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Group DynamicsWhen teaching language in a classroom setting, group dynamics is one of the most important factors contributing to a successful class. The students need to feel comfortable with their professor and their classmates in order to be able to concentrate on learning and practicing english and to be comfortable to make the mistakes and errors that are inevitable in the learning process. It is the responsibility of any teacher to use every opportunity to develop this sense of community within the classroom. There are many strategies which can be used to develop and enhance communication among language learners in the classroom. Among these are ice breaker activities, developing a good combination of partner and pair work with group activities, and being aware of the balance between teacher talk time and student talk time. It is possible to begin building positive group dynamics from the first day of class. There are hundreds of ice breaker activities designed to begin introducing everyone and creating a feeling of community within the classroom. Experienced teachers will have some favorite ice breakers, but for newer teachers or for teachers looking to add more variety to their lesson plans, there are many online resources for developing and sharing ice breaker activities. The purpose of these activities is to get the class talking and hopefully laughing. Laughter is often the greatest antidote to the nervousness and tension felt by students and teachers alike on the first days of any class. Developing lesson plans with a preference toward pair and group work over lecture time will help keep the class interesting and dynamic. Encouraging classmates to work with different partners will help everyone to become familiar with one another and will also help ensure that the class as a whole maintains a similar level of language ability because students who are less comfortable will be discouraged from sticking together and will be able to learn from students who are a bit more advanced. Working with different partners is also one way to keep the class exciting and prevent boredom. To this end, it is important to vary the ways in which groups work together or interaction patterns. Alternating group size, varying the activities and alternating the time during class which is reserved for group work will all help to keep things interesting. A teacher whose lesson plan is to heavily weighted towards teacher talk/lecture time is a teacher who will most certainly lose the focus of her students and undermine their ability to form relationships, thus breaking down the group dynamic. As the instructor and facilitator in the classroom, it is necessary for the teacher to talk, but it is almost always preferable that the talking be in the form of a conversation, with students actively participating, rather than a monologue. The best language classes will limit teacher talk time to no more than 1/3 of the entire class time. After all, the goal of any language class is to get the students talking! One of the most important factors in creating a healthy environment conducive to learning a new language is the ability it create and maintain a comfortable and safe space for students to practice, to learn, to speak freely and to make mistakes/errors. A good group dynamic is the first step to creating the desired environment in the classroom.
