The Language Teacher

Those of us who have been teaching a foreign language for a long time know all to well that few professional fields are as prone as ours to the movement of the moment. Even as I write, some textbook authors, publishers and schools are getting very rich. Yet I don't see today's American, Asian or even European students learning/acquiring a foreign language substantially better or faster than their predecessors were 25 years ago. Of course, it must be granted that our field has moved-that, on balance, we have made some progress. But it still takes. and will continue to take a lot of hard, tedious work and stubborn perseverance to master a language other than one's own. And when it comes to teaching foreign languages, there are things which I do not believe will every change. In fact, a person who was regarded as a very good instructor two decades ago would almost certainly be a competent one today. Thus the question I will try to answer is, what was such a person doing that we should still be doing?

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". . .I don't see today's American, Asian or even European students learning/acquiring a foreign language substantially better or faster than their predecessors . were 25 years ago."

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It is not my part to tell colleagues, many of whom are far more skilled in the art and science of teaching than I am, what to do in their classrooms. However, I think now is good time to share with them some of the notes I have taken over the years-since 1966, to be exact.

A lot of the following "tips" originally came from video feedback sessions, whether I had been observing other teachers or been observed myself. I have somewhat arbitrarily divided them into four categories, depending on the instructional area that is mainly concerned: organization, speech, presence and style, or techniques. So here is what, in my view, you and the rest of us should be doing, with or without the help of Politzer, Gattegno, Asher, Stevick and Krashen (to name only a few of our past gurus).

Organization

(Attention to organization is always very important)

• Plan a step-by-step procedure for each activity you try-your directions will be clearer!
• State your objectives for a class period at the beginning. Write them on the blackboard.
• Begin each class with something (a warm-up activity, so to speak) that allows for stragglers.
• Before moving on to a new topic, do a quick run-through review of the last thing covered.
• Tie up the lesson at the end. Make the class a cohesive work unit with some kind of conclusion or summary at the end.
• Establish a pattern of students raising their hands when they get lost, need additional explanations or don't understand a particular word or expression.

Speech

(This section applies mostly to native speakers)

Use a natural rhythm and intonation as you speak.

• Speak at a natural speed.
• Vary your intonation, use emphasis-avoid monotone.
• Avoid letting your voice trail off.
• Keep in mind that some fill-in-the blank activities tend to distort intonation.
• Better to speak too loudly than too softly!

Presence/Style

• Be energetic. Your energy is communicated to the class. So is your enthusiasm.
• Let your face be animated.
• Eye contact is important.
• The use of mime and the use of your hands are encouraged.
• Use humor.
• Try not to use too many pause fillers (well.... er..., let's see..., mmm...) and verbal tricks such as "uh" or "OK."
• Consider: whether to stand, sit, or sit on desk. Standing suggests energy but is more dominant. Sitting is more informal but limits your vision and use of the blackboard. Sitting on the desk may be a compromise.
• Vary the pace of the class period.
• Be prepared to make creative changes while the class is in progress, if necessary.
• Occasionally repeat a lesson format a second time-it will go more smoothly and give you a sense of accomplishment.
• When there is a wide range of abilities in the class, it is alright to talk about it. Verbally recognize to the group that not everything you do will be of equal interest to all class members-it's simply not possible.
• Become as familiar as possible with student names and use them.
• Give praise to students.
• Ask the class if they want to be corrected when they make grammar or pronunciation mistakes (if your lesson's focus is not on grammar or pronunciation).
• Learn to be comfortable with silence as students work out an answer.

Techniques

Increasing student talk time

• Don't spend too large a percentage of the class period in your talking.
• When one student asks a question, use this as an opportunity to have other students supply the answer.
• Have students restate (summarize) important points made by the instructor.
• Let the students give you synonyms.
• Elicit rules from the class.
• Have the class read aloud the instructions for exercises.
• Have a student repeat your question. When giving instructions, have a student repeat them (e.g. page numbers to turn to, activity directions).
• Have one student take care of the introduction of a new student (that is, the student asks, "Where are you from," etc.).
• Students in pairs for some activities means the quiet ones talk also.
• Students should be called to the front of the room to lead some activities.

Use of chorus

• Chorus work gives students opportunities to speak and self-correct.
• Have students repeat new vocabulary as a chorus-three or four times.
• After a pronunciation error by an individual have the entire class repeat the (cluster of) word(s) as a chorus.
• Have the entire class repeat a sentence constructed by one student.
• When using a chorus, make sure that correct pronunciation was what the students heard last before they repeat. So, you utter the sentence again between choral repetitions. This can be omitted if an individual has, in fact, pronounced the sentence or word correctly already.
• Let the whole group spell aloud in unison. For instance, you can have them spell to you as you write on the blackboard.

Use of the blackboard

• A foreign language teacher should use the blackboard extensively.
• A student can be used as scribe.
• New vocabulary words that come up during the period can be written on the blackboard.
• Have students go to the blackboard sometimes. When they do, you can have one of them correct another's work before you go through and do a final correction.
• Write complex directions on the blackboard.
• Put key words on the blackboard.
• Experiment with having students taking notes on the blackboard, on a lecture, for example, for group work later.
• Using the blackboard draws eyes up. Handouts may pull heads down.

Teaching vocabulary.

• With new vocabulary, have someone use the word(s) in a sentence. Then class repeats.
• After 2-3 words taught, have students turn to each other and say one sentence using new words.
• Allow time for vocabulary questions.
• Use synonyms as you speak.
• When a student seems to be using a word incorrectly, but you're not sure what the confusion is, have him/her put it into a sentence.
• Review vocabulary from past class sessions.
• Organize words by part of speech, or in other ways. For instance, take a list of verbs. Then change all of them into nouns. Or start with nouns and then study the plurals of all of them.
• When teaching a vocabulary word that's a noun, use the article with it.
• Develop a series of hand signals, so that students can let you know when they want a definition.

Miscellaneous

• The importance of having the students move around should be stressed-to the blackboard, for example.
• When forming small groups, put one strong student in each group to lessen the possibility of the group making errors together and letting these errors go uncorrected.
• Spend some time working with students individually.
• As far as possible, have your students engage in self-monitoring activities.
• Have class members raise their hands if they hear a mistake in intonation (or whatever).
• Have an individual student self-correct once it has been indicated that he or she made an error.
• After asking a question, wait a few seconds- perhaps count to 10 (or 20 in Japan!) in your head. This gives time for students to formulate answers [see Presence/Style].
• Simplify your question if the first version gets no response.
• When students don't know an answer, or can't remember it, try hinting. For instance, "the word begins with an 'r'."
• Periodically call for questions.
• Call on students by name to draw the quiet ones out.
• When answering student questions, use examples.
• Put students' names in your examples. This creates more interest.
• The closer the sentence, story or example you use to the students' own experiences, the more interested they will be.
• Be sure to vary the pace of the class period [see Presence/Style] .
• If activities take too long, put a time limit on them.
• Try turning over the teaching role to brighter or more advanced students.
• Experiment with tape-recording a discussion. This way you can save going over grammar or pronunciation until after the conversation has taken place.
• Maintain a concern with pronunciation even when doing grammar, vocabulary, etc.
• When beginning, or giving instructions for, a new written exercise, give an oral model of what you want the students to do in writing.
• When dividing students into pairs, keep same language learners separate, if possible (in Japan, this would apply mostly to teachers of Japanese as a second or foreign language).

As you can see, I haven't said anything new. But this was my point: Let's not forget what good foreign language teachers have always known (often times intuitively) and practiced with skill.

At any rate, I hope the few time-honored suggestions listed above are timely and will help some readers. I wish I had followed them more consistently myself....