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Teaching StylesLong board or short board. Comedian or clown. Stunt man or tragic waste of life. In life style is everything. How we approach an activity will be based on the conditions on the day, the materials and resources we have available to us, the desired effect and eventual consequences of our behaviour. To put it simply, you reap what, you sow. In EFL methodology we are presented with 9 different styles of teaching that have seen success and not seen success. Does that mean that for years people have insisted that a certain method will work even though it?s not a success time and time again? Perhaps. In William Blake?s mind faith is an institution. ?We never know what is enough, until we know what is more than enough.? Surely this doesn?t mean we keep beating our heads against the wall, pounding the same inefficient style of teaching into the lessons? The best way to discover the answer is not to ask ourselves, but to ask the environment we are working in. There are clues everywhere to guide us in adapting the right style to a particular environment. The majority of these clues come from the students themselves. Beginners in English right around the world have been exposed to more or less English in their culture which determines how much authentic style material a teacher can draw from. In certain cultures there are expectations of a system of education that need to be followed. A syllabus based academic style of teaching existing in one culture places certain obligations on the teacher to respect a formal educative environment and adapt their teaching style accordingly. A more lively ?hands on? approach to education will exist elsewhere and once again the teacher should adapt accordingly. The needs of the students are fundamentally important to the style a teacher uses. Anxiety and stress need to stay outside the class for effective language learning to take place. Bearing that in mind the teacher should adopt a style that will make being in the class an adventure rather than a chore and more educative than just another foreign language sing-a-long. students need as much exposure to English in the classroom as possible. They need to develop grammatical skills, vocabulary and fluency. The style a teacher adopts will depend on whether the students will make discoveries of the language by themselves or in group activities or whether the teacher is left spoon feeding the students all lesson long. With so many different approaches and methods on offer it can be difficult for a teacher to decide on which method, or which parts to choose from. There is no strict rule that dictates which style to choose and the decision will be based upon individual circumstances. The teacher?s personality is not to be forgotten. As I mentioned at the beginning of this article the way we act will have consequences. If we are acting within our boundaries and know what to expect then we are playing it safe. But does that have the best interests of the students in mind? Once again, we?ll have to wait and see what situation we?re presented with and make the call then.
