Articles for Teachers
Whether you're new to teaching or an experienced hand, there's always more to learn. In this article I will debunk some commonly held teaching myths.
1. Teachers should be talkers.
How much do your students really learn by listening to your endless explanations? When your lesson plan involves a high percentage of teacher talk time students become disengaged and simply stop listening. When you're teaching students whose native language is not English the attention span and level of comprehension is lower than when you are teaching native English speakers. More crucially, the more precious lesson time you spend talking the less time your students have to practice their language skills, which is where the real learning is talking place.
2. Mistakes are bad, therefore not attempting anything is good.
This is believed to varying degrees by students and teachers depending on cultural background. When teaching ESL in Japan I came across students who would simply refuse to speak until that mythical day arrived when they would speak in perfect fluent sentences. They would instead respond by looking out the window, looking at their peers and talking in Japanese, or simply laughing at me. As amusing as that was for them, and as frustrating as it was for me, it became a serious barrier to them improving their English skills. Making mistakes and receiving correction are important parts of the learning process and the skills of students who are not afraid of being wrong once in a while will improve rapidly compared to those of their more fretful peers still panicking over how to respond to a simple "How are you?" three years into their English education.
3. You should always teach using your students' native language.
If your students share a common language other than English that you also speak, it is always tempting to use it when giving instructions on the next activity or worksheet. Speaking their language ensures 100% understanding, and it's simply faster. But wait! You are being employed to teach English, so why not give instructions in English too? There are some caveats: You will need to carefully choose simple and direct words, backed up with gestures for any words that the students don't know. You may need to repeat the instruction several times. Don't change your wording each time you repeat it or it may only serve to confuse rather than clarify. Use the same simple words and appropriate gestures. Once the students realise that you will not be repeating instructions in their native language they will have no choice but to listen carefully and make an effort to understand.
4. When students say that they understand what you've said, they are telling you the truth.
This is linked to Myths 2 and 3. After you have given your instructions in English and you ask the class collectively "Do you understand", what response do you get? Usually plenty of looking at the floor and half-nods at best. What about if you single out a student and ask them "Do you understand Mariko"? You're likely to hear a complete lie in response because the student does not want to admit, in the presence of their peers, that they have no clue as to what you have just said. Far better to ask questions designed to test a student's comprehension so that their answer will reveal whether or not they have understood. For example, you might ask, "Andre, how many people will you interview?" or "Tetsuya, where will you write your answers?" You may need to encourage your students to overcome the proposition in Myth 2 before you can use this technique successfully.
5. You will become a fluent English speaker with just a 1-hour lesson each week.
This myth will most likely be peddled by the private ESL tuition company that you work for. It will be implied all over their promotional material. A picture of the Statue of Liberty, Big Ben, or the Sydney Opera House, along with the promise that your students will be able to visit the US, UK or Australia and talk like a native after just a year of very unintensive 1-hour-a-week lessons. Unless your students are exceptionally motivated, or have some other method of immersing themselves in the language outside of your classroom, 1 hour a week is not going to cut it if they expect to achieve fluency anytime before 2058.
This particular fallacy will become clear to your students after they've forked out for a year of lessons and can still barely manage some conversational small talk. The worst thing is that it may not be in your company's interests for your students to ever become fluent, lest they (shock, horror) stop signing up.
Timothy Due (LL.B, CELTA) is a qualified ESL teacher and the founder of Quickworksheets, an online worksheet creator and resource centre for teachers.