The English teachers voice

English: British, American, or should we now change our mindset and consider the term “World English” This opinión piece was written by David White in 2014 for an online publication. David is an English teacher, teacher trainer and the owner of an English institute in Northern Peru. The purpose of this piece is not necessarily to express a personal opinión, but to put forward a subject that is often discussed between teachers, but never in a way as to créate a wave of change thoughout the language teaching profession. It is designed to entice intellegent debate about a subject which often stirs nationalistic pride and historic prejudices. We welcome any, and all respectful opinions and comments that any teaching profesional may wish to share in this fórum. If you’re a native speaker of English, no matter which country you come from, your English is either British, or a derivative versión that has been manipulated, and altered, to suit the needs, culture and historical development t

Classroom motivation, the key to achieving learner success. Have you ever walked into a classroom full of screaming, laughing kids, hell bent on tomfoolery rather that taking notice of your meticulously prepared English class? I think that we teachers have all experienced this at one stage or another. Be it school kids, classes in an institute, or even university students, we have all experienced that sinking, helpless feeling in our gut attributed to standing before a classroom full of disinterested students. We all know through experience that students who are motivated are easier to teach, and more willing to learn, but, the age old question is, “How do we as teachers motivate our students to want to learn English?” Almost every teacher in the world has stratagies that have worked for them, and from my own personal experiences, many of these are determined by the demographics related to who we are teaching, and where we are teaching them. I have taught students in schools, ins

Recently during a conversation class, a student asked me "Teacher, what was the most important lesson that you ever learned about students?" Well, when I first started working at a large American bi-national center, it was explained to me by a very experienced teacher that the success or failure of our students is entirely in the student's hands, not ours. We teach them, test them, put the scores in the computer and it will calculate if they pass or fail. I remember a certain Saturday morning, it was the start of my fourth month, a student came up to me, a student who the computer had automatically failed the month before and he asked me if I still had the copies from his homework from the previous month. I explained to him that these papers were in the resource room and that they were in the pile of papers for recycling and that I couldn't help him. As there were approximately 8000 students studying in the institute, you could imagine the impossibility of finding

As a teacher trainer, one of the most common questions that I am asked by English teachers during my travels is how to maintain, and/or improve their level of proficiency in the language. Why? Because of the newfound relevance of English and the subsequent pressure to improve that this importance has placed upon English teachers. Today, more than at any other period in history, a single language has solidified itself into a position of undeniable relevance in our ever-changing globalized world. Be it for matters relating to government, commerce, education, or for the resolution of global issues, English has taken the lead in almost every facet of life and international affairs. This phenomenon, which has developed progressively over many years, has been responsible for a transformation in the way that English as a second language is now perceived in most parts of the world. Governments have found the necessity to embrace English on all levels, schools have attached new importance

Education, do we need a rethink, a new approach, a revolution? Changing the mindset of educators and administrators. Is today’s educational mindset keeping up with the demands of our ever-changing world? Are Governments and those whom control the private education sector doing justice to the future needs of our youth, those who are destined to be our impending leaders, or are they more bent on maintaining the status quo for the sake of ease of operation? Do we need to rethink our approach to how we prepare our future generations, our future leaders, those who will one day decide the policies, the laws that determine how we live, or, should we maintain the present state of affairs? For far too long, in many countries, we have had the wrong attitude when it comes to teaching. It is believed, by many, that the teacher is the sole source of intelligence within the classroom and that students are mere societal commodities to control, and program as we see fit. Regardless of

As a teacher trainer, I have visited innumerous schools and institutes over the years who hang onto the 20th century philosophy that “A quiet classroom is a successful classroom”. Well, I could not agree less. Activities such as games and challenges that inject enthusiasm into students is undoubtedly one of the keys to success. Today our students live in the age of the internet, computer games, smartphones, etc and virtually each and every one of them thrives on the challenges which these present. We as English teachers, if we are to generate enthusiasm in our classrooms, then we too must emulate the stimulation that they receive from these activities and use this as a basis for most of the activities that we use in our teaching methodology. When we can achieve a state in the classroom where students enjoy learning English, then our students will look forwards to coming to class and actively participating in every activity. Below I have listed some of the tried and tested games tha