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Who do you teach?

Rubens Heredia quinta-feira, abril 9th, 2015 Leave a comment

ELT teachers are used to dealing with different students in the classroom. The literature on dealing with mixed-ability/mixed-
level/mixed-age groups is not slim, with numerous articles on the matter having been published. Guaranteeing even participation of
learners, however, is an constant challenge. Here are three ideas I try to bear in mind in the lessons I teach:

Make (more) room for pair work

Especially after the Communicative Approach became ubiquitous, the image of students working in small groups has become more and
more frequent in language lessons all over the world. Much of the student-student interaction I see in lessons, however, is still
restricted to answer-checking moments, information-gap exercises and find-someone-who activities.

Nothing against those practices, mind you, quite the opposite! I just feel many teachers still seem to be reluctant to share control with
students in vital moments of the lesson, such as noticing, analysis of the target language and feedback. We seem to be so determined to
ensure that students understand and become better able to use the language we are teaching that we may end up doing all the teaching
rather than allowing students to do all the learning.

Providing the target language in a context (a text, a recording or a video) and allowing students to analyse it rather than spoon-feeding
the vocabulary or grammar can make the learning experience more memorable, as students will be cognitively engaged rather than
simply listening to the teachers explanation.

Dont just throw questions to the void

We do have to ask students a number of questions with a range of purposes (e.g. Whats the answer to letter b? What words in the
sentence tells us that hes talking about the past? What did you do last weekend?), but who are we asking these questions to? Do
questions posed to everyone (but nobody, really!) reflect the type of communication we have in our real lives? I have to confess,
though, that Im really amused by the idea of someone saying over dinner: Ok guysguyseveryone! Have you all tried your dishes?
Good! So tell me: what do you think?

Treating students like an amorphous mass is not uncommon. After all, if we just pose the questions, someone is bound to answer. We
even practice resisting the urge to break the silence and patiently waiting for someone to finally say what we expect to hear, dont we?
Chances are, however, the same four students in your group of 12 will provide you with all the answers, and youre likely to be misled
into believing that everyone participated.

Some of the most successful teachers I observed turn every moment in the lesson a moment of genuine communication, asking a
specific student what answer they gave to exercise 2 and then asking another if they share the same opinion as naturally as they would
ask friends in a restaurant if they like their steak and fish.

Dont ignore those students

Lets be honest! Ive done it, youve done it, everyones done it! We all have chosen to ignore the fact that a student was doodling or
texting rather than paying attention to the task. More than that, we all have in one point or another allowed the disruptive students
sitting at the back to talk about the football match quietly so they wouldnt disturb those students who actually want to learn.
The way I see it, it is the lesson that has to suit the learners need, not the learner who has to adapt to the lesson the teacher wants to
teach. Maybe we wont be able to reach all of our learners in all of our lessons, but it is our moral duty, as educators, to never give up.

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Rubens Heredia
Rubens Heredia is an Academic Coordinator at Cultura Inglesa So Paulo, where he is responsible for early-
in service and in-service teacher development initiatives, such as coaching and mentoring. Having
transitioned from a BA in Law to becoming a DELTA holder and ICELT tutor, he has been working in EFL for
13 years.

This entry was posted in Classroom Experiences, Classroom Management, Reflections about Education and tagged Classroom
experiences, EFL, engagement. Bookmark the permalink.

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