POWER TO THE LEARNER Duncan Foord, Feb 2018 duncan@oxfordtefl.com

What do students value in a class? The teacher is patient. The level of the class is good for me. The teacher resolves my doubts. The class is dynamic. The teacher corrects when we do mistakes We practise speaking

Teacher says Student says Develop communicative competence Develop critical thinking skills Mobile learning Task cycle Practise speaking Discuss and debate interesting topics Homework on the bus Conversation and correction

“If love is the answer, what was the question?” Teacher A: If learner autonomy is the answer, what was the question? Teacher B: Maybe something like, how can we help students practise more on their own? How can students get more benefit from their time in class? How can students motivate themselves?

2 questions to conclude Are English teachers overcomplicating when we describe and discuss what we do, taking us further away from each other, our students and an understanding of our work? Should we be aligning our language (and thinking) with students to facilitate the inevitably collaborative endeavour of creating a language class? If learning English is like learning tennis, why don’t we teach it that way?

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