Introduction

The students we work with are the real reason for the whole learning/teaching encounter. So the most important thing we can do before, during and after classes is, in my view, to listen to students, watch them and read their work. This will help us to get to know them as individuals and thus will give us invaluable information when choosing topics and types of material including coursebooks, and when selecting activities and shaping lessons and courses. We can also involve students in these decisions. Even if our hands are tied in many matters because, for example, we have to stick to a syllabus or teach a certain coursebook, knowing as much as possible about our students will still help us decide on error correction, testing and homework and respond to them as individuals and as a group. It's perhaps the most natural sequence of all in teaching: finding out about the students and then taking account of this information in our work.

In this chapter I'll look at the things you can find out about learners, who you can find out from, how and when, and what you might use your understanding for.

Who can you find out from?

If you have been asked to take on a new class or one-to-one student, you can get information from the sending institution (if the students are coming in from somewhere else), past and present teachers, other ‘stake-holders’ (see below), and the students themselves.