| Ask Yourself First | | | | progress. They will make errors but correct them, learn |
| While there are many aspects which come into play | | | | from them and move on. |
| during the teaching of an English language class, there | | | | Attentive to Form |
| are some which directly impact the value and success | | | | Are you attentive to form in language learning? A |
| of any lesson both on the part of the English teacher | | | | good language learner is attentive to form. "Mommy |
| and the language learner. In order to effectively | | | | me want cookie", is not grammatically correct, although |
| promote those qualities which form an effective | | | | understandable. A good language learner will progress |
| language learner, TEFL teachers first need to | | | | beyond the basic form of the language to effect not |
| understand what those qualities are. To do this, | | | | only their meaning, but effect it in a correct - or |
| language teachers should ask themselves, "Am I a | | | | acceptable form. "Mommy I want a cookie." There, |
| good language learner?" So, let's briefly examine what | | | | that's better. "No honey, you can't have a cookie now, |
| constitutes a good language learner. | | | | we're in English class." |
| According to studies by Rubin (1975) some identifiable | | | | Practices |
| qualities of a good language learner include the | | | | Author and language teacher Barry Farber said, "A |
| following: | | | | good language learner picks conversations the way a |
| - Is a willing and accurate guesser | | | | sailor picks fights." That is to say, a good language |
| - Has a strong drive to communicate | | | | learner seeks out every possible opportunity to |
| - Is uninhibited | | | | practice the target language. Anywhere and |
| - Attends to form | | | | everywhere you go, you should be ready and willing to |
| - Practices - seeks out conversations | | | | practice. On the phone, at the market, at the bust stop, |
| - Monitors own speech (and the speech of others) | | | | while strolling, at the mall, or in line at the bank, are all |
| - Attends to meaning | | | | only a few of the places you can listen to and speak |
| Now that principal qualities of a good language learner | | | | English. If I had a buck for every time someone asked |
| have been identified, we can examine each of them in | | | | me, "What time is it?" while I was abroad, I might be |
| turn. | | | | writing this from my yacht. |
| A review of Each in Turn | | | | Monitors Own Speech |
| Willing and Accurate Guesser | | | | Do you pay attention to what you say when speaking |
| When you come across a new word or phrase in | | | | English? The most effective form of error correction |
| speech, reading or while listening to a broadcast, for | | | | isn't from a teacher, a spouse, co-worker or peer, it's |
| example, do you absorb the new lexis divining its | | | | self-correction. You will reinforce your own learning to |
| meaning from context or scramble for the nearest | | | | a far greater degree than anyone or anything else. |
| dictionary? Do you frequently use a bi-lingual | | | | Good language learners monitor their own speech. |
| dictionary? A good language learner will first "guess" | | | | "Honey, give please me a water glass" - Excuse me, I |
| the meaning of the new lexis in context. | | | | mean "Honey, please give me a glass of water." |
| Strong Drive to Communicate | | | | Attends to Meaning |
| Do you have a "strong drive" to communicate? What's | | | | The use of colloquial idioms and expressions gives |
| a "strong drive"? Well, let's try an example. You're in a | | | | problems to even native speakers of English. What |
| situation where you can't speak the lingua franca - say | | | | makes you think you should be any different? If you |
| you're vacationing in China and can't speak Chinese. | | | | don't know or don't understand how to say an |
| What do you do if you have diarrhea and need the | | | | expression correctly - ask. If its meaning and context |
| bathroom urgently? Do you foul yourself because you | | | | are unclear, then by all means, do whatever you have |
| can't ask properly? Or do you somehow "make | | | | to in order to clarify the usage. Don't embarrass |
| yourself understood" to whoever is around? That is a | | | | yourself or the person you're speaking to by using an |
| "strong drive" to communicate (although an extreme | | | | expression incorrectly. There are even situations |
| one). | | | | where this could even prove to be potentially |
| Uninhibited | | | | dangerous. A good language learner attends to |
| Have you ever noticed children when they're | | | | meaning. |
| developing proficiency in their L1? Do they make | | | | Now that you as a TEFL teacher understand what |
| mistakes? Yes, TONS of them. Do they get ashamed | | | | those qualities are, you can effectively promote those |
| or embarrassed about them? Not hardly. They bounce | | | | which form an effective language learner both in |
| over errors and just press on. We lose that quality as | | | | yourself and in your English language learners. So, are |
| we "progress" to adulthood. A good language learner | | | | you a good language learner? |
| doesn't allow errors to impede their language-learning | | | | |