Sts' Unit 1 What makes a good language teacher

English Language Education Course

College of Foreign Languages and Literature

Northwest Normal University

Spring and Summer, 2012

Unit 1

What makes a good English language teacher?

Objectives:

Towards the end of this unit, the students should be able to

?

develop an understanding of the profession as an English teacher.

?

reflect on the qualities a good English teacher should possess.

?

demonstrate

an

awareness

of

the

basic

requirements

that

will

qualify

themselves

as

a

good English

language teacher.

1.1 Becoming a teacher

When you decided to take this course, our dear readers, you were making a big decision in your life:

you opted to become an English teacher. This course, together with a few other sister courses, helps you to

grow as a qualified English teacher in the primary or secondary schools in China.

The primary job of an English teacher is, of course, teaching have already taken a host of

courses

that

aim

to

build

your

knowledge

and

skills

in

English

language.

This

course

is

essentially

concerned

with

the

aspect

of

your

future

careers.

Whether

being

an

English

teacher

is

your

lifetime dream or not, it is now the time to think very seriously about the profession you are most likely to

step into in the next few years.

Mencius,

the

ancient

philosopher

in

China,

ranked

and

nourishing

the

most

talented

individuals

in

the

kingdom

as

one

the

three

things

that

the

superior

man

should

delights

himself

in.

Teaching English can be an even more rewarding career for you. The outcome of seeing your students grow

and succeed in a new language can give you a great sense of satisfaction and fulfillment. As the teacher of

the most widely used language in the world, you can be a bit of a star that most of your students adore, and

you get a chance to befriend children, be their source of inspiration, instill them with a life-long love of

learning, win hearts of the little ones, shape their world and guide them in their journey of life. You will

provide them with a perspective for experiencing a new language through your eyes. As Henry Adams put

it,

only to their parents.

Meanwhile, becoming a teacher gives you a chance to spend a major portion of your day with children

or youngsters. With kids around, you are a part of their world of innocence and purity. It indeed creates a

healthy

work

environment

for

you

and

free

yourself

from

the

burdens

that

other

more

competitive

professions will have to confront. When you become a teacher, you get a chance to be with children, laugh

with them and enjoy their innocently silly or mischievous behaviour.

As

the

Latin

proverb

says:

“By

learning

you

will

teach,

by

teaching

you

will

learn.”

An

additional

benefit you can gain from being an English teacher is that you will

learn more about the English language

when you are preparing to teach English than you would just as a student.

When preparing lessons for your

students, you are developing a renewed outlook and experiences of the English grammar, vocabulary and

the four skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing) , y

ou will actually become a repository for English

language, a living book and a walking dictionary, and your English knowledge and skills will be flavored

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English Language Education Course

College of Foreign Languages and Literature

Northwest Normal University

Spring and Summer, 2012

and seasoned with your personality, your wit, your personal insights and understandings.

More importantly, teachers can have the satisfaction of both scientists and artists in their professional

lives.

They

can

have

the

scientific

approach

in

teaching:

careful

observations

of

their

children,

which

is

gathering evidence; experimental attitude in planning programs for their children, which is testing their data;

flexibility

in

changing

plans

according

to

their

findings.

Teachers

can

function

as

artists

in

building

a

curriculum. They can be creative, not slavishly bound to a pattern, in thinking and planning for and with

their children.

Before you decide to become a teacher, think it through whether teaching is the right path for you. Just

because you like children does not make a good excuse to become a teacher. You will need to have the

heart

to

relay

information

to

them

patiently,

and

help

them

understand

the

education

that

they

have

just

received. You will be caring and often need to resort to creative ways to help them understand, but at the

same time be able to organize your time. Thus, you will need to be flexible to trying different methods to

teach your students. Being a teacher can take up multiple roles - an educator, a nurse, a disciplinarian, and a

friend.

If

you

work

sincerely

at

the

job,

you

will

definitely

find

that

teaching

can

be

indeed

a

satisfying

profession.

Activity 1.1

Note down the benefits of being a teacher as listed above. You can also add you some more

according to your understanding of a teacher's career:

1. ______ __________________________________________________ __________________________

2. _________ __________________________________________________ _______________________

3. ____________ __________________________________________________ ____________________

4. _______________ __________________________________________________ _________________

5. __________________ __________________________________________________ ______________

6. _____________________ __________________________________________________ ___________

Activity 1.2

The passage you've just read quotes Adam Henry's statements:

“

A teacher affects eternity;

he can never tell where his influence stops.

“By learning you will teach, by teaching

you will learn.”

Listed beneath are some

more quotes or proverbs about teacher or teaching. Read them

through and pick out your own favorite, and tell your partner what it reveals about the teacher's job:

1.

2.

3.

You learn more quickly under the guidance of experienced teachers. You waste a lot of time going

down blind alleys if you have no one to lead you.

kindle minds.

---

W. Somerset Maugham

The true aim of everyone who aspires to be a teacher should be, not to impart his own opinions, but to

---Frederick William Robertson

One looks back with appreciation to the brilliant teachers, but with gratitude to those who touched our

human feeling. The curriculum is so much necessary raw material, but warmth is the vital element for

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English Language Education Course

College of Foreign Languages and Literature

Northwest Normal University

Spring and Summer, 2012

the growing plant and for the soul of the child.

4.

5.

6.

wish to teach himself.

---Carl Jung

The

best

teacher

is

the

one

who

suggests rather

than dogmatizes,

and

inspires

his

listener

with

the

---Edward Bulwer-Lytton

---Chinese Proverb

Teachers open the door. You enter by yourself.

The point is to develop the childlike inclination for play and the childlike desire for recognition and to

guide the child over to important fields for society. Such a school demands from the teacher that he

be a kind of artist in his province.

---Albert Einstein

---William A. Ward

7.

8.

The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great

teacher inspires.

Teaching is more difficult than learning because what teaching calls for is this: to let learn. The real

teacher, in fact, lets nothing else be learned than learning. His conduct, therefore, often produces the

impression that we properly learn nothing from him, if by

merely the procurement of useful information.

---Martin Heidegger

It should note that the shared theme in all these quotes or proverbs is that the teachers' primary duty is

to

guide

(

Maugham,

Einstein

),

to

aspire

or

inspire

(Ward,

Bulwer- Lytton

)

,

to

Robertson

),

to

let

students learn (

Heidegger

) or to treat them as human (Jung). That is, a teacher is supposed to induce from

the

students'

mind

something

that

they

already

have,

instead

of

coercing

into

their brain

something

they

may not need.

Apart from quotes and proverbs, there have also been many metaphors in the mainstream discourse

describing

the

career

of

teaching.

Teachers

are

analogized

as

engineers

of

the

human

soul,

hardworking

gardeners, to name only two of them. These metaphors, according to the modern linguistic theory, reveal

people

’

s primary mode of mental operations, and they can potentially influence the way people perceive the

profession of teacher. For instance, in the follow poem, a teacher is likened to a gardener in the cycle of

life.

Activity 1.3

Before you proceed to read the poem, try to make a list of at least 2 features shared by a

teacher

’

s job and a gardener

’

s.

For instance, you can say a gardener waters the flower to make sure that

the

flower

will

have

enough

water

for

its

growth,

while

a

teacher

will

deliver

the

knowledge

and

skills

necessary for the students

’

future careers.

1. ________________________ __________________________________________________ _________

2. __________________________ __________________________________________________ _______

Teacher - Metaphor Poem

By

Bonnie Dodge

A teacher is a gardener,

bubbling with enthusiasm

when the new flower seeds arrive,

eager to see them sprout.

Lovingly she coaxes the tender shoots

with stimulating ingredients and a warm environment.

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English Language Education Course

College of Foreign Languages and Literature

Northwest Normal University

Spring and Summer, 2012

With utter delight,

she marvels at the speed with which the seeds

develop into hardy seedlings,

and she vows to nurture them

until they reach their full potential.

When the young plants are thriving,

she tenderly transplants them to a new place

where their beauty can be appreciated

by more than just herself.

Some may wither,

but most survive.

Strong and healthy,

they spread their roots

and claim new territory.

As the seasons ebb and flow,

the mature plants render their seeds

and the cycle begins again.

A teacher is a gardener in the cycle of life.

(

/mi/patter/

)

Now look back at the list you

’

ve made, do you have any thing new to add? What similarities you

’

ve found

in

this

poem

between

a

teacher

and

a

gardener.

Please

write

two

more

sentences,

based

on

your

own

understanding of this poem, and then share your list with your partners.

1. ________________________ __________________________________________________ _________

2. __________________________ __________________________________________________ _______

Apart from the gardener metaphor, there exist quite a number of metaphor to describe the role played

by the teacher in the teaching activity. If, for example, a teacher is described as

a compass,

you are

assuming that the teacher is pointing his/her students in the right direction, the teacher is a guide rather than

a leader to be followed blindly, and the teacher

’

s guidance is reliable and trustworthy.

Activity 1.4

Listed below are some more common metaphors of teachers. Try to investigate the basic

assumptions of these metaphors, and in particular, to find out what bearings it has on your understanding of

a teacher

’

s role and students

’

role assumed by the metaphor. Please share with your group members the

metaphors that you prefer and the metaphors that you dislike. You are free to add metaphors that more aptly

describe your understanding of a teacher's job.

Metaphor

Teachers

’

Role

Students

’

Role

Compass

Shepherd

Provide

reliable

and

guidance to the students

trustworthy

Explore

the

unknown

world

with

the

guidance of the teacher.

4

English Language Education Course

College of Foreign Languages and Literature

Northwest Normal University

Spring and Summer, 2012

Candle

Engineer

Director (

导演

)

General/commander

Performer

Walking dictionary

1.2

Characteristics of a good English teacher

For

English

teachers,

being

good

at

the

language

is

not

sufficient;

they

must

also

use

appropriate

teaching

techniques.

These

techniques

are

methods

of

teaching

that

include

classroom

behavior

or

classroom activities and procedures which employ specific strategies selected by teachers to achieve their

objectives.

Language

competency

and

teaching

techniques

go

hand

in

hand

in

enhancing

teacher

effectiveness in the classroom.

The attitude of the teacher also influences student success. A positive attitude is essential. Teachers

need to be confident that their students are capable of learning another language. If, for example, a teacher

assumes that half of the class is incapable of acquiring the passive voice, then many of the students will

never learn this grammatical form. So, good English instructors are those who remain distinctly conscious

of their covert attitudes toward their students' efforts to learn English and the impact of those attitudes upon

the success of their learning experience.

English

instructors

need

also

to

learn

to

be

flexible.

This

is

because

foreign

or

second

language

learning

and

teaching

is

dynamic

and

subject

to

change,

as

well

as

there

is

no

only

one

way

to

teach

English.

This

is

also

due

to

the

fact

that

maintaining

a

flexible

teaching

philosophy

allows

them

to

accommodate

the

various

learning

styles,

greater

diversity,

and

varied

goals

students

bring

with

them

to

English classroom. Thus, good English teachers should embrace or at least recognize the constant change

that the field is ever going through.

Teachers of English need to be aware of classroom management so that they can maximize available

class time and maintain discipline. Their routines must be a function of the age of the students, the physical

environment, and the purpose of the instruction. For instance, independent work, small group conversations,

interest group conversations, and student-led drills can all contribute to the smooth functioning of a class.

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