By Poret, GS (2023). Greener Journal of Educational Research, 13(1): 6-15.
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Vol. 13(1), pp. 6-15, 2023
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Published: 30/01/2023
Poret, Godwill S.
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INTRODUCTION
For a long time, the process of teaching has been teacher oriented in many schools. That is, the teacher has been the center of class room activities and the training provided for students is purely theoretical rather than practical. Language is taught either through lecture method or translation method that result in poor communication skills. In language classroom, usage of mother tongue is useful in better understanding of the concept of the text but not in acquiring basic skills of language. The use of mother tongue in the classroom can be done to provide comprehensible input in the target language but should not be used extensively (Krashen, 1985).interactive sessions are given less priority in traditional classrooms as most of the time is devoted to information transmission. Language experts say that noisy classrooms are effective classrooms. Language classrooms must be learner centered. In the current paradigm of activity based teaching, learner centeredness has found a new expression, as Nunon (2004) points out, ‘experimental learning’ or ‘learning by doing’.
Within the field of education over the decades, a significant shift has taken place resulting in less emphasis on teachers and teaching and greater stress on learners and learning. This change has been seen in many ways in language education ranging from the Northeast Conference (1990) titled ‘’shifting the Instructional Focus to the learner’’ and annual ‘’Learner – Conferences’’ in conjunction with the TESL Canada Convention (1991) to work on ‘’ the Learner – centered Curriculum’’ (Tutor, 1996). The whole concept of this learner centric classroom is the use of innovative and practical teaching techniques to make maximum number of the students involved in the process of learning. Nunon stated that the task – base approaches provide opportunities for the learners to experiment and explore both spoken and written languages through learning activities which are designed to engage learners in the functional use of language for meaningful purpose.
When one is asked who language teacher is, the first that may come into your mind is a neatly dressed woman or man in front of an attentive class, putting forward an explanation. The he or she evaluates whether students understand the point by asking each one a question or two, patiently correcting any mistake they make. This type of model of teaching must have been seen in films and in television; and many have been in language classes that were taught largely in this way. It would therefor let this model shape the way you set out to teach your own class. For a start, nothing seems wrong with this model, and it does a reasonably good job for portraying some aspects of the teacher’s role. But, there are also some ways it is misleading about a teacher’s role, and, in this paper, some of the assumptions underlying this language teaching model shall be challenged to introduce a number of basic principles of language learning and suggest a more nuanced and flexible model of language teaching.
The Student
Though this paper is about language teaching, you cannot discuss teaching without talking about the students. Recently, more and more books on language teaching place the students rather than teachers at the center stage. This is due to the whether or not students’ succeed in learning a language depends more on their own efforts than on the teacher’s and a good teaching needs to be student centered instead of teacher centered. One reason it is important to view language teaching as student centered is that students differ in significant ways:
According to TESOL, another reason that language learning needs to focus on students is that for example, few English as a foreign language (EFL) programs are long enough to guarantee that those students will master English before they leave the program. In many countries, English is offered in schools as a required subject but students study English only a few hours a week and have little opportunity to practice what they learn. Even the few students who complete a degree in English still usually have problems in English when they graduate, and students who are not English majors have even less English training and practice. Thus, if a high level of proficiency is the target, students will have to continue studying English after they leave educational system and the students most likely to keep making progress towards mastery of school.
Language Teacher as a Language Learner
To be good and effective as language teacher, one must understand how the process of language learning works and is like. Therefore, as you embark on your career as a language teacher, you also need to either continue or begin your career as a language learner. According TESOL (2017), there are at least four main reasons language teachers should also be language learners:
However, the some dominant role of English and its close association with globalization can make it a threat or real to other nations. English may be a driving force of world growing power of English – speaking nations. This makes it imperative for English teachers to be not merely advocates of English language and western culture but people who believe in all languages and culture learning generally. An added symbolic advantage of studying the language of your host country is that it changes the nature of your relationship with your host. If you arrive in your host country solely as a knower and giver of the English language, your presence suggests an unequal exchange, in which you have gifts to bring but need nothing that the host country has to offer, TESOL, (2017).
Some Basic Principles of Language Learning
i. Language as a Tool for Communication
The most fundamental reality of language learning is that language is a tool for Communication. As certain as this is, its implications are not always clear to students. Many students’ experience of language learning trains them to see language as nothing but a communication tool. The daily reality of language study for many students is one of memorizing words and rules in preparation for a test and rarely involves using language for communicative purposes. After years of this kind of non-communicative study, students often lose interest and begin to see language learning as an exercise geared toward formal accuracy, especially on tests.
Communication can take a variety of forms; it can mean sharing ideas face to face with someone from a different community. Although learning any language opens, new doors, for example English’s growing role as an international language means it is now the language of publishing and speech for most international communication; it is often used even by people from non- English-speaking countries when they need to interact with people from other nations (Crystal, 2003). Learning a language means developing the ability to understand and interact with people who are largely inaccessible to these who don’t understand that language. There are other reasons to focus on communication in your teaching, one being that such a focus may make language teaching easier for you and interesting for your students. Many aspects of language teaching may initially seem unfamiliar to you; according to Crystal, most native speakers of English don’t start out with a natural knack for explaining the rules of English grammar. That it is however, entirely natural for you to want to communicate with your students and for them to want to communicate with you. Students must experience language as communication as early as possible in their learning if they are to see language as a communication tool and if they are to taste what mastery of a new language feels.
ii. Building Skills is as important as Building Knowledge
A second important truth of language learning is that it requires mastery of the skills of that language as much as acquisition of its knowledge. That is, it is not enough for students to know word meanings and structure rules; students need to be able to apply this knowledge quickly to express themselves smoothly and competently. To do these, practice is of the essence.
For some students, language learning has always been about learning grammar rules and memorizing vocabulary to do well in tests. Many students have had little experience using language in actual conversation, and have not built the speed that can only be developed through repeated practice. Students’ perceptions of the important parts of language learning are shaped in language classes, and it is not surprising if students are inclined to neglect practice in favor of study. Language learners need:
i. Language learners need a lot of practice.
To learn to speak well, students need to spend a lot of time speaking; in order to learn to read quickly and effectively, they need to spend a lot of time reading, and so forth. This is true but some teachers still dominate the class to maintain control.
ii. Language learners need repeated practice.
One important concept related to language learning is automaticity TESOL (2017). The ide here is that many language skills require a student to do many different things at the same time; for example, speaking involves choosing words, applying grammar rules, and attending to pronunciation and intonation all while trying to decide what to say. Speaker cannot consciously pay attention to all of these operations at the same time, so some of them must be practiced repeatedly enough that they can be performed automatically. It takes repeated practice to learn to perform any skill smoothly and automatically.
iii Language Learning is a {Fight of the Heart Feelings play a major role in language study and need to be taken seriously. According to Ehrmann, and Oxford (2003, p. 319), “It is at least as important to manage feelings as it is to use more cognitive strategies, since negative feelings reduce the effectiveness of most [language) learning activities. Appropriate self- efficacy promotes persistence in the face of difficulty”. Learners who have a strong desire to learn and who feel good about their progress are far more likely to continue working hard in the long term. Emotions play an important role in language learning in that learning a foreign language well involves a great effort over a period of time. The basic rules of a language’s grammar and a survival vocabulary can be learned within a few months, but mastering the language takes much longer. Students need considerable practice to develop the effective skills. Language Learners do not all Learn the same way Students are not homogeneous group and there is no set of learning and teaching methods that would work well for all of them. Learners vary considerably, and there is no reason for us to believe that they should all go about language learning in the same way. In the language teaching profession, this point is often made when talking about learning styles. One contrasting set of learning styles that has received much attention has to do with learners’ sensory preferences, with learners categorized into four groups According to TESOL (2017):
i. Visual learners: those who learn best by seeing
ii. Auditory learners: those learn best by hearing
iii. Kinesthetic learners: those who learn best by moving and doing things
iv. Tactile learners: those who learn best through feeling and touching. Another set of learning-style categories has to do with learners’ personality types, and some learning- style contrasts that have been suggested include the following distinctions:
i. Extroverted versus introverted learners: self-explained.
ii. Thinking versus feeling learners: This is a distinction between learners who are more cognitively oriented and these who are more affectively oriented. For example, in a discussion, thinking-oriented students would generally be more interested in the factual content of the discussion,’-while feeling-oriented learners would be more attentive to the feelings and emotions of others.
iii. Closure-oriented and judging learners versus open and perceiving learners. The former would strive for clarity, results, and closure; the latter are more comfortable with ambiguity for longer periods and feel less interred pressure to resolve question soon.
According to TESOL, teachers can do two important things to accommodate individual differences between students. The first is to use a reasonably broad and rich variety of teaching techniques, so that each learner has a greater chance of experiencing a method that works well for him or her. The second involves encouraging learners to explore different approaches to language learning so that each leaner can find study and practice methods that work for him or her. This is one of the most important reasons any consideration of language teaching needs to start with a look at the learner.
Language Learning Strategies (LLS)
A number of definitions of LLS have been used by key figures in education. Tarone (1983, p. 67) defined Learning Strategy (LS) as “an attempt to develop linguistic and sociolinguistic competence in the target language, to incorporate these into one’s interlanguage competence”. Rubin (1987) later wrote that LS are strategies which contribute to the development of the language system which the learner constructs and affect learning directly. In their study, O’Malley and Chamot (1990, p.l) defined LS as “the special thoughts or behaviours that individuals use to help them comprehend, learn, or retain new information”. According to Oxford (1992/1993, p. 18), LLS are specific actions, behaviours, steps, or techniques that students (often intentionally) use to improve their progress in developing language skills. These strategies can facilitate the internalization, storage, retrieval, or use of the new language. Strategies are tools for the self-directed involvement necessary for developing communicative ability. From the above definitions, it should be noted that LLS are different from learning styles which are more to learner’s natural, habitual, and preferred way of absorbing, processing, and retaining new information and skills, (Reid 1995).
Characteristics of LLS
First, LLS are learner generated; they are steps taken by language learners. Second, LLS enhances language learning and help develop language competence, as reflected in the learner’s skills in listening, speaking, reading, or writing the language. Third, LLS may be visible (behaviours, steps, techniques, etc.) or unseen (thoughts, mental processes). Fourth, LLS involve information and memory (vocabulary knowledge, grammar rules, etc.).
Apart from the above features, Oxford (J 990a) opines that @LS:
Importance of LLS for Language Learning and Teaching
Within ‘communicative’ approaches to language teaching a key goal is for the learner to develop communicative competence in the target language, and LLS can help students in doing so. Canale and Swain’s (1980) influential article recognised the importance of communication strategies as a key aspect of strategic (and thus communicative) competence, a number of works appeared about communication strategies in language teaching. An important distinction exists, however, between communication and language learning strategies. Communication strategies are used by speakers intentionally and consciously in order to cope with difficulties in communicating in a language (Bialystok, 1990), The term LLS is used more generally for all strategies that language learners use in learning the target language, and communication strategies are therefore just one type of LLS. For all language teachers who aim to help develop their students’ communicative competence and language learning, then, an understanding of LLS is crucial. As Oxford (1990a, p. 1) puts it, LLS “…are especially important for language learning because they are tools for active, self-directed involvement, which is essential for developing communicative competence”. In addition to developing students’ communicative competence, LLS are important because research suggests that training students to use LLS can help them become better language learners. Early research on ‘good language learners’ by Naiman, Frohlich, Stern, and Todesco (19785 1996), Rubin (1975), and Stern (1975) suggested a number of positive strategies that such students employ, ranging from using an active task approach in and monitoring one’s language performance to listening to the radio in the L2 and speaking with native speakers. A study by O’Malley and Chamot (1990) also suggests that effective language learners are aware of the LLS they use and why they use them. Graham’s (1997, p. 76) work in French further indicates that language teachers can help students understand good LLS and should train them to develop and use them. A caution must also be noted though, because, as Skehan (1989) states, “there is always the possibility that the ‘good’. language learning strategies—ware also used by bad language learners, but other reasons4cause them to be unsuccessful”, In fact, Vann and Ahraham ( 1990, p, 192) found evidence that suggests that both ‘good’ and ‘unsuccessful’ language learners can be active users of similar LLS, though it is important that they also discovered that their unsuccessful learners- are Often called metacognitive strategies…which would enable them to assess the task and bring to bear the necessary strategies for its completion”. It appears, then, ‘that a number and range of LLS are important if L2 teachers are to assist students both in learning the L2 and in becoming good language learners.
Kinds of LLS
There are literally hundreds of different LLS. As Oxford has developed a fairly detailed list of LLS in her taxonomy, it is good to summarise it briefly here. First, Oxford (1990b, p. 71) distinguishes between direct LLS, “which directly involve the subject matter”, that is, the language and indirect LLS, which “do not directly involve the subject matter itself, but are essential to language learning nonetheless”.
Second, each of these broad kinds of LLS is further divided into LLS groups. Oxford outlines three main types of direct LIS, for example. Memory strategies “aid in entering information into long-term memory and retrieving information when needed for communication”. Cognitive LLS “are used for forming and revising internal mental models and receiving and producing messages in the target language”. Compensation strategies “are needed to overcome any gaps in knowledge of the language’’ (Oxford, 1990b, p. 71). Oxford (1990a, 1990b) also describes three types of indirect LLS& Metacognitive strategies “help learners exercise ‘executive control’ through planning, arranging, focusing, and evaluating their own learning”. Affective LLS “enable learners to control feelings, motivations, and attitudes related to language learning”,
Finally, social strategies “facilitate interaction with others, often in a discourse situation’
(Oxford, 1990b, p. 71).
Attention will be focused here, on the social LLS that Oxford lists under strategies. Three types of social LLS are noted in Oxford (1990a, p.21): asking questions, co- operating with others, and empathizing with others. General examples of LLS given in each of these categories are as follows:
Asking questions
Co-operating with others
Empathizing with others
However, experienced language teachers may easily think of specific LLS for each of these categories. In asking questions, for example, students might ask something specific like ‘’Do you mean it’s alright?” or “Did you say that you say yes?” in order to clarify or verify what they think they have heard or understood. What is important to note here is the way LLS are interconnected, both direct and indirect, and the support they can provide one to the other (see Oxford, 1990a, p. 14-16). In the above illustration of social LLS, for example, a student might ask the questions above to his or her peers, thereby ‘co-operating with others’, and in response to the answer he or she receives the student might develop some aspect of language cultural understanding or become more aware of the feelings or thoughts of fellow students, the teacher, or those in the language. What is learned from this experience might then be supported when the same student uses a direct, cognitive strategy such as ‘practicing’ to repeat what he or she has learned or to integrate what was learned into a natural conversation with someone in the target language.
Using LLS in the Classroom
This section provides an overview of how LLS and LLS training may be used in the classroom, and briefly describes a three step approach to implementing LLS training in the language classroom.
Contexts and Classes for LLS Training
LLS and LLS training maybe integrated into a variety of classes for language students. One type of course that appears to’ be becoming more popular, especially in intensive English Programs, is one focusing on the language learning process itself, In this case, texts such as Ellis and Sinclair’s (1989) Learning to Learn English: A Course in Learner Training or Rubin and Thompson’s (1994) How to Be a More Successful Language Learner might be used in order to help language learners understand the language learning process, the nature of language and communication, what language learning resources are available to them, and what specific LLS they might use in order to improve their own vocabulary use, grammar knowledge, and language skills in reading, writing, listening, and speaking. Whatever type of class you may be focusing on at this point, the three step approach to implementing LLS training in the classroom outlined below should prove useful.
Step 1: Study Your Teaching Context
First, it is important for teachers to study their teaching context, paying special attention to their students, their materials, and their own teaching. If you are going to train your students in using LLS, it is important to know something about these individuals, their interests, motivations, -learning styles, etc. By observing their behaviour in class, you will be able to see what LLS they already appear to be using. Do they often ask for clarification, verification, or correction, as discussed briefly above? Do they co-operate with their peers or seem to have much contact outside of class with proficient L2 users? It is good that one prepares a short questionnaire that students can fill at the beginning of a course, describing themselves and their language learning. Sharkey (1994/1995), for instance, asks students to complete statements such as “In this class I want to/will/won’t….”, “My favourite/least favourite kinds of class activities etc. (Sharkey, 1994/1995, p. 19). Talking to students are…”, “l am studying English because informally before or after class, or more formally interviewing select students about these topics Can also provide a lot of information about one’s students, their goals, motivations, and LLS, and their understanding of the particular course being taught. Beyond these, one’s teaching materials are also important in considering LLS and LLS training. Textbooks, for example, should be analysed to see whether they already include LLS or LLS training, Scarcella and Oxford’s (1992) Tapestry textbook series, for example, incorporates “learning strategy” boxes which highlight LLS and encourage students to use them in L2 tasks or skills. One example from a conversation text in the series states: “Managing Your Learning: Working with Other language learners improves your listening and speaking skills” (Earle-Carlin and proctor, 1996, p. 8).
Teachers can find many LLS incorporated into their materials, with more possibilities that they never imagined. If not, 100k for new texts or other teaching materials that do provide such opportunities.
Second, teachers need to study their own teaching methods and overall classroom style.
Do your lesson plans incorporate various ways that students can learn the language you are modelling, practising or presenting, in order to appeal to a variety of learning styles and strategies? Does your teaching allow learners to approach the task at hand in a variety of ways?
Is your LLS training implicit, explicit, or both? Is your class learner-centred? Do you allow students to work on their own and learn from one another? Are you encouraging questions, or posing ones relevant to the learners with whom you interact? Etc. Teachers who study their students, their materials, and their own teaching will be better prepared.
Step 2: Focus on LLS in Your Teaching
The next step is to begin to; focus on specific LLS in your regular teaching that are relevant to your learners, your materials, and your own teaching style. If you have found 6 different LLS for writing explicitly used in your text, for example, you could highlight these as you go through the course, giving students clear examples, modelling how such LLS may be used in learning to write or in writing, and filling in the gaps with other LLS for writing that are neglected in the text but-would be especially relevant for your learners. If you appear to be teacher-centred in your teaching, you might use a specific number of tasks appropriate for your context from the collection by Gardner and Miller (1996) in order to provide students with opportunities to use and develop their LLS and to encourage more independent language learning both in class and in out-of-class activities for your courses. Graham (1997, p. 169) says, LLS training “needs to be integrated into students’ regular classes if they are going to appreciate their relevance for language learning tasks; students need to constantly monitor and evaluate the strategies they develop and use; and they need to be aware of the nature, function and importance of such strategies% Whether it is reading or writing, or other class activities, an organised and informed focus on VLS and LLS training will help students learn and provide more opportunities for them to take responsibility for their learning,
Step 3: Reflect and Encourage Learner Reflection
In implementing LLS and VLS training in the language classroom, purposeful teacher reflection and encouraging learner reflection is necessary. On a basic level, it is useful for teachers to reflect on their own positive and negative experiences in language learning. As Graham (1977, p. 170) suggests, “those teachers who have thought carefully about how they learned a language, about which strategies are most appropriate for which tasks, are more likely to be successful in developing ‘strategic competence’ in their students”. It is also crucial to reflect on one’s LLS training and teaching in the classroom. After each class, for example, one might ponder the effectiveness of the lesson and the role of LLS and LLS training within it. Do students seem to have grasped the point? Did they use the LLS that was modelled in the task they were to perform? What improvements for future lessons of this type or on this topic might be seen from students’ behavior. In addition to the teacher’s own reflections, it is essential to encourage learner reflection, both during and after the LLS training in the class or course. In an interesting action research study involving “guided reflection” Nunan did this by asking his students to keep a journal in which ‘they completed the following sentences: This week I studied…, I learned…, I used my English in these places…, I spoke English with these people…, I made these mistakes…, My difficulties are…, I would like to know.„, I would like help with ….My learning and practising plans for the next week are… p. 36). Sharkey (1994/1995) asked her learners to complete simple self- evaluation forms at various points during their course: Matsumoto (1996) used student diaries, questionnaires, and interviews to carry out her research and help her students reflect on their LLS and language learning. Pickard (1996) also used questionnaires and follow-up interviews in helping students reflect on their out- of- class LLS, etc. These are just a few examples of ways to encourage learner reflection on language learning. As Graham declares, “For learners, a vital component of self-directed learning lies in the on-going evaluation of the methods they have employed on tasks and of their achievements within the…program”. Whatever the context or method, it is important for language .learners to have the chance to reflect on their language learning and LLS use.
The Role of the Language Teacher
Most teachers are use as model of language teaching that is teacher centered. Here, the teacher owes his position to the fact that he knows more than his students do, and his main task is
to transfer his knowledge to his students. Once the students understand what the he is trying to explain, the teaching task has been successfully accomplished. This is virtually inevitable in our teaching life, and it is not necessarily bad. A teacher does in fact know far more about English than the students do, and one of your roles as language teacher is to convey as much of that knowledge as possible. Excessive reliance on this mode is not good. For example, setting yourself up as the final authority on English can result in very uncomfortable situations, particularly if you are not a master at explaining the intricacies of English grammar. Students often have more explicit knowledge of grammar rules than NTS do, and this can prove awkward when students ask questions that you cannot answer. Even for NTS who become proficient in explaining obscure points of grammar, the teacher-centered model is still problematic. In this model, teachers are personally responsible not only for transmitting most of the knowledge students are to learn, but also for deciding what is to be learned and how. An effect of this approach is that students learn to be passive, to do what they are told rather than actively finding ways to enhance their own learning. Another side effect is that; the teacher’s role may degenerate into a formal one of covering material during class so that students can be held responsible for it on the final exam. Another flaw of this model is that it is often classroom centered; that is, most learning takes place in the classroom and downplays the importance of work students do on their own.
A final problem with the teacher – centered model is that it assumes that learning a language is essentially an accumulation of knowledge that is complete once students understand what the teacher is trying to explain. However, this isn’t true. Though acquisition of knowledge plays an important part in language learning, it is not enough, as learning a language is also mastering a set of skills, and skills are not learned via explanation. Explanation is generally only the beginning of the learning process, and the teacher who plays this role often puts on an impressive show but leaves students to face the real battle alone. A better model for a language teacher is that of the athletic coach or piano teacher, TESOL (2017, P. 13). The main advantage of this model is that it assumes that most of the learning process takes place during practice away from the teacher’s watchful eye, and that success or failure depends much more on what students do outside class than on what teachers do in class. A coach provides tips on how a football player should take free kicks, but it is the Player’s hours of practice of kicks that teach the skill. Likewise, a piano teacher cannot teach a student digital dexterity by explaining it; a student must practice scales many times before they can be played smoothly. The important parts of the coach’s role are:
i. helping students better understand the learning process,
ii. encouraging students and cultivating motivation,
iii. helping students build discipline through accountability, and
iv. guiding them toward taking initiative and responsibility for their own learning, etc.
You do this by talking with the students about these principles, and you should certainly do so as often as you have the chance. Note that, if your views are going to have much impact on the students, the way you teach should reinforce what you say about language learning. If you emphasize that mastery of English involves developing language skills through practice, you need to give students good opportunities to practice in class. If you urge students to attend to the affective side of language learning, you need to show concern for the issue in the way you structure class exercises and practice, etc
One way you can motivate students to engage actively in language study is simply to make your class as lively and interesting as possible; students tend to learn more about something they like and find interesting than about something that holds no appeal for them. A class that is lively and enjoyable iS usually better than one that is boring or tense. It is also helpful if students find you encouraging and friendly, and if the class environment is as nonthreatening as possible. Another way to arouse and maintain student interest in language study is to make your courses as communicative as possible. A teacher can be a source of encouragement for students by serving as a role model (Dörnyei & ‘Ushioda, 2011). Students often have great respect for a teacher who has mastered a foreign language, and this respect may make them more eager to follow the teacher’s example. However, it by no means follows that a good language teacher must be a great language learner; in fact, those rare individuals who seem to absorb languages effortlessly may be discouraging for struggling students to be around, and such individuals may not make very good language teachers because they don’t understand the difficulties that the learners face. To be a good role model, what is perhaps most important is for you to make a serious effort to learn what you can and for students to see you practicing what you preach. Your effort to learn the language of your host country will make your life there easier and richer, give you a much better idea of the difficulties that the students faces and increase your ability to empathize with them.
Encouraging Students to Take Command
The language teacher’s final role is to move students toward taking charge of their language learning, setting their own goals, making their own study plans, and then holding themselves to those plans because it is self – starters who are most likely to succeed in language learning. As TESOL (2017) notes, all too often, language teachers are so consumed with the “delivery’’ of language to their students that they neglect to spend some effort preparing learners to “receive” the language. In addition, students, mostly unaware of the tricks of successful language learning, simply do whatever the teacher tells them to do, having no means to question the wisdom thereof. In an effort to fill class hours with fascinating material, teachers might overlook their mission of enabling learners to eventually become independent of classrooms that is, to be autonomous learners. There are many ways to encourage students to take initiative:
As mentioned earlier, students are individuals who differ in their learning styles as well as in their language skill. Some students learn language best through careful analysis, and others rely more on instinct; some in-group discussion, and others in quiet conversations with a partner. Apart from the above, a teacher is to suggest approaches to language learning that students might not have previously known. That you are from a different culture also means that you are probably familiar with a somewhat different range of study methods, and this creates the possibility for useful and interesting cross-fertilization.
Making Your Assumptions Explicit
Some very different assumptions may shape the approaches of your students. Here are a few examples:
i. Teacher-centered approaches to education: In some societies, teachers are respected primarily for their knowledge of their field, and their word is not to be challenged. In such a society, a teacher-centered approach to education fits the culture better than the student-centered approach.
ii. Emphasis on standardized education: The emphasis on standardized education system, and encourage individualism less.
Here are suggestions for helping students deal with discrepancies between your language teaching approaches and their language learning expectations:
i. Communicate your expectations explicitly. You cannot assume that students understand your assumptions. Students should know what to expect in your class and how you perceive your role as teacher. Here the teacher needs to modify his assumptions so that he is in tune with his class
ii. Present your approaches as assumptions. You need not explicitly or implicitly criticize other approaches to teaching. Instead, present your assumptions as just as assumptions, and not as the only acceptable method of language teaching. Present your methods as an alternative approach that you are adopting in class because it suits your teaching strengths and because it is a part of your culture. By this, you may not easily come into conflict with your host culture, and easier for you to maintain an open mind when considering other approaches: to teaching.
CONCLUSION
Though you should still strive to make your teaching as possible, you should also bear in mind that, simply through your presence and your efforts, you may be making a far greater contribution than you would have imagined.
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