Міхненко Г.Е.

Національний технічний університет України

„Київський політехнічний інститут”

Creating a feeling of vitality and dynamism in language class

Language teachers everywhere value students who are alert and keen to learn. Since the communicative approach requires students to interact with one another, it is particularly crucial for language teachers to have classes that behave collectively in outgoing, responsive and relatively uninhibited ways. A language class characterized by high levels of vitality and enthusiasm provides a social environment within which communicative activities are likely to be successful. In classes with atmospheres that lack dynamism we see students going through the motions of practicing the target language – rather than using the target language as a tool for genuine communication of thoughts, observations and views.

What are the ways in which the atmospheres of language classrooms can be vitalized?

Informal language classrooms in which teachers and students feel relaxed with one another are characterized by impromptu bursts of whole-class laughter caused by a range of unexpected events and behaviors. Humor is a powerful force in any group situation, and most teachers have an intuitive understanding of its coercive power. Educators readily assume that teachers who use humor in their teaching are more effective than those who do not. Humor is used not only to establish relaxed atmospheres, but also to show that mistakes are an integral part of the process of language learning. By demonstrating that they are prepared to laugh at themselves, and by encouraging students to do likewise, language teachers indicate that they wish to reduce the social distance between themselves and their students.

Communication games and tasks, particularly when they incorporate the information-gap principle, are cornerstones of the communicative approach. They also encourage lively interaction and require students to behave in energetic and sometimes hyperactive ways. They inject a feeling of fun, so some language teachers can confuse it with learning, believing that, because students are having fun, worthwhile learning is taking place. We should distinguish between ‘frivolous enjoyment’ and ‘real positive enjoyment’, where everybody feels that they are achieving instructional goals and working cooperatively together.

Although of crucial importance, humor is relatively superficial way of injecting a feeling of vitality and spontaneity into language classroom. There are deeper and more powerful ways in which the atmospheres of language classrooms can be vitalized. These ways involve providing students with opportunities to engage personally with the learning process – not by completing set exercises, but by demonstrating who they are as people through the medium of the target language. Indeed, language classrooms are ideal environments for the engagement of the whole person, since a key function of language is self-expression and the sharing with others of information that is personally meaningful.

In his book on motivational strategies in the language classroom Dornyei [1; 76] provides a list of the most motivating features of task content. These include ‘challenge’, ‘interesting content’, ‘the novelty element’, ‘the intriguing element’, ‘the exotic element’, ‘the fantasy element’ and the ‘the personal element’. Creating anticipatory interest in the content of reading or listening texts means involving students at a personal level: engaging their emotions as well as their intellect.

The technique of brainstorming is particularly useful in language classrooms, it can be used at the start of lessons or when introducing new topics at any level and virtually at any context. By allowing students to demonstrate what they already know, language teachers are able to achieve a number of objectives. First, they show that they value the contributions made by all individuals. Second, they can establish where the class is at in terms of its overall collective knowledge. Third, by showing that many heads are better than one, they enhance the feeling that classroom language learning is a collaborative enterprise.

Creating meaningful statements and sharing life experience help students focus not only on the accuracy of the linguistic form of any statement, but on the meaning that is conveyed. Identifying potentially engaging topics, themes and issues, as well as engaging authentically with authentic materials also can vitalize the atmospheres of language classrooms and fire the enthusiasm of students.

Authentic materials – any informational materials not specifically designed for classroom use – should be more commonly used by language teachers, as students can respond to them in personal ways. For example, instead of filling missing words on a song sheet while listening to the song, students can sit with their eyes closed letting the words and music envelop them. Then they share their personal responses with their peers. Instead of matching headlines to stories while working with newspapers, students can scan a newspaper, select an article of personal interest, read it and then devise a quiz on its content for their friends.

The importance of vitalizing the language classroom environment as well as emphasis on oral communication seems to be understandable for language teachers of our country. But why do some of them, especially while teaching university students, not practice communication games, role-plays, competitive activities, physical response activities?

It is well-known that the vitalization process has the reciprocal nature: the way that classes of language learners collectively behave affects the levels of energy, enthusiasm and commitment of those who teach them. On the other hand, language teachers who engage students at both an intellectual and an emotional level are able to create a feeling of vitality and dynamism in language classes and thereby achieve teaching objectives.

References:

1. Dornyei Z. Motivational strategies in the language classroom. - Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001. – 245p.

2. Selleck D. The use of humor in the English as a second language classroom. – San Francisco: San Francisco State University, 1991. – 144p.

3. Senior R, The experience of language teaching. – Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006. – 301 p.