How teachers' beliefs about learning affect their teaching

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Children as Language Learners

Monday, March 31, 2014

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How teachers' beliefs about learning affect their teaching
(Google Images)

Often we are not aware of our own beliefs until we hear someone express an opinion which we agree with or disagree with. We may not be aware of how our beliefs affect the way we respond to other people or the way we do our work or the way we teach. For example, I recently talked to some primary teachers in Bangladesh. They felt that it was very difficult for young children to learn English at primary level. So they used translation as their main teaching method to make things easier for children. They could not imagine how a pupil could learn without translation.

• How does Teacher A think pupils learn language?
• How does Teacher B think pupils learn language?
• Which lesson provides most opportunities for pupils to make use of the natural abilities and characteristics which they bring to language learning?

TEACHER A

1 Presentation

The teacher presents each preposition through showing a concrete example and then modelling the sentence, e.g.
The ruler is in the boxThe ruler is under the tableThe ruler is on the tableRuslan is standing near the table

2 Whole class repetition

Pupils repeat the sentence after the teacher several times

3 Group drill

The teacher points to objects in different locations and gets groups to describe them in chorus, e.g.
T Group C, where is the ruler? (puts it under the table)C The ruler is under the table
T Group B, where is the ruler?
B The ruler is under the table
T Where is the ruler? (puts it on the table)

TEACHER B

1 Warm-up game/revision

The teacher calls out six children (in pairs) to the front of the class to carry out some instructions e.g. Stand in front of your partner Stand behind your
partner, etc. The rest of the class have to guess which pair will be fastest in following the instructions.

2 Dialogue

The teacher draws pictures of two girls and builds up a dialogue on the blackboard with the pupils' help One of the girls has to draw a plan of a classroom for homework and needs help from her friend to find out where pupils are sitting With the pupils help, the teacher elicits questions and answers, e.g. Where is Asna sitting? She is sitting on the left of Aishah. Pupils practise the dialogue in pairs.

3 Communication game

Pupils work in pairs to fill in the missing names of children on a picture of a birthday party. There are two versions of the picture so Pupil A has names that Pupil B does not have and vice versa. 

The way teachers plan and organize their lessons reflects their beliefs about teaching and learning. It gives some idea about what the teacher thinks is the most appropriate way to help pupils to learn. 

Teacher A seems to believe that:

• pupils need to understand the meaning of new language, and so, for example, she demonstrates as she introduces the new language
• pupils need a lot of repetition in order to learn
• pupils language needs to be controlled so that mistakes are reduced
• pupils should not be exposed to language that they have not been formally taught
• pupils may not have enough language to work together m pairs or groups independently of the teacher
• the teacher provides the main source of language input

Teacher B seems to believe that:

• pupils need to understand the meaning of new language
• pupils need a variety of activities
• pupils need activities which are enjoyable and stimulating
• pupils learn through using the language more freely for a communicative purpose
• pupils benefit from being actively involved
• pupils benefit from practicing together independently of the teacher

Although there are many apparent differences between the teachers, there are also some similarities. They both seem to believe that

• pupils need plenty of practice
• pupils need to understand the meaning of what they are learning
• focusing formally on the rules of grammar would not be appropriate for children

Although both lessons provide opportunities for language learning,Teacher B's lesson seems to provide more opportunities for pupils to make use of the abilities which they bring with them to the language classroom. For example, the games will appeal to their sense of fun and arouse their interest. The communication game gives them a real purpose for using language and provides opportunities for them to use language more freely and to experiment. Pupils desire to talk is also catered for in the dialogue activity and the communication game In general. Teacher B's lesson gives more opportunity for children to try out their language. However Teacher A's lesson does highlight the importance of repetition in learning Children need opportunities for repetition, but it needs to be done in an interesting and meaningful way Mechanical repetition, e.g. as in the chorus drills in Teacher A's lesson, where children do not need to pay attention to the meaning, has limited value for language learning.

Of course, it is difficult to know in reality which teacher's class would be most effective for language learning It would depend on how they were carried out, as both lessons can be well or badly done It may be that the teacher's relationship with his/her pupils is more important in the end than the particular teaching method used. And this brings us back to beliefs again, for our beliefs about learning and teaching will affect the kind of relationships we build with pupils.

Next post we will discuss about Ways of observing children's language learning.