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This is part of a paper about my teaching style written in 2003 for my Master of Applied Linguistics Program at the University of Southern Queensland. I've divided my paper into 5 parts:
Teacher and Learner roles
Learner and teacher roles
Harmer (1983 pp.200-4 as cited in McDonough and Shaw, 1993) and Littlewood (1981 as cited in McDonough and Shaw, 1993) write that some possible teacher roles are:
1. The teacher as controller of everything that goes on in the classroom
2. The teacher as organizer (classroom manager) of a range of activities
3. The teacher as assessor. Obviously the 'examiner' is one of our traditional functions, but Harmer extends it to include the importance of giving regular feedback, as well as just correction and grading
4. The teacher as participant (co-communicator) in an organized activity such as debate or role play
5. The teacher as resource (consultant, adviser) most obviously as a language informant. (p.259)
I try to avoid controlling everything in the classroom as much as possible. Crookes and Chaudron (2001) point out that a teacher-dominated classroom, where the teacher does most of the talking and is "constantly passing judgment on student performance" (p.38), is less favorable than a student-centered
classroom, where students often work "individually or in pairs and small groups" (p.38).
My primary role is that of organizer. Since my students have never used English to communicate before, I find that a number of pre-task activities are necessary in order to prepare students for each communicative task. Primarily, then, my role is to guide students through the pre-tasks, ensuring that they are prepared for upcoming communicative tasks.
After organizing and managing learning activities, my next most important roles is that of assessor. As freshmen English conversation courses are required, many of my students are not interested in learning to communicate in English. However, they do know that a good grade will be beneficial.
I use my role as assessor to coerce students to begin using English. In this situation I also take on the role of controller. Through experience I've learned that the learners will use Korean as the primary classroom language unless they are very actively discouraged.
Therefore, at the beginning of each class, I hand each student an index card which has been divided into halves. Students know that if I hear them
speak English, I initial the left side and points are earned. If I hear them speak Korean, I initial the right side and points are lost.
In addition to initials, I also inform learners when I think they are doing something well. Knowing that they are making progress encourages them to keep practicing English.
As Nunan (1989) notes, "the roles of teachers and learners are, in many ways, complementary" (p.87). This is logical, because if I am not controlling most aspects of communication, the students must.
Davies and Pearse (2000) note that learners need to:
-Attend to information you give them, imitate your models, and try to do exactly as you indicate.
-Volunteer original ideas and ask relevant questions.
-Work with other learners, solving problems co-operatively.
-Work independently in class or at home, taking full responsibility for their own performance and learning. (p.127)
Brown (2000) notes that in communicative classrooms, "students are encouraged to deal with unrehearsed situations under the guidance, but not control, of the teacher" (p.267). This corresponds with the third role presented by Davies and Pearse (2000), and is essential in my classrooms.
This student control may lead to greater fluency because Cathcart (1986 as cited in Ellis 1994) has found that situations in which learners controlled the discourse led to "a wide variety of communicative acts and syntactic structures, whereas situations where the teacher had control seemed to produce...formulaic chunks" (Ellis 1994 p.594).
Therefore, when learners are in control they access the rule-based system which can lead to relexicalization. As Skehan (1998) states: "...the fruits of... analysis need to be reintegrated and synthesized into fluent performance with the patterns concerned" (p.92). Student controlled discourse is more likely to be helpful in this area because when a teacher is in control it seems that "the danger that the second language learner will not progress" beyond the lexicalization stage (Skehan, 1998, p.91) is more likely to be realized.
Language teachers must not forget that learners are forging new social identities when they learn a language (Williams, 1994, p.77 as cited in Dornyei, 1998, p.122) and that they need to engage in meaningful interaction. This
means that learners should be given opportunities to control the discourse and to express themselves by conveying their identities when they have this control.
McDonough and Shaw (1993) note that many teachers take on two roles: teaching the language and helping learners to manage their own learning (p.259). This corresponds to the fourth learner role presented by Davies and Pearse (2000). Throughout the semester I try to offer students advice about
how they can take responsibility for their own learning and encourage them to take on this responsibility.