Gloria Luque Agull 1 Learner-based Teaching

LEARNER-BASED TEACHING:

The question ought to be not Why dont learners learn what teachers teach?, but Why
dont teachers teach what learners learn?

What is the use of these activities?

In general they change the role of the traditional teacher into one of counselor or advisor.
Sometimes all of us (teachers) carry too much of the weight of the class, and many times our
students become very dependent on us, so that they wait for instructions along every single step
of the lesson.
These activities are very useful to eliminate that role of the teacher teaching, and the
students receiving knowledge as if they were empty vessels. At the same time these activities
give a break to the teacher, who sometimes does need to stop talking or teaching for a while.
At the beginning students may get a little bit shocked, but once they get used to them,
they find this kind of work very motivating, as they have the main responsibility for the lesson.


In order to do this, and depending on the age of our students, we can help them become
aware of their learning process, with the following procedures:

Instructional goals are made explicit to learners
Learners are involved in selecting, modifying, or adapting goals and content
Learners create their own goals and generate their own content
Active links are created between the content of the classroom and the world beyond the
classroom.
Learners are trained to identify the strategies underlying pedagogical tasks
Learners are encouraged to identify their own preferred learning styles and to experiment
with alternative styles
Learners are given space to make choices and select alternative learning pathways
Learners are given opportunities to modify, adapt, create and evaluate pedagogical tasks and
learning processes
Learners are encouraged to become their own teachers and researchers

Gloria Luque Agull 2 Learner-based Teaching


Another way to help students be responsible of their learning (before doing the learner-
based activities) is to do some work encouraging them to reflect on their attitudes, beliefs and
preferences. (See survey n 1). For less proficient students, there are some other exercises. (See
survey n 2) (Figure 4 also offers Learning style tasks).

Some examples of learner-based activities:
1. Draw a circle on the board
2. For next day
3. Drawing
4. Find someone who
5. House
6. Questions to the teacher

Gloria Luque Agull 3 Learner-based Teaching
More examples
Desperate Decision



You are Susan Munden, a 35 year-old teacher on a hiking trip in the Scottish Highlands with a group of seven
pupils, three boys and four girls aged between 13 and 16. You are carrying your own food and tents. You have
planned to be out of contact with other people for a whole week and are expected on Sunday at a small village
on the Scottish west coast where you will be picked up by a bus.
Today is Thursday. It has been raining steadily since Tuesday night and everyone is wet and cold. You
know that you have not come as far as you should have done by this time, and you start feeling anxious about
getting to the meeting point on Sunday. During the morning a dense fog starts coming down, and within half an
hour the mountains and the path are covered in thick fog. You have to walk by compass now, which slows the
group down even further.
At lunchtime two boys and two girls start complaining about stomach pains, diarrhea and feeling sick. You
suspect that some of the water you took from mountain streams may have been contaminated. In the afternoon
they feel worse and can only walk very slowly. While climbing down a steep hillside the youngest girl, Rosie,
stumbles and falls. She cannot get up. Her leg is broken. You set up camp and discuss with your group what is
to be done.
You are in a valley between two mountain ridges. The nearest road is about 15 kilometers away as the
crow flies, but there is no path across the mountains and the moor is beyond them. There is no bridge across
the river, and with all the rain of the last few days it may be too deep to wade across.
About 5 kilometers back the way you have come, a relatively easy path turns off which takes you to a lake
and a fishermans hut about 30 kilometers away. However, you do not know whether anybody lives in the hut or
whether it has a phone. The next village is about 40 kilometers away. About 10 kilometers back the way you
have come there is a small forest where you could find some firewood. You have enough food till Sunday and
there are mountain streams nearby. You also have camping gas cookers and enough gas for three hot drinks
and two warm meals a day, but there is no firewood. The only people who can read a map and use a compass,
apart from you, are one of the sick boys and Fiona, the oldest girl (she is feeling all right). Rosie is in a lot of
pain and needs a doctor soon.

What can you do?
Think of all the possible courses of action and decide on the best one. Give reasons for your choice.

(Klippel, 1984: 177)




Gloria Luque Agull 4 Learner-based Teaching



Decide on your holiday


(Klippel, 1984:179)

Gloria Luque Agull 5 Learner-based Teaching
Values Continuum: Practice for adults


Agree
Strongly
Agree
Somewhat
Neither agree
Nor disagree
Disagree
somewhat
Disagree
strongly

Beating children is
sometimes necessary


People who tell lies steal
as well


For every problem there is
only one correct solution


Where theres a will there
is a way


Think before you act



Proverbs are usually true


We can learn a lot from
the past


Modern problems cannot
be solved by old methods


People can be changed by
education


Never fight against things
you cannot change by
yourself


Its never too late



Everybody is different

Klippel (1984: 172)


What are the advantages you can see?
What are the drawbacks of this kind of activities?




Gloria Luque Agull 6 Learner-based Teaching

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Campbell, C. & H. Kryszewaska. 1992. Learner-based Teaching. Oxford: O.U.P.
Klippel, F. 1984. Keep Talking, Cambridge: C.U.P.
Nunan, D. 1995. Closing the gap between learning and instruction. TESOL Quarterly,
29/1:133-158.
Phillips, S. 1993. Young Learners. Resource Books for Teachers. Oxford: O.U.P.
Revell, J. & S. Norman. 1997. In Your Hands. London: Saffire Press
Zann, J. 1992. Cmo no impedir que los nios aprendan ingls. Comunicacin,
Lenguaje y Educacin, 16: 93-110.