Ten Characteristics of a Good Teacher

Explain the words and word combinations in bold in the text.

Read and discuss the following text.

Who is a Good Teacher?

Should teachers whose command of English is rather poor teach English? There should be a great deal less teaching of English in the world if the answer to this question were a clear "No", and one hesitates to give so unqualified an answer. It is not even obvious that the best teacher is one who has acquired an almost effortless command perhaps as a result of "inheriting" the language as a mother tongue. The matter is more complicated. It is hard for the thoughtlessly competent speaker to simplify, hard for him to see what the learner's difficulties are. Furthermore, command of a language is not necessarily accompanied by skill in teaching it. The unskilled teacher with a good command and perhaps an analytical awareness of the language too, is common. On the other hand, the skillful teacher who is still struggling with the language himself and who has some considerable distance to go, but who can interest his pupils and transfer to them a good measure of his own language using ability, is far from rare. One may also ask two straight questions: Is the relatively effective teacher interested in the craft of teaching unlikely to seek improvement of his command of the language? Is the relatively proficient user of language, having found himself ineffective as a teacher, as likely to seek improvement in his teaching skill?

2) Find the English equivalents for the following in the text:

владение английским языком, очевидный, наследовать, родной язык, упрощать, сопровождаться чем-л., передавать кому-л.

4) Answer the questions:

1. What do you consider to be more important, a good teaching skill or a good command of English?

2. Can the facts given in the text help you to answer the question "Who is a good teacher?"

3. What impression did you get of your language teachers at school?

1) Scan the points and the English equivalents for the following: заразительный, темп, рискнуть, извлекать выгоду из чего-л., давать трудные задания/стимулировать, отбивать охоту, изучаемый язык, сразу же.

2) Work in pairs: look through these points and discuss with the partner which are the most important characteristics of a good teacher for you. Remember to explain your choice.

1. I want a teacher who has a contagious enthusiasm for his teaching, i.e. one who loves his students and his work.

2. I want a teacher who is creative and employs various techniques to engage the student's mind.

3. I want a teacher who can add pace and humour to the class. With such a teacher we have a good time learning, and we make a lot of progress because we are not afraid to make mistakes, we can take chances.

A good teacher maintains an excellent pace in the class. She never loses an instant consulting a list or thinking about what to do next; she tries to capitalize on every second.

4. I want a teacher who challenges me:

Speaking in the target language to the learner prepares and challenges him to speak in that language. I want a teacher who can maintain a level of difficulty high enough to challenge me, but not so high as to discourage me.

5. I want a teacher who is encouraging and patient and who will not give me up.

6. I want a teacher who knows grammar well and who will explain something on the spot if necessary.

7. I want a teacher who will take an interest in me as a person — one who will try to discover discussion topics that interest me.

8. I want a teacher who will take a minute or two to answer a question after class, or who will take five minutes to correct something that I have done on my own.

9. I want a teacher who will treat me as a person, on an equal basis with all the members of the class.

10. Finally, I want a teacher who will leave his emotional baggage outside the classroom.

Дата добавления: 2014-12-29