Guidelines for Language Classroom — ESL

What goes on in the language classroom between the teacher and students is obviously the core area of information pertaining to formal second language (SL) teaching and learning. “Out-of-class” knowledge of language teaching in areas such as needs analysis, curriculum design, lesson planning, materials design, and evaluation is, of course, necessary for a truly professional operation, but so long as there is a teacher working with a group of students, the essence of classroom SL teaching resides in the nature of instruction and interaction between teachers and students.

In this chapter we identify and discuss some of the more important characteristics and principles of this interaction. Our conception of the teacher is someone with a great number of decisions to make at every moment of classroom instruction. In some cases, research findings can guide those decisions. In others, research can inform professional judgment, but decisions must be based on experience and intuition rather than knowledge. However, decisions will be aided by a knowledge of the range of instructional alternatives available, as well as by an awareness of the cultural context and personal values of the teacher and students. When a second language is taught, a number of major steps must be taken. First, elements of the language or its use, or skills such as learning strategies, must be brought into the classroom and presented or highlighted. The teacher and, under certain learner-centered conditions, the students select elements of the SL in this phase. Second, that which has been selected and presented must be learned; the teacher has to arrange matters and events to bring this about. Third, the teacher must provide knowledge of results, that is, correction or feedback, to the students.

We should not ignore that these processes take place in a social milieu, and that because of the way language functions between individuals, these processes cannot be totally separated from the social climate which develops among students and between teacher and students, though space does not permit us to address this important point here. Finally, let us note that conscientious SL teachers usually come out of a class asking themselves how the class went — in other words, engaging in a process of self-evaluation. We believe that this is a vital process for professional self-development, and one which needs to be explicitly structured into SL teachers' routines. See Murphy's chapter on reflective teaching in this volume, for a full discussion.

Cf. Advérbios de Complemento em Inglês
Cf. Uso Informal de LIKE
Cf. Adjetivos sem Substantivos em Inglês
Cf. Clause Adjuncts Categories in English

FONTE: Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language, p.29