ELTWeekly Issue#67
Video: English Conversation Methods of Teaching for Junior high school students in Japan Word of the week: Alveolar consonants News: Robot Teachers! (Coming Soon to a Classroom Near You) Article:…
#67, Article: ‘Classroom Management at Tertiary Level: Handling Pair and Group Works’ by Dr Sujata Rana
Classroom Management at Tertiary Level: Handling Pair and Group Works
by Dr Sujata Rana, Associate Professor, Department of English, CRM Jat College,Hisar (India) Email: sujju69rana@yahoo.co.in
Introduction
Classroom management implies an ability to deliver all the items that the teacher has planned effectively and systematically, without any deviation from the goal, but at the same time, leaving some scope for flexibility. The conventional ‘lecturing’ mode of managing the class has lost its importance in the changed scenario of ELT as it leaves little scope for students’ interactive sessions. The new pedagogy calls for students’ involvement in interactive learning activities by pair work and group work, which makes learning enjoyable and rewarding. Working in pairs or small groups means that more students have more opportunity to talk more as they need space and opportunity to be who they are. In pair work, two students sitting next to each other ‘do’ something together which could range from discussing the answer to a comprehension question to working on a complex and well-structured task. Similarly, when the activity at some stage in the lesson calls for discussion or active collaboration among a group of students, a number of such groups are formed and each given a relevant task to work on. The college students or those getting education at tertiary level are at the age of discovering their relationships with others and the world around them. Therefore, pair and group work help them to interact with different classmates in a less, stressful, collaborative atmosphere. Thus, it is aimed at promoting interaction among learners, and hence enhancing their communicative efficiency.
This paper aims at exploring the wonderful role of the teacher as the classroom manager in an EFL class. It will elaborate the objectives of classroom management and throw light on how to manage the English language class at tertiary level with pair and group work, how to form pairs and groups and how to organize and monitor them. The paper is also intended to investigate the advantages of pair/group work and various problems/challenges faced by the teacher in supervising it and attempts to find modest solutions to them for achieving reasonable, if not complete, success.
Objectives of Classroom Management
The classroom management at tertiary level is aimed at :
a) organizing pair work and group work in the language class,
b) tapping the advantages and removing the problems of both pair work and group work,
c) exploring the value of groups with a mix of abilities and cultural backgrounds, and
d) taking the challenges faced by the teacher with the activity-oriented and learner- centred curriculum. (more…)
#67, Research Paper: ‘Emerging Need of Nationwide Training and Development of English Language Teachers of Primary Schools’ by Pratap Kumar Dash
Emerging Need of Nationwide Training and Development of English Language Teachers of Primary Schools
by Pratap Kumar Dash (Ph.D. ,P.G.D.T.E.,P.G.D.C.E), Assistant Professor of English, Faculty of Education, Brak Sebha University, Libya
Abstract
The paper focuses on the importance of ELT in India at present. Then, it points out the current practice of teaching of English at Primary level nationwide in general; the specific problems; and its consequences. Then, it proposes a long lasting, effective, modest and dynamic training programme for the teachers of English language for establishing a strong and solid background among the pupils at Primary stage equivalent to the Native speakers of the language for achieving a special position in the world .
Introduction:
There is a popular saying that it is better to manure saplings earlier than to take care of trees later. In the context of language learning and teaching, this saying can be applied too. It is better to take care of the language learning of pupils and language teaching to pupils when they are budding but not brooding at a later time. For this, the role of the language teacher is very important. In the words of Jeremy Harmer, a language teacher is not only to teach but to act as a ‘facilitator’. The teacher has to perform the “Roles such as prompter, resource, or tutor…” (Harmer 2001:57). He goes on defining a language teacher as a ‘controller’, ‘organizer’, ‘assessor’, ‘prompter’, ‘participant’, ‘observer’, ‘a performer’, ‘a teaching aid’, ‘a language model’ and ‘provider of comprehensible input’. Worth saying, in the ever-growing field of skills of language teaching, many changes, experiments, and achievements are evident worldwide. This warrants language teachers’ consciousness and interest to learn the new skills and apply them in their respective levels of teaching to get a solid and effective output.
Statement of the Problem:
Worth saying that for more than two decades, Indians are flying to many Asian, African, European and Australian countries either as teachers of English, or software professionals and also join various other technical and scientific jobs. Similarly, multinational companies and globalization brings in the world into the country in many ways. This is going to continue in future too. In India, English is no more an optional language .It has become virtually an assimilated language with all the regional as well as national languages. English language is the strength for all to earn bread and butter and communicate with the rest of the world. India can supply more hands to the World in different sectors with the strength of English language than the Natives. This is high time to forget playing any politics or hide and seek in making pupils learn English at par with the developed Native speakers system of teaching and learning. (more…)