What makes a good foreign language teacher?

Modem methods of language teaching, with their emphasis акценте on the teacher as model and the constant interchange between teacher and student, require a more sympathetic благожелательную relationship between student and teacher than did earlier, more impersonal обезличенный methods....

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It seemed to me appropriate соответствующе to question the students themselves regarding that topic of such vital жизненно важное concern to all of us: What makes a good teacher of English as a foreign language? In tallying up подводя итоги the student responses, one salient выдающийся and somewhat heartening воодушевляющий factor be­came apparent очевиден. The students, speaking from sheer абсолютного experience on the receiving end принимающей стороны of the classroom situation, tended to put forth использовать advice strikingly поразительно similar to that which most methodology and educational psychology textbooks and courses offer... The students had had a variety of teachers. They were not required to sign подписывать the question­naire анкету, опросный лист and they responded at length with a complete lack of diffi­dence робости, неуверенности в себе. Despite the diversity of the students themselves, the respons­es were revealingly uniform.

First on the list — mentioned by an overwhelming подавляющими 78 per cent of the students — was the teacher's thorough полное knowledge of his subject. As one student wrote: "It doesn't matter how nice a teacher is if he doesn't know what he's talking about."

Logically, the next most important concern значение was how the teacher goes about imparting передачи that knowledge — in other words, methodol­ogy . What the students requested просили most often was variety within the lesson hour.

"If we just do drills упражнения forever, I fall asleep. Why do we have to do idioms for a whole hour? "

"It's nice when you have a little grammar, and then a dictation, and then some reading or a discussion."

The students also frequently mentioned the need for activity in the classroom. Many of them referred ссылались to language games as being useful and enjoyable. They also seemed to feel that they should be constant participants:

"The teacher shouldn't do all the talking."

"I like it when the students go up to the board."

"Discussions and debates are my favourite way of learning."

Students complained vehemently с негодованием about teachers who use up расходуют pre­cious class time telling personal anecdotes . On the other hand, the importance of a teacher's sense of humor and his ability to take the tension out of language learning was mentioned repeatedly неоднократно:

"If he can laugh once in a while, you don't get so nervous about making mistakes."

"When the teacher is smiling at you, you want to try."

Also stressed was the teacher's preparation of the lesson and a conscientious сознательный attitude toward student papers:

"You can tell if he runs out of things исчерпал все возможности to do before the bell rings."

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"Why should I turn in сдавать my homework? He doesn't grade it ставит оценку for about a week, anyway."

Discipline , although mentioned specifically by only a few, was hinted at by many.

"There are some teachers who just let a class talk all the time. Then you never learn anything."

"He says your homework is due on a certain day and then he lets people turn it in later. Or he forgets."

"I don't think she cares if we're absent or not. I wish she did."

Getting away уклоняясь from actual teaching methods, over half of the students had something to say about the student-teacher relation­ship. Most often, they expressed a desire for a sympathetic teacher who "remembers what it was like to be a student.": "He should," as one student with an obvious command of the colloquial нелитературной idiom put it, "be on our wavelength быть с нами на одной волне (понимать нас)." They felt that the teacher should "know each student as an individual," and there was a frequent demand for justice:

"She only talks to the best students. Doesn't she know I'm try­ing?"

A significant number of students expressed a fear of being embar­rassed смущены by a teacher's caustic едким wit остроумием.

"They ought to be polite to us. We're people, too."

"She only became a teacher so she could be powerful and hear her own-voice."

Lastly, just short of менее half of the students had something to say about the character of the teacher himself. A majority of the responses praised превозносили a teacher who is confident and who obviously enjoys his pro­fession and specialization:

"I liked him right away сразу же. He walked in, wrote his name on the board, and started right in прямо. You could tell he wasn't new at it."

"If he doesn't know the answer, he's not afraid to say so. So you know you can trust him."

"I used to hate compositions , but my teacher likes writing and she just makes you like it. She has a lot of fun."

"He could probably have done a lot of things, but he wanted to be a teacher. It wasn't for money either."

The students also referred ссылались to teachers with endless patience and amiable дружелюбным disposition характером that could be provoked to anger only in extreme cases. The teacher's voice was mentioned, too:

"It shouldn't be monotonous ."

"You have to hear him in the back row."

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Finally, a surprising number were concerned about the appear­ance of their teachers:

"He's always neatly искусно dressed. It makes things business-like."

"She's not really pretty, but I don't mind looking at her all hour. Anyway, she tries to look nice."

The composite ideal teacher, then, with infinite бесконечным knowledge and energy, impeccable безупречной teaching techniques, a sense of humor and a talent for discipline , along with personal charm and eternal pa­tience , may seem rather hard to live up to жить согласно принципам on some Monday morn­ings. But as one understanding student wrote:

"What makes a good teacher is someone who tries to do every­thing I have listed above. But I understand that teachers are only people like me."

2. Answer the following questions:

1. The author claims that "modern methods of language teach­ing... require a more sympathetic relationship between student and teacher," Do you think that the language classroom differs funda­mentally in character from the science or maths-classroom? If so, in what ways?

2. Teachers and learners are subject to social distance. The rea­sons for this are as follows: different ages and interests, different lev­els of knowledge of the subject, unequal status, unequal distribution of power. Do you think there is a high or low level of social distance between teacher and student in this country? Does it not contradict the idea of "a more sympathetic relationship"?

3. Do you think that the responses of the students about a good foreign language teacher depend on the age of the students? Would the requirement "teacher's thorough полное knowledge of the subject" be the first on the list in all the age groups?

4. What do you think of the students' assessments оценивание of a teacher's efficiency? Can it be regarded as objective? Do you think that the students should be questioned regarding this topic? In what way?

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