Preparing to Teach

Teacher Talk Time (TTT) and Student Talk Time (STT)

Most teachers readily agree that the students should receive as much
opportunity to speak as is possible when learning English as a foreign
language. This idea is especially true in the EFL classroom, where students
don't live in an English-speaking country. In such cases, the students may
only have the chance to practice English as a conversational tool during the
sixty or ninety minutes of the lesson. But whatever the situation, the more
students speak in English, the better English speakers they become.

But what should the balance be between teacher talk time and student
talk time?

It's best to consider talk time in the following percentages. Students should
speak for 70% of the lesson. Teachers should speak for 30% of the time. Of
course, some lessons may require longer explanations on the part of the
teacher. Or other lessons may only require a minimal amount of explanation,
and 90% or more may be devoted to conversational activities. But this 70/30
figure works well as a goal in most classroom situations. Consider the
following positive and negative examples as well:

Positive:
1. The teacher praises students.
2. The teacher provides feedback, correction, and possible guidance.
3. The teacher presents information or gives instructions.
4. The teacher sets up and/or demonstrates activities.

Negative:

1. The teacher offers personal anecdotes that don't connect to the lesson.

2. The teacher speaks too quickly (or slowly) for the level of students.

3. The teacher offers too much correction.

4. The teacher explains the target language for too much.

5. The teacher excessively uses slang and fillers.

How does the 70/30 figure get affected by specific activities?

Listening activities, examples from the teacher, demonstrating an

activity... all can affect talk time. Let's look at some of the following
examples to better highlight good use of talk time.

Effective:

1. The teacher reads a paragraph as part of a listening activity. The teacher

speaks most of this time, as he reads the monologue several times and
asks comprehension questions. However, his talk time can be deemed
effective because the students get to practice their listening and
comprehension skills. To increase the effectiveness, though, the listening
activity could segue into another activity. Maybe the students could pick
out idioms and try to use them in subsequent conversations. Maybe the
students could imagine subsequent events from the monologue, or
rewrite it as a dialogue. Maybe the students could summarize the
monologue in their own words.
2. The teacher provides examples before eliciting a few more sentences from
the class on a particularly difficult grammar point. Although his talk
time is quite high here, the class can better use the form and function of
the language. In other words, they know the structure of the target
language, how to use it, and why to use it. This translates into better
and more accurate usage both later in the lesson and out in the real
world.
3. The teacher explains an activity's directions step by step, then
demonstrates the activity with a student. Last, he checks confirmation
with a few questions, such as "What will you do first?" and "How about
after that?" Again, the talk time is high, but students can immediately
begin the activity without confusion.

How about student talk time?

A lot has been said so far regarding the teacher's talk time. For students,
the most effective use of their time occurs when they are actively using
the target language. This can come in the form of drills early in the
lesson or as part of a meaningful conversational activity later. Be careful
of the following negatives, though.

Ineffective:
1. Students drill the target language throughout much of the lesson, and
don't have the chance to use the new grammar or vocabulary with
previously studied material. Drills are great to set the pattern of the
target language, but students won't know how to use the language
outside of these narrowly defined parameters. If students are still
practicing with drills towards the end of the class, then the teacher may
have introduced too much in the lesson. Retention will drop, and talk
time will be rendered ineffective.
2. Students don't practice the target language enough in drills, and so
make numerous mistakes with the grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation,
and so on. If this continues during the whole class, then students may
not understand how to correctly use the target language. They will
continue to make the same mistakes outside of the class. Although the
students may have spoken a lot during the lesson, they used the target
language incorrectly. Again, this translates into ineffective talk time.
3. The teacher talks or calls on students one at a time. Although the talk
time for the class may be roughly 70%, individual talk time is quite low.
In a class of ten during a one-hour session, answering questions one by
one translates to six minutes of talk time for each student. This isn't
enough of an opportunity to speak and practice the material! A better
course of action would be to pair up the students, have them practice in
drills and free(r) activities throughout the lesson. Two students speaking
in pairs for one hour would mean roughly thirty minutes each of talk
time, which is a huge difference!

The First Day of Class All parties – students and teacher included – are just a
little nervous on the first day of a new class: the students because they don't
know what to expect and are afraid of being unable to perform, and the
teacher because he or she doesn't know what kind of collective attitude the
students may possess towards learning, and how much of themselves they
will be willing to invest in improving themselves.

The teacher should, of course (in one sense), know better than to feel anxious,
because he or she has probably "been there and done that" numerous times
in the past. In another sense, however, the teacher, like an actor performing
before a new audience, really cannot know in advance how receptive the
students will actually be, at least of their own accord. There are ways,
though, to virtually ensure a successful class from the very first day, and that
is what we will be discussing here.

First things first. A successful first class begins before it ever meets; i.e., a
placement exam has been given to the students to group them in a class of a
similar knowledge and ability level; a textbook and other study materials have
been chosen; and a teacher has been selected for the class who is experienced
and successful with the given level of students, or at least has been trained to
know how to teach them well, even without prior experience. If any of these
elements is lacking, the teaching is not likely to be very successful, and the
students may not be happy no matter how well the teacher may teach.

Given that the above conditions have been met, a conscientious teacher is
likely to arrive with plans for teaching the first two or three lessons, probably
along with some supplementary material (and realia to bring conversational
situations to life), which of course is exactly the correct procedure.

Now, however, is the time for caution! Read and heed the following
instructions about what not to do on the first day of class:

DO NOT:

 Start right in teaching. You and the class need to get acquainted and
bond with one another first.
 Begin speaking in your students' language, if it can be avoided (in other
words, if they are above beginning level).
 Correct any conversational errors at this point.
 Give more attention to the brighter or more outgoing students than to
the others.
 Spend too much time talking about yourself, especially your personal
life.
 Criticize the book that has been selected by your school for the class! If
this is not your favourite textbook, or even if you hate it, you must not at
any time allow your personal attitude to be known!

DO:

 Introduce yourself briefly. Smile and be modest, while at the same time
assuring the students of your qualifications for, and interest in, helping
them. Answer with a smile any questions relating to your marital status,
whether you like Thai food and Thai people (if you are in Thailand!), etc.
 Clean up your native accent to make your speech as understandable as
possible. Do not speak too fast, but also do not speak unnaturally
slow. Never speak "pigeon English" in order to be understood.
And never stop joining sounds in a natural way between your words and
syllables, as otherwise your students may understand only you,
amongst all the other English native speakers they will meet!
 Take your time and get thoroughly acquainted with each member of your
class. Find out brief personal (but not too personal!) information about
each student. Learn the students' names and how to pronounce them
and take brief (and non-distracting) notes about the conversational
strengths and weaknesses of each one, while also finding out and noting
down what English problems each student feels he or she has.
 Find out the various study objectives the different students may have,
and show very briefly how these can be met during the course.
 After getting acquainted with each student, promise them exactly what
they will achieve in their course, if they apply themselves and do the
homework you assign.
 Introduce and describe in a very favorable way the course book(s) they
have been given (despite any feelings or reservations you might actually
have to the contrary, as mentioned above). Show how, with your help,
their materials give them all the information and tools they will need in
order to be successful in improving their English and achieving their
objectives.
 LAY DOWN YOUR STUDY RULES NOW! You will need to establish a set
of rules that your class needs to follow, and you must do this now! We
might compare this procedure to that of interviewing someone to work
for you. In doing that, you describe the duties the person would have in
doing his or her job, and these duties would, no doubt, be found
acceptable by the job applicant. However, if you hire the person, and
later ask him or her to accomplish certain duties not described at the job
interview, you may receive a small amount of cooperation at first, but
will eventually be told in no uncertain terms that such work is not part
of their duties (in other words, they will feel they are being imposed on)!

The following are some of the rules you may wish to lay down to your class:
1. Speak only in English, unless it's absolutely necessary to speak in your
own language to find something out.
2. Answer teacher questions directly, instead of conferring with your
colleagues first, and be assured that you will have ample chance to do
work in pairs and small groups during which you can do a minimum
amount of conferring, if necessary.
3. Do the homework assigned, and turn it in on time.
4. Don't be afraid that an answer might be wrong. No one will laugh if it is,
and the teacher will not be unhappy. In fact, making mistakes is often
how we learn best! (Then you, the teacher, stick to your word, and make
sure you always react as predicted.)
5. Ask questions if something is not understood. The fact is that if a given
person has a question (whether he or she asks it or not), the chances are
other students will have the same question, and would also like to know
the answer. Thus, the person daring to ask it will not lose face.
6. Try to avoid telling the teacher that you understand something, just
because you are afraid of admitting you don't.
Finally, if you have a bit of time left over, introduce a small part of their
first lesson, explaining exactly the purpose of it, do a few
communications incorporating the skills demonstrated, and give them
a very short homework assignment.

Be upbeat and positive! At the end of the class, try to build some
excitement for future classes. All of the above are reasonably good rules,
and are intended mainly as guidelines for you to establish your own. If
you follow them well, you will have bonded with your students on the
first day of class – which is actually what that first day is intended to
accomplish!

Fun Activities for the First Day of Class

True or False

Each student says three (3) things about themselves; two (2) are true and one
(1) is false. The other students try to determine which of the statements is
false. It is usually a good idea for the teacher to go first, so that the students
understand how to play the game.

Marooned

Ask the students what three (3) people they would want with them on a desert
island and why they would choose these three (3) people.

Would Your Rather

Give the students a few minutes to think of a “Would you Rather” question,
which they will ask someone else in the class. It is usually a good idea for the
teacher to start the activity so the students understand how to play. An
example question might be, “Would you rather win the lottery or find true
love?”.
The above are just some suggestions, you can also make up your own
activities and games. The idea is just to give the students a chance to know
more about you and their classmates. Most of all make the game or activity
fun!

20 Tips for Teaching EFL Students

1. Speak clearly, slowly and distinctly.
2. Manage your class effectively. It’s important to establish and enforce
classroom rules, but remember that it’s also important to have fun with
your students. If you’re having fun, they’re having fun. My students are
much more responsive and willing to participate when they are having a
little bit of fun in class. Try not to be too strict and remember to smile.
3. Talk about yourself. Tell your students about your family and friends.
Bring in photos from home. Share personal stories with them.
4. Be funny. Students will really enjoy your class if you make them laugh.
Don’t be afraid to play the fool or make fun of yourself.
5. Use lots of energy when you’re teaching. Move around your classroom.
Use gestures and noises to describe things. Make lots of faces and draw
pictures. Why? Providing some light entertainment keeps their attention
focused on you.
6. Games are always successful, even with older students. Never
underestimate what you can teach with a simple game.
7. When you are giving instructions on how to play a game, repeat your
instructions and demonstrate how to play.
8. Positive reinforcement is important to new language learners of every
age. Compliment your students, even if they make mistakes.
9. Music makes learning interesting and fun. There are loads of activities
you can use music with. I’ve captured and held the attention of all my
classes with a little music. Music takes away feelings of self-
consciousness and it encourages students to open their mouths and let
loose.
10. Repetition is a key tool in the ESL classroom. There are lots of games
and activities that you can use in the classroom to encourage students to
speak out. Make sure you teach the answer to the entire class and have
them repeat it out loud before asking each students separately.
11. Introduce and teach new vocabulary every lesson.
12. Use some favourite slang terms and sayings in the classroom. People get
sick of hearing the same standard responses taught throughout the
public school system. “How are you? and “I’m fine, thank you. And you?”
 are typical examples. I find that students who have had these responses
drilled into them often sound dull, monotonous and insincere. If a
student asks me, “What’s up?” or answers with, “I’m OK!” or “Not much,”
I’m usually pretty happy about it.
13. Try to get every student in each class to speak. Remember that
pronunciation is really important. Often, students get instruction from
their public school English teachers, but these teachers generally lack
the ability to teach pronunciation effectively because they aren’t native
English speakers.
14. Traditional school systems do not encourage students to ask questions.
Encourage your students to ask you questions. Once they know it’s OK
to ask or say they don’t understand, it makes for an easier learning
environment.
15. Encourage your students to speak out as much as they can and never
belittle their ability or correct their mistakes by saying, “You’re wrong.”
Just correct the student by repeating the answer correctly. If the student
is still struggling, teach it to the class again as a whole.
16. Pointing is rude. Extend your hand out with the palm up when asking a
student to answer.
17. Make sure you know and understand your students learning ability.
18. Be adaptable. If a lesson or activity isn’t working, there’s nothing wrong
with scrapping it quickly and trying something else.
19. Always have backup games and activities, especially if you’re introducing
new material. Don’t be afraid to use your ‘tried and true golden oldies’ if
you feel you’re bombing a lesson.
20. Remember that a good teacher also learns from his/her students. The
lessons always work both ways.