Teaching English as a Foreign Language, Second Edition

Classroom management
The characteristic secondary school class is large (anything
upwards of twenty-five students), and because of its size, it
usually reflects a wide range of ability. Some would say that it
is also characteristically unmotivated for hard work in
learning a language, and it is certainly true that there are
situations in the world in which the reasons for learning
English are not self-evident, so that students may well feel less
commitment to language work than to—say—geography or
physics. The school cannot overcome single-handed problems
which arise from administrative decisions, and if the wrong
language is being taught to the wrong people in the wrong
size of class for the wrong periods of time, it is not the
teachers or the pupils who should be blamed for the failure of
the system to produce fluent English sneakers. But at the same
time there are many ways in which the teacher can make the
best of the situation that he is faced with, especially if he bears
in mind that there is no teacher in the world who is satisfied
with the conditions which he is asked to teach in.
The teacher’s duty is to make sure that his teaching is
appropriate to his class, that is organised systematically, and
that it is exciting.
These three features interlock with each other, but it is
worth noting that, while the first two are the easiest to attain,
they are probably less often pursued than excitement. Yet a
teacher who uses appropriate and well-organised materials
usually has little difficulty in generating enthusiasm in his
class. Let us examine each of these ideas in a little more
detail.