A good English teacher adeptly understands the teaching and learning processes of language acquisition. Moreover, having the mastery of the subject matter and the psychology of the learner , the teacher will be in a better position to select and use the methods and techniques that will promote effective learning. With this level of thinking, he will become more competent and more professional in dealing with language acquisition problems, particularly in different classroom situations.
To be a good English teacher, one must have a knowledge on the various components of educative process which include the learner, the learning process, and the learning situation. the center of any educative process of language acquistion is the learner ( Van Scotter 3). The task of the English teacher is to guide the learner in the process at the different stages of his development. Furthermore, a teacher’s success depends on understanding the learner as an individual with unique abilities who is responding to his complex environment.
In the learning process, he must know how to transfer his knowledge on the learner. There are different roles that an English teacher should impose to achieve the full potential of a learner ( Linton 77). First, a teacher should have a good classroom management and discipline. The teacher directs the action, plans them, and leads the students to the given language activity. Second, a teacher serves as the model. This reinforces the attitudes of the learners. This is a very crucial role because the behavior and attitudes that they display may be imitated by the youngsters. Third, a teacher facilitates.
To transfer the learning,he must arouse the attention and interest of a learner to a definite goal. The application of a strong motivation will boost the learning process. Furthermore, the teacher should involve in the lesson the three distinct types of learning: psycho-motor- learning which involves the use of muscles, cognitive- learning which involves intellectual activities, and affective- learning which involves acquisition of attitudes (Piaget 15). And last, a teacher evaluates. A teacher is expected to use reliable and valid instuments on assessing and diagnosing a learner’s performance.
In addition to that, it is expected that he is capable of computing statistical measures to evaluate fairly and accurately . In any learning situation, learning can be more effective when its a give and take relationship. As a language instructor, he must know how to communicate effectively. He must become a co-participant in the group and encourage interaction among the members of the class (Lundberg 200). A good teacher is marked from his humble beginnings also known as the teacher training. This training contributes to the formation of a great individual who molds and instills knowledge about language on our children.
Before he can become a teacher, he studies the nature of the job, nature and culture of the learner, teaching methods and styles, philosophies of education, theories of language acquisition, and most of all its application. The success or failure of acquiring the English language depends ultimately on professionalism that a teacher trainee should possess. And so, before English language can be introduced to the students, trainees must know more, understand more, experience more, experiment more, and enjoy more. Experience is the best teacher and so we should learn through it.
Nothing is so difficult as to deal with more than a dozen personalities, with different views and environment to which they came from. And to practice the duties and roles of a teacher is such a solace. You could only achieve greatness as a teacher when you see that your students are learning, developing to their full potential, and most of all, they are happy of what they are doing.
Works Cited
Crain, Stephen and Diane Lillo-Martin. An Introduction to Linguistic Theory and Language Acquisition. Blackwell Publishing, 1999. p. 5 Kang Shin, Joan.
“Ten Helpful Ideas for Teaching English to Young Learners”. English Teaching Forum, 2006. p. 1. Linton, Ralph. The Cultural Background of Personality. New York: Appleton-Century Crofts, 1968. p. 77. Lundberg, George A. et. al. Sociology. New York: Harper and Row Publishers, 1963. p. 200. Piaget, J. The Psychology of the Child. New York: Basic Books,1972. p. 15. Tomasello, Michael. Language Acquisition. Harvard University Press, 2003. Van Scotter, Richard D. Foundations of Educations. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice- Hall Inc. ,1979.