TEACHER AND STUDENT´S ROLES

Teacher and student’s roles.

Teacher needs to be omnipresent. During the presentation he is under the spotlight. He has to model every word and sentence perfectly. He needs to act out the scene so his students can understand what is happening. During the practice stage, the teacher has to pull the strings of the whole class as if they were marionettes, keeping them on task and correcting every little mistake as it is spotted. Finally on the production stage, where students are given freedom to use and play with the vocabulary and structures, but only if the teacher considers they are ready, then his role will be more discrete but always actively listening and eager to correct whatever needs to be corrected.

On the other side, students’ role is very restricted and dependent. They cannot do anything if they are not told to. In the beginning, they are expected to sit down, be quiet and listen. Then they will get involved in a variety of oral drills, and they will repeat the vocabulary and structures until they can do it automatically. Only then, they will be given the chance to produce on their own based on a bunch of memorized dialogues and pre-fixed expressions.