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Communication Skills for Teachers of English


Submitted by albertrayan on 6 November, 2009 - 06:38 Communication skills include many things using the target language effectively, the way in which to the person we are speaking to, our body language including facial expressions, pitch and tone of our voice, interpersonal skills and a lot of other things. Effective communication skills are now required in each and every aspect of our life. Teachers of English are expected to have good command over the language and possess excellent communication skills. A few weeks ago, I had an opportunity to visit a school in Chennai, India and interact with the teachers and the students of the school. Most of the teachers had good communication skills. Even students were able to express themselves in English well. Later, I met the principal and complimented the teachers on their communication skills: Your teachers have good communication skills. With these teachers you can do wonders and produce students who can become powerful communicators. The principal said, We recruit only those teachers who can speak good English and communicate well. Yes, teachers are expected to possess excellent communication skills. For a teacher, it is not just important to give a quality lecture but it is more important for the presentation of a lesson or lecture in class. A teacher with communication skills can enhance the learning process of students. A week ago, I was a resource person at a workshop on Effective Communication Skills at a rural arts and science college for women. The participants were students of English literature. Most of them want to do B.Ed. after completing their B.A. English and become teachers of English. When the organizer of the workshop approached me I was reluctant to accept his invitation to conduct a workshop at the college thinking it would be a tough task to train the students. The organizer gave me a clear picture of the college and the students studying there in one of his emails. It is a rural college. Almost all the students are from villages. They are very poor in communication skills. We, teachers, try to make them speak but we find it difficult to develop their communication skills. We want you to speak on the importance of soft skills, including communication skills, and motivate them to speak. On the eve of the workshop the person contacted me over the phone and said, Sir, your target audience is a group of final year students of English literature. They are future teachers of English. I took it as a challenge and accepted the invitation. As soon as I entered the seminar hall, I was greeted by the students. Most students were bubbling with enthusiasm and their desire to learn new things and acquire essential soft skills was reflected in many ways. Inaugurating the workshop the principal of the college stressed the need for good communication skills for students who want to excel in the job market. When my turn to interact with the students came, I narrated a couple of anecdotes on the importance of soft skills and threw a few questions.

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Why are you here today? Do you really need to develop your communication skills? Why did you opt for English literature? What are the career opportunities for those who specialize in English literature? What do you want to become after completing your degree? What are the characteristics of an effective teacher of English?

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What are soft skills? Why do we call soft skills by that name? Which is more important: confidence or competence? Very interesting answers were given by the participants. My friendly approach helped me break the ice and establish a rapport with them. As a trainer, my main objective was to motivate the students and make them speak in English in public without fear and shyness. How to help the students channelize their enthusiasm and enable them to develop the much needed communication skills? My interaction with the students helped me understand the situation of the rural students better. - Communication skills are often neglected in schools and colleges. - The students have never had an opportunity to take part in group discussions, oral presentations, mock interviews, etc. - Some teachers of English are not proficient in English. - Those teachers who are keen on teaching communication skills have not been trained in the field. - The teachers have not heard the term communicative approach and are not aware that they can teach communication skills through literature. I spoke to the participants on the importance of communication skills and conducted a workshop on developing group discussion skills. For the first time, many students took part in group discussion. Though many were shy and helpless, some of them exhibited confidence and enthusiasm. There were a number of grammatical errors in their utterances, but they spoke confidently. Had we had opportunities before, we would have done much better now, said one of the students. For me it was a very enriching experience. The participants realized that mere reading of literature will not help them make progress with their life and that they should develop their communication skills. Cant literary pieces be used as a tool to develop students soft skills including communication skills? asked a highly motivated student. We dont know how to guide our students. We teach them English literature the way we were taught when we were students, said one of the lecturers. What strategies should we follow to improve our students interaction skills? asked another lecturer. How can we teachers develop our own communication skills? What is communicative approach? Can we develop students communication skills through literature? were a few other questions asked by the teachers. Teachers of English must possess the following communication skills: proficiency in English, positive motivation, effective body language, sense of humour, interpersonal skills, etc. The second part of the article that will appear next week will focus on these aspects of communication skills.

24/12/2011- 12:10http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/blogs/albertrayan/communication-skills-teachersenglish-part-2

Communication Skills for Teachers of English (Part 2)


Submitted by albertrayan on 16 November, 2009 - 07:59

Communication Skills for Teachers of English (Part 2) In the first part of the article entitled Communication Skills for Teachers of English that appeared last week, I discussed the importance of communication skills for students of English literature who aspire to become teachers of English. I concluded the article with the statement that teachers of English should have proficiency in the language, positive motivation, appropriate body language, good presentation skills, sense of humour and interpersonal skills in order to be effective communicators. The article also stressed on the urgent need to develop students communication skills through literature. Not many teachers of English literature in India have been trained to use the communicative approach in the literature class. As a student at a reputed college in Tamil Nadu, I was taught English literature by many teachers. A few of them were great professors who spoke impeccable English and delivered excellent lectures. Some were mediocre professors who just read literary pieces and dictated notes they had plagiarized from low standard books. One or two were really communicative and they encouraged students to communicate in the class. Professor David (name changed) was an original thinker. We enjoyed attending his classes. His English was good and it was pleasure listening to him. His interpretation of literary pieces was food for thought for those students who had passion for English literature. The only problem with the professor was he spoke the whole period of 50 minutes and never allowed the students to interact with him. The students were passive listeners. How nice it would have been if we had discussed as a class on what the professor had said! Professor Kumar (name changed) was a mediocre person. His pronunciation was not good and I always wondered how he was recruited to the teaching position at the reputed college. He used to read literary texts and dictate notes to us. He encouraged his students to read abridged versions of novels and buy bazaar notes to prepare for examinations. Almost all his students could get pass marks in the courses Professor Kumar had taught but they could not develop their communication and critical thinking skills. Professor John (name changed) was very popular among students. His interpretation of literary pieces was original and he encouraged his students to

give their own interpretations. His classes were always very interactive. Thanks to him many students developed their critical thinking and communication skills. Professor John was a perfect example of Developing Communication Skills through Literature. We can find many Davids, Kumars and Johns in any college where English literature programmes are offered at the UG or the PG level. Not many teachers of English literature are used to the communicative approach to teaching literature. The need of the hour is to introduce the communicative approach in the literature class. In a typical communicative literature class, students will be engaged in many activities: reading various literary pieces, interpreting them, taking part in discussions, giving presentations, debating, etc. The classroom environment should be conducive for developing their creativity, critical thinking and communication skills. Very recently, I asked a colleague of mine to share with me how her professors taught English literature and whether she was happy about the way they taught literature. Though she was quite positive about most of her teachers approach, she was not happy with her own classmates lack of communication skills and some teachers inability to enhance the students communicative competence. Most students had communication apprehension and they were never trained to overcome it. Even after completing their MA in English they were never comfortable speaking in English. Many of them did B.Ed. and became teachers at the secondary level and some of them did MPhil and became teachers at the tertiary level. I dont know whether they have learnt to manage their communication apprehension and developed their communication skills now. Developing learners communicative competence is one of the main responsibilities of a teacher of English. It is true that most students suffer from communication apprehension which refers to a feeling of fear or anxiety about a situation in which one must communicate. It is possible that they can manage and control their communication apprehension to some degree. Beattty, McCroskey and Richmond who have carried out research in the field of communication give the following suggestions to manage communication apprehension: i) Acquire skills and experience, and ii) Focus on success In the context of developing communication skills through literature to ESL (English as a second language) students, the above suggestions can be applied as follows: Acquire skills and experience A lack of proficiency in the target language can cause communication difficulty and create apprehension. A lack of interpersonal skills can also cause

communication difficulty. So it is important to gain language skills and also the skills of effective interpersonal interaction. Focus on success Giving oral presentations, attending job interviews, taking part in role plays and similar tasks are anxiety-provoking largely because they are highly evaluative. The more you perceive a situation as one in which others will evaluate you, the greater your apprehension will be. Prior success generally reduces apprehension and prior failure increases apprehension. It is important to train students to think positively and visualize others giving them positive evaluations. The teacher should give constructive feedback. How to make the English literature class interactive and communicative? The third part of the article will appear soon.

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