I hope that everybody in the TEFL business understands that speaking a language perfectly does not automatically mean that you are a great teacher. By analogy, there are genius self taught musicians, but since they have never learned music theory, they will probably not be able to transfer that knowledge to other people. They are wonderful to listen to, but as teachers they might be absolutely useless. A person who knows ten chords but possesses the right attitude might be more useful to a student than a genius musician. In this post I'd like to talk about the kind of attitude that will get you far in this business even if you're not a perfect teacher just yet.
1. ALWAYS BE POLITE AND RESPECTFUL
When a student enters the classroom, say hello, smile and ask them how they are. If this is a problem for you, you're not cut out for this job. This is a basic human interaction which is a prerequisite for this job.
Furthermore, do not ask direct questions about your student's marital status, age, sexuality or whether they have children. If this kind of questions come up in a pair work exercise, monitor and ask for feedback in front of the whole class only if you see the person feels comfortable speaking about this. In general, I stay as far as possible from this kind of questions and will never ask these questions directly.
2. FORGET ABOUT THE AUTHORITATIVE APPROACH TO TEACHING THAT YOU MIGHT HAVE EXPERIENCED YOURSELF
You are not a lecturer, you are a language teacher of (mostly) adults! There's a big difference. You do not give lectures, you give lessons. Moreover, do not call your students anything that they would be uncomfortable calling you back. I recently joined a German class where the teacher calls everyone "mein Lieber", "meine Liebe". What would happen if we called him that? It would be completely inappropriate. He's (probably unwittingly) demonstrating his power or compensating for his lack of ability by calling us that. It sounds condescending and patronizing.
3. THE CLIENT IS ALWAYS RIGHT (EVEN WHEN THEY'RE WRONG?)
Assuming that you are not working in primary school, your learners are probably clients of your employer and in this case you should remember the saying: "The client is always right". Well, of course they're not, but you have to make them feel they are, as often as possible. If you're asking for an opinion and the learner gives you one, you should almost always find something valid about it. Therefore you should never contradict them in relation to the content of what they are saying. If they are saying something that is not in keeping with your personal views or something that might offend other students, try to change the subject, but as much you can, sustain from giving strong personal opinions on subjects like religion, politics, nationalities and sexuality. Remember, that you are a language teacher and not a philosophy teacher. Your job is working on their language, not the content of what they are saying. So let them speak, do not interrupt (unless it becomes offensive for anyone in the room) and listen. Even when it comes to language mistakes, try not to interrupt and rely on delayed error correction as much as possible. Keep in mind that "fluency comes before accuracy" and the you should never discourage a learner from speaking. Your own opinions on different topics are not important. Retain a neutral stance whenever possible. It's about language, not politics.
4. PAIR WORK, PAIR WORK, PAIR WORK
I cannot stress enough how important pair work is in a language class. It will not only make your life as a teacher easier but it will also help to create a friendly and relaxed atmosphere in the classroom. While doing the CELTA course I first got acquainted with using pair work in a classroom but didn't really believed or understood its importance until I have spent some time working under the mentorship of a DELTA certified Director of Studies who kept reiterating the importance of it and demanding it in basically every class. I think the reason why a lot of teachers keep avoiding pair work is somewhat based on egotism. We think that every student deserves to talk only with us (the teacher) and that they wouldn't find any gratification in talking to a student who is on the similar level. But this couldn't be further from the truth, as pair work activities have the inherent ability to create an incredible sense of community in a classroom. It enables the students to get to know each other more personally and even become friends. This is a hugely important factor that will also become an important motive for students to keep coming to your class. And the real beauty of it is that a teacher actually has to do less and not more to make this happen. So, assign pairs, step back and watch the magic happen.
Don't forget to take notes and to give and ask for feedback after a pair work activity.
