| At a recent English Language Teaching or ELT | | | | teacher:o Has In-depth Knowledge of the language |
| conference, when I asked, "What is a language | | | | being taught. It is unfortunate that in many foreign |
| teacher?" a cornucopia of responses ensued. Many | | | | countries there exist numbers of English language |
| were quite verbose, others shorter and simpler, many | | | | "teachers" whose knowledge of English is questionable |
| rambled. For both EFL teachers and ESL or foreign | | | | at best or non-existent at worst. If you are an English |
| language students, the definition of a language teacher | | | | as a foreign language teacher, strive NOT to be one |
| is useful in determining what qualities to seek or strive | | | | of those.o Uses a Variety of Techniques to transfer |
| for when studying English or a foreign language. | | | | knowledge, skills and abilities in the language to |
| It was TEFL linguistics researcher Costas Gabrielatos | | | | students and learnerso Has Knowledge of materials |
| in 2002 who defined the term "language teacher". | | | | that can be successfully applied to the teaching and |
| A Language Teacher is: | | | | learning of the language being taughto Knows |
| A person who teaches language. | | | | Implication of theory to practice, development and use |
| With this definition he also defined the three major | | | | of the language being taught |
| aspects that constitute a language teacher. Here are | | | | 3. A language teacher has knowledge of the |
| those three aspects and their respective principal | | | | Language and its Use. This implies knowledge of:o |
| components. | | | | Grammar and specialized structure of the language |
| 1. A language teacher is a person (or personality) who | | | | being taughto the Language History and how it |
| demonstrates the qualities of:o Balanced control and | | | | impacts current use and structure of the languageo |
| Flexibility in teaching and conducting class activities, | | | | Idioms and Expressions in the language both in current |
| being neither overly "tyrannical" nor overly permissiveo | | | | and previous use colloquiallyo Ability to discern levels |
| Being Neat and Organized in person and preparationo | | | | and needs of students of the language to enable each |
| Being Well-groomed to provide an example for | | | | learner to receive the best methods and approaches |
| student dress and behavioro Being Authoritative in the | | | | to learning that are possible |
| performance of all teaching aspects based on a | | | | So, what is a language teacher? A language teacher |
| combination of knowledge, training, practice and | | | | is a person who teaches language and all that that |
| experience | | | | entails. As language teachers or language learners, |
| 2. A language teacher is able to teach combining | | | | there are standards to be upheld and quality to be |
| methodology, knowledge & skill. The language | | | | maintained. These serve for the benefit of all. |