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Role of the teacherEvery teacher has his/her own way of teaching, but in the end the class will be either ?Teacher ? centered? or ?Student ? centered?. This will depend on the activities used in the classroom as well as the phase of the lesson e.g. Study phase ? usually ?Teacher ? student? based. The effectiveness of a lesson will depend on how appropriately the teacher can switch between these. Teachers have different roles in the classroom. Some of them are more important than others, but it is important for a teacher to know them all, and when to take on which one. Sometimes a teacher should act as a controller. When a teacher takes on the role of a controller, he/she should be in charge of the class and be in control of the students and not vice versa. The teacher should at all times maintain discipline in the classroom. If not, students can get distracted easily. Therefore it is important for him/her to have control over his/her class for all students to listen and concentrate. Another role, is that of a prompter. It is important for learners to think for themselves and be able to formulate their own answer for a question. The teacher should not take away the initiative of the students. The teacher should first give the student a chance to think about a question and formulate his/her own answer before giving the correct answer. Sometimes a student will have to answer a question without a teacher present and this role will help the student to learn to do that. A teacher should also be a model for his/her students. This means that a teacher should always use the right vocabulary and pronunciation of english words. The students look up to the teacher and are there to learn from the teacher. Therefore it is important for the teacher to be an example to the students and to teach them the right english grammar and vocabulary. Tutoring is another role a teacher should take on. This is when a teacher gives individual attention to each student and helps each student with their own problems regarding the material. This is important because some learners are too shy to work in a group or to afraid to ask a question in a group. Therefore a teacher should focus on each student in order to encourage them. The teacher should be able to observe his/her students, listen to their speech and observe how they interact with each other. This is important, because students should know when they make a mistake otherwise they will not learn out of their mistakes. A teacher should observe their students in order to correct them if they make a mistake in their speech. A teacher can also take the role of a participant. He/she can participate as a team member. Teachers do this for different reasons. Sometimes, there?s an uneven number in the class, and the teacher participates to even that out. Also teachers sometimes participate to get games/activities going, and encourage participation. They should just be careful not to take over and dominate the activity. Students should also not rely on the teacher to answer/ do everything, but feel motivated to answer themselves. Teachers should be very careful as to how they give feedback and corrections. Students want/need to know whether they are producing correct english, so when correcting and evaluating them, teachers should do it very carefully. Some students are more sensitive to correction than others, and can feel embarrassed very easily. If they need help in understanding it, the teacher should provide necessary support. He/she should always be fair and consistent and not give some students special attention.
