The Rant Of An Incompetent English Language Teacher
One day, I attended a course on “How to
Teach Students Grammar.” During the opening session, the facilitators
distributed handouts to all the participants and went through each one with us.
One of the handouts showed a tabulated comparison of traditional grammar-teaching methods and teaching grammar through games. The traditional way of drilling was criticised as a dry and uninspiring approach that impeded learning, while the latter was lauded as a learner-friendly approach that promoted knowledge retention.
We played many language games during the course. The air was animated by the enthusiastic chatter and happy laughter of almost every one. I was passive throughout the workshop. I found it silly playing like little kids.
At the end of the session, the chief facilitator said, “Aren’t games interesting? Let’s start instilling fun in our teaching from now on. Be creative and never kill your students’ interest with bland activities like those of the past.”
Everyone but me gave the facilitator a round of applause.
A teacher asked me, “Charles, you seem to be unhappy with what the facilitator said.”
“Ya,” I said. “I don’t like the way he condemned the traditional way of teaching grammar.”
The teacher chuckled. “You must be an advocate of old-school teaching.”
“There’s nothing wrong with it,” I snorted. “Many of us picked up grammar through drilling and vigorous reading.”
The teacher nodded and said, “You are right. In the past, we did lots of fill-in-the-blank exercises and reading aloud.”
“In my opinion,” I said. “Learning grammar consciously is better than learning it unconsciously.”
Frowning, the teacher said, “I don’t quite agree with you on that. It’s quite impossible to explain to our students how different grammatical items operate in detail. It bores and confuses them.”
A little annoyed, I said, “I can see that you prefer teaching grammar through games.”
“Not quite,” she said, shaking her head. “I don’t explain grammar usage at length. It’s enough giving the students exercises and discussing the answers with them at the end of every lesson. If they are weak in prepositions, give them a lot of notes on prepositions until they become familiar with them.”
I stifled a laugh and said, “It seems that most of us still opt for traditional teaching methodologies.”
She shrugged, saying, “I don’t think we can afford to conduct games in our lessons all the time. There are simply too many preparations on our part. But we can play games with our students once in a while.”
I groaned, “I’m not good at conducting games. I have no confidence in my ability to make them fun.”
Curious, she asked, “Why are you so afraid? Why aren’t you confident?”
“I can’t imagine how noisy my lessons would become if I asked my students to play games,” I explained drily.
The teacher clucked her tongue and said, “Try your very best to establish good class control. Set down rules for any games like what has been stated in our handouts.”
I said, “Easier said than done.”
Oblivious to my sarcasm, the teacher said, “Why don’t you ask your students to play the games that you like? Action games don’t seem to be your cup of tea.”
“I only know a smattering of games, like riddles, Jeopardy and Hangman.”
“Are you always the one conducting the games?”
“Yes. My students speak very little English.”
“Why don’t you get your students to conduct the games? They can practise speaking as much as possible.”
I liked her suggestion and said that I would give it a try.
When I returned to school, I conducted language games in my lessons right away. My students liked them a lot, but the noise they made could shake the entire school building off its foundation. My class control was atrocious. To my embarrassment, some teachers from the neighbouring classes came and shushed my students.
After two weeks, I stopped incorporating games into my lessons. My students groaned in protest, but I was determined to revert to my old way of teaching.
Yesterday, a student complained loudly to me, “Teacher, your lessons are so boring. I learn best through games. Why don’t you make our lessons more fun?”
I retorted, “When I was your age. I learnt English the most boring way. I read and wrote and read and wrote.”
The boy pouted and said, “Your time is over, Teacher. We are now in the modern age.”
“You are rude,” I scolded him.
“I am just speaking the truth,” said the boy. His face was a mask of indifference.
One afternoon, during a staff meeting, the principal advised all the teachers to be innovative in our teaching: “Deliver your lessons in such a way that the students can have fun and think creatively. A few days ago, I saw some teachers giving their students dictation exercises. Dictation is an old teaching method which does not help the young ones to learn.”
I don’t understand. Why is it that so many people denounce the old way of learning grammar? My English is still rather weak, and I depend on consistent reading to improve my command of grammar. I don’t play and dance to brush up my knowledge.
One of the handouts showed a tabulated comparison of traditional grammar-teaching methods and teaching grammar through games. The traditional way of drilling was criticised as a dry and uninspiring approach that impeded learning, while the latter was lauded as a learner-friendly approach that promoted knowledge retention.
We played many language games during the course. The air was animated by the enthusiastic chatter and happy laughter of almost every one. I was passive throughout the workshop. I found it silly playing like little kids.
At the end of the session, the chief facilitator said, “Aren’t games interesting? Let’s start instilling fun in our teaching from now on. Be creative and never kill your students’ interest with bland activities like those of the past.”
Everyone but me gave the facilitator a round of applause.
A teacher asked me, “Charles, you seem to be unhappy with what the facilitator said.”
“Ya,” I said. “I don’t like the way he condemned the traditional way of teaching grammar.”
The teacher chuckled. “You must be an advocate of old-school teaching.”
“There’s nothing wrong with it,” I snorted. “Many of us picked up grammar through drilling and vigorous reading.”
The teacher nodded and said, “You are right. In the past, we did lots of fill-in-the-blank exercises and reading aloud.”
“In my opinion,” I said. “Learning grammar consciously is better than learning it unconsciously.”
Frowning, the teacher said, “I don’t quite agree with you on that. It’s quite impossible to explain to our students how different grammatical items operate in detail. It bores and confuses them.”
A little annoyed, I said, “I can see that you prefer teaching grammar through games.”
“Not quite,” she said, shaking her head. “I don’t explain grammar usage at length. It’s enough giving the students exercises and discussing the answers with them at the end of every lesson. If they are weak in prepositions, give them a lot of notes on prepositions until they become familiar with them.”
I stifled a laugh and said, “It seems that most of us still opt for traditional teaching methodologies.”
She shrugged, saying, “I don’t think we can afford to conduct games in our lessons all the time. There are simply too many preparations on our part. But we can play games with our students once in a while.”
I groaned, “I’m not good at conducting games. I have no confidence in my ability to make them fun.”
Curious, she asked, “Why are you so afraid? Why aren’t you confident?”
“I can’t imagine how noisy my lessons would become if I asked my students to play games,” I explained drily.
The teacher clucked her tongue and said, “Try your very best to establish good class control. Set down rules for any games like what has been stated in our handouts.”
I said, “Easier said than done.”
Oblivious to my sarcasm, the teacher said, “Why don’t you ask your students to play the games that you like? Action games don’t seem to be your cup of tea.”
“I only know a smattering of games, like riddles, Jeopardy and Hangman.”
“Are you always the one conducting the games?”
“Yes. My students speak very little English.”
“Why don’t you get your students to conduct the games? They can practise speaking as much as possible.”
I liked her suggestion and said that I would give it a try.
When I returned to school, I conducted language games in my lessons right away. My students liked them a lot, but the noise they made could shake the entire school building off its foundation. My class control was atrocious. To my embarrassment, some teachers from the neighbouring classes came and shushed my students.
After two weeks, I stopped incorporating games into my lessons. My students groaned in protest, but I was determined to revert to my old way of teaching.
Yesterday, a student complained loudly to me, “Teacher, your lessons are so boring. I learn best through games. Why don’t you make our lessons more fun?”
I retorted, “When I was your age. I learnt English the most boring way. I read and wrote and read and wrote.”
The boy pouted and said, “Your time is over, Teacher. We are now in the modern age.”
“You are rude,” I scolded him.
“I am just speaking the truth,” said the boy. His face was a mask of indifference.
One afternoon, during a staff meeting, the principal advised all the teachers to be innovative in our teaching: “Deliver your lessons in such a way that the students can have fun and think creatively. A few days ago, I saw some teachers giving their students dictation exercises. Dictation is an old teaching method which does not help the young ones to learn.”
I don’t understand. Why is it that so many people denounce the old way of learning grammar? My English is still rather weak, and I depend on consistent reading to improve my command of grammar. I don’t play and dance to brush up my knowledge.
One morning during recess, a colleague
told me, “You can’t compare yourself with
today’s generation. Their
attention span is shorter. The only way to cater to their needs is to
Incorporate fun into their
learning.”
The English of most old-timers is good. They speak and write proficiently. They picked up
The English of most old-timers is good. They speak and write proficiently. They picked up
English in a most rigid
learning environment. Nowadays, many students’ writing is an
incoherent mishmash of words.
Ironically, their teachers use the so-called advanced, better
way to teach them grammar. It
makes them lean more and more towards instant
gratification rather than actually picking up knowledge and skills for the
future.
Many people say that teachers are good actors who have a number of different roles at their disposal. However, I am an exception. As a poor entertainer, I can’t handle games well. I only feel at ease with the traditional way of teaching. Am I an old dog who was unwilling to learn new tricks?
Many people say that teachers are good actors who have a number of different roles at their disposal. However, I am an exception. As a poor entertainer, I can’t handle games well. I only feel at ease with the traditional way of teaching. Am I an old dog who was unwilling to learn new tricks?
Comments
I did my SPM in 1955(then known as Cambridge School Certificate). Two English teachers ( both MSc degree holders) were pure English breed from England. I have been teaching for twenty years using the old methods I learnt from them - with very good results. I may crack jokes in my class but I have no time be fooling round in the process of imparting something important.
Children are made to take up more more games and physical activities today than in the past. The Education departments are to me full of idiots possessing PhD degrees, making changes to our education system with the known result of Malaysia being among the bottom in world university ranking. Singapore, part of Malaya's education system in those days has gone to the top ten in the world ranking. UM has just managed to scramble to just above 200th position. The VC would probably get Tan Sri for that!
I have no intention to be fooling round in class to get children interested. Well do, my friend. You have been doing very well. You were not taught by idiots, probably by Kirby or Brinsford Lodge trained teachers who started in those colleges with just Form V Cambridge, some with a 3rd grade certificate!
We do it all our ways, my friend. I know we will not go wrong.