Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- Acknowledgements
- Preface
- Introduction
- 1 Establishing a framework for the book
- 2 Training to be a language teacher
- 3 Becoming a committed language teacher
- 4 Establishing the learning environment
- 5 The diversity of the language classroom
- 6 Managing individuals
- 7 Teaching flexibly
- 8 Vitalising the language class
- 9 Maintaining the classroom community
- 10 Frustrations and rewards
- 11 What drives language teachers
- 12 Towards a teacher-generated theory of classroom practice
- References
- Index
4 - Establishing the learning environment
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 November 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- Acknowledgements
- Preface
- Introduction
- 1 Establishing a framework for the book
- 2 Training to be a language teacher
- 3 Becoming a committed language teacher
- 4 Establishing the learning environment
- 5 The diversity of the language classroom
- 6 Managing individuals
- 7 Teaching flexibly
- 8 Vitalising the language class
- 9 Maintaining the classroom community
- 10 Frustrations and rewards
- 11 What drives language teachers
- 12 Towards a teacher-generated theory of classroom practice
- References
- Index
Summary
The previous chapter showed how becoming a competent and confident language teacher is an ongoing developmental process that involves being self-critical, learning from both positive and negative experiences, and constantly aspiring to higher levels of professionalism. It showed how, by following individual professional development patterns, language teachers gradually mature to a point where they feel confident about their ability to teach and manage their classes in self-directed ways.
The present chapter focuses on how language teachers go about creating the classroom environments they consider suitable for communicative language practice. Section 4.1 describes the kinds of activities that are typically set up in communicative classrooms, while Section 4.2 focuses on the fact that communicative classrooms in western settings are characterised by high levels of informality. Section 4.3 describes a number of important ways in which, in the vital first few lessons of each new language class, experienced language teachers establish rapport with their classes and create behavioural expectations for the students within them. The final section of this chapter, Section 4.4, outlines how experienced language teachers exercise authority in low-key ways. By so doing, they are able to maintain both the rapport that they have developed with their class and the overall atmosphere of informality and friendliness that they have cultivated.
What communicative classrooms are like
In language classrooms throughout the world there is a growing emphasis on oral communication. Clearly the ways that language teachers implement the communicative approach vary according to local contexts and conditions.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Experience of Language Teaching , pp. 79 - 102Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2006