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46
УДК 378:81
М. В. Чернышова
кандидат педагогических наук, ст. преподаватель кафедры иностранных языков ГАОУ ВПО МИОО; e-mail: [email protected]
АДЕКВАТНОЕ И^ОЛЬЗОВАНИЕ ЯЗЫКА В РАЗЛИЧНЫХ ЦЕЛЯХ АУДИТОРНОЙ ДЕЯТЕЛЬНОСТИ ПРЕПОДАВАТЕЛЯ
В статье исследуется проблема структурирования педагогического дискурса на уроках иностранного языка. Автор анализирует функции речи учителя иностранного языка, использование которых обусловлено целями иноязычного педагогического взаимодействия на уроке.
Функции дидактической речи рассматриваются как компонент профессиональной компетентности учителя иностранного языка.
Ключевые слова: педагогический дискурс; коммуникативная и дидактическая функции речи учителя иностранного языка; функции речи учащихся на уроке иностранного языка; педагогическое общение; управление процессом образования и его организация.
Tchernyschova М. V.
Ph. D., senior lecturer, department of foreign languages, Moscow Institute of Open Education; e-mail: [email protected]
USING LANGUAGE APPROPRIATELY FOR A RANGE OF CLASSROOM FUNCTIONS
The article looks into the problem of structuring the discourse in the foreign language classroom. The author focuses on the classroom functions that are the purposes for which teachers and learners use language in the classroom as part of foreign language teacher professional competence.
Key words: classroom language; communicative and didactic functions; the functions of learners' language; classroom communication; classroom management.
Language is a means of communication and the goal of teaching a second or foreign language is to gain the ability to communicate in the target language.
The studies of second language focus on the language used by the teacher and learners. Classroom language provides a relatively simple and more structured type of discourse than normal everyday conversation with all its unpredictabilities and ambiguities [6].
Teacher talk is aimed at communication both for a social purpose to facilitate teaching and learning and for a strictly pedagogic purpose as a means of the influence on pupils.
In this article we are going to analyze teacher's talk in terms of a range of its functions.
Communicative function is performed when the teacher talks to the class about subject matter content, he gives information, facts, own opinions or ideas, lectures, or asks questions.
The sources which have been assembled show the categories by means of which teacher talk communicative function is fulfilled. We then consider such categories as presenting and narrating:
Presenting. This category includes any act presenting information of direct relevance to the learning task. For example, the teacher can convey the meaning of the new language. When we convey meaning we show the meaning of new words or structures. We can do this in a number of ways, such as bringing in realia, using mime or by asking concept questions. We may want to explain the meaning, to demonstrate it, or in some situations where the meaning is very difficult to explain in English, to translate it.
Explaining vocabulary need not necessarily be done linguistically. There are some useful ways of explaining vocabulary, such as demonstration, drawing, opposites, synonyms, definitions, giving a context, translation [5].
Showing meaning visually
The simplest and clearest way to present a grammar structure is often to show it directly, using things the students can see: objects, the classroom, yourself, the students themselves, pictures. We will demonstrate this, showing a technique for presenting the structure 'too... (adjective)...to...':
T: (point to the ceiling) What's that?
Ss: The ceiling.
T: (reach up and try to touch it) Look - I'm trying to touch it. Can I touch it?
Ss: No.
T: No, I can't. Because it's too high. It's too high to touch. Too high. The ceiling is too high to touch.
Showing meaning through the situation
It is not always possible to show the meaning of a structure visually, using what is in the class. Another way of showing meaning is to think of
a situation from outside the class, in which the structure could naturally be used. The situation can be real or imaginary.
We will demonstrate how to use an imaginary situation to present a more advanced structure: 'There's no point in .. .-ing':
T: Listen. Imagine you are with a friend. You're going to visit your uncle, who lives quite near. Your friend says, "Let's go by bus". What will you say? Yes or no?
Ss: No.
T: Why?
Ss: Because he lives near.
T: Yes, he lives nearby. So you might say, "We can walk there in 15 minutes. There's no point in going by bus". There's no point in doing it. No point. There's no point in going by bus [3].
Narrating. Narrating is telling a story or talking about something that has happened. In the primary classroom teachers often tell stories to learners. In secondary and adult classrooms teachers may tell stories too, but they might more often talk about past experiences and things that have happened in their lives.
When the teacher tells a story to young learners he / she may help them understand by
- using a book with pictures;
- showing them real things that are talked about in the story;
- miming what happens in the story to help children understand meaning;
- make the sounds for things in the story, for example, animals, trains;
- repeating key words and phrases;
- asking and answering questions about the story [11]
Didactic function of teacher talk is fulfilled when the goal of interaction is associated with the organization and management of classroom events. It includes such categories as: eliciting, reacting which includes evaluating and correcting, organizing and checking learning.
Eliciting. Eliciting is when we get information from our learners rather than giving it to them. Eliciting means drawing out information, language, ideas, etc. from the students.
There are three steps to eliciting:
- The teacher conveys a clear idea to the students, perhaps by using pictures, gestures or questions, etc.
- They then supply the appropriate language, information, ideas,
- The teacher gives them feedback [10].
Researchers define five ways of eliciting language in the primary classroom.
a) Wh-questions: What are the letters that are missing?
b) General questions: Do you know what it is?
c) Alternative questions: Is it an elephant or a kangaroo? Would you like to try it or not?
d) Questions using intonation only: A dog?
e) Unfinished sentence questions with rising intonation: This was a ...? [11].
The questions why not, why don't we and couldn't we can be used as suggestions for eliciting information in the classroom for older children:
Why not read out your answer to question 10?
Why don't we act this conversation out?
Couldn't we say this in a simpler way?
The following polite forms are also common I wonder if you could, Do you think you could, I am afraid you'll have to:
Do you think you could mention the exceptions to this rule?
I am afraid you'll have to try it again.
The following utterances of the teacher lead the students towards using the language creatively:
Is there a shorter way of saying this?
Is there a better way of saying the same thing?
What would be another way of saying "he stuttered"?
Can you paraphrase the last paragraph?
Use your own words to describe what happened.
Explain the meaning of this sentence, using your own words.
Eliciting presupposes activities that involve comparing, classifying objects, spotting the difference between them and summing up information. Such activities are aimed at the development of academic and thinking skills, such as logic, analyzing and synthesizing information. You can see the examples below.
See if you can spot the difference between these two pictures.
How do these two things / ideas compare?
How does this compare /contrast with the earlier example?
What differences are there between your generation and your parents' generation?
What, in your opinion, are the pros and cons of different ways of learning?
What are the good and bad points of living in a city? What are the good and bad points of living in the country?
I wonder if you could start summarizing what the stranger said.
Can you give me the main ideas of the passage in a nutshell?
Give me a brief summary of the contents.
Visual material gives excellent opportunities for students to use language creatively. Visuals provide a handy transition to conversational questions drawing on the students' own experiences, imagination, feelings, for example:
Talking of mountains, how many of you have been climbing?
What do you think the man was feeling? What would you feel in the same situation, if you were that old man? You can then ask 'Why do you think this?' and the students have to think of a logical answer.
You can do another form of elicitation with lower-level students using a picture to get suggestions from students about the characters and the situation or story in the picture, or pictures.
You ask 'Who can you see? What are they doing? Describe some of the people in the picture' in a series of linked questions to give students the chance to contribute their own ideas, and contribute to the learning process [1].
Warm-up activities help the learners focus on English. Warm-ups also encourage whole-group participation which can build a sense of community within the group.
Brainstorm technique provides an opportunity for eliciting vocabulary and grammar structures related to the lesson. The teacher suggests a topic and asks the learners to come up with the ideas related to it.
Suggest some words and word combinations associated with sport. List as many words as you can under the following headings: "Appearance", "Character" (the objective is to find associations and connections).
Honesty is good. Is it always good to be honest? (the objective is to present logical grounds for drawing the conclusion).
Beautiful people have better lives (the objective is presenting a hypothesis).
Reacting serves to modify (by clarifying, synthesizing, or expanding) and / or to rate (positively or negatively) what has been said by the students previously. It includes: a) evaluating and b) correcting.
Evaluating is any act of the teacher which rates a verbal act of the student positively or negatively. The teacher can praise or encourage students telling students why what they have said or done is valued, encourage students to continue, trying to give them confidence, confirm that answers are correct, for example:
That's it. That's quite right. You've got the idea. Good (great, excellent job). Marvellous! Magnificent! Terrific! Fantastic! Great stuff! Fairly good.
It is always possible to give more detailed individual feedback, such as the following:
There is nothing wrong with your answer. What you said was perfectly all right. That's just what I was looking for. I couldn't have given a better answer myself. You improved a lot.
Phrasal verbs are mostly idiomatic. They are for use mainly with advanced students.
Keep your reading up during the term so that you have less to read just before the exam. Brush up on some of the things you learnt a long time ago; they may possibly come up in the exam [7].
The Present Perfect Continuous is often used to emphasize the action, to express praise as well as reproach and displeasure.
You have been working very fast (slowly) lately.
I suppose you have been telling tales again.
You haven't been concentrating (listening).
You've (not) been trying very hard this week.
Sometimes the teacher needs to criticize the student's response telling the student his response is not correct or acceptable and communicate by words or intonation criticism, displeasure, annoyance, rejection.
However, it is important to avoid categorical utterances and give support to all of your students as often as possible, as in the examples:
Not really. I'm afraid that's not quite right. Good try, but not quite right. You don't show enough interest, A. You don't take enough care, A. You waste too much time (talking...). You must try hard to catch up. Try harder. You are dropping behind the rest of the form.
Correcting. We can correct learners by using language to indicate where or how they have made a mistake. Correction is usually made up of two distinct stages. In the first, teachers show students that a mistake has been made, and in the second, if necessary, they help the students to do something about it. The first set of techniques is devoted to showing
incorrectness. These techniques are only really beneficial for what we are assuming to be language slips rather than embedded errors. The students are being expected to be able to correct themselves once the problem has been pointed out. If they cannot do this, however, we need to move on to alternative techniques such as showing incorrectness, echoing, the teacher's statements and questions that indicate that something has not quite worked, a facial expression or a gesture, giving a hint, reformulation of the sentence the student made [4].
In the situation below the teacher is very discouraging, although the student is trying to give a good answer. The teacher does not give the student a chance to say the sentence correctly.
T: Paul - what do you do in the morning?
S: I .am ... get up. at half past six.
T: Hmm, that's not right, is it? I get up - not 'I am get up'. I get up. Antoine - what about you? .
The teacher could correct the student in a more positive way, and give him a chance to say the sentence correctly, e.g.:
T: Well, all right, but - I get up. Again.
S: I get up at half past six.
T: Good [3].
However, where students do not know or understand what the problem is because we are dealing with an error or an attempt that is beyond the students' knowledge or capability, the teacher will want to help the students to get it right.
• Getting it right: if the student is unable to correct himself, or respond to reformulation, we need to focus on the correct version in more detail. We can say the correct version emphasizing the part where there is a problem (e. g. ' He GOES to Paris'), or we can say the incorrect part correctly (e. g. Not'go'. Listen, 'goes'). If it is necessary we can explain the grammar (e. g. We say 'I go', 'you go', 'we go', but for 'he', 'she' or 'it' we say 'goes', for example 'He goes to Paris', or 'Flight 309 goes to Paris') or a lexical issue (e. g. We use 'juvenile crime' when we talk about crime committed by children; a 'childish crime' is an act that is silly because it's like the sort of thing a child would do). We will then ask the student to repeat the utterance correctly.
Sometimes we ask students to correct each other. We might say 'Can anyone help Krystina? Can anyone correct his mistake?' and hope that other students know the correct version of the utterance - after which
the student who made the mistake should be able to say the sentence, question, or phrase accurately.
Student-to-student correction works well in classes where there is a genuinely cooperative atmosphere; the idea of the group helping all of its members is a powerful concept [4].
Organizing is any actwhich serves to structure the learning task or environment without contributing to the teaching / learning task itself. We'll classify organizational teacher's utterances according to the purpose of their use in the language classroom:
Organizing different grouping arrangements. One of the most important aspects of a balanced lesson plan is grouping: whole class, small groups, pairs, and individuals. Although an entire class period built around pair work might optimize student participation, the students miss out on a sense of class unity. At the same time, if the whole lesson consists of teacher-fronted, whole-group activities, individual students have little opportunity to interact with each other. A more balanced class might begin with a whole class oral activity, followed by one in which students first generate ideas individually and then share them in a small group [8].
Let's set the examples of the teacher's utterances for organizing grouping arrangements:
Pair work and group work. You're going to do this in pairs (in twos, in threes). You will be playing this in groups of three or four. I want you to form groups. Three pupils in each group. I'll divide the class into groups. Here are some tasks / exercises for you to work in groups /pairs / threes. Go and sit with Laura please and make a pair. Whose turn is it? You first and then me, OK? Class - you're in two halves... OK, this half first. Back row then front row.
Solo work: Everybody work individually. Work by yourselves. Try to work independently. Don't disturb your neighbour. There's no need to discuss it with your neighbour.
Whole class work: Now everyone listen to my question. Hands up if you can guess the answer. Everybody - all of you! Ready? Say after me in unison (all together). Listen carefully to what I am going to say.
Organizing the classroom and giving instructions. Lessons usually consist of a number of clearly marked stages. The short phrases that begin and end these stages are important because they give structure to the lesson and help students to follow what is going on. Students get used to these phrases quickly because they probably occur in every lesson.
I hope you're all feeling fit today. Get your books and pencils out. Put all your things away. Listen carefully to what I am going to say -beginning the lesson.
It's time to stop. That's all for today. Goodbye, everyone. See you all again on Tuesday. Have a nice weekend - ending the lesson.
Teachers give instructions (i.e. tell learners what to do) at different stages of the lesson, for example at the beginning of an activity. The language of instructions is often the imperative, particularly for young learners and for beginners, as in 'Open your books at page 12'. For learners of higher levels teachers might use other language forms, for example: 'For this activity, you're going to work in pairs.'
Instructions are a series of utterances which as a whole get the students to do something, such as take part in an activity. There are two main aspects of instructions that we need to consider: the content of the instructions and the process of giving instructions.
There are eight areas of content that may be included in a set of instructions:
a) Goals and rationale e.g 'This activity will help you identify your problems with writing'.
b) Class organization e.g. 'You will do this in pairs'. 'Get into a line'. 'Can you make a circle'.
c) Roles of students e.g. 'Student A explains how to get to the hotel while student B follows A's directions on the map'.
d) Materials e.g. 'Look at the picture on page five'.
e) Procedures e.g. 'First make a summary of the information you have and then explain to another group'.
f) Language aspects e.g. 'To do this, you will need to use the second conditional'.
g) Time e.g. 'I will give you five minutes'.
h) Other aspects, such as limitations of the activity e.g. 'I know it's not very real, but you must pretend' [13].
Class control. Most teachers have moments when their students fail to cooperate in some way, thus disrupting the learning which should be taking place, sometimes getting significantly 'out of control'. Whatever the reason for problem behaviour, it should not be ignored when it happens. How a teacher reacts to it should depend upon the particular type of disruption and the person exhibiting the behaviour.
This is illustrated by the following examples of the teacher's utterances: Quiet please! Settle down now and listen. That's good, Eva.
Thank you, Emilio. Everyone is sitting really nicely... except for Tom! Tom, could you sit down like the others please? Thank you.
An important part of effective classroom management is for the students 'to know where they stand'. This is often done, with younger learners especially, by establishing a code of conduct.
Classroom rules help to maintain good discipline. These classroom rules are in addition to school rules. You can discuss and agree class rules for behaviour that is acceptable in your classroom. These rules can then be put on the wall as a reminder for everyone - Figures 1, 2 [1; 4; 9].
Class rules
When What to do
The teacher asks a question. Raise your hand.
One pupil is answering a question. Listen quietly to him \ her.
The teacher asks you to move into groups. Move quietly. Lift up your chair quietly.
Someone starts a quarrel with you. Cool off! Count to twenty.
Figure 1 [9, p. 47]
Class rules
Enter and leave the class quietly.
Lessons start on time.
Speak English as much as possible.
Respect the signal for silence.
Speak English when you are asked to.
Do your homework on time._
Figure 2 [1, p. 114]
Some teachers adopt a formula where teacher and students produce a chart which says As your teacher/a learner I expect., As your teacher/ a learner I will... . The examples of the rules are as follows:
As your teacher I expect you to be quiet when I ask questions.
As your teacher I will help you if you don't understand something.
As a learner I expect my teacher to respect my point of view.
As a learner I will study hard.
This document can be put on the class noticeboard for all to see. Then, when students are disruptive or uncooperative, they can be referred to the code of conduct and expected to abide by rules and norms which they themselves agreed to.
When a code has been thus democratically arrived at - with everyone having a say and coming to an agreement - it has a considerable power [4].
Checking learning. Teachers check learning all the time during their lessons, but they do that most often after they have presented new language, and at the end of a lesson to get information for planning the next lessons. They can use concept questions to check learners' understanding, for example: 'Can anyone give a sentence using this word?'
Below there are the examples of the teacher's utterances aimed at checking the teacher's or course book's instructions:
Is there anything you don't understand? Do you know the meaning of all the words? Are there any phrases you don't know the meaning of? Is everything clear? Would you like anything explained? Have you got any questions?
By asking questions the teacher can realize how well the learners have understood the problem which is being discussed.
Have you anything to add? Anything else to add? Have you more examples? What else can you say? Have you got the same? Can anybody think of anything else we could add? Are there any other suggestions?
A good deal of typical classroom interaction is characterized by teacher initiation of language. We ask questions, give directions, and provide information, and students have been conditioned only "to speak when spoken to". Part of oral communication competence is the ability to initiate conversations, to nominate topics, to ask questions, to control conversations, and to change the subject. As you design and use speaking techniques, ask yourself if you have allowed students to initiate language [2].
You can support young learners when they are starting to speak English by encouraging all the efforts children make to speak English, no matter how small they are.
Children respond to their teacher. They ask him questions and tell him things they want him to know, often repeating comments and requests. Thus, children can initiate oral communication even in the primary classroom.
I don't know what to do! Please Miss X! Is this right? What's the meaning of...? Excuse me! Can you help me? I don't understand what to do!
1) Pupil: I haven't got my colours.
Teacher: Has anyone seen Peter's colours?
2) Pupil: I've lost my book.
Teacher: Leila, can he look at your book? [11].
The purposes for which learners use language in the classroom are the functions of learners' language. These purposes include taking part in tasks and activities, asking questions, interacting with each other. Examples of the functions of learners' language are asking for clarification from the teacher or other learners (e.g. 'Can you explain that again please? What do we have to do?'), and checking information or understanding (e. g. ' What answer do you have for number 4? I don't understand the meaning of this word. Do you know what it means?' - the learners complete the reading task individually and check their answers in pairs), greeting and saying goodbye to each other and to the teacher [12].
Language is a primary source for social communication between teacher and students, and vice versa. The language teachers use in the classroom must be appropriate for the classroom function and for the level and age of the learners. Learners can learn classroom language, just by hearing it again and again. That is why it is so important to use classroom language for classroom functions at all the stages of learning.
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