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Frances Westbrook

Lessons from the Other Side

of the Teachers Desk: DiscoveringInsights to Help Language Learners

In my experience, most language

teachers become teachers because

they are fascinated by language.

We like the way languages work, we

are intrigued by differences between

our native tongues and other languag-

es, and we enjoy the process of helping

our students learn. And I believe that

most language teachers have had posi-

tive experiences as language students

themselves somewhere along the paths

to their own classrooms. Positive expe-

riences learning a foreign language cer-

tainly contribute greatly to the attrac-

tion of teaching one. Most language

teachers have learned a language in

a classroom setting (and many of us

have also learned a second language

in more nontraditional settings, such

as immersion in a new language eitherbecause of travel or while living in for-

eign countries).

I am an English language teacher

who fits most of the categories above.

I have been teaching English as a

Foreign Language (EFL) for many

years. However, until recently, it had

been many years since I had learned a

foreign language in a classroom setting.

And that is what I did for six focused

months. As a requirement for a job, I

studied in an intensive language train-

ing program. It was a fascinating and

often difficult experience that gave me

a renewed understanding of language

learning: there will always be a dis-

tance, however subtle, between teacher

and student, even in the most student-

centered classroom.

That experience of once again

being a student in a language class-

room caused me to reexamine my

beliefs about classroom practice. Some

of my beliefs were confirmed, and

some were challenged. In this article

I examine those beliefs. The language

that I studied was Russian, but I

believe that my experience as a lan-guage learner can be generalized across

most language learning experiences.

L1 versus L2 use in the

classroom

One of my most strongly held

beliefs has been that the use of the

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students native language (L1) in the classroomshould be avoided. My reasoning has been thatalthough the use of the students L1 can be auseful tool at times, it can quickly become acrutch for the students and the teacher.

In my language-learning classroom, I sawthis belief both confirmed, and in someinstances, challenged. The Russian languagehas a complicated grammar structure thatis significantly different from that of mynative language, English. At times my Russianteacher explained the grammar very clearlyin English; that was especially helpful forconstructions that are nearly impossible forthe student to decipher without help becauseof how much Russian grammar differs fromEnglish grammar. However, at times I wasmore successful in understanding grammati-cal forms when I was given many examples inRussian and had the opportunity to generalizethe rules on my own.

My classmates, who were not languageteachers and perhaps had never studied aforeign language before, were sometimes frus-trated by the use of only the target languagein this context. Despite their frustration,I observed that they grasped grammaticalstructures introduced in Russian, not in Eng-lish, more quickly than when a structure wasexplained in English.

Not only does using the target languageto teach grammar help students develop theirown analytical skills in identifying structure; itcan also keep students from translating every-thing word-for-word back into English, whichcan be troublesome. As teachers, we know thatdirect translation into English (or any otherlanguage) can be confusing for students. Imyself got into trouble by trying to use Eng-lish to decipher a complicated Russian gram-matical structure. For example, conditionalsentences are constructed very differently in

English than they are in Russian. I tried toapply the English rules when writing a condi-tional sentence in Russian, and the result wasa sentence that would be incomprehensible tomost Russians. I caught myself doing this andhad to take a step back and try to think onlyin terms of the target language.

Like most teachers, I see the communica-tive benefit of using only the target languagein the classroom. For one thing, it can helpstudents to develop creative communication

strategies. As a beginning student, my Russianvocabulary was limited, as were the grammati-cal structures that I could use comfortably. Ifound myself really reaching and using whatI did know to express my ideas. Often my

results were inaccurate, especially at first, butI could usually make myself understood usingsimple vocabulary ungrammatically. This senseof being able to communicate is quite thrillingto students; it bolsters students confidencein using the language and can lead studentsto continue to take risks when speakinganimportant attitude in learning to communi-cate in a new language.

Using students L1 in the English languageclassroom can be a conscious choice on the partof the teacher and can at times be appropriate.For example, with students just beginning tolearn English, the use of L1 can be helpful inclarifying instructions. And one benefit of theuse of L1 in the classroom may be that in someinstances, the use of L1 early on in the class-room cycle can help form a good relationshipbetween teacher and student (Macaro 2001).Nonetheless teachers may feel conflicted abouttheir use of L1 in the classroom because theCommunicative Approach de-emphasizes theuse of it quite strongly. However, some researchshows that a teachers limited use of L1 doesnot necessarily result in less student production

in the target language (Macaro 2001).Of course, using only the target language

in the classroom helps mimic the real lifeuse of that language. I learned the value ofthat because I learned Russian in the UnitedStates. The moment I left the classroom, Iessentially left that language behind and wassurrounded by English, so to have my timein the classroom as much as possible devotedto the language I was learning was important.

Pronunciation focus

The use of pronunciation drills or exercises was something I, as an EFL teacher, neverstressed. I was more concerned with studentsbeing able to communicate in English, and Ioften felt that pronunciation drills were notan important part of communicative learning.Reflecting on my past teaching, I realize I didnot focus on pronunciation issues enough.

Although simple pronunciation drills canbe emphasized too much, and they are nosubstitute for students learning to use the lan-

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guage, I now believe that focused pronuncia-tion work is an important part of learning tocommunicate, especially in a foreign languagecontext. Understanding and being able toapply linking, word rhythm, sentence rhythm,

melody, and emphasis are all important aspectsof communicative competence (Gilbert 1994).The Russian language has different sets ofsounds than English, and the intonation isvery different. Word stress is important formeaning, and many words are long and dif-ficult for English speakers to pronounce. Ifound that I absolutely needed specific helpwith the pronunciation of this language.

In fact, one of the most frustrating aspectsof my language learning experience was myseemingly complete lack of ability with Rus-sian pronunciationwhich prevented othersfrom comprehending my speech. It was onlyby practicing full sentences and phrases overand over again that I could train the muscles ofmy mouth to pronounce the words and phras-es correctly; and by correctly I mean that theycould be comprehended by a native speaker,not that my pronunciation was by any meansperfect. Without the pronunciation practice, Iwould not have been able to communicate inRussian; I am quite sure of this.

The fact that once I left my foreign languagelearning classroom I was surrounded by Eng-

lish did not help my Russian pronunciation.My only exposure to Russian was in the class-room or other learning environments (such asthe language lab) at my school. Comparing thisexperience to language learning experiences Ivehad outside the classroom, I see how difficult itis to learn to speak correctly using letter com-binations and intonation different from onesnative language without being surrounded bythe target language. I have had several experi-ences of living in a country where initially Idid not speak the language. Eventually I was

able to pick up the language through necessity,and when I did, my pronunciation and accentwere understandable to native speakers. Beingimmersed in the language gave me the inputnecessary to pronounce the language success-fully. My Russian learning experience high-lighted to me the importance of exposing EFLstudents to as much English as possible in theclassroom, through speaking exercises, authen-tic language in reading, audiovisual methodsthat expose students to various accents, and

even posters and language charts on the wall tosurround the students with English.

Teaching pronunciation in the English lan-guage classroom can extend far beyond meredrills. Helping students with the suprasegmen-

tals of the English language, such as syllablestress within a word, or even word stress withina sentence, will lead to increased communica-tive competence. Using songs or games wherestudents emphasize word or sentence stressthrough clapping or some other physical move-ment is helpful with some learners.

Changing the focus from pronunciationdrills to linguistic competence then makesthe use of pronunciation techniques a naturalpart of a communicative curriculum. Usinga communicative focus when working on thepronunciation of English should become anatural part of activities in the EFL classroom. A communicative focus places emphasis onstudents using English to communicate inrealistic situations that have some relevance tothe students. Communicative language teach-ing supports students using English in theclassroom as a way to help them prepare touse English outside of the classroom. Mostcommunicative exercises are practical in natureand (as much as possible) mimic the types ofEnglish that students will use in the real world. An integrated approach, using a variety of

methods that address issues with both supra-segmentals and discrete word pronunciationissues, can help English language learners notonly communicate more effectively, but moreconfidently as well (Morley 1994). Often weplace such emphasis on communicating withthe target language that we can forget thatcomprehensible pronunciation, in whateverform, is an important part of this, and shouldnot be sacrificed (Morin 2007).

Acquiring lexicon

As an English teacher, I was careful tolimit the number of new words I introducedto my students to only a few each day. Ialso always introduced any new vocabulary within a context, indicating how each wordor phrase is usedhow it helps communica-tion. In my Russian class, my teachers suppliedappropriate context for some of the words wewere supposed to learn, when there was time.My Russian language learning experience wasintensive; due to the fast pace of the course,

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we had a great deal of language to learn in ashort amount of time. One way this impactedme and my classmates was in vocabularyacquisition. We were left on our own to learna great deal of vocabulary very quickly. While

the textbook we used was rich with texts usingthe target vocabulary, it covered quite an over-whelming amount of material.

Reading in the target language is also agood way to introduce students to new vocab-ulary, and the use of reading plus vocabularyenhancement activities has been shown to beeffective in helping students to acquire andretain new language (Min 2008). For example,students can use target vocabulary to write ashort story or poem. This gives the studentsan opportunity to interact with new lexis in adifferent way, and in doing so to personalizethe use of that target language. My Russianprogram did include a lot of reading, but theuse of more vocabulary enhancement activities(prohibited by limited time in the classroom) would probably have helped me learn newvocabulary more effectively.

Native speakers also acquire new vocabu-lary when reading. A native speaker encoun-tering a new word in a text usually has thecontextual knowledge to decipher meaning without consulting a dictionary: the readercan use the words around the unknown item

to help figure out what the unknown wordmeans. English language learners, especiallybeginning students, may not have the abilityto discover meaning through context clues.This is something that teachers need to overtlyteach. In my EFL classroom I taught studentsto figure out the meaning of an unknown word by identifying information about thatword, such as what part of speech it was andwhat words surrounded it. I also showed stu-dents that sometimes they can guess the mean-ing of an unknown word based on the topic of

the text. Those techniques I had taught helpedme a great deal when I was reading in Russian.I was often able to figure out the meaning of anew word, without resorting to the dictionary,by using contextual clues.

In my language learning, one challenge was the acquisition of vocabulary, especiallymoving vocabulary from passive to activeknowledge. As a student I found (and Iobserved this in my classmates as well) thatmuch of the new vocabulary was really only

accessible in passive form. By this I mean thatI could recognize many words when they werespoken or in a written text, but I didnt havethe ability to use those words in creating myown speech or writing. I found myself asking

the teacher to help me prioritize which vocab-ulary was going to be most helpful for mewhen communicating, and I focused on those words and phrases. Without the teachersguidance, the number of lexical items wouldhave been simply too overwhelming.

Thus, my EFL teaching practice of beingselective when it comes to introducing newvocabulary has been confirmed. In the futureI will pay even closer attention to the amountof new material I introduce to students and tothe need to continually review and encouragethem to use the new language, a good way ofhelping students be able to actively use thenew vocabulary in other contexts. Havingpassive knowledge of vocabulary is certainlyhelpful (we all have a great deal of passiveknowledge of our native languages)its animportant part of being comfortable with alanguage. But I believe that EFL teachers needto help students develop active vocabulary.

Pair and group work

As an EFL teacher, I used pair and group work regularly, for many reasons. When my

classes were large and I couldnt interact direct-ly with students enough, pair and group workgave the students the opportunity to use Eng-lish with each other. Often students feel morecomfortable taking language risks with theirclassmates than they do with the teacher. Thecareful pairing and grouping of students canset up a situation where a strong student canhelp a weaker one (and the stronger studentbenefits from the opportunity to teach whathe or she knows). Using pair and group workallowed me to observe my students more care-

fully: quietly monitoring the interaction oftenshowed me what language was problematic forstudents and gave me a noninvasive way toassess how the students were progressing.

My Russian class consisted of only one ortwo other students. While such a small classgives learners a great deal of individualizedattention from the teacher, it does not provideopportunity for group and pair work with dif-ferent sets of classmates. Much of our languageinteraction in the classroom was between stu-

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dent and teacher. While we did ask and answerquestions of our classmates, the teacher gaveus few tasks where pair and group work wasnecessary to accomplish a goal while using thetarget language. I think that had we been given

the opportunity to complete cooperative tasksusing Russian, we might have taken more lan-guage risks. The teacher might have seen andheard some more varied language production.This is just my hunch. I do know that I enjoyedasking questions of my classmates in the targetlanguage, and I wish we had had more oppor-tunity for student to student communicationwithout the teachers involvement.

The use of pair work, especially, can behelpful when students give each other cor-rective feedback, as long as such a situation iscarefully scaffolded. The usefulness of effec-tive corrective feedback can be influenced bystudents language level and learning styles.Students are sometimes more receptive tofeedback from their peersit can be lessintimidating to some than correction by theteacher. The use of pair work in student-gen-erated corrective feedback can, however, be aneffective way to include less teacher-centeredcorrection in the classroom. Students haveyet another opportunity to interact in English when providing each other corrective feed-back. The teacher in this case is a facilitator of

the students using English together.Pair and group work can also be helpful

in vocabulary acquisition. Students who workcollaboratively to complete a task involvingnew vocabulary have each other as a resource: working with another can give students anopportunity to interact with a new word morefrequently than if they simply complete a taskon their own (Kim 2008). An important partof new vocabulary acquisition is repetition, orthe opportunity to work with a word morethan once. Using pair or group work in a

vocabulary enhancement activity gives studentsthe opportunity to hear others use a new word,which in turn may lead to better retention onthe part of all students involved in the activity.

Emotional quotient

During the years I was behind the teachersdesk, I had sometimes lost sight of how learn-ing a language can be an emotional experienceand how those feelings of students cannotbe discounted. Learning a language can be

difficult (especially for older learners) andextremely stressful.

Different emotions are aroused at variousstages of the learning process. At first, a newlanguage can be exciting, and the early stages

can be quite enjoyable. Then, as the languagebeing introduced becomes more challenging,students can feel frustrated and overwhelmed.I personally hit a stage where I felt my Russianlanguage skills were regressing, not improving.Fortunately, my teachers were wonderfullysensitive to all the human feelings that sur-round language learning and dealt with ourfrustration as carefully as possible. They wereencouraging and supportive.

The phenomenon of communicativeanxiety (CA) has been well-documented instudents studying a foreign language. CAcan range from mild symptoms, in which astudent feels slightly uncomfortable using aforeign language, to severe symptoms, where astudent will go to great lengths to avoid usinga foreign language. Many factors can influ-ence the level of CA of a particular student,including (but not limited to) a level of self-perceived proficiency in a language, studentsprevious language learning experiences in theclassroom, and the students ability to interactwith speakers of their target language outsidethe classroom (Dewaele 2008). The age of

acquisition of a foreign language also can havean effect on CA: some research has shown thatCA levels were higher for students learninga language later in life than those learning alanguage at a young age (Dewaele 2008). Thisis an important fact for teachers to keep inmind, especially for teachers of older learners.Being aware that CA is real and that it affectsmost students is an important step towardhelping students work through the instanceswhen they experience it.

Knowing that my frustration and anxiety as

a student were normal did not make it any eas-ier to deal with those feelings; however, I thinkthat as a teacher I will now be far more sensitiveto student issues at various stages of learningEnglish. The fact that I was learning Russianin an intense way magnified to some degree allthe feelings surrounding the learning experi-ence, but I do believe that all language learningcontexts have the potential to be stressful.

The relationships between student andteacher and between student and classmates

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are particularly charged ones. No matter how we intellectualize our jobs, we teachers arehuman, and we are often going to react to ourstudents in a human, emotional waybut agood teacher is able to control his or her emo-tions in the classroom. Students have enoughto worry about without a teacher injecting hisor her negative emotions into the classroom. As a learner I found myself looking to myteacher for support and encouragement. Ilooked to my classmates for camaraderie andhelp when needed. I was lucky to have excel-lent teachers who were also accessible andfriendly. For me, having a friendly atmospherein the classroom made a big difference, andI believe it helped me be a successful learner.

Conclusion

Going back to the language classroom asa student was an interesting experience onseveral levels. Intellectually, I could see myteacher beliefs confirmed or disproven, at leastin terms of my own learning. Emotionally, Ioften felt tense or anxious about my learn-ing, despite professional, kind, and accessibleteachers. The experience was a great reminderof what is important in the classroom. Hereis a summary of the most significant points Ilearned as a student that I will carry back intothe classroom as an EFL teacher:

L1 versus L2 use in the classroom:Focus on using English as much as pos-sible because it is important for studentslanguage development, especially in aforeign language environment. How-ever, know that limited use of L1 can beuseful to make short explanations whenstudents cant understand any other way.

Pronunciation focus: Do not ignorepronunciation work. Some focus onpronunciation, including suprasegmen-tals, can be effective, and in some cases

necessary, for students to develop com-prehensible language production.

Acquiring lexicon: Understand thatthis is a complicated process that takestime. Use various tools such as vocabu-lary enhancement activities in conjunc-tion with reading to boost studentsacquisition.

Pair and group work: Use pair andgroup work to help students give andreceive corrective feedback from some-

one other than the teacher. Use pairand group work in vocabulary learningsituations to allow students to interactwith new vocabulary both individuallyand by using the new language withtheir classmates.

Emotional quotient: Be alert to yourstudents emotional state of mind. Dowhat you can to reduce their anxiety bycreating a relaxed and safe environmentin the classroom. Language learning isemotional, and Communicative Anxi-ety is real.

My experience on the other side of theteachers desk, which made me focus on thesepoints, is sure to make me a better and moreempathetic language teacher in the future.

References

Dewaele, J. 2008. Effects of trait emotional intel-ligence and sociobiographical variables oncommunicative anxiety and foreign languageanxiety among adult multilinguals: A reviewand empirical investigation. Language Learning58 (4): 91160.

Gilbert, J. B. 1994. Intonation: A navigation guidefor the listener (and gadgets to help teach it). InPronunciation pedagogy and theory: New views,new directions, ed. J. Morley, 3648. Alexandria,VA: TESOL.

Kim, Y. 2008. The contribution of collaborativeand individual tasks to the acquisition of L2vocabulary. The Modern Language Journal 92(1): 11430.

Macaro, E. 2001. Analysing student teacherscodeswitching in foreign language classrooms:Theories and decision making. The ModernLanguage Journal85 (4): 53148.

Min, H. 2008. EFL vocabulary acquisition andretention: Reading plus vocabulary enhance-ment activities and narrow reading. LanguageLearning58 (1): 73115.

Morin, R. 2007. A neglected aspect of the stan-dards: Preparing foreign language Spanish teach-ers to teach pronunciation. Foreign LanguageAnnals40 (2): 34260.

Morley, J., ed. 1994. Pronunciation pedagogy and

theory: New views, new directions. Alexandria,VA: TESOL.

FrancesWestbrook is the Regional English

Language Officer (RELO) for Ukraine,

Moldova, Belarus, Azerbaijan, Armenia,

and Georgia. Prior to assuming her RELO

position, Frances taught English in the

United States, the Czech Republic, and

Thailand and facilitated teacher training

programs in Thailand, Laos, Cambodia,

Burma, India, and Sri Lanka.