Didactics and the Teaching of English as a Foreign Language

Didactics and the Teaching of English as a Foreign Language

Introduction

Language teachers are always concerned with their practices in the classroom. This is why practitioners are looking for opportunities to talk, discuss and share experiences about their beliefs.

The goal for this section is to make participant analyse the principles that describes the roles of teachers, the characteristics of learners, and the class planning. A reflection about how the teacher and the learner behave in the classroom will lead practitioners to make better decisions about the class planning and management. Therefore, the actions performed in class should help students be successful in the learning process.

In order to reach the section goal, it will be firstly talked about the didactics and its impact in the classroom interaction. Then, the teacher’s role in the class room will be discussed. Later, the student’s characteristics will be described. Finally, class planning is the last element addressed.

In the development of this section, it is expected to your active participation when performing the activities proposed. Your participation is important because sharing experience will make this course very enriching.

2.3 Didactics in the EFL Classroom

2.3.1 Study Questions

2.3.2 Defining Didactics

Teaching and learning are processes which have happened from ancient times. One of the disciplines in charged of the description of these processes, and the relation of them to different elements in the classroom is didactics.

According to Gutiérrez (2001), didactics is a discipline which studies the relationship between teaching and learning. Pansza (1986) also comments that didactics approaches differently to the classroom work. In the following chart, it is possible to look at it clearly.

Then, it can be said that didactics may be defined in two ways, as the art of teaching or as the discipline about teaching. In the first sense, the art, it is being expected that didactics explains the process as the “practical cognitive quality, the inner skill to produce specific tasks” (Gutiérrez, 2001:14). This is, the ability teachers show to communicate knowledge to others, to make easier for students to understand the content they are learning.

In the second sense, didactics as the science refers to “clear, ordered and supported concept in theory” (Gutiérrez, 2001:15). It is also believed that to know about the methodology is not enough to acquire the art of teaching. But, it is a required step to reach that art, if a teacher is not a born-gifted. From this perspective, it can be stated that this discipline has two objects of study (Gutiérrez, 2001:15):

1. The teaching – learning process

2. The teaching – learning techniques and methods

Therefore, according to Gutiérrez (2001:15), didactics is the “science which studies the teaching – learning phenomena as prescriptive aspects of an efficient methodology.” That is to say, this discipline deals with the formal aspects of teaching, methodology and all elements that interact within the classroom.

2.3.3 Didactics in the Class Planning and Management

Since didactics describes the procedures to be followed in class to cause learning in students, some areas of reflection arise as well. Didactics concerns about objectives, teaching, motivation, discipline in class, communication, evaluation and, methods and techniques.

Objectives play a key role in the learning process because they lead the actions and activities to be performed so that learning happens. That is why, questions such as the followings are formulated: What is learning? Is there anything else to learn?

Teaching is defined as the way a topic is clearly explained. It is worried about the way students may understand the topic and how they internalise knowledge. Didactics tries to research if teaching is reduced to explanations, or if it goes beyond, the role of teacher in the class, as well as the content to be addressed.

Motivation is also an affective factor that usually concerns teachers. Teachers wonder why, if they give clear explanations, the class shows no interest. That is what this discipline wants to explain.

Discipline in class is also an element which exerts some influence in variables like behaviour, attention, effort, punctuality among others. These are some elements which should be considered when planning the class and organising the group work.

Interpersonal communication is basic in this learning process since human beings are the main actors in this course of action. This implies an active interaction between them – teachers and students. Besides, human interaction is also vital to be aware about how different elements interact with each other and how they affect the communicative process.

Evaluation is an important part in this process because it let us know how much the course objective was fulfilled. It describes the output students reached. Evaluation is also used as an instrument that provides information not only about students, but also about the course organization itself.

The last elements concerned with didactics are the teaching – learning methods and techniques designed. What is intended is to explain which methods, techniques or approaches are better if students’ characteristics are taken into account.

In conclusion, it does not matter if didactics is an art or a science, but it tries to explain the relationships hold among the different elements in class, it does not prescribe, it rather describes procedures to approach and understand the education phenomenon. It also set a series of questions with the purpose of making people grasp why these or those results are obtained in classroom.

2.4 The Teacher and the Learner in the EFL Classroom

2.4.1 Study Questions

2.4.2 The teacher’s Role in the EFL Class

Teaching and learning is a dynamic process in which many elements interact to make this act possible and successful. One of these factors is the role teachers play in class. As teachers of EFL, it is vital to be aware of attitudes shown towards the students’ performance in different moments of the class.

A role, then, can be defined as the “actor’s part; one’s function, what person or thing is appointed or expected to do” (Concise Oxford Dictionary, 1982 in Wright, 1987:3). This is, teachers play different roles depending on the class plan and the activities to carry out. Teachers sometimes lead the class, organize students, and monitor students’ work among others.

As it can be observed, roles are defined according to the following characteristics (Wright, 1987:3):

a) Doing – it describes what a person does, for example, being a pilot (occupation).

b) Talking – it describes the decisions made when interacting with others, for example, when the teacher becomes an organiser, a manager, or an assessor.

c) More than one role – different ‘roles’ depending on the course of actions they have to perform.

d) Expectations – it describes how the others look at you.

Based on the features described above, it is possible to distinguish three kinds of teachers (Scrivener, 1994:6):

a) The explainer – [He knows] their subject matter very well, but have limited knowledge of teaching methodology. This kind of teacher relies mainly on ‘explaining’ or ‘lecturing’ as a way of conveying information to the students. (…) this teacher’s lessons can be very entertaining, interesting and informative.

b) The involver - [He] also knows the subject matter that is being dealt with [-] (…)… essentially the English language and how it works. However, [he] is also familiar with teaching methodology, (…) the use of appropriate teaching and organizational procedures and techniques to help their students learn about the subject matter. This teacher is trying to involve the students actively and puts a great deal of effort into finding appropriate and interesting activities that will do this, while [he] is retaining clear control over the classroom and what happens in it.

c) The enabler – [He] knows about the subject matter and about methodology, but also has an awareness of how individuals and groups are thinking and feeling within her class. [He] actively responds to this in her planning and working methods and in building affective working relationships and a good classroom atmosphere. [His] own personality and attitude are an active encouragement to learning.

Therefore, it can be explained that teachers may play several roles, depending on the different phases of the class as well as the activities planned. Besides, their personality influence in determining the sort of teachers and the roles played in classroom. In this sense, it is possible to say that teachers may play the following roles:

Teachers’ Roles

Role The teacher

Planner prepares and thinks through the lesson in details before teaching it so that it has variety and there are appropriate activities for the different learners in the class.

Informer gives the learners detailed information about the language or about an activity.

Manager organises the learning space, makes

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