Teacher's role in classroom
In the classroom, language teachers focus on promoting their language specialty. As promoters, they encourage students to develop interest in learning the target language. To achieve this goal, language teachers need to consider all possible ways to increase student interest, and make sure students apply what they learned outside of class.
The activities of teachers in the classroom are divided into three stages, namely, presentation, practice, and test/assessment. In the presentation stage, teachers must show the material in the most interesting way that would encourage the students to participate in their learning. Presentation is a direct way of revealing the underlying details of language, such as its history and its culture. The key words for presentation from the perspective of students are attention, perception, understanding, and short-term memory.
According to my father, a good teacher must make students feel that time quickly passes as they are learning in class. This belief is true in learning a language as well. In China, English is the first foreign language that is taught in elementary schools. Some students even start learning English during preschool. However, given their unfamiliarity with English and their purpose of studying it, preschool children find it very hard to focus on learning English. Language books claim that learning a language at a young age is beneficial. However, language learning at a young age can fail if taught improperly.
Studying Chinese, which is the native language of preschool children, is a different case. Young children have access to sources that will allow them to understand the development of their native language. Moreover, they have daily opportunities to speak in their mother tongue. Therefore, language teachers must motivate their students to use English instead of teaching and emphasizing how much grammar knowledge or rules students should acquire in class. To achieve this purpose, teachers must become designers or actors in their classes. Back in elementary school, my teacher liked to do role-playing and story-telling in class. We could easily follow the stories as we were familiar with them. Our teacher used different voices when playing different roles. Although we did not understand everything our teacher said, this method made us interested in learning the language.
If presentation is a direct way of promoting the interest of students, practice is an indirect way of showing the possibilities of the target language. Practice helps students master the knowledge that they have learned in class, and emphasizes that language is not all about boring grammar rules or memorization as it also involves culture and history. In the 5th grade, reading was one of our common practices. However, most readings were intended for practice. Consequently, we did not learn much from reading except for certain grammar rules. Time after time, students may think reading is all about doing exercises, and thus, get bored. Therefore, teachers need to choose interesting reading materials that can be used for grammar lessons, which are similar to what native language teachers use in their classes. Chinese reading exercises usually include short stories from storybooks, and teachers often encourage their students to read the entire book during their free time. For the convenience of the students, each class must have a book corner where students can find a book to read. Having a reading corner for books in the target language provides sources for learning more about the language.
Test/assessment is considered as the scariest part of the whole learning process. Regardless of the duration of their learning process, students do not like tests. Some people think that tests can motivate students to learn because they have to achieve a passing mark, which students can only attain by exhaustively studying in the subject. Based on my learning experience, the materials that we study for tests are just allotted to our short-term memory. We partially or completely forget everything that we have learned after taking an exam. Moreover, we always relax and forget about our studies when exams are over. Therefore, we often cram before taking our next exam to catch up with all the lessons. This practice often tires and discourages many students.
Teachers must help their students overcome these difficulties and encourage them to keep pushing towards a goal in their studies. For example, my entire class once failed a French midterm test even if the exam was based on lectures. Many details must be considered when studying or using French words. Although we felt that we performed well in the exam, the results were completely different from our expectations. The results affected our self-confidence. As the test was for the beginner level, the teacher gave us second chance by letting us figure out our errors and correcting them afterwards. If we successfully corrected our errors, she would return to us half of the credit. Our teacher acknowledged the importance for us to learn the language and to maintain our interest and confidence in learning rather than acquiring points. Regardless of how the teacher designs and administers the test, the test must boost the confidence of students and encourage them to keep looking for answers through further education.
To conclude, the role of teachers in the classroom is to encourage students to participate actively in the learning process. Students at various age groups develop different motivation levels and perceptions toward learning. Teachers must acknowledge the condition of their students in designing effective teaching methods.
The activities of teachers in the classroom are divided into three stages, namely, presentation, practice, and test/assessment. In the presentation stage, teachers must show the material in the most interesting way that would encourage the students to participate in their learning. Presentation is a direct way of revealing the underlying details of language, such as its history and its culture. The key words for presentation from the perspective of students are attention, perception, understanding, and short-term memory.
According to my father, a good teacher must make students feel that time quickly passes as they are learning in class. This belief is true in learning a language as well. In China, English is the first foreign language that is taught in elementary schools. Some students even start learning English during preschool. However, given their unfamiliarity with English and their purpose of studying it, preschool children find it very hard to focus on learning English. Language books claim that learning a language at a young age is beneficial. However, language learning at a young age can fail if taught improperly.
Studying Chinese, which is the native language of preschool children, is a different case. Young children have access to sources that will allow them to understand the development of their native language. Moreover, they have daily opportunities to speak in their mother tongue. Therefore, language teachers must motivate their students to use English instead of teaching and emphasizing how much grammar knowledge or rules students should acquire in class. To achieve this purpose, teachers must become designers or actors in their classes. Back in elementary school, my teacher liked to do role-playing and story-telling in class. We could easily follow the stories as we were familiar with them. Our teacher used different voices when playing different roles. Although we did not understand everything our teacher said, this method made us interested in learning the language.
If presentation is a direct way of promoting the interest of students, practice is an indirect way of showing the possibilities of the target language. Practice helps students master the knowledge that they have learned in class, and emphasizes that language is not all about boring grammar rules or memorization as it also involves culture and history. In the 5th grade, reading was one of our common practices. However, most readings were intended for practice. Consequently, we did not learn much from reading except for certain grammar rules. Time after time, students may think reading is all about doing exercises, and thus, get bored. Therefore, teachers need to choose interesting reading materials that can be used for grammar lessons, which are similar to what native language teachers use in their classes. Chinese reading exercises usually include short stories from storybooks, and teachers often encourage their students to read the entire book during their free time. For the convenience of the students, each class must have a book corner where students can find a book to read. Having a reading corner for books in the target language provides sources for learning more about the language.
Test/assessment is considered as the scariest part of the whole learning process. Regardless of the duration of their learning process, students do not like tests. Some people think that tests can motivate students to learn because they have to achieve a passing mark, which students can only attain by exhaustively studying in the subject. Based on my learning experience, the materials that we study for tests are just allotted to our short-term memory. We partially or completely forget everything that we have learned after taking an exam. Moreover, we always relax and forget about our studies when exams are over. Therefore, we often cram before taking our next exam to catch up with all the lessons. This practice often tires and discourages many students.
Teachers must help their students overcome these difficulties and encourage them to keep pushing towards a goal in their studies. For example, my entire class once failed a French midterm test even if the exam was based on lectures. Many details must be considered when studying or using French words. Although we felt that we performed well in the exam, the results were completely different from our expectations. The results affected our self-confidence. As the test was for the beginner level, the teacher gave us second chance by letting us figure out our errors and correcting them afterwards. If we successfully corrected our errors, she would return to us half of the credit. Our teacher acknowledged the importance for us to learn the language and to maintain our interest and confidence in learning rather than acquiring points. Regardless of how the teacher designs and administers the test, the test must boost the confidence of students and encourage them to keep looking for answers through further education.
To conclude, the role of teachers in the classroom is to encourage students to participate actively in the learning process. Students at various age groups develop different motivation levels and perceptions toward learning. Teachers must acknowledge the condition of their students in designing effective teaching methods.