What students want

By Eve Ross - Beijing Institute of Machinery

I asked students to discuss with a partner what percent of their learning is the teacher's responsibility, and why. The answers ranged from 10% to 100%, but most were between 30% to 50%. The insights used to defend the various answers were really great, too. Since everyone admitted that the teacher had at least some responsibility, this was a good segue into creating a teacher's contract.

The list members might be interested in my students' suggestions of clauses to go in my contract, since they create a students'-view picture of the ideal English teacher. I should mention that I taught these same students last semester, so they are already familiar with my teaching style. The numbers reflect how many of the 32 students included the item in their list of suggestions.

26 - Provide more opportunities to speak English
14 - Teach more Western culture
14 - Point out mistakes and correct them immediately
12 - Show more films
8 - Work more on pronunciation
8 - Give more opportunities to talk about daily life
8 - Provide more chances to meet other native speakers
6 - Give advice on how to study English

Suggestions given by fewer than 5 people:

Give advice on reading
Take students out of the classroom
Answer e-mail quickly
Do more role plays
Ask for student suggestions
Give practical knowledge
Give advice on passing the Band 4 Exam
Be friends
More homework
More tests
More oral presentations
More games
More focus on the text
More different topics
More vocabulary
More grammar

All of these seem like pretty good ideas to me, but only the first three are actually going into my contract: I will provide as many opportunities to speak English as possible. I will teach some aspect of Western culture in every class. I will point out and correct students' mistakes immediately.