Here not only do we have students speaking and the teacher shutting up, but as an added bonus the students are doing the thinking, and are showing evidence of their learning! Big Win! 4.
S3: Yes, “Do” because it is question, same like in yesterday lesson… T: (pointedly shuts up, open body language, waiting…) T: Ah, yes, you see here we have the auxiliary, so blah blah blah… Don’t Answer Right AwayĬhances are one of the students knows the answer, if the teacher shuts up. The only way for student voices to enter the classroom is by the teacher allowing the space. “So where should we go? (1.5 second pause) Let’s make a list, we’ll write down our ideas here, what do you say guys? (1.5 second pause) How about Tierra del Fuego, is that a good place, should I write that? Yeah, OK…” It takes time for learners to hear and process what you have said, and adding more teacher talk doesn’t help. T asks “Where should we go?”… and waits for answers.“But how do I work in open class, if I am not supposed to speak?” With the above scenario, the teacher needs to say exactly four words: Or better yet, if a student can’t hear, she can ask the other student to speak up. “But they might not hear each other!” Tell them to speak up. T: Ooh, the Marshall Islands, yes, we’ll put the Marshall Islands on the list, ok…Įven though the lesson is to some extent interactive, the students have no reason to listen to one another – the teacher is repeating everything that needs to be heard. T: Bolivia, yes, great, we can go to Bolivia.
T: So, what are your ideas, where shall we go? Let’s just take it as a given that less teacher-talk is a good thing, and get on with the list: 1. Whether this is actually something worth striving for is a whole different debate. the students, and how to get this ratio as high as possible in the students’ favour. “Well-timed silence hath more eloquence than speech.”Īs a teacher trainer, one of my ongoing issues in pre-service courses is with teacher-talking-time – how much is coming out of the teacher’s mouth, the proportion of time the teacher is talking vs.
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