need to be explained to students.

[Jane O Davies]

Discussion point 4.1
Perhaps you already do some of these things. If so, share your classroom ideas and experiences here

In my context I consider ‘learner training’ to be of the utmost importance as very little (ie, none) is offered in schools. ‘Needs analysis’ is a little redundant asso many Ss have very little idea of why they’re learning English (or any other subject. Some notion of a “good job” in the distant future is usually mentioned). I also encourage peer correction and self-correction, the latter which often depends on the effective use of a dictionary; some S don’t have/use dictionaries to assist their learning as they are ‘prohibited’ in class!

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