English Language Teaching

English Language Teaching Some Considerations

I have been involved in teaching English in secondary level for more than 20 years. I feel that I need frequent study of the subject matter and grammar. Sometime I feel quite confident and satisfied. But sometimes if I feel rather boring and confused in some rare cases. The reason believed in as I noted is carelessness and less well managed class. It is advisable matter that a teacher always needs to be updated and refreshed in his/her teaching. I have noted down some of the tips to try to be a good teacher of English.

What should be the behavior of the teacher in the class?

        Good teachers are inherently fair-minded. They assess students on the basis of their performance, not on the student’s personal qualities background or culture. They are patient at explaining things. The following points will show some of important guidelines for a teacher to behave skillfully in his/her language class.

     1.       Have patience. It someone has a question don’t be rude when he/she is trying to understand you.

     2.       Make sure you have a full understanding of the subject you are teaching.

     3.       Make sure that you are speaking in a polite language.

     4.       Students need homework, but don’t give your students so much homework that they end up                neglecting their other subjects.

     5.       Be willing to work your students.

     6.       It is quite unprofessional to come into class dressed like a teenager.

     7.       Create a variety of instant involvement techniques that can be used to chapter student’s attention         for what will be presented.

     8.       Provide eye-to-eye contact.

     9.       Change teaching style to give variety.

Language in the classroom.

     By and large both teachers and students use English as the medium of instruction in the English classrooms. In second language contexts English is typically used only in the English classroom. Therefore the English teacher should provide the exposure of English to his students as much as possible.

   Language is a vehicle for communication so the teacher should encourage the students to use English for their real communication. The teacher should be a role model. The teacher can create a situation to use some language functions. The students can be instructed to take part in conversation or dialogues. Moreover English, practically for communication, the teacher must use English for giving instructions and general orders and requests. To avoid confusion and difficulty on the part of students the teacher can use gestures and facial expressions. The following expressions represent some examples of classroom language.

     1.       Good

     2.       Very good

     3.       Stand up

     4.       Sit down, please

     5.       Good morning students 

     6.       Work in pair with your friend

     7.       Show your homework

     8.       Please, keep silence

     9.       Say it more loudly

    10.   Yes, it is

     11.   No, it isn’t

    12.   Thank you

    13.   Thank you very much

    14.   All right 

    15.   Please no noise

    16.   Try is again

    17.   Good Bye

    18.   See you tomorrow

The Teacher’s Personality and voice of his/her utterance/speech.

   As soon as a teacher arises to speak he/she has mainly two objectives.

       1.       He needs to make sure that each listener hears and understands his words.

       2.       He wants to attract and hold that attention of each listener.

  When the teacher speaks, he has an important asset that is not fully available in a written communication. The personality which the listeners observer is a compound of the teacher’s voice (Which they hear) and total teachers (Whom they see) the volume of the voice of the teacher will depend on the size of the classroom, the size the audience, the acoustics of the room etc.

  One of the most common faults of an inexperienced teacher is talking too fast in order to be heard and understood. But in fact, it is necessary to speak far more slowly than in normal classroom. The larger the room and the audience, the more slowly you should speak. When the teacher speaks he/she should not concentrate on just one person or just one section of the audience he should shift his gage slowly from person to person from front to back, from right to left. The teacher should make every student feel that he/she (teacher) is looking at him/her in the eye and speaking directly to him/her.

How to use the blackboard?

    The blackboard is a very useful teaching aid that is placed directly in front of the eyes of the learners. It is the focus of the student’s eyes. The colour of the blackboard is not necessarily black, it may be white green, blue etc. The following are the useful tips to use the blackboard efficiently.

      1.       It is advisable to use some brightly coloured, pieces of chalk or marker pens. This helps in focusing pupil’s attenuation.

      2.       Blackboard writing should look more print then cursive. Letters should be large so that those seated at the back can read easily.

      3.       The teacher shouldn’t stand with his/her back to the class as he writes. Stand at 45 degrees and write with the arm extended.

      4.       The teacher should never work in silence. It is necessary to keep the class involved.

      5.       Before writing anything the teacher should divide the blackboard in three sections. New vocabulary is written on left hand section. Grammar point or structure goes to the right. These languages items will stay on the board until the end of the lesson. The centre is used for ongoing work such as pictures, working examples and notes.

   Classroom management is another important aspect. It is possibly the most difficult aspect of teaching the most difficult aspect of teaching for many teachers and indeed experiencing problems in this area causes some to leave teaching altogether. It is closely related to the issues of motivation, discipline and respect.

Dhani Datt Pant

(Dani Sir)