Teaching Styles

Teaching Styles

The purpose of language teaching seems to be communication. Language is the medium not the message. An important part of language learning is the development of competency. (Kehe, Kehe 2004:119) There have been many schools of thought on which teaching and learning styles are best for language learning. This paper will discuss a few well known teaching styles.

Formal authority is a teacher-centered approach where the instructor feels responsible for providing and controlling the flow of content which the student is to receive and assimilate. (Penn State 2003- 2005) Normally, the teacher teaches from the front of the room and the students follow the lesson. There is not much interaction between students. This style maybe considered to be one of the most traditional styles that we are familiar with. 

Facilitator is a student centered approach where the teacher facilitates and focuses on activities. (Penn State 2003-2005) Students are in charge of the activities and the teacher acts more as a coach or mediator between the students. Student interaction and communication is the main focus. Fluency and accuracy can be addressed after the activity has finished or in another class. 

Delegator is a student-centered approach whereby the teacher delegates and places much control and responsibility for learning on individuals or groups of students. (Penn State 2003-2005) Creative projects or group work works well in this setting. Students will be solely responsible for the communication between each other and to complete the assigned project or task. The teacher should allow students to correct each other and learn from their mistakes. Demonstrator or personal model is a teacher-centered approach where the instructor demonstrates and models what is expected (skills and processes) and then acts as a guide to assist the students in applying the knowledge. (Penn State 2003-2005) Role-play and acting out real life situations gives students a great way to learn new language and apply it. It also helps students that are afraid to speak or are shy, relax and become someone else. This style encourages student participation and utilizes various learning styles. Students’ learning style is important to both the instructors and the students because: Instructors need to understand their students’ learning styles in order to adapt their teaching methods accordingly. (Penn State 2003-2005)

Teaching styles can also depend on ?teacher? variables and ?student? variables. ?Teacher? variables may include, but not be limited to aptitude, attitude, motivation, age, previous experience, and training. ?Student? variables may include, but not be limited to aptitude for language, attitude, motivation, age, and the nature of previous experiences of learning. (Brumfit, 1984:19) A teacher should consider as many of these variables as possible when choosing what to teach. We cannot base our teaching on exact identification of the product of teaching, but we can concentrate on enabling learners to use the language work for purposes which they will develop themselves. (Brumfit 1984:112). Students will gain more knowledge, retain more information, and perform far better when teaching styles match learning styles (Lage, Platt, & Treglia, 2000). However, it is recognized that it is difficult to match with every learning style and therefore, a range of teaching styles is recommended (Moallem, 2001).

Teaching Styles

Just as students may vary from class to class, so are teachers and their teaching style. This paper focuses on the four basic teaching styles which are formal authority, demonstrator or personal model, facilitator and delegator. Which style is more effective? Do you want the students to focus on you or do you want to focus on the students? Which is your style?

Lessons taught using the formal authority teaching style tends to be teacher centered. The most obvious example of this style is when a teacher is lecturing. In the class when the teacher is using the formal authority teaching style, the teacher is in control of the lesson and all of the attention and energy of the student is focused on the teacher. The formal authority teaching style is effective because it is efficient in quickly giving students a large amount of information in very little time. The drawback however, is that this style uses maximum teacher talk time and give little room for student participation and therefore, the students have very little chance to communicate with the teacher and each other causing an unhealthy teacher-student and student-student relationship.

Like the formal authority teaching style, the demonstrator or personal model style is also teacher centered but the distinction is that it promotes student participation. In this style, the students learn through the demonstration and modeling of the teacher or demonstrator, hence the name demonstrator/personal model, which then acts as a coach or guide to assist the students in applying the knowledge into a similar situation. (PennState, Teaching and Learning with Technology, 2004). 

Teachers who believe that students learn best through activities will most likely use the facilitator style of teaching. Unlike the formal authority and demonstrator teaching style, the facilitator teaching style focuses on activities which mainly involve group work. In a facilitator style lesson, students are responsible for learning independently and must take the initiative to meet the demands of various tasks (Online Teaching, Have You Got What it Takes, 2001). Facilitator style lessons are usually student centered and students are encouraged to collaborate with one another which increases student to student relationships.

Delegator teaching style lessons are usually student centered. This teaching style places even more responsibility on the students, individual or in a group, as the students are responsible for the designing and implementation of their own projects with little or no participation from the teacher. The teacher’s role in a delegator teaching style lesson is to exclusively act as a counselor or consultant which requires the students to maintain focus and motivation independently in hope that the students will learn more than just the task at hand.

From country to country, students from around the world have different ways of learning and absorbing information just as teachers have different ways of teaching or a method that works best for them. Is there any one style that is more effective than the other? The answer is no. To be an effective teacher we must enable ourselves to be flexible. We must learn to adjust our teaching style to the students? learning style. Mismatches often occur between the learning style of the student and the teaching style of the teacher, therefore, causing the students to lose interest, do poorly on a test and become discouraged (Felder & Silverman, 1988). Finding the right teaching style to match all of the students? learning style could be a difficult task. In order to benefit all the students we should use not just one, but a combination of styles to make sure we attend to the all the different types of learning styles in the classroom.

Teaching Styles

Teaching styles can vary depending on teacher’s personality, teacher’s ability, student’s level, and the dynamics of the classroom. It is important to identify the style or the method that best suits the students’ learning. Through this course I have learned many techniques that I can incorporate in my future class. The ESA (Engage, Study, and Activate) method is a great way to introduce new subject to the students. I want to make my class fun and interesting to all students so that they can maximize their learning experience. I want to focus on the Engage stage with fun activities such as games, art, and many activities that encourage the students to participate freely. By starting the lesson with a fun activity can capture students’ interest and will help students to remember the content of the lesson. It is also important for the students to study the introduced material so they can use them purposefully. The Activate stage is when students get to actually put the learned materials in use. A role-play activity is an excellent activity for this stage. Through each stage, students can practice English effectively. I would like to add another part to this learning experience. I would designate two or three students to be the evaluator. The evaluators can observe and critic the Activate process and share with the rest of the students. The students can take turn in being the evaluator. I think that by observing other’s mistakes and good actions the students can learn from a different perspective. 

As a teacher, it is imperative to maintain a positive attitude and set good examples to the students. Students will be more motivated by enthusiastic teacher than those who are not. If the teacher starts the lesson with a dull and monotone voice first thing in the morning, not many students will be motivated to learn. However, if the teacher wakes up the student with fun games as the first activity the students will be more interested even with the rest of the lesson. 

I remember lesson 15 of this course where I watched and compared two lessons. Lesson One was boring and not stimulating to students whereas the Lesson Two was interesting and the students enjoyed the lesson. The main difference of these two lessons were the attitude of the teacher and the style of his teaching. The first lesson consisted of the teacher writing down lesson materials on the board and the student had to copy them. He used monotone voice with not much intonation, which made it boring and sleepy. He did not encourage the students to participate actively. The second lesson was different in approaching the subject material. The teacher first encouraged the students to participate by naming the animals. The shy students one by one called out the names of the animal and the more animals they name the more excited that got and into the lesson. The teacher then used the animals to use in (can and can’t) lesson. The students formed sentences using the animal and can or can’t. For example, ‘A bird can fly’. I can tell by watching the DVD that students were grasping the concept of the lesson. They were also enjoying the class as evidenced by their smiling faces. I want to be more like the second teacher. I want to make my class interesting and fun for the students. English is a difficult language to learn. I know because I went through this process as a child. I want to prepare each lesson with fun activities to make students learning process a memorable one. All teachers should always keep in mind that their positive style of teaching will make tremendous different in their students.