- somepopulartechniques

9 Howto preventlearning

How to prevent learning - some popular techniques

Here are somewa,vsthat teachersunintentionally hinder or preventlearning.

TTT (Teacher Talking Tirne)

TsecnrR.: Il/hennothingelseis happeningin theclassroom,Iopenmy
ruotLth.
I'xe no ideawhatI saymostof thetine. Bul it stopsthose
horriblesilences.It\probablgusefulJorthentto listento nte
speahingEnglish.After all,I . . .
The more you talk, the lessopportunity thereis for the learners.They need
time to think, to preparewhat they are going to sayand how they are going to
sayit. Allow them the time and the quiet they need.Don't feel the needto fill
everygap in a lesson.Explore the possibilitiesof silence.

Echo
SrunsN.t: I wentto thecinemu.
Trecngn: Youwentto thecinema.Good.Youwerctto thecinema.
V/ho getsmore languagepracticehere- the student or the teacher?Ifyou become
awareofyour echoingand then start to control it, you r.villfind that learnersget
more talking time and tltat they start to listen to eachother more.! hen you echo,
they soonlearn that they don't needto listen to anyoneexceptyou, becausethey
know that you'll repeateverl'thinglThat has a dramaticallynegativeeffect on
interaction patternswitl.rinthe classroom.

Helpful sentence cornpletion

SruorN'r': I think that smokingis . . .
Theculn: . . . a badthing.Yes,lagree.lYhenI wenrinto thepub . . .
You can be so desperatefor a studentto saywhat you want them to say (so that the
Iessoncan move on to the next stage)that you are alreadypredicting the words the
studentwill produce and eagerlyu'ishingfor them to be said- so much so that you
often find yourself adding 'tails' to sentenceafter sentence.But this kind of 'doing
the hard work for them'is often counter-productive.Peopleneedto finish their
own sentences.If studentscan't completethe sentencethemselves,they need
help - but help to produce their own sentence,using tireir own r,vordsand their
own ideas.By letting studentshnish what they are saying,you alsoallow yourself
more time to really listen to the student and u'hat he is saying.

Cornplicated and unclear instructions

TErcsrn: Well,whatI'w gorutado is I\n gonnaaskltou n getinn pairs,but
beforethat therearesomethingswe'uegottaworhout.Sojust jor
downif yott'xegota pen,could you write this,thenuhen we'ae
Jinishedthat we'regoitlg to do thenext tlung uthichint-tolaes
more. . .
Unplanned, unstructured instructions are extremelyconfusing to students.They
probably understandor. y a smallpercentageofwhat you say- and guesswhat
you want them to do from one or two key words they did catch.\rork out what is
essentialfor them to know and tell them that, u'ithout wrapping it up in babble.
Chapter3 Classroommanagement

Not checking understanding of instructions

Teacnsn: Mt instructionsweresoclear- but all thestudentsdid dffirent
things,and noneoJthemdid.what I askedthem to do.
Even the clearestinstuctions can be hard to grasp so,after you've given them, it's
worth checkingthat they havebeenunderstood.A simpleway is to aska student
or two to repeatthem backto you: So,Josi,what areyou goingto do?Inthrs way,
you satisfyyour self that the taskhas beenunderstood.Having done that, make
sureyou monitor the start of the activity to seeif they really do what you wanted!

Asking Do you understand?

Taacngn: Do gou understancl?
SrrneNr: ...er... tes ...
\X/henyou want to checklearners'understanding,questionssuch asDoyoz
unfurstand?are often useless.Ifyou get a Yesreply, it could mean 'I'm nervous
about seemingstupid' or 'I don't want to wastedle class'stirne any more' or 'I
think I understand,but . . .'. You often needto get clea.rinformation about what
studentshavetaken in.The bestway to do this is to get studentsto demonstrate
their understanding,for exampleby using a languageitem in a sentence,or by
repeatingan instruction, or by explainingtheir interpretation ofan idea.This
providesreal evidence,ratlter than vague,possiblyuntrue informarion.

Fear of genuine feedback

Teecnsn : Did.yu like ruy lesson?
STLTDENT: ... er .., yes ...
In an active,forward-moving class,the learnerswill constantlybe giving you
feedbackon what tley haveunderstood,what they think, what they need,how
they feel,etc.Many teachersbelievein the importance ofopen, honestfeedback,
but hnd that, in practice,it can be hard to get.This is pardy to do with the
classroomatmosphere,partly to do with the questionsasked,and mainly to do
with the attitude and responseto feedbackreceived.Themore you seefeedbackas
a threat to you and to your position and your conhdence,the more you will
aftempt to avoid feedback,or to defend yourselfagainstperceivedattackwhen
you do get feedback.Ifyou can open yourselfup to the possibilitiesofreally
listeningto what studentshaveto saywith a view to simply hearing them - without
self-defence,justificationsor arguments- then you may find that you can stafi to
find out what they are reallythhking, and that you can work on responding
appropriatelyto that.

Insufficient authority / over-politeness

Tt,A.cHsn: So if you don't mind,it wouldbeoeryniceiJ3toucouldjuststop
theactiattyif youfeelthat\ OK.
This kind of pussyfootingis a common way in which teachersundermine
themselves.Be clear.Saywhat you needto saywithout hiding it. If you wanr ro
stop an activity,say Stopnow,please.
Feel your own natural authority and let it
soeakclearlv.

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 - somepopulartechniques
9 Howto preventlearning

The running comrnentary

Te.q.cHsns: SonowwhatI1ngonnadoisI'm gonnamoxemychairoaerhereand sit
downandjustgetcomfortable and nowI'm gonnatearup these piecesoJ
paper,andI had to usethesebecause get
I couldn't ang card,soI found
theseat thebackof theteacher's
roont,and I'n gonnatearthemu.pnow
and whenI'ae donethat whatI'm gonnaaskyou to do is i;fyou don't
mind...
Don't give a running commentary about the mechanicsof past,presentand
future activities.Boring, hard to follow, unnecessary.Tellstudentswhat they need
to know - and stop.

Lack of confidence in self, learners, material, activity / making

it too easy
TEacssn: I wonderwhlt thegloohsobored?
A common causeof boredomin classroomsis when the materialusedis too difficult
or too easy.The former isn't hard to recognise- the learnerscan't do the work. A
more difficult problem is whenwork is simply not challengingenough.Teachers
often haveratherlimited expectationsaboutr.vhatpeoplecan do, and keeptheir
classeson a ratherpredictablestraightline through activitiesthat are safeand
routine.Try to keepthe levelofchallengehigh. Be demanding.Believethat they can
do more ttranthey are awareofbeing ableto do - and then help them to do it.

Over-helping / over-organising
TsecHgn: Yes,nozoyou canaskheryour question. Mmm, rhat\ a good
question.IY/hat dolou think?What\ your answergoingto be,
Sih.tia?Yes. Go on - tellher what it is . . .
When you give studentsa task to do in a group, it's often bestto let rhem ger on
with it. A lot of'teacher help', althoughwell intentioned,is actually'teacher
interference'and getsin the way ofstudents working on their own. As long asyou
are around,they rvill look to you for guidance,control and help.Ifyou go awaS
they are forced to do the work themselves.Thatis when learningmight happen.It
can be a difficult lessonto learn,but sometimesour studentswill do much better
without us, if only we havethe courageto trust them.

Flying with the fastest

TgacHgn: So- what'stheq,nswer?
SrureNrA: Onljt onTuesdayunlessit'sraining.
TsecHen: Yes,aerjtgood- so,eoery)one
got thqt?And wlry did hebuy the
elasticband?
SruDsNr A: So hezpouldn'tlosehis letters.
Teacgrn: Good.Exeryoueunderstands
then!
Ifyou only listento the first peoplewho speall it's very easyto get a false
impressionof how difficult or easysomethingis.Youmay find that the strongest
and fasteststudentsdominate,and you get liftle idea of how the majority of the
classfinds the work.This canleadyou to fly at the speedof the top two or three
studentsand to losethe rest completely.Make sureyou get answersand feedback
Chapter3 Classroommanagement

from many students.Trydirecting questionsat individuals (eg Wat dotou think,

Dominic?)and sometimesactively'shh!' the loud ones- or simply'not hear' them.

Not really listening (hearing language problems but not the message)
SrunsNr: I amfeelingbad.My grandfatherhedie l,zstweehctndI qm . . .
Tsacnsn: it's in thepast.
No,not'd)e'- sa9'died'because
SrurENr: . . . h e d i e d l a s t w e e. .h.
Tpr.cssn: Excellent.Now,did aqtoneeke\ grandfatherdie lastweek?
Becausewe are dealingin languageasthe subjectmafter ofour courses,it's very
easyto becomeover-concernedabout the accuracyofwhat is said and to fail to
hear the personbehind the words.The exampleaboveis an exteme one,but on a
minute-by-minute basisin class,teachersfrequently fail to hearwhat learnerssay.
The only point in learninglanguageis to be ableto communicateor receive
communication- it is vital that work on the mechanicalproduction ofcorrect
English doesnot blind us to the messagesconveyed.Check yourself occasionally-
are you really listeningto your students,or only to their words?

Weak rapport: creation ofa poor working environrnent

TEACHER: I t1n benice- but my classes
alwaysseemsoduli.
Ifrapport seemsto be a problem, then plan work specificallydesignedto focus on
improving the relationshipsand interaclion within the class(rather than activities
with a mainly languageaim). Until the relationshipsare good within a class,the
learning is likely to be of a lower quality, so it's worth spendingtime on this. Bear
in mind the threeteacherqualitiesthat help to enablea good working
environment:authenticity,respectand empathy.
Don't be too worried by this terrible list!These are the kinds of problemswe all
have.You'11find yourselfdoing thesethings, so notice yourselfdoing them and
note the waysin which they do or don't seemto 'prevent' learning.But alsoaccept
that this is a part ofthe natural processofyour own learning and development.As
your awarenessand confrdencegrow, you'll find that you not only becomemore
ableto recognisesuch problemsin your own teaching,but that you can alsostart
to find effectivealternativeoptions that enablerather than hinder learning.

10 Intuition
Use ofintuition is fundamentalto teaching.It is the skill ofspontaneously
understandingsomething,bypassingttre supposedconventionalroute ofthinking
carefullyand reachinga considereddecision.Although it soundssomewhat
'magical',it is a quite down-to-earth,if rather unexplored,part of our teaching
work. It is somethingthat all teachersexerciseto a greateror lesserdegree,and it is
learnableand improvable.
Intuitive responsesare important in teachingbecausethings happen so fast in
lessontime and there is so much to notice,flying at us all at once:how the activi5
is proceeding,how eachstudent is reacting,etc. On-the-spot in class,you don't
havemuch thinking space.Fluent teachingdependson being ableto quickly read
the classroomsituationmoment-bv-moment and respond (or choosenot to
respond) appropriately.
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