Knowledge, skills and
awareness in “teaching”
Language Teaching
Asst. Prof. Dr. Ebru A. Damar
Language Teacher
Part 2
A language teacher has several different roles
in an ESL classroom:
• A model: Providing examples of how language
is used and giving feedback on students’
Ø The language language use.
• A planner: Selecting and organizing learning
teacher’s materials for lessons.
• A resource: Providing information about English.
identity • A performer: Creating lessons that reflect
careful planning and execution.
• A manager: Controlling and managing learner
behaviour to maximize learning opportunities
and to minimize disruptions..
The language
teacher’s identity
A language teacher has several different roles in an ESL
classroom:
● A motivator: Providing experiences that motivate and
engage learners.
● An inquirer: Learning more about the nature of second
language learning through teaching different kinds of learners
and reflecting on observations they make.
● A mentor: Guiding learners towards successful learning
strategies and approaches.
● A learner: Learning more about teaching through the
experience of teaching.
● A theorizer: Developing a deeper understanding of
language teaching by developing explanations and theories to
account for things the teacher observes in the classroom.
The identity of an English teacher
• Identity refers to the differing social and cultural roles teacher-learners enact
through their interactions with their students, during the process of learning.
• Identity may be shaped by many factors:
Øpersonal biography,
Øgender,
Øculture,
Øworking conditions,
Øage, and
Øthe school and classroom culture.
A learner-centred approach to teaching has some of the principles of
communicative language teaching and is reflected in the following aspects
of learning:
The degree of engagement learners has with the lesson.
The extent to which learners’ responses shape the lesson.
Ø Moving from The quantity of student participation and interaction that occurs.
teacher-centred to The learning outcomes the lesson produces.
learner-centred
The ability to present subject matter from a learner’s perspective.
teaching
How the teacher is able to reshape the lesson based on learner feedback.
How the lesson reflects learners’ needs and preferences.
How the lesson connects with the learners’ life experiences.
How the teacher responds to learners’ difficulties.
Realizing the need for learner-centred teaching
«As a beginning teacher, I was given the lower levels of English, and they tended to be large, about 30 students. I
enjoyed the dynamics of a large class and prepared my classes thinking of how I could get across the grammar I was
teaching. I looked at the textbook and planned how to get through each activity of the unit I was planning. I felt if I
could go through every textbook and workbook activity, students would learn. Of course, this type of thinking was
somewhat top down because I assumed that giving out the information of these activities would be the way for my
students to learn the language. In essence, I controlled these activities, beginning with the first activity and continuing
on with each one. These activities seemed to be rushed. In one of these classes, I was teaching questions in the present
simple tense, such as What do you do? Where do you live? etc. I ran through the activities, and at the end of the class,
two of my students asked me if they could use the grammar related to their lives. It was a wake-up call for me, and I
learned two things. I realized my way of thinking was not tapping into my students’ lives, and I also realized that
completing all the book activities was not the way for learning.» Martha Lengeling, teacher and teacher educator, Guanajuato, Mexico
Personalizing teaching
Important aspects of (focusing one’s teaching Linking the content
learner-focused and one’s students and of lessons to the
teaching: their lives, concerns, goals students’ lives
and interests )
Realizing the Involving students in
developing or
Having students share
personal stories
Involving students in
generating lesson
need for
choosing the content
among themselves content
of lessons
learner-centred Following the Always teach to the Seek ways to
teaching
learners’ interests to whole class – not encourage
maintain their just to the best independent student
involvement. students. learning.
Facilitate learner
Make learning fun. responsibility or
autonomy.
TO CONCLUDE,
There are many different dimensions to being an effective language teacher:
A specialized knowledge base is required, command of a range of teaching skills
and classroom routines, the ability to engage in improvisational teaching, a high
level of proficiency and fluency in English, the development of a sense of teacher
identity and the ability to engage in learner-centred teaching.
Learning to teach is NOT simply a process of translating knowledge and theories into
practice, but involves “constructing” new knowledge, theory and practice, through
engaging in the process of language teaching. An important professional goal for
teachers is to develop an understanding and awareness of their own beliefs and
practices, and to find ways to explore and review their own assumptions about
language teaching and learning.
