From Experience to Knowledge in ELT. Julian Edge
input from the teacher. Learners who come from such a background are unlikely to find the sort of LEARNER INDEPENDENCE and AUTONOMY often encouraged in ELT helpful to their language learning, at least not without the time and support (or LEARNER TRAINING) necessary for them to see how such an approach might work for them.
Culture
Learners come from cultural backgrounds where the role of English is different, and bring with them differing attitudes to learning English. Some learners may be highly motivated and very happy to learn English. Others may feel that they have no alternative, because without English, they may be marginalized in today’s global world. They may feel forced to learn English and feel resentful as a result; this will negatively affect their motivation. (See Chapter 2 for a more detailed discussion of motivation.)
Learning styles
Individual learners prefer to learn things in different ways. In other words, they have different learning styles. For example, some people are essentially auditory learners, so they learn better when they hear things spoken aloud. They may prefer to learn through listening to dialogues or hearing the teacher MODEL new language. Others are basically visual learners, who learn better when they see things written down, or as pictures. They prefer to learn through reading or watching the teacher write on the board. Finally, some people are essentially kinaesthetic learners – they prefer to learn by doing things. They like to move around, carry out projects, or have the teacher demonstrate language through objects or physical movement. Individual learners have differing mixes of these three tendencies, so teachers need to try and cater for these different learning styles in their classrooms.
Whatever the variables, some learners are more successful than others. Good language learners often have the following learner characteristics in common, although no individual learner would have them all. Typically such learners:
• have a positive attitude to the language they want to learn and to speakers of that language
• have a strong personal motivation to learn the language
• are confident that they will be successful learners
• are prepared to risk making mistakes and learn from them
• like learning about the language
• organize their own practice of the language
• find ways to say things when they do not know how to express them correctly
• willingly get into situations where the language is being used, and use it as often as they can
• work directly in the language rather than translate from their first language (L1)
• think about their strategies for learning and remembering, and consciously try out new strategies.
As teachers, we try to teach all our students, but the successful learners are usually those who take on some responsibility for their own learning.
Teachers
What can teachers learn from what we have said so far about learners?
First, a sensitive teacher who takes into account the characteristics of different learners can create the conditions in the classroom where the greatest number of learners can be successful.
Second, therefore, learners should not be seen as language-learning machines, nor should language learning be seen only as an intellectual process. Learners, as whole human beings, may have many other things on their minds; all the similarities and differences between them listed above are frequently expressed through language and can all be used to enrich language learning. To learn a language is to learn to express oneself.
Third, teachers have to make an effort to inform themselves about their learners. If teachers share a cultural and linguistic background with their learners, this can be an advantage. If not, the teacher needs to show an explicit interest in gaining such knowledge. Teachers have to be sensitive to social and cultural distinctions among their learners and try to be open to the personal needs, learning styles, and reasons for learning of their individual students.
Fourth, classrooms should be places where the characteristics of good learners are discussed and encouraged. Individuals can then be helped to discover positive characteristics which suit their own personality, society and culture. Some learners, for instance, will learn better through EXPOSURE to natural language, while others will learn better through self-study and practice. You will need to work closely with your students to help them find the balance that suits them as individuals.
Teacher success can be measured most obviously by how much their students learn. Like learners, however, all teachers are different, and for just the same reason: they are whole human beings with an individual mixture of all the elements listed above in relation to learners. Two important insights arise from this:
1 The best teacher that any one individual can be will in some ways be different from the best teacher that anyone else can be, as each teacher invests his or her strengths and develops his or her potential.
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