Summary of English Language Teaching: Roles and Strategies
English Language Teaching: Roles and Strategies for Students
Introduction
This study material covers core concepts of English Language Teaching (ELT) methods, the teacher's roles and characteristics, classroom management, interaction patterns, and effective language use in the classroom. It is designed for university students preparing to teach English or analyze classroom practice.
Definition: English Language Teaching (ELT) methods are systematic approaches and classroom practices used to help learners acquire English. They involve teacher roles, interaction patterns, feedback strategies, and choices about focus on meaning or form.
1. Teaching vs. Learning; Teacher-centred vs. Learner-centred
Teaching does not equal learning
- A teacher can present information without students internalising it.
- Effective instruction prioritises student engagement and measurable learning outcomes.
Teacher-centred vs. Learner-centred
| Aspect | Teacher-centred | Learner-centred |
|---|---|---|
| Focus | Instructor | Learners |
| Control | High | Shared or negotiated |
| Typical teacher role | Explainer / Controller | Enabler / Resource / Tutor |
| Student activity | Mostly listening | Interaction, discovery, collaboration |
Definition: A learner-centred classroom places students' needs, interests, and agency at the heart of planning and interaction.
2. Teacher Characteristics and Roles
Key roles (overview)
- Explainer: Lectures and explains; useful for clear input but risks passive students.
- Involver: Uses activities to engage students while keeping control.
- Enabler: Shares control; creates conditions for learners to discover and practise.
Functional roles a teacher may adopt
- Controller: Manages the activity and classroom procedures.
- Prompter: Offers gentle nudges to help students continue speaking without taking over.
- Participant: Joins as an equal in activities but avoids dominating.
- Resource: Supplies information when students need it.
- Tutor: Gives focused support during individual or pair work.
- Performer: Adopts roles or characters to model language and attitudes.
Practical example: In a role-play about ordering food, the teacher can act as a waiter (participant/performer) to model polite requests and encourage natural student responses.
3. Teacher as Mediator, Feedback Provider, and Model
Teacher as mediator
- Provides learning experiences and asks probing questions to prompt thinking.
- Facilitates discovery rather than only supplying answers.
Teacher as feedback provider
- Decide when to give feedback: during activity (for accuracy) or after (for fluency).
- Decide how: immediate correction, delayed correction, or guided discovery.
Practical guideline:
- For fluency tasks, prioritise uninterrupted communication; give general feedback afterwards.
- For accuracy tasks, provide focused corrective input during or immediately after practice.
Teacher as language model
- Use accurate pronunciation and grammar so focus can remain on teaching.
- Use consistent classroom phrases (chunks) in predictable contexts so students internalise them.
Definition: Comprehensible input is language presented at a level learners can understand with some added support; it helps learners notice and acquire new forms.
4. Comprehensible Input and Language Level
- Aim to present language slightly beyond current learner competence so learners can infer new forms (i+1 concept).
- Use gestures, visuals, repetition, and contextualised examples to make input understandable.
Practical example: When teaching past simple verbs, use a short story with gestures and time adverbs (yesterday, last week) and repeat target verbs in similar contexts.
5. Classroom Interaction Patterns and Student Talk Time
- Balance teacher talk time (TTT)
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ELT Methods Overview
Klíčové pojmy: Distinguish teacher-centred and learner-centred classrooms, Adopt flexible roles: controller, prompter, participant, resource, tutor, Use the teacher as mediator: ask questions to prompt thinking, Decide feedback timing: during accuracy tasks vs after fluency tasks, Model accurate pronunciation and reuse classroom chunks, Provide comprehensible input slightly above learner level, Design tasks to maximise student talk time (S-S, Ss-Ss), Give clear instructions: one piece of information per sentence, Avoid echoing and pacing to the fastest students, Encourage peer help and student self-evaluation, Use staged activities: model, controlled practice, communicative task, Prioritise meaning in communicative tasks and form in accuracy work