If you had to choose between having a native knowledge of the language you teach, yet with little knowledge of how to go about teaching it, or having little more than a scholastic knowledge of that same language, yet with significant insight into effective language teaching practices, which would you choose? Whereas having both native knowledge and pedagogical acumen is the ideal, few of us have that privilege. That should not discourage us. I have seen that a teacher of comparatively modest mastery of a language, yet who uses effective materials and employs sound pedagogical principles, will take his students farther even than the native speaker who has yet to reflect upon just how language is truly learned. With that thought in mind, I urge you to consider the following suggestions very carefully, weighing for yourself that which makes sense and which could enhance your students' learning.
DYNAMIC TENSION
Nevertheless, I did learn one thing. If I wanted to make progress up the lake against the wind, there were two techniques that did not work and one that did. I could turn the sail to line up directly with the direction
of the wind and experience peace and quiet. However, as no wind would enter the sail, the boat would go nowhere. Similarly futile, and with far more undesirable results, was the solution of turning the sail perpendicular to the wind, as that
would promptly result in a blast of wind catching the sail full-force and tipping me over.
The only effective approach was to turn the sail roughly at a 135 degree angle to the wind, thus
catching some of the wind in my sail, but not so much as to flip the vessel. The boat would then begin to progress in that same direction, allowing me to zigzag my way up the lake against the wind. (I believe
this is called "tacking", but don't quote me on it.) In any case, when just the right angle was established, and when there was a strong wind, the power of the wind in the sail could cause the
tension in the rope by which I directed the sail to be tremendous. If I held on tightly and maintained that angle, the acceleration of the craft became formidable. I found myself
traveling "on the cutting edge", as it were, racing along in that thin zone that separated taking on too much wind from too little.
That is the best picture I can come up with to describe an effective classroom environment, whatever the subject matter. The wind corresponds to the students, with all of their potential, both
good and bad, depending upon whether or not that potential is properly harnessed. The sailor is the teacher, the boat is the body of knowledge to be acquired in the course, the sail is the relationship between the instructor and his students
and the rope is the collection of tools the teacher uses to guide that relationship. The first of the two unsuccessful methods of advancing into the wind is simply turning the sail in line with the air current and, thus, getting nowhere. This approach is analogous to aligning one's appearance, habits, speech, expectations and attitudes so closely with those of the students as to make
teacher and student virtually indistinguishable, except for the obvious age difference. Typically, this occurs when a teacher wants to be the students' "friend", reducing demands to a minimum
and presenting himself as a buddy with whom they can relax. Frequently in such an environment, the teacher is looking for the students to fill some affective need in
his own life, thus making himself, and his relationships with the students, the focal point of the course. The result may be a lot of good feelings and laughter, however the students feel no
particular compulsion to apply all of their faculties to the subject matter with which the course ostensibly deals.
The antithesis of this ineffective approach corresponds to the turning of the sail 90 degrees and placing it in direct opposition to the force of the wind, resulting in capsizing. This is akin to establishing
a humorless, all-business classroom routine devoid of any meaningful communication or relationship between the teacher and the students. Such an approach reminds me of the advice, only half-jokingly given, that I received as a beginning teacher back in the 1970's. In working with students for the first year, I was told: "Don't smile until Christmas!" The most obvious weakness in
such a lifeless approach is that we are dealing with language, which exists to facilitate communication. If the students either do not know or do not appreciate the teacher as a person, their desire to
hear him and communicate with him will be greatly muted.
"Dynamic tension" in a classroom refers to a state in which the students' intellectual capabilities are fully brought to bear at all times upon the objectives defined in the
course syllabus. It is attained when a teacher masterfully manages the following elements - his own "persona", behavioral expectations, pace of instruction, student accountability,
and the personalization of course content. Low expectations for achievement and friendship-based student-teacher relationships result in the "ship" of meaningful learning
becoming becalmed. Humorless tedium and mindless routine result in that ship's capsizing amidst a sea of antagonism and demotivation. Artfully managing the five elements
critical to attaining "dynamic tension" causes the teacher and student to ride on the cutting edge of learning, leading to rapid progress when paired with effective curriculum. The five elements contributing to
a healthy "dynamic tension" in the classroom are explained in detail below.
THE TEACHER'S "PERSONA"
BEHAVIORAL EXPECTATIONS
PACE OF INSTRUCTION AND INTERACTION
An example from the athletic realm provides us with an appropriate analogy to illustrate this point. Effective coaches, in preparation for an upcoming game, knows
that dwelling on the strength of the competition is pointless. They know that there is nothing that they can do about the opposing team's skill level. The only thing that they
can control is how effectively their own team uses its practice time in preparation for the match. Thus, these coaches want to maintain intense, highly efficient practice sessions in which
there is no "dead time". They never want players to be standing idly around, watching one or two players performing a drill while all the rest of the team stands in line.
Consequently, they establish two or three stations where players completing one drill move on to the next and to the next, before returning to the first, thus avoiding any
idleness and maximizing the number of repetitions their players are getting at developing each skill. Then, when it is time to move on to a new activity, they insists that
their players run, and not walk, to the next station, thus economizing on time and maintaining an attitude of attentiveness and intensity. Now, consider how you might
translate thes coaches' perspective to the way in which you run your daily lessons.
STUDENT ACCOUNTABILITY
Provided that attaining a good grade in the class is a motivation for your students, judiciously emphasizing the importance of class participation is a key means of
keeping students on the edge of their seats. Another means of maintaining intensity in the classroom involves making rapid transitions from one activity to the next
and not waiting for students to "catch up" in a leisurely fashion with the change in directions. A third involves holding students accountable for how they have used any
class time during which they were performing a task independently. The following sequence of activities I regularly perform with my own students typifies all three of
these practices.
First of all, my website, projected on the screen by means of the mounted video projector attached to my laptop, contains my daily lesson plans for each class. As students enter
the classroom, they already can see the sequence of activities we are about to perform. If presenting a new concept, I will typically make a 10-minute presentation, interspersed
with some interaction with the students to illustrate the point I am making. Once they have a general understanding of the topic, I send them to the computers I have
lining the rear of the classroom to drill the topic online at my website for the next 10 minutes, usually working in pairs. After I feel they have had enough time, I gently
ring a bell on my desk, which is a signal to them that they are to log-off of their computers and return to their seats. The lesson is still projected on the screen so, as they are
just finishing logging-off of the computer, I display the statement I want them to make as they are still rising from their chairs in the computer area of the classroom. As oral participation in class
represents 50% of their final grade, and I keep very exact records of their remarks, students move quickly (some almost run) to their chairs in the front
of the classroom, several usually with hands already raised. I call on the first student without waiting for the rest to be seated. My goal is for students to understand that
class advances at my pace, and not at a comfortable, leisurely pace dictated by them, as well as to ensure that no time is wasted in transition. Beyond the insistence upon active participation
in class discussions and in rapid transitions, this example highlights the issue of accountability for the way in which students use their time while working independently.
When immediately following a time of drill on the computers, student responses must be 100% accurate in the follow-up activity in order for them to receive credit for their
participation, since they had been given time to practice. In this way, they are held accountable for how diligently they employed their independent time.
As an aside, in case my methods my appear somewhat draconian, let me provide you with a little balance in the picture I am giving you. I never give students homework.
This is a philosophical choice on my part, and a topic for another occasion, however it may help you understand my emphasis on efficiency and effort in class. It is my
perspective that I have 170 to 180 class periods a year in which to accomplish my instruction. They will therefore be used to the maximum since, if my students fall short of
expectations by year's end, I see it as primarily my fault and not theirs. Thus, maintaining "dynamic tension" in the classroom is really a liberating force to enable students to live a balanced life outside of school.
PERSONALIZING THE CURRICULUM
In conclusion, as you "tack" your way through the school year, give thought to the persona you convey to the students, your expectations for behaviors that are conducive
to learning, the pace of your instruction, holding students accountable for every minute of class time and personalizing your curriculum. In so doing, you will be
maintaining a firm grasp on the tools that will give you clear sailing as you move through the ULAT!
Before any consideration is given as to how a language can best be taught, the teacher must establish a classroom atmosphere marked by what I refer to as "dynamic tension". In the following
analogy, I make my apologies to those among you who actually know something about the sport of sailing. My experience is limited to a few sunny afternoons on a small and relatively calm
lake in northern Michigan. What little I learned about sailing, I taught myself and, therefore, know virtually nothing of correct techniques and vocabulary.
Teachers present themselves and relate to the students in a manner that ensures that focus remains upon the subject matter at hand. To create a healthy distance
between the students and themselves, effective teachers dress and speak in a way that shows that they see themselves as professionals and respect the role they have been given. Their
diligence in preparation for class and in executing the lesson plan conveys to the students that they take their job seriously and considers their subject to be of the
utmost value. The students can perceive that they do not need the students' friendship, as their affective needs are met beyond the walls of the school,
yet that they both respect and enjoy the students and listen carefully to their remarks. Though they are careful to avoid allowing stories of their personal history from overshadowing
the course objectives, they are willing to be transparent about their life when doing so will advance the goals of the course. In short, they do not blur the division between
the role of teacher and student, but use their clothing, speech, work ethic and demeanor in class to facilitate learning.
If the characteristics described under "The Teacher's Persona" are respected, behavioral problems are almost invariably eradicated. Nonetheless, the effective teacher
will have a small number of inviolable rules to ensure the maximization of time on task. Those rules ought to be as inflexible as the taut rope holding the straining
sail into the wind and, because of their inviolability, they should be few. I have but three rules aimed at maximizing instructional time in my class:
Whatever the rules on which you settle, keep them few and brief and insist that students respect them by means of concrete and consistent consequences for any violation.
One should not feel sheepish or overly controlling about having a few rules to protect the effective use of class time. I once heard it said that rules are not joy-killing
impositions on one's students. Rather, they are necessary guidelines within which "good things can run wild". I like and concur with that assessment. They also
convey to your students just how important you consider the subject matter to be, that nothing is allowed to erode time on task.
The pace of instruction should be such that there is no "dead time" in class and that students are intellectually "on the edge of their seats". First of all, this requires that
the teacher have a clear lesson plan in mind or, better yet, in written form. Secondly, the teacher must commit himself to hard work in the classroom. He must push himself
as does an athlete in competition, though pacing himself in light of the number of classes to be taught in a day. That means remaining actively engaged with the students,
avoiding digressions, unless they be edifying ones, and making swift transitions from one activity or topic to the next.
The previous section highlighted the responsibility of the teacher to maintain an intense, efficient learning environment by his or her own personal commitment to hard
work, efficiency and a brisk pace of instruction. However, there is another tool that they must use to create that same kind of intensity within the mind of the student. Returning to the
previous analogy, coaches can insist upon a high quality effort from their players in practice if they know that their playing time in the upcoming game is contingent upon
their effort in practice. Similarly, students need to be held accountable for how they are using each minute of class time. The ideal is that they never see any moment of
the class period as "down time" during which they can afford to "let down their guard" and daydream.
The final element in establishing "dynamic tension" in your instruction involves generating an intrinsic desire within your students to communicate. Whereas the
preceding two areas, pace of instruction and student accountability, focused on imposing a certain rigor in the classroom, personalizing the curriculum has as its goal
that of generating a desire on the part of the students to know and to be known via oral and written expression in the target language. During an initial presentation of a
concept, teachers may choose to use examples of events from their own life to illustrate the structure being presented. Appropriate vulnerability on the teacher's part helps the students "open up" regarding their own lives. Thus, after the teacher's sharing, and sufficient drilling of that structure,
it is imperative that the new concept be applied to the student's own life. Its application needs to involve a topic of interest to the students. For example, when studying
the simple past, one can ask students to relate what they did during the weekend or the previous evening at home. When presenting a verb tense which expresses
the habitual past, a discussion of how the students used to entertain themselves as children is appropriate. After introducing the imperative mood, students can be asked
to share commands that they typically hear from their parents or teachers, as well as those which they frequently give to their siblings. When reinforcing the position of
object pronouns, students can be asked to tell about why they appreciate their friends or family members, which invariably leads to comments regarding what that person
does for them. It could be argued that if there is no relatively immediate personal application for any content being taught that it either should not be taught or should not
be taught at that point in a student's life.