Category Archives: Tips to teachers

6 Tips to kill learner autonomy in EFL “Learner Autonomy”;

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Learner Autonomy: most of us like the concept of it. Some of us underline the importance of it. Some of us think that it is a great idea but our learners cannot become autonomous because their families didn’t raise them that way or only highly skilled/enthusiastic learners can reach autonomy. A few of us believe in the possibility and work on it consciously. Anyway, below are the six things, I believe, that does not help learner autonomy whatsoever.

1. Not considering/not empathizing with learner difficulties

Even if the learner is a highly intelligent, skillful professional with a degree, s/he is vulnerable and anxious while learning a foreign language. A foreign language teacher’s initial job is making the learners feel that they are in a safe learning atmosphere. It is not utterly easy to learn a language especially when you are an adult or a teenager. There are millions of other things on your mind, and learning a language require concentration and a strong will as well as great determination. It is our job to consider the levels of difficulty of the tasks, possible problems that can occur while learning a certain aspect of that day’s target language.

2. Spoon-feeding while presenting the language

Not letting learners discover the target language by themselves and for themselves, not trusting the learners’ skills and/ or intelligence also kill autonomy. Inductive language teaching by means of contextualised input  works wonders, but some of us love to be the ‘giver’ of the knowledge:) or controlling everything.  Or some of us use documents like this one, of which aim I have not been able to figure out since I found it next to the photocopy machine in the institution I work for. Puzzled?? Yes, me too.

Guess what? Some of the learners learn despite us.

 

3. Crushing confidence by constantly correcting errors and focusing on mistakes rather than meaningful and timely praising

Mistakes mean that the learner is trying to learn. So long as the focus is not just accuracy, we need to learn how to postpone our feedback on mistakes. In written work, who likes it when it is full of red ink correction! I remember once, I had given a composition to my Italian teacher with all my enthusiasm and belief in the best work I could have come up with. I will never forget how my heart had sunk whe nI saw all the mistakes on the paper:(. Did I ever look at that paper again? Did I try to learn from these mistakes? No! Even though I am an eager language learner in general who was willing to learn Italian at the time. How about giving focused error correction instead of correcting every single mistake?

4. Using Worksheets with Azar type exercises as class materials:

Fill in the blanks with the correct form of the verbs given in the brackets.

Remember that instruction? Exactly 🙂 All of us have given them; some of us have given them sometimes, some of us have given them when we are too lazy, a few of us have given them when it was absolutely necessary, for whatever the reason is. Those of us who wanted to make learners autonomous have taken them with a pinch of salt. Why? How can one learn how to retain the required language in real life by answering these type of decontextualised, mechanical and non- personalized exercises? See the sample on the left; who can tell me the learning objective of this material? Who can tell me the learning outcome or the communicative value of it? Please let me know if you do. I certainly cannot.

5. Not teaching strategies while teaching skills and subskills

Scan the text below and answer the questions. OR listen to the tape recorder and answer the questions below. OR OK, you two, you are working in pairs. Here are the role cards, OK. A: You have a headache and you are complaining about it to your friend. B: You give suggestions to your friend. Now go. OR OK, everybody, I’d like you to write about the most important day in your life in 10 minutes. Well, you know past tense, you can do it, no complaints, come on!

How about sparing a few minutes before showing a few different strategies/models to do the task and sparing a few minutes more after the activity for double- checking how it is achieved instead of just checking the answers with the strongest in the front seats.

6. Not teaching different ways of recording vocabulary

Different people learn lexis differently. It is our job to show them as many techniques as we can for them to choose from. Research says that students learn only 20% of their vocabulary thanks to us. Teaching them ways of recording them will help them retrieve the words when they need it. It will help them reach autonomy. After all, we will not be able to teach them 7000-8000 word families that allow them to become completely independent and fluent users of English (Schmitt, 2008)!

 

Tips for Teaching English Abroad from my guest blogger, Elaine.

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 For both experienced teachers and students hoping to travel the world, teaching EFL can be a profitable and interesting job. You may not need a master’s degree to do it, but teaching overseas can be quite different from tutoring and teaching positions in your home country. Here, we offer several tips for success for those individuals planning for (or already involved in) a career teaching EFL.

1. Gather real-world resources

Real objects and resources can be used in a variety of ways, from vocabulary building to reading to descriptive writing, and practically everything in between. Before leaving for your destination, collect free and lightweight English resources that could be used in a classroom. These might include restaurant menus, sales ads from local stores, maps of real cities, and magazines. Using such English materials provides EFL students with access to authentic English usage they are unlikely to get outside of the classroom.

 2. Learn about educational norms and expectations

 Education in your home country may be fairly informal. Teachers may often dress casually, have students use their first names, and drink coffee in class. In other countries, however, educational settings may be more formal, and students could balk at such informality. Students in other countries may also be accustomed to lecture classrooms rather than conference-style discussions or interactive classroom tasks. EFL teachers may need to gradually introduce discussion and other participatory activities to help students adjust to new methods.

3. Learn the Language

Efforts to learn the local language can be quite beneficial to EFL teachers. Experiencing the difficulties of language learning helps make teachers more empathetic to the struggles of their own students. These classes may also provide information about similarities and differences between the local language and English, which can be capitalized on in the EFL classroom.

4. Make use of the Internet

Online resources to aid English language learning are seemingly limitless. Students can learn vocabulary, review grammar, take quizzes, and even listen to examples of real English speakers. Teachers can find grammatical explanations and examples, and many sites have downloadable handouts and print-ready assignments. Such resources can be invaluable to EFL teachers whose classroom resources and ready access to English language realia may be limited.

5. Provide lots of English input

Input is a necessity for language learning. During class, EFL teachers should speak only in English, especially since it may be the only time students hear English all day. Rather than doing written work in class, have students complete it as homework, and reserve classtime for active spoken English usage. The more students hear and understand English, the easier it will be for them to produce it, so plenty of classroom use of English is essential. Homework assignments that utilize online resources will also provide students with additional input outside class.

6. Know your students

Successful teachers identify and build relationships with their students. One crucial first step in establishing relationships is learning the names of everyone in each class. Teachers should also learn more about the students’ goals for their English and their motivation for studying the language. Teachers who know their students are better able to choose topics and communicative tasks that will be appealing to a particular class.

These six tips provide both potential and current TEFL professionals with hints for success in teaching EFL. Outside the classroom, teachers should consider resources, educational norms, and the local language. Inside the classroom, teachers should creatively use resources, spoken English, and knowledge of their students. By doing these things, teachers are sure to create a more successful learning experience for all involved.