Interview with an Experienced EFL Teacher

It is an honour to have interviewed a great friend and former CELTA classmate.

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1) What inspired you to become a teacher?

I had been working in a different type of job all my life and it was time for a new job. I asked myself what other job would I really, really like? I came up with teaching. Why do I like teaching? It’s about communication, other people and communicating with other people. You have to think and be creative. That’s what I like about any job that has those elements.

2) What does teaching mean to you?

It’s something in a way that comes naturally to me. You have to be interested in other people. Communication is a two-way thing and teaching is about communicating both ways. Teaching fulfils my inner need to communicate with other people; it’s kind of a way of life. Could I do without teaching? You can do without anything; you are a teacher all the time. I hope that I can be of use to other people and help them; one of my aims is to help them help themselves. I don’t like telling people what to do. I hate that. I really like it when you suggest something to somebody and they go a step further and become happy people.

3) Do you have your own style or techniques that you often like to use?

When you are a teacher your most important material is yourself and everyone has their own style. The second part of your question is about techniques. Thanks to CELTA I have acquired some techniques and this really helps me as a teacher. What I really liked about the CELTA course is that it teaches you how to elicit. You guide them to discover things about the language themselves; this is the best way for students to improve themselves. What things mean by analysing, by deducing; things like that.

Listening is essential if available; there’s a lot of listening in my lessons, and a lot of speaking practice too. There should be a variety of things in a lesson, i.e. changing the dynamics of who works with whom; they can work individually, in pairs and in small groups. Not that there should be too much variety; just a healthy balance. My personality is that I’m outgoing, I like to involve students and I pay a lot of attention to culture. When you discuss eating habits or other habits things you do in England or English speaking countries or something is done in your own countries. We discuss things like that; these really are wonderful things. You can teach them that “sit down!” as a command would seem rude in a less direct culture. In the UK, for example, questions are for more explicitly polite than most other countries. I do use humour sometimes that comes from being unpredictable and spontaneous. I also focus on bonding. Not so much with me but between students; they will look forward to the lessons and will have to do some serious activities alongside all the fun that they have.

4) Can you share an activity that you think went really well in one of your lessons?

You know what is funny; I have activities where you do them for the first time and they’re a smashing success, but then you do exactly the same activity and the next group is not at all as enthusiastic as the last class.

It was during a special fluency course where they had an advanced knowledge of the language and wanted to improve their speaking skills. You listen to all of them and find out why they are taking the course, and what needs to be improved. In fact, it’s not speaking skills per se; it’s building up their confidence. They had difficulty speaking in public and felt insecure. First, they would speak together in pairs and then in groups, gradually, they would build up their confidence. Then, each person could pick his/ her own topic, which was personal: present a dilemma to the class you have experienced yourself. The audience had to say how they would deal with things, and then the speaker would react to those comments. Even the most nervous students would speak in front of the class; I really loved it. Sometimes, I even had tears in my eyes, especially as I remembered how hesitant and lacking in confidence they had been only a short time ago.

5) Can you recommend a text book you particularly like to use and why?

As I teach a multicultural class in Rotterdam I use a CUP book called English Unlimited, which features lots of people from different countries; you can hear accents from countries like Australia, America, India and Scotland. There are people who are grammatically perfect and non-native speakers as well. It looks at the difference between cultures sometimes explicitly and is great for global communication.

6) What do you expect from your students?

I expect them to actively take part in the lessons and at least to appear motivated. I hate students who are not involved, don’t react spontaneously and only answer questions when asked. It’s nice if they can find the time to do their homework. At the beginning of each course, I tell them it’s their money, and I don’t care if they don’t do it; it’s for their own benefit. I also tell them that I won’t get angry or shout at them; it would be their own loss if they didn’t do it. As I teach adults, I deal with really motivated people, which is inspiring and this two way communication gives me energy.

7) Have you taught any memorable characters?

One guy from Greece made an impression. It was last year when they had a really bad situation and there were no jobs available. He went from absolute beginner to upper intermediate and then advanced in a short time while doing a degree at Erasmus University. For his English studies, he used 3 course books and did 10 lessons with me as, back then, this was all he could afford. I told him that if he wanted to cover everything in those ten weeks then he would have to do lots of homework, which he agreed to do and he kept his promise. He worked in a shoe shop twice a week, then got married and eventually did a masters degree. He achieved great things with dedication, motivation and of course he was very smart. As the cherry on the cake, he got himself a great job at an international organisation, which is what he had wanted all along.

8) Do you believe in the VAK (visual, auditory, kinaesthetic) approach and why?

Not in a strict sense but to some degree. It may be complicated as people exhibit features of a combination of learner styles. I do use colours on the board to express different elements of grammar and must be consistent when I do so. Auditory: repeating certain things and kinaesthetic: not just memorising things like short sentences, but saying them out loud. I really believe that if you trigger pictures, sounds or feelings, it helps to fix structures in the brain; some students need a visual element in order to memorise something, for example.

9) Which elements of CELTA (Cambridge English Language Teaching for Adults) are prevalent in your teaching?

CCQ’s (concept checking questions) and eliciting. In the first lesson when the CELTA course director taught us how to speak a few phrases in Greek by using mime, drawings and mimicry, I found it illuminating. I use this with absolute beginners when I say ‘hi, my name is’ and give my name. I write this on the board and repeat while inviting others to randomly join in. Then I say I am from Holland and they use the context to understand that they must say where they are from. After 15-20 minutes they are having a mini conversation in the target language, which is great. While I monitor I ask questions like: what do you think it means? I also correct pronunciation if necessary.

With more advanced students, their passive knowledge is much greater; so I activate it. The key is to make them more secure. Teach them to trust instinct; they should trust themselves so build up their trust in themselves. After all, fear of failure is a big worry for many people, no matter the level. Praise is important and should not be underestimated.

10) Have you been inspired by anybody? How so?

The people who most inspire me are my students. When I’m tired and not 100%, I feel energised and feel happy again. Students ask questions, which I encourage. When I see them improve their skills, it gives me so much satisfaction. I always tell people (who are 18+) that if you want a fulfilling job, then it is teaching adults.

11) Is technology essential to teaching?

Think of Africa and a teacher holding a stick and sitting under a tree in sand who only needs to draw something with the stick to illustrate a point. In a more familiar classroom setting, a blackboard and a piece of chalk would do the job well enough. All you need is a motivated student and an inspirational teacher.

On the other hand, it is nice to use websites and power points, which are a big plus and, although not strictly necessary, are a big bonus. You can personalise parts of the lesson better and find material that suits particular levels and offer them more specifically relevant questions to practice and revise with.

12) What advice would you give to new teachers?

I would bring up CELTA again and the most important thing I learned was that when a student doesn’t understand something, it is not that they are dumb, but that you are not clarifying something properly for these students. Always be flexible.

Even after teaching for many years, no lesson is the same, and you should learn something from each class you give and always remain humble. If you make a mistake, own up to it; it’s normal to make them; you are human, after all.