T T T

Putting our words to work:Re-thinking Teacher Talking Time

Andrew WalkleyHeinle Cengage / The University of Westminster

The bad press that TTT gets:

• My CTEFLA course

• The literature - Scrivener, etc.

Bad?

• Teacher Talk / translation

• Explanations

• ‘Chalk’

• Teacher-centred

• Teacher’s life

• Listening

• Studying / learning language

Good?

• Mime / actions / realia

• Elicit / Concept question

• No boardwork

• Student-centred

• Students lives

• Production

• Language ‘acquired’ from talking (and from other students)

The impact:

1 The Empty Whiteboard – a fear of teaching?

2 In the cupboard:‘Facilitating’ self-directed learning!

3 Excessive eliciting and other time-wasting

“What’s the difference between working in a mine and working in a hotel?”

4 Forcing students into roles they may not want (reducing my Czech student to tears!)

An alternative view

• Westminster teachers: 25 mins TTT?

• Teaching ethos: language rich, students as a resource, allow Ss to exchange thoughts and feelings, recognize diversity

What’s going on here?

1 T works from chat / empathy to language - and back.

2 T doesn’t just TELL Ss. about language. T works out from one Ss. to areas useful for whole class.

3 T gets at connected language around subject and also brings group in and pools knowledge.

4 T reformulates Ss’ output.5 Board is used to record language.

TTT has profound implications for classroom dynamics and the kind of learning experience we provide.

How much we say - and WHAT we say – are very important.

If we really want to improve both the quality and the quantity of STT, then TTT has a central role to play.

The real issue: CLARITY and GRADING

Holidays in hell

15 uses of The Present Simple

Blueprint Elementary

First kind of useful TTT: Chatting - with a language-oriented end-point

• Abandon five-minute warmers and so on - and embrace chatting, but chatting with new language fed in on the board!

• Teacher training courses need to give trainees time to teach UNPLANNED language more.

• Teachers need to focus planning on language:Possible language in speaking, examples for exercises,questions to ask to generate more langauge

Chat: ‘Spontaneous’ teaching

• How's it going?• Cheers.• Whereabouts?• You won't have heard of it.• Are you from here originally?• I used to live there.• That sounds high-powered.• That must be good.• Me too/So do I.• How long have you been doing

that?• Ages• X years on and off

• I'd rather not say.

• if you don't mind me asking?

• I've never heard of it.

• What kind of X are you into?

• All kinds/all sorts, but mainly

• Anyone in particular?

• X, Y, things/stuff like that.

• I can't stand them.

• Not as much as I used to/I'd like to.

• Rather you than me!

• I gave up when …

• I pick things up quite quickly.

What can classrooms offer learners that other modes of study don’t?

Ss. get the chance to ask experts questions about language!

Well-guided TTT can model for Ss. the kinds of Qs about language they need to ask . . . whilst also using the whole class to access knowledge of usage.

2nd kind of good TTT: The Triple X Rule! Explain, exemplify, expand.

Ss: What does ‘instructor’ mean?Me:Yeah, here it’s actually ‘sailing instructor’. It’s

someone whose job is teaching people to sail.

Board: I’m a sailing instructord……..s……..d……..

Ss: What does ‘guilty’ mean?Me:Well, usually you feel guilty because you didn’t

do something you should’ve done - like buy your mum a birthday present!

Board: I feel really guilty about . . . . . . forgetting my mum’s birthday!

I shouldn’t have done it!

Me: What other things can you feel guilty about?

Board: I feel really guilty about . . . . . . what I said to my boss. . . . losing my temper with her.. . . eating that cake this morning!I shouldn’t have done it!

I really regret losing his number! Now I’ll never see him again!

I really regret selling my old guitar. I miss playing it.

Asking Ss. for examples helps give them the words

they want to say things - but is also a concept check.

Ask these questions while going through answers to vocabulary exercises, whilst checking homework and while dealing with new language in texts.

Over time, students will start to ask similar questions back!

3rd kind of good TTT: Questions about

language that generate language!

Ss. need more than to simply understand meaning -

they need to know about collocation, colligation, etc.

Take the phrasal verb exercise, for example.

7. Anything else you can be kicked out of?

Who by?

Why?

Two more examples of good TTT come out of how exercises can be exploited.

a. Go through answers, explore usages with class, get whole sentences up on board. Then, get Ss. to practise. The easiest way is to write personal Qs about Ss.’ experience using the new language.

First good TTT here is MODELLING.

Modelling is vital for three reasons.

1. Gives Ss. an idea of what kind of turn you want them to take.

2. Exposes them to useful lexis / grammar for their own STT - Krashen’s i+1: i = language just studied, +1 = an anecdote.

3. Posits T as a human being!

T then wanders round, listens in, contributes to

discussions, corrects and - crucially - gets language

on the board for the round-up.

My round-up isn’t just single words, but models of

usage. That said, only single words are gapped.

To elicit, re-tell stories in better English.

• Retelling is a form of inclusion

• Reformulation of Ss.’ output - content is understood, leaving Ss. free to focus on language.

• It’s more input-rich talk - and Ss. get a record of it.

Modelling and round-up isn’t necessarily easy

• Teachers need training and practice to think about vocab they use to grade and match aims (scar stories / last film you saw)

One final kind of good TTT: Re-eliciting texts

Ss. remember content and meanings, but forget

language.

T can thus intervene in the process of forgetting.

Planning, observation and training

• One-month is too short / content knowledge too low

• Language focused. Work together round text book. Write examples and q’s

• Build schemata

• Specific aims OK, but encourage looser overall aims / teaching without materials

Implications for observation and training

Grammar-dominated materials reduce the chances we have toask these kinds of Qs.

More human connections possible with lexically-based material! We need material which . . .

• is lexically dense• is rich in useful language• gives Ss. lots of chances to practise in meaningful ways.

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Hugh Dellar & Andrew Walkley

Teacher Training at [email protected]