Richa Goyal works with the Banasthali Vidyapith.
This paper analyses the need for revamping the image of the traditional pedagogue in a language classroom. Language teaching is not related to imparting knowledge but is an art as well as a science of developing the skills of listening, reading, writing and speaking in a foreign language. A language instructor should not only be proficient in the language but also be able to empathize with the students in order to appreciate their needs, psychological barriers and cultural differences. This task is quite challenging for it requires that the instructor should be a researcher, constant learner and a need analyst as well. While giving importance to individual students they should also subordinate their teaching behavior to the learning needs of the students.
When we look at a traditional language class the setting is somewhat like this- the teacher is standing high and facing the students as the “knower”. The discussion is generally on the metalinguistic rules and the learners are very well aware of their own state of ignorance. Moreover, they know that everything they might say would be closely scrutinized. They prefer to keep a “low profile” and speak nothing. The result is that the communication training becomes a one way process in which the teacher always speaks and the learners respond only to the teacher’s initiation.
This traditional attitude of the teachers towards language pedagogy should change. According to Wilga M Rivers (1983) foreign language teaching unlike teaching geography or history, is not only a sharing of knowledge but is also a development of the four basic skills of language i.e. listening, speaking, reading and writing. It is an appreciation of a foreign people; it is a readjustment of one’s attitude towards the world and towards oneself.
Therefore it has to include all the three domains of learning:
1) Cognitive
2) Psychomotor and
3) Affective
The new role of communication teachers is quite challenging. According to Jack C Richards and Theodre S Rodgers (1986) the new language teachers will have to move away from the limited textbook teaching and leave behind the branded traditional language teaching methods like grammar-translation. When the task is to teach communication it could be best taught through communication only. This new method is much harder to “spoon feed” and a truly motivated teacher is needed to fulfill this responsibility.
Let’s have a look at the new offices of a foreign language pedagogue according to William Littlewood (1981) and A K Paliwal (1996):-
1) Organizer of resources
2) Inventor of Activities
3) Manager
4) Facilitator of the communication process [Prompter + independent participant]
5) Assessor and feedback provider
6) Researcher/Learner
7) Need Analyst
8) Syllabus designer and reformer
9) Motivator and guide
10) Role Model
Organiser of Resources
a) The teachers are responsible for arranging and handling the various study materials which are test based, task based and realia:
Text based:- Books, audio/video cassettes and CDS etc.
Task based:- Tape recorders, worksheets, word puzzles, games, themes.
Realia :- Newspapers, magazines, letters, diaries.
b) When this material is not available they themselves have to act as a resource. It is to them that the students turn in times of linguistic difficulty.
c) Not only this they also have to seek institutional support and organize personnel and funds.
Inventor of Activities
The teachers must keep themselves abreast of the latest techniques and methods of language teaching, because they will have to select and even prepare acquisition-promoting drills and activities. These activities should be interesting and challenging.
As young children learn easier phonemes, words and structures first so these activities should also be sequenced from simpler to complex.
Some Points to remember while designing the activities:-
- Audio-visual aids promote retention of knowledge.
- Group work not only creates a natural learning setting but also enhances skills like proper turn taking, not interrupting, being tolerant to opposite opinions etc. Mixed ability groups should be formed.
- Expressive arts like drama, puppets, music, masks can be successfully used for teaching language. The creativity of the learners should be engaged.
- Abridged or unabridged forms of literary classics can be used as a rich source of language and they also make the learning process interesting.
- The discussions should be open ended yet the subject must be within the range of the learners’ experience.
- Word games and linguistic puzzles could be used in a play way method.
- The task should be success oriented. But it should also be multilayered so the brighter ones can move on with it.
- Faith should be developed in the usefulness of the classroom activities. For this periodical record of the learners progress should be kept through voice recording or video recording.
- Learners should be invited for designing the activities.
Manager
The classroom has to be modeled into a natural learning room. The time, the place, the syllabus, the activities and even the students have to be managed so that the complete programme reaches its desired end. A congenial warm, teaching-learning environment has to be created. Moreover, discipline has to be maintained and the students have to be informed before hand that the rules and regulations of the institution are to be followed.
Facilitator of the Communication Process
The communication process should be learner centered. The teachers should subordinate their teaching behavior to the learning needs of the students. Instead of over powering the conversation as an omniscient god they should act only as a catalyst to the learner’s communication. Here they have two major roles to play.
Prompter: When the students do not find suitable vocabulary the teacher can prompt the lexical items, or phrases as aids. When they are hesitant she can use probing questions.
The Socratic questioning i.e. making the learners think for solutions not only boosts their morale but also makes them willing to participate.
At times the teachers can also act as independent participants in group activities in order to teach the students through example.
Assessor and Feedback Provider
The teachers also have to arrange periodical tests so that they can judge the success of the methods employed in the class and what more is left to be achieved. They can prepare various types of subjective and objective tests to judge this.
After assessing, the instructor is expected to provide feedback to the students so that they may improve. It is also inevitable because the learners should know what criteria of success are operative during a particular activity. But the temptation to correct should not slide into overcorrection. Though feedback is essential so as to avoid fossilization of errors yet on the spot correction should be withheld till the activity is over and individual correction should be replaced by collective correction or peer correction. Too much structural correction should also be avoided and the emphasis of the teacher should be on practicing the process rather than on analyzing its product.
Researcher and Learner
The teachers need to learn new ways of training and teaching the students through constant vigilance. They should remain very alert and active so as to bring the best out of the students through the exercises.
Need Analyst
The teacher should not forget that the students are in away consumers of knowledge and one should provide them the material they need:
The needs differ from person to person and the teacher has to cater to these individual needs.
According to Abram Maslow there is a hierarchy of needs ranging from the physical needs, security needs, emotional needs and the need for self esteem and self actualization. While planning the questionnaire for need analysis the teachers should keep in mind all these levels. The teacher has to understand the reason behind the individual student’s interest in learning the language.
The drills and exercises could then be prepared on the basis of different needs of the learners.
If there are some specific purposes like opening a cafetaria in a foreign land, making a tip to some country, writing letters to one’s grandmother in old country, then the teacher should be more careful in designing the activities.
On the basis of the students’ needs the teacher can redesign the old syllabus or can create an entirely new one.
Motivator and Guide
According to W F Mackey (1965), “Good teaching is no guarantee of good learning, for it is what the learner does that makes him learn”. As the learning takes place inside the learner, the teacher should motivate them to make the classroom activities a success. If some students are not participating due to shyness they might be made to work on individual tasks. When in group they could be made the leaders of small groups. Strong positive reinforcement should be given to them by the teacher for every contribution. The teacher should respond to the potential an individual has for growing, should create the urge to learn and should make the student realize that foreign language learning could be a mind expanding and personality liberating experience. It is only the overarching vision of the teacher that can set the student going.
Role Model
The virtues and values of the teachers will carry more weight if they act as a role model for the students. So the teachers themselves should do their best to keep on the top of the field and be at the leading edge as far as possible. They should try to reduce the gap between theory and practice.
Attitude of the Teacher in a Global Classroom: When we talk of communication training in the global contexts we have to think of a classroom that is an amalgam of learners belonging to different cultures, ages and sexes. To be a successful pedagogue in such a setting the teacher will have to keep in mind certain behavioral aspects.
A). There are some attitudes which can cause blocks to communication and should be avoided:-
a) Ethnocentrism :- “My culture is the best.”
b) Discrimination:- “ I just cannot cope with the working class”.
c) Stereotyping:- “She is an American. All Americans are libertines”
d) Cultural Blindness:- “If I am a sensitive person I need not worry about other’s culture”.
e) Cultural Imposition:- “We know what is best for you”.
B). Coping with different age groups
Broadly speaking the following four groups could be made according to age:-
a) Traditionalists:- (Born before 1946) . These people are formal, hardworking and have faith in the social order. The teachers’ word is a sacred for them. The teacher should be careful not to make overzealous attempts to probe into their personal matters. They should be made to realize that every exercise done in the class is effective and they are not wasting their time. The traditionalists need more moral support and empathy from their pedagogues as compared to the younger generations.
b) Baby Boomers:- (Born in between 1947-1965). This generation which has faced the aftermaths of the world wars believes in success through team work and in justice.
The teacher should give them group work activities.
c) The Xers/Sync-Tech generation:- (Born in between 1966-1977). These are filled with self-importance, they love information, are experimental, independent and believe in quality work. Individual tasks should be given to them. They would like preparing reports and information based activity. Newspapers and journals can be used as aids. The teacher should remember net to talk them down and should praise them openly for their success.
d). Nexters/ Y-Generation:- (Born in between 1978-1995). The nexters love speed as they are born in the cyber age. Emails should be included as a means of communication with them. They would love CALL or Computer Assisted Language Learning. They prefer a friendly and humorous environment and hate the teachers who take themselves too seriously.
So this generation mix could be handled successfully by having insights into their attitudes and aptitude.
C). Gender biased language should be avoided by the teacher
e.g.
X
Mankind Humankind
Manmade Artificial
The teacher should degender not regender:
X
Poetess Poet
Actress Actor
Dear Sir/Madam Dear Editor/Friend/Customer
The marital status of a woman need not be classified
X
Miss/Mrs Ms
D). There are some ways of communication which all the persons irrespective of their culture, age or sex understand. This is called non verbal communication.
Non-verbal cues from the teacher Message
1) Eye Contact- “I understand.” “You can count upon me.
2) Smile- “I appreciate”
3) Nod (while listening)- “I agree”. “You may go on”
4) Forward Leaning- “I case to listen what you have to say”. “I am interested”.
Moreover, the teachers should try to keep their face animated and show enthusiasm.
5). Humor should be used in the class and the teacher should have the capacity to laugh at oneself.
6). Paralinguistic items like tone, pitch, rhythm, timbre, loudness and inflection should be varied to keep the conversation interesting and lively.
This paper has been written considering the need for a change in the role of the language teacher, and the conclusions drawn are a result of a six year language teaching experience of the researcher. The new role is certainly more demanding as the language instructors will have to show a more dynamic and protean approach to language teaching which can suit the varied needs of students in a multicultural set-up.
References
Littlewood, William. Communicative Language Teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1981.
Mackey, W. F. Language Teaching Analysis, 1965.
Paliwal, A.K. Communicative Language Teaching in English. Jaipur: Surabhi Publications, 1996.
Richards, Jack C. and Theodore S. Rodgers. Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986.
Rivers, Wilga M. Communicating Naturally in a Second Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983.
1 comment