Interactions

Module 8:

Interaction in the classroom happens when the teacher engages with the student to do meaningful tasks which reflect (in some way or another) everyday communicative life. The book gives the example of the highschool students making a circle with the desks this breaks there normative state of learning. Afterwards, the teacher begins a discussion like practice that is designed to tap into the students own lives, interests, and participation. Promoting interaction as a teacher comes when the teacher recognizes the value of interpersonal communication, therefore, it requires special attention in the classroom to create, such as; putting the desks into a circle, asking students about their day and having them rinse and repeat that dialogue with their classmates, putting together an activity which asks students to move around and interact with their environment, bring props or games into class for the students to interact, and etc. In my experience, my language teachers have often emphasized interaction in the classroom. For example, our advanced Chinese teacher asked us to write up a mock business meeting dealing with anything our imagination could come up with - mine was a spatula super-store. Other teachers I have had us re-arrange the desks into a circle everyday then we would begin class with recollections of our week/weekends. I have heard of some classes making informational videos, or learning songs in their new language.

Out of the five teacher roles listed I am most like the "Teacher as Facilitator." This is because, I think it is important for students to first discover: why they want to learn a particular language? Meaning, what is so inspiring about the language which they have chosen to want to dive into it. Maybe its motivation for a scholarship abroad, or like in my case, it is something new and out of the ordinary to dig your teeth into. Next, I want students to ask themselves how they will approach learning a new language. Learning language is intellectually stimulating, and as studies have shown there is no one true way to do it. Everything depends on the individual to come up with creative ways of learning that captures their own attention. For instance, I played one of my favorite computer games in Chinese, in doing so I had to learn how to navigate the menus, listen for important auditory cues, and learn all new names for every part of the game. As a result, I had fun! And, while having fun still practiced the four language essentials. It is up to the teacher to plant the seeds which will reveal to their students that learning can be a creative process designed around their own needs. Next, like a "Facilitator" I believe learning comes best when we enjoy it (common sense I know), but its the responsibility of the teacher to prove to the students that it is in fact possible to enjoy the language learning process. We all hit roadblocks or become demotivated to study, right now in my own case this could not be truer. But when the right teacher comes around who shows a little guidance, and nudges me back on the right path. Then I know I will be back on track for learning again. For all these reasons and more I believe the facilitator role has an important contribution within its approach, by which the other roles might miss by relying on more managerial methods.