Teach English in Fengyang Zhen - Linyi Shi

This essay will discuss why establishing rapport between student and teacher is so important, and how it can be achieved in various cases. Regardless of the age, nationality, gender, English ability or any other individual factor that helps to define a student, establishing rapport is absolutely essential if the student is going to learn. The relationship between student and teacher needs to be a strong one, so that the teacher and student are both motivated and feel they can rely on one another. The student/teacher relationship can take many forms, which do depend on the factors mentioned above. It is important to find the right style of rapport-building for the particular relationship in question. With the caveat that every individual will have unique needs, the following is a short outline of some major categories. When teaching pre-teens, the relationship of necessity echoes the parent-child dynamic. The teacher must be fairly strict and establish his- or herself as an authority figure quickly. This does not mean, however, that the teacher is not allowed to crack a smile or make jokes with the children. On the contrary, the ability to also converse with the students on their level is essential, as it elicits interest; students of this age are generally not learning English of their own volition, and so the teacher needs to give them a reason to want to study. I have found that learning the names and personalities of common cartoon characters can go a long way towards establishing rapport with younger students. When giving examples, one can use these characters in ways that indicate the meaning of the language. A bully character, for example, might be used to show the imperative form, whereas an upper-class or polite character might be useful for showing how to use polite language. Establishing rapport with teenagers has a similar trick to it – it is useful to learn the names and personalities of prominent entertainers and comedians, as well as the latest trends in pop music. Before the class begins, the teacher can ask casual questions about the TV shows that week, or about a new single that has just been released. Care must be taken, of course, with older teenagers – an adult expressing a taste for some form of popular culture can forever taint it, and said adult, as uncool. Another tactic for establishing rapport in this case is to intentionally be slightly aloof. Engaging too much and showing too much enthusiasm can backfire, but remaining cool and slightly mysterious can keep many older teens interested. For adults, rapport is generally much more easily established. There is almost always some common ground between any two adults, be it a hobby, children, places they have vacationed, or taste in music, food or movies. Even in the rare case when there is no real overlap, those differences can in and of themselves be sources of a good relationship. To this point, I have often feigned interest in a sport that my student is crazy about in order to have them explain it in English. This is easy to do, and creates a real bond, because the students is expressing their feelings for something they really care about. If they feel the teacher cares about it, too, they have a strong motivation to not only learn more English, but to engage specifically with that teacher. This initial goodwill sticks in the mind of the student, and helps color their perception of that teacher in a positive way. As a side-note, I should clarify what I mean by the initial interest being feigned. Despite the initial white lie, I find that more often than not I become genuinely interested in what the student is saying, even if it is not within my wheelhouse. This helps me to enjoy conversing with the student, and that creates a genuine enthusiasm when I next see them. This, in turn, feeds the student’s enthusiasm. As in this case, rapport with students is always necessarily somewhat manufactured. Even with students I genuinely enjoy teaching, I never usually develop a real friendship with them, even after a number of years. However, this does not mean the rapport is meaningless or hollow. Especially with adults, both student and teacher are aware on some level that the relationship is a little unusual. Even so, the rapport between the two generally remains long after they have parted ways. One of the great joys of being a teacher is that when I see a former student after several years, we almost always instantly fall back into our old personas and start communicating without issue. Rapport underlies the entire relationship and forms a basis for the learning process. It is essentially the base upon which positive learning outcomes are built.