Columbia, Alabama TESOL Online & Teaching English Jobs

There are 9 different roles that a teacher can dictate in the classroom during a lesson. They are Controller, Organizer, Assessor, Prompter, Participant, Tutor, Resource/ Facilitator, Model, and Observer/Monitor. A teacher who is a controller oversees the class and activity, so they can manage the students, organize announcements and read aloud. An organizer gives instructions such as when to start or stop and initiates activities by placing students into groups or pairs. Assessor gives feedback, correction, and grades students particularly when they are having problems with their learning. Prompter will allow the students to work things out for themselves to encourage them to think independently or when they lose the thread of what is going on. Participant is when the teacher joins the students in lesson not as a teacher but does not dominate the activity. In the role of a tutor, teacher gives personal instruction or guidance individually instead of to the whole class as a means of encouragement. Resource/ Facilitator allows the students to learn the language themselves without interrupting their activity but will be available to help on a needed basis. Modelling is when the teacher demonstrates the correct response can range from grammar, vocabulary to pronunciation. Observer/ Monitor observes what the students are doing so they can give students information or make changes for them to succeed in their lesson. Teachers play different roles and at times are required to be more dominating or withdrawn depending upon the type of activity and how engaged the students are. The six qualities expected in a good learner are willingness to learn, desire to experiment, willingness to ask questions, ability to think about their own learning process and methods, acceptance of error correction, and desire to learn. I believe that the Desire to Experiment is important quality in a good learner as they will gain more self confidence when they such risks as their willingness to make mistakes. Answering questions in class, increase their vocabulary allows them to engage with people outside of the classroom. Another important quality is the ability to think about their own learning process/methods. The learner understands how to process information such as talking/writing about what they learn, able to relate to past experiences and make what they learn about of their life. Some of the major differences between adult and young learners are: Adults have a longer history of learning experience and therefore often have fixed view of how teaching should be carried out. They have tendencies to be more motivated, nervous, greater attention span, and have a greater rapport with the teacher. While young learners have less learning experiences and will be more open-minded to new learning experiences and methods. They tend to lack motivation, absorb language/context the same way they acquire their own language, and may have more behavior/discipline problems. The different learning levels that learners are often grouped into range from Beginners, Elementary, Low/Pre-Intermediate, and Advanced. Beginners have zero knowledge and English can’t be quickly activated. Elementary level learners can form basic sentences and communicate simple topics. Low/Pre-Intermediate level communicate and understand greater variety of topics but lack general fluency and depth of language awareness. Advanced learners have an accelerated knowledge of English. Lower level success is easier to achieve whereas mid-level students have already achieved much success making it harder to measure, thereby the importance of a teacher to help them stay motivated to help them communicate on a greater topic of things. Higher level students are highly motivated, and some may feel they have reached a plateau, thus need the teacher as a source of encouragement. Common reasons adult students are motivated to study or attend English classes may be for future career prospects, travel purposes, improve grades at school/achieve success in exams, study/live in an English-speaking country, communicate with colleagues/friends/partners, and simply out of interest in languages. Motivation ensures a student’s greater success. To build this motivation, the teacher who is enthusiastic, sensitive, and caring can inspire their student by when they prepare enjoyable, interesting, varied and useful lessons. The relationship between learner and teacher is very important.