Learning and teaching

Learner types, learning styles

Four different learner styles (Wright):
Enthusiast: looks to the teacher like a point of reference and is concerned with the goals of
the learning group.
Oracular: also focuses on the teacher but more oriented towards the satisfaction of personal
goals.
Participator: concentrate on group goals and group solidarity.
Rebel: while referring to the group for his or her point of reference, is mainly concerned with
the satisfaction of his or her own goals-a bit selfish
Gardners multiple intelligences:
Another grouping (Gardner) is the following: kinaesthetic interpersonal - verbal- logical intrapersonal visual musical. In normal cases the differences are not extreme. We all
have a number of intelligences (felfogkpessg) and they are interlaced, but we definitely
have different strengths and weaknesses. It is impossible to take the various preferences into
account at a time. All I can do as a teacher is try to get to know my students personal traits,
then pay a special attention to them when I ask them.
After a while, I can call upon a particular student to do a task which suits him or her best. Ss
with different preferences in learning styles should be taught in slightly different ways. It is
not easy when the class number is btw 15-20. On the other hand, a good lesson has various
tasks and working modes, therefore, everybody finds their priority sooner or later.

Teacher roles and responsibilities (Harmer pp 235-243)

In recent years, under the influence of humanistic and communicative theories great emphasis
has been placed on learner-centred teaching, that is teaching which makes the learners
needs and experience central to the educational process.
The teachers role varies all the time according to the age of the class and the task /activity. It
is not static but dynamic.

A Ts role may vary between the roles of controller and

facilitator. These two concepts represent opposite ends of control and freedom.

controller stands at the front of the class controlling everything; a facilitator maintains a low
profile in order to make the Ss own achievement of a task possible.

Between the two roles we can find the following ones: The teacher
as a controller

must be in control of the class at all times. (to be in control of sth=kzben/ellenrzse alatt
tartja). The introduction of new language, all attention is focused on the front of the class
and the Ss are all working at the same beat.

as an assessor

checks work and gives feedback. T assesses the Ss work to see how well they are
performing.

as an organiser

guides Ss through class activities and ensures that everyone knows what to do (clear
instructions!)

as a prompter

tries to encourage and help Ss about how they can proceed in an activity, elicit the right
answer from the student. Ss tend to be confused about what to do next.

as a participant

joins simulations as participants, playing roles themselves.Ss tend to be shy, get stuck.

as a resource

is ready to offer help if it is needed. During a genuinely communicative activity the teacher
non-intervention is very important. However, Ts should make themselves available

as a tutor

guides Ss through the learning process, gives individual attention. Organiser, prompter,
resource. In this case the teacher behaves as a private teacher. facilitative role

as an investigator

seeks own personal professional development, trying out new techniques, observing what is
good. (an experimental)

as counsellor

helps Ss with their language learning related problems

as coach

encourages Ss to play an active role in classroom activities.

as facilitator

is similar to the tutorial work when a many roles are incorporated in one.

Acc. to P.Ur, teachers responsibility is to motivate learners, but its mutual. Ss have to take
responsibility for their learning as well.

Facilitator = The teacher provides the right amount of learning space.

Core qualities of a facilitator: Try to involve everyone. Be a good listener! You have to be
interested in your Ss. A little bit of nudge (push) is needed
(a) genuineness/authenticity/congruence: means being yourself, not playing a role in front
of your learners. (b) acceptance: means prizing the learners, their feelings, their opinions
Rogers sometimes referred to this quality as unconditional positive regard. It implies a basic
trust, a belief that this other person is fundamentally trustworthy. However, students take
advantage of it. If you are benign they tend to misbehave pushing boundaries. (c) empathy, or
empathic understanding: being able to put yourself into someone elses shoes. This kind of
understanding is sharply different from the usual evaluative understanding. It is not the same
as I understand what is wrong with you.
Control becomes more decentralised, democratic, even autonomous.

A. Underhill (1996) - Practical steps towards Facilitation:

A few thoughts and suggestions. Facilitation is holistic, which means everything counts: all
aspects of the Facilitators presence including feelings, attitudes, thoughts, physical presence,
movements, quality of attention, degree of openness, etc.
- you need an open spirit of an adventurer and curiosity, - experiment observe or witness
yourself while teaching
- try new questions, - discuss your experience with colleagues reflection and discussion
- be interested in the discrepancies between your expectations and results
1. The way you listen
- How you listen / Deepen you attention, be supportive and respectful / notice the quality of
your listening / notice when you listen well /
2. The way you speak
- notice your words, more than needed, repetitions,- notice the features of your speech, tone of
voice, speed, intonation,
- what do you do with silences / messages by the way you speak / distinguish between your
first voice (words)and second voice (everything else) / speak with the force and warmth of
your full presence, be behind your voice.
3. Your use of power and authority
- the politics of the classroom. To what extent are you aware of all the decisions that you are
taking before and during your lesson? To what extent do you share power and decisionmaking whenever it is appropriate and possible?
- keep a note of the decisions that affect what your Ss learn or how they learn, - nonnegotiable decisions, high risk negotiable and low risk negotiable decisions, - build some of
the low risk decisions into the appropriate parts of the lesson., - negotiating any variation or
suggestion of a finished activity.
- reviewing the learning content of the activity: What did you enjoy about this?
4. Your attention to the processes in the group
- put yourself in the place of others to see how the lesson looks and feels from their point of
view /
- end of the lesson feedback, how do you ask for it /
- feeling: as a facilitator, you dont have to solve the problem or make the feelings go
away, simply respect, listen and understand /
- relaxed alertness letting go of tension, having energy for increased alertness and
attention.

The native and non-native teacher (NESTs and non-NESTs)

the native English teachers and non-native English teachers differ in terms of their
language proficiency
the native English teachers and non-native English teachers differ in terms of their
teaching behaviour
the discrepancy in language proficiency accounts for most of the differences found in their
teaching behaviour
NESTs and non-NESTs can be equally good teachers on their own terms (= a maguk
mdjn), no reason for inferiority complex, they complement each other.
We can provide better learner model, we can teach language-learning strategies more
effectively, English is our L2 as well, we can supply more information about the
English language, we can anticipate and prevent language difficulties better, we can
show more empathy to the needs and problems of our Ss, we have realistic
expectations, we can benefit from the Ss mother tongue.