Teaching is not an easy task… there are so many factors influencing people’s learning!… Although some argue that almost anyone can teach as long as they know their subjects well, it is utterly false! Even a degree in education does not guarantee that someone will know how to teach others… on the other hand, there are some excellent teachers who do not have an official diploma in education. Teaching is, of course, about knowledge yet it is more about personal skills and attitude. Many people are outstandingly knowledgeable, but they suck at trying and transmitting their knowledge to others… we see that alot in universities. Some professors should stick to research only!
That being said, what teachers tell their students (adults as well as children) have greater impact that one may think… I remember, 10 years ago, when Andy had told me he wanted to quit French after only a couple of weeks of part-time training. Of course I had asked him “But why?”… “I’m a slow learner” had been his answer… “And who labeled you as a slow learner besides yourself?”… “Well… all my French teachers, when I was a kid, told me I was too dumb to learn a second language!”… Useless to say that I was shocked!… Other times, other mentality would you think… Well… such statements, unfortunately, are still around… A few months ago, a couple of days before her oral interaction test, Pam was told she had fossilized habits that could never be fixed!… I beg your pardon?… Who would state something like this? Only someone trying to cover up for their own incompetence… It is so easy to let students take the blame for their failure! Yet… was everything done to help them achieve? I seriously doubt it!…
In 1999, I had taught French to a young woman who had been denied French training for several years based upon the fact she had failed the kurd test!… At the time she was fluent in English and German, but she was told she could never learn a second language (she already had a second language!). Such decisions are beyond my understanding!… If I had to take that stupid audio test, I would fail big time because I am anything but auditive!… I thought this test had been discarded a long time ago when I found out that two of my students had taken it in 2007… they had been given a nice personalized brochure with their learning styles explained in it: it looked like those certificates veterinarians give to their clients so that they will not forget about their pets’ next vaccination!… I wonder how much this testing and analysis cost to Canadian tax payers! I prefer not knowing actually… especially since this whole process is not an accurate diagnosis of people’s learning abilities! But I am sure it is a perfect way of screening people before they under’go second language training…
In the course of my practice I met several people who, like Andy and Pam, did not have sweet memories of their French courses in school. When came the time to go on training so that they could meet the language requirements of their positions, it was more than stressful!… Over the years, they had learned how to compensate for their learning differences and they were achievers… the mere idea of going in a setting that would bring them back where they were once, feeling truly miserable, was enough to prevent them from learning…
I can accept (with reluctance though) the fact that, with groups, teachers cannot really adapt their teaching methods to answer these students’ specific learning needs… yet, it is easy to have small groups of people who learn more or less the same way. It will not happen soon in language schools though!… They prefer to ignore those differences and blame the students instead!… Why would they not since those people’s employer could not care less about their fate anyways?… They are not interested in divulging this kind of problems because they would have to change quite a few things regarding their stiff teaching methods! What I do not buy is that no effort is made to help these students out in one-on-one training!… Though I am not sure their so-called teachers can actually see the problem!
A couple of weeks ago I had a short conversation with someone who trains and prepare civil servants for their SLE tests… we were discussing language schools’ methods when she said “How many times shall we repeat the same grammar notions over and over without success?… It’s the student’s problem!”… Well… we shall repeat as many times as needed!… And we shall adapt our teaching methods to this student’s learning styles and special needs… Maybe some of them will never manage to pass the PSC SLE tests (only because of the nature of these exams) yet they will be able to communicate in French! And, in my book, the ultimate goal is not passing tests: it is to communicate…
Andy who was alledgedly too dumb to learn French is now bilingual and, while he was my student, he wrote the most creative and beautiful stories I was ever given to read… As for Pam, I did fix most of her fossilized habits in two months… So tell me… who is to blame?…
“L’incompétence règne dans toutes les relations et, avec le temps, elle produit très naturellement l’indifférence”
Thomas Bernhard
Yes! An easy way out… but at what cost?
Teaching is not an easy task… there are so many factors influencing people’s learning!… Although some argue that almost anyone can teach as long as they know their subjects well, it is utterly false! Even a degree in education does not guarantee that someone will know how to teach others… on the other hand, there are some excellent teachers who do not have an official diploma in education. Teaching is, of course, about knowledge yet it is more about personal skills and attitude. Many people are outstandingly knowledgeable, but they suck at trying and transmitting their knowledge to others… we see that alot in universities. Some professors should stick to research only!
That being said, what teachers tell their students (adults as well as children) have greater impact that one may think… I remember, 10 years ago, when Andy had told me he wanted to quit French after only a couple of weeks of part-time training. Of course I had asked him “But why?”… “I’m a slow learner” had been his answer… “And who labeled you as a slow learner besides yourself?”… “Well… all my French teachers, when I was a kid, told me I was too dumb to learn a second language!”… Useless to say that I was shocked!… Other times, other mentality would you think… Well… such statements, unfortunately, are still around… A few months ago, a couple of days before her oral interaction test, Pam was told she had fossilized habits that could never be fixed!… I beg your pardon?… Who would state something like this? Only someone trying to cover up for their own incompetence… It is so easy to let students take the blame for their failure! Yet… was everything done to help them achieve? I seriously doubt it!…
In 1999, I had taught French to a young woman who had been denied French training for several years based upon the fact she had failed the kurd test!… At the time she was fluent in English and German, but she was told she could never learn a second language (she already had a second language!). Such decisions are beyond my understanding!… If I had to take that stupid audio test, I would fail big time because I am anything but auditive!… I thought this test had been discarded a long time ago when I found out that two of my students had taken it in 2007… they had been given a nice personalized brochure with their learning styles explained in it: it looked like those certificates veterinarians give to their clients so that they will not forget about their pets’ next vaccination!… I wonder how much this testing and analysis cost to Canadian tax payers! I prefer not knowing actually… especially since this whole process is not an accurate diagnosis of people’s learning abilities! But I am sure it is a perfect way of screening people before they under’go second language training…
In the course of my practice I met several people who, like Andy and Pam, did not have sweet memories of their French courses in school. When came the time to go on training so that they could meet the language requirements of their positions, it was more than stressful!… Over the years, they had learned how to compensate for their learning differences and they were achievers… the mere idea of going in a setting that would bring them back where they were once, feeling truly miserable, was enough to prevent them from learning…
I can accept (with reluctance though) the fact that, with groups, teachers cannot really adapt their teaching methods to answer these students’ specific learning needs… yet, it is easy to have small groups of people who learn more or less the same way. It will not happen soon in language schools though!… They prefer to ignore those differences and blame the students instead!… Why would they not since those people’s employer could not care less about their fate anyways?… They are not interested in divulging this kind of problems because they would have to change quite a few things regarding their stiff teaching methods! What I do not buy is that no effort is made to help these students out in one-on-one training!… Though I am not sure their so-called teachers can actually see the problem!
A couple of weeks ago I had a short conversation with someone who trains and prepare civil servants for their SLE tests… we were discussing language schools’ methods when she said “How many times shall we repeat the same grammar notions over and over without success?… It’s the student’s problem!”… Well… we shall repeat as many times as needed!… And we shall adapt our teaching methods to this student’s learning styles and special needs… Maybe some of them will never manage to pass the PSC SLE tests (only because of the nature of these exams) yet they will be able to communicate in French! And, in my book, the ultimate goal is not passing tests: it is to communicate…
Andy who was alledgedly too dumb to learn French is now bilingual and, while he was my student, he wrote the most creative and beautiful stories I was ever given to read… As for Pam, I did fix most of her fossilized habits in two months… So tell me… who is to blame?…
“L’incompétence règne dans toutes les relations et, avec le temps, elle produit très naturellement l’indifférence”
Thomas Bernhard