Teachers
play very important roles in the course of teaching- described in the form of
metaphor: teacher as manufacturer, teacher as doctor, teacher as judge, teacher
as gardener and others. And the following is another set of metaphors to
describe the possibilities of teachers' roles.
The
teacher should make students group work. By grouping the students, the teachers
can give the students more opportunities to speak, interaction happens. Douglas
Brown describes the importance of interaction in the language classroom:
1.The teacher as Controller
A
role that is sometimes expected in traditional educational institutions is that
of "master" controller, always in charge of every moment in the
classroom. Mater controller determine what the students do, when they should
speak, and what language forms they should use. They can often predict many
students' responses because everything is mapped out ahead of time, with no
leeway for divergent paths. In some respects, such control may sound admirable.
But for interaction to take place, the teacher must create a climate in which spontaneity
can thrive, in which unrehearsed language can be performed, and in which the
freedom of expression given over to students makes it impossible to predict
everything that they will say and do.
Nevertheless,
some control on your part is actually an important element of successfully
carrying out interactive techniques. In the planning phase especially, a wise
controller will carefully project how a technique will proceed, map out the
initial input to students, specify directions to be given, and gauge the timing
of a technique. So granted that allowing for spontaneity of expression involves
yielding certain elements of control to students, nevertheless, even in the
most cooperative of interactive classrooms, the teacher must maintain some
control simply to organize the class hour.
2.The Teacher as Director
Some
interactive classroom time can legitimately be structured in such a way that
the teacher is like a conductor of an orchestra or a director of a drama. As
students engage in either rehearsed or spontaneous language performance, it is
your job to keep the process flowing smoothly and efficiently. The ultimate
motive of such direction, of course, must always be to enable students
eventually to engage in the real life drama of improvisation as each communicative
event brings its own uniqueness.
3.The Teacher as Manager
This
metaphor captures your role as one who plans lessons, modules, and courses, and
who structures the larger, longer segments of classroom time, but who then
allows each individual player to be creative within those parameters. Managers
of successful corporations, for example, retain control of certain larger
objectives of the company, keep employees pointed toward goals, engage in
ongoing evaluation and feedback, but give freedom to each person to work in his
or her own individual areas of expertise. A language class should not be
markedly different.
4.The Teacher as Facilitator
A
less directive role might be described as facilitating the process of learning,
of making learning easier for students: helping them to clear away roadblocks,
to find shortcut, to negotiate rough terrain. The facilitating role requires
that you step away from the managerial or directive role and allow students,
with your guidance and gentle prodding, to find their own pathways to success.
As facilitator capitalizes on the principle of intrinsic motivation by allowing
students to discover language through using it pragmatically, rather than by
telling them about language.
5.The Teacher as Resource
Here
you take the least directive role. In fact, the implication of the resource
role is that the student takes the initiative to come to you. You are available
for advice and counsel when the student seeks it. It is of course not practical
to push this metaphor to an extreme where you would simply walk into a
classroom and say something like, " Well, what do you want to learn
today?"Some degree of control, of planning, of managing the classroom is
essential. But there are appropriate times when you call literally take a back
seat and allow the students to proceed with their own linguistic development.
In
the lesson that you deliver, you should be able to assume all five of these
roles on this continuum of directive to non directive teaching, depending on the
purpose and context of an activity. The key to interactive teaching is to
strive toward the upper, non directive end of the continuum, gradually enabling
your students to move from their roles of total dependence to relatively total
independence. The proficiency level of your class will determine to some extent
which roles will dominate. But even at the lowest levels, some genuine
interaction can take place, and your role must be one that releases your
students to try things for themselves.
References:
References:
Brown, H.D.(2001) Teaching by
Principles. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Ellis, R (1994) The Study of Second
Language Acquisition. Oxford University Press.
Gass, S.M, Slinker, L ( 1994) Second
Language Acquisition. Michigan State University.
Ramage, K (1990) Motivational Factor
and Persistence in Foreign Language Study. San Fransisco State University.
Gardner, R.C & Trmblay, P.F
(1994). On Motivation, research agendas, and theoretical frameworks. Modern
Language Journal.
Dornyei,Z( ) Motivation and
Motivating in the Foreign Language Classroom. Department of English, Eotvos
University.
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