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