Teach English in Qinghuabian Zhen - Yan'an Shi

Why is building a good rapport important? Learning a language is dependent on a number factors however I believe the attitude of the learner, the time available, and the learner’s attentiveness to the language are the factors that will have the greatest impact on the students ability to learn. The teacher has little or no control over the time the student has available to dedicate themselves to learning but the teacher can provide a positive influence for the student in terms of having a good attitude and a reasonable attentiveness towards learning the language. This however is dependent upon the rapport the teacher has with the students. According to the Cambridge online dictionary rapport is defined as a good understanding of someone and an ability to communicate well with them. Building a good rapport with students can make a huge difference when teaching, especially when teaching a foreign language. According to research done by the FSI, the US Foreign Service Institute, it takes 480 hours to reach basic fluency in languages which are generally considered easy such as French and Spanish, and 720 hours for harder languages such as Japanese and Chinese. Therefore if a student attended a language class twice a week for one hour each without any additional study, then basic fluency in the easier languages would take about 54 months which is a period of 4.5 years. This shows that learning a language can take many years to master, depending on the students availability and personal study habits, however even with good study habits it would still require a large investment of time and at times progress will be slow so in order for students to remain motivated they need the help of their teachers. In his book ‘How to be a good teacher’ Jeremy Harmer mentions that he asked a variety of people the question ‘what makes a good teacher?’ in order to find out what people really think about teaching and teachers. Included in the responses were these comments: “I like the teacher who has his own personality and doesn’t hide it from students so that he is not only a teacher but a person as well.” “A good teacher is an entertainer and I mean that in a positive sense not a negative sense.” “A good teacher is someone who has an affinity for the students they are teaching.” “A good teacher is someone who knows our names.” Based on these responses developing a good rapport with students includes building trust, using humor and games, and taking a personal interest in students. Doing this will not only help the teacher to better understand the students but can also help with classroom management and motivation. According to The Open Applied Linguistics Journal, the intrinsic motivation in Saudi learners of English as a foreign language by Moskovsky and Alrabai, “Motivation is essential to language learning achievement and attainment.” When students have a good relationship with their teacher and feel that their teacher’s personality is similar to their own, motivation is higher. According to the journal of school psychology classroom problem behaviour and teacher–child relationships in kindergarten: The moderating role of classroom climate, Positive teacher student relationships contributes to developing a warm classroom environment that facilitates successful adaptation in school and thereby increases student motivation to learn. In contrast, conflictual teacher–student relationships are associated with lower achievement and self-esteem as well as ongoing relational conflict with both teachers and peers. In addition to increasing student motivation good rapport can lead to increased comfort in the classroom. When students are more comfortable in the classroom, this may lead to an increase in student participation. Increased participation would also result in the students paying greater attention in class and an increase in positive classroom interactions. Research from the Journal of School Psychology teacher–child relationship and children’s early school adjustment, indicates that children with whom teachers report positive relationships are outgoing and socially competent. In conclusion developing rapport between teachers and students can have a positive and long-lasting impact on the students’ lives, both academically and socially. A student will work better in class if they felt that their teacher valued and cared for them. Developing a relationship between student and teacher of course is not solely dependent on the teacher. However if teachers work towards establishing rapport by learning students names, learning about their students' interests such as their hobbies or their favorite music, are enthusiastic about teaching and approachable then the likelihood of building a good relationship with their students will increase.