Teach English in Pucheng Zhen - Linfen Shi

Teachers are drawn to their field because of a passion for sharing knowledge and helping learners grow. In order for students to acquire the necessary wealth of skills to apply to life outside of the classroom, they depend on strong teachers to ready them. Educators are skilled professionals not simply because of their content knowledge, but also their understanding of how to impart that knowledge to their audience, diverse as it may be. To be successful as a teacher means to serve all students as effectively as possible and, in the case of learning another language, to provide students with the tools to communicate independently in a language other than their own. When it comes to teaching English as a foreign language, perhaps the best qualities for an instructor to possess include being innovative, expressive and encouraging, as well as being a realistic perfectionist. A great EFL teacher is an endless source of creativity, and finds inspiration at every turn. Whether an engrossing dinner-table conversation, a catchy song on the radio, or a headline spotted at a local newsstand, anything with which a teacher comes into contact can be tailored to fit an English class as a worksheet, comprehension activity, warmer, etc. The innovation that a teacher infuses into a course is what sustains student engagement, motivates them to learn, increases their curiosity, and builds their confidence. Even if there is already an established course book, the instructor is not limited to using the activities exactly as indicated, but can instead evaluate the class needs and interests and adapt materials to be more appealing and rewarding. In order to integrate the communicative skills in a balanced way, as well as to avoid the monotony of routine, the teacher must be willing to find new ways to approach a multitude of tasks. For example, a matching vocabulary quiz can easily become a listening activity, or a written summary of a paragraph could become a drawing or even a game of charades to demonstrate comprehension. Whatever the case may be, a successful class is contingent upon the teacher’s ability to innovate. To complement their deft manipulation of material, teachers who are expressive, theatrical, and enthusiastic reach their students much more readily. At any one point in time, an educator may find him- or herself acting as a human thesaurus, “Pictionary” expert, prop specialist, or mime. In effect, this willingness to seek and experiment with alternate forms of communication translates to a fruitful class, whether in a beginning level of English, advanced, or anywhere in between. Students not only comprehend an expressive teacher more successfully, but the entertainment and visual appeal help them retain information and make them want to remain focused. Furthermore, embracing a bit of drama and silliness helps to create a positive atmosphere. Also crucial to the classroom environment is how patient and encouraging the instructor is. When learning another language, students experience a number of stress factors on a daily basis, ranging from anxiety about making mistakes to self-consciousness about being perceived as less educated than they really are, along with general frustration at not being able to comprehend and express themselves as readily or thoroughly as with their mother tongues. However, proficiency is a result of regular language manipulation over time and requires frequent contact. Therefore, an enormous responsibility lies with the teacher to build and foster an environment in which it is acceptable and even encouraged for students to take linguistic risks, as often as possible. Error correction, for instance, must be strategically timed and never in excess. Except perhaps in the Study phase of the Engage-Study-Activate model (Harmer, “How to Teach English,” 1997), students’ language use should be valued much more than their accuracy with it. Teachers, for their part, must be sympathetic to the legitimate adversities learners face and, rather than becoming frustrated themselves, must seek to empower their students. Moreover, a teacher should never give up on a student, regardless of the hardships and their frequency (academic dishonesty or translator use, misbehavior, reluctance to participate, lack of preparation, etc.); instead, it is best to seek out the motive behind the student’s problem and help him or her to resolve it. Lastly, excellent educators should be perfectionists to some extent, while still possessing a clear understanding of realistic professional objectives. Even the most experienced teachers have a less-than-successful lesson from time to time; rather than simply moving on to the next, it is important to analyze what went wrong and what should have been done differently. In fact, it is beneficial to reflect even after a good lesson, and consider what could have made it truly great. Even if the opportunity presents itself to “recycle” a lesson, a teacher should always seek to make updates to reflect more current information, a different class dynamic, the backgrounds of a new group of learners, and more. It is healthy to be content with a lesson and simultaneously dissatisfied, because a language teacher who seeks constant improvement is one who always has the growth of his or her students in mind. Additionally, it is often said that teachers are learners; as such, they must be cognizant of the myriad of opportunities that exist to learn from other professionals in the field. Whether this means observing a fellow English teacher’s lesson or attending a conference or webinar, professional development is invaluable. For their students, EFL teachers are inherently tutors, models, guides, facilitators, and much more. Because the task of dominating a foreign language is often a long road and an intimidating feat, they require skilled educators not only to impart essential knowledge, but also to inspire and empower them to master it. English language teachers who endeavor to meld innovation, expressiveness, and patience with high personal expectations are those who are most likely to maximize their students’ successes along with their own.