48 KOTESOL 49

such method, where the teacher simply asks the class to

execute actions (“Pick up your pencil … Okay, write your

Quality Teacher Talk for

name on your paper … Now, circle your family name …”). ZZZVHRVHRNRUNU
Quality Language Learning
EDUCATION
I
t was more than 30 years ago that
Stephen Krashen told us that stu-
dents need a lot of “comprehensi-
ble input” to learn a second language.
November 2016
That is especially true in an EFL en-
vironment like Korea, where learners
may have little to no English to inter-
act with outside of the classroom. In
such an environment, it is imperative
that the teacher provide that English -
that “teacher talk” - in class. This talk,
however, needs to be more than just
www.gwangjunewsgic.com
small-talk. It needs to be planned. It
needs to be principled. It needs to be
quality teacher talk.
Quantity and Quality
While learners need a lot of input in
the form of teacher talk, one must
not think that any kind of talk will
do. The quantity must be accompa-
Words and Photos Courtesy of Dr. David Shaf-
nied by quality. Teacher talk is bet-
ter than recorded speech, because it
can be a method used for providing
interactive success with the class and
on topics of interest to them. The talk
should be at the level of the class or
just a little above. Learning is most
efficient when the learner is present-
ed with challenges that they can be
successful at without too much diffi-
culty. Having students speak to each
other is useful for speaking practice,
but they also need teacher talk, be-
cause they need to listen to language
that is more difficult and more fluent
than what they or their classmates
can presently produce. Teacher talk
comes in many packages. It may be
instructions to activities, explana-
tions of grammar structures and
word meanings, feedback in the form
of corrections or praise or even a per-
sonal story or words of wisdom, as
Korean teachers are so eager to give.
Teach Frequently-Used Expres-
sions
To facilitate the understanding of the
teacher-talk expressions that are most
commonly used in the classroom,
some class time should be spent in
teaching these expressions, in mak-
ing sure that the students have a clear
understanding of what they mean.
These expressions should be used of-
ten in the classroom. Use expressions
that bring the class to order (I often
say, “Okay, class, settle down,” when
I am ready to begin). They would
include grouping expressions for ac-
tivities (“Okay, let’s make groups of
three,” “Count off from one to six.”),
corrective feedback (“Okay, let’s try
that again,” “How would I pronounce
it?”) and praise (“There you go!). It is
not a good idea to try to teach them
all of these phrases in the same les-
son. Just a couple of them each lesson
should be used, preferably after using
them in an authentic situation.
Encourage Interaction
Although the term “teacher talk”
suggests that it is the teacher, and
solely the teacher, that does the talk-
ing, quality teacher talk builds lay-
ers of interaction on the part of the
student. This student interaction may
be silent or spoken. The technique of
Total Physical Response (TPR) is one
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Another activity that checks student understanding is to
have the class say “No!” when they hear impossible actions
that the teacher has intentionally interspersed into the
teacher talk (“And then the boy flew to the top of the hill.”
— “No!”). The teacher may also intersperse their teacher
talk with yes-no questions directed at the whole class or at
individual students (“He went with his family to Myeong-
sa-shimri for a vacation at the beach. Have you ever gone
We are happy to welcome you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ
to Myeongsa-shimri?”). Or, you may elicit short responses and to have you comfortable in our church.
that require the student to provide information (“Where
did you go during your summer vacation?”). 6LPXOWDQHRXVDQG&RQVHFXWLYH,QWHUSUHWDWLRQ
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Tell Them a Story
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Over the years, I have often heard students say that the
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teacher who they liked best was the one who related sto- +RVSLWDO &KXUFK
ries – life-lessons, actually – from their own lives or oth-
ers. Such a technique can be incorporated into teacher talk.
You may wish to incorporate hand-held pictures or images
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projected onto a screen. For lower-level learners, heavy 6DOHVLR*LUOVď
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reliance on images can be very helpful as an aid for their
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comprehension. It is also a good idea to retell the story 3OHDVHDVNIRUDUHFHLYHUDWWKHIURQWGHVNRQHQWHULQJWKHFKXUFK
later, and on each telling, rely on fewer images. With young
learners, you may wish to tell well-known folktales, such as
the Chilseok story of Gyeon-u and Jik-nyeo. These stories
could be supplemented with pictures or even with short
online video clips of the folktale with the audio turned off.
Short videos on any topic with the audio off can be used
with students at any level for story-telling. You can use the
same video with different proficiency levels, adjusting your
The Author
teacher talk to the level of your class. And you can tell dif-
ferent stories using the same video. Your story-telling op- David E. Shaf-
fer is President
www.gwangjunewsgic.com
tions are virtually limitless.
of the Gwangju-
Jeonnam Chapter
of Korea TESOL
Gwangju-Jeonnam KOTESOL Monthly Meeting (KOTESOL). On
behalf of the Chap-
Gwangju-Jeonnam KOTESOL Monthly Meeting ter, he invites you to
Date: Saturday, November 12 participate in the teacher development
workshops at their monthly meetings
Place: Gwangju National University of Education (2nd Saturday of the month). For many
years, Dr. Shaffer has been a professor of
• Morning Reflective Practice Session (Kenya Café)
English Language at Chosun University,
• Two Main Session Presentations of EFL Topics
November 2016
where he has taught graduate and un-
• SwapShop – Share with the group an activity or dergraduate courses. He is a long-time
teaching idea that you have. member of KOTESOL and a holder of
various KOTESOL positions, including
For full conference details: First Vice-President and Publications
• Website: koreatesol.org/gwangju Committee Chair. He credits KOTESOL
• Facebook: Gwangju-Jeonnam KOTESOL for much of his professional development
in English language teaching.