Abstract

Students sometimes have difficulty understanding and performing certain tasks assigned by the teacher due to mistakes in teaching procedures. Although there is more than one way for introducing a certain teaching point, yet some teaching procedures are unquestionably inappropriate.
When the teacher is unaware that his/her procedure is faulty, he/she is puzzled why the students have difficulty doing the assigned job. Time and teacher’s effort are wasted, the lesson is disrupted and very often the teacher blames it on the students, and sometimes resorts to reprimanding or even punishment.
I have observed some common faulty procedures practiced by teachers and student teachers I have trained. I specifically would like to discuss the following:
1. Is practicing “reading aloud” appropriate?
2. What is it we should not do upon introducing new vocabulary items?
3. Is it appropriate to assign dictionary work as a preparation for the next lesson?
4. Is stating the grammar rule and doing the exercises enough for the students to “learn” the rule?
5. Is it always appropriate to assign free writing tasks for homework?
Using appropriate procedures saves a lot of time and effort, and spares both the teacher and the students a lot of frustration.

1. Is practicing “reading aloud” appropriate?
Which objective(s) do we aim at when we ask individual students to read aloud, (very often in turn, where each student reads a few sentences), and where the teacher:
a. Explains vocabulary (or maybe asking the students about the meaning of each “new” word first)
b. Corrects pronunciation,
c. Corrects intonation.
Teachers who have practiced “reading aloud” have found that the students show little interest. Mostly, they pay little attention and wait for their turn to “read”. The process itself does not run smoothly, with the teacher correcting pronunciation and intonation and word meanings frequently, thus exposing the other students to error.
The process does not go smoothly because the teacher here is TESTING the students’ pronunciation and intonation and vocabulary BEFORE he does any teaching!
The solution to this dilemma is that we have to teach before we test.
a. The Best way to teach pronunciation is to ask the students to repeat after us (or after a good model, such as the tape recorder). The teacher selects words that are difficult to pronounce, and asks the students to repeat them after him two or three times. For teaching intonation, the teacher may ask the students to repeat sentences (or whole paragraphs) after him. As the students do this, the teacher should tell them that they need to concentrate on pronunciation and intonation.
b. The same principle applies to vocabulary. The teacher has to introduce “new” vocabulary in a systematic way BEFORE he asks the students to read aloud.
After the students have learned the pronunciation, intonation and new vocabulary, it becomes very appropriate to ask them to read aloud. This way, the teacher is testing something he has taught, and the process will go smoothly.
c. In many classes, silent reading gets little or no attention, whereas it far more important than reading aloud. Silent reading is a major language skill that we need to develop in our students through regular practice.
Rule No 1: NEVER TEST ANYTHIGN YOU HAVE NOT TAUGHT.
Rule No. 2: NEVER ASK YOUR STUDENTS TO “GUESS” THE MEANINGS OF WORDS.
Rule No. 3: ASK YOUR STUDENTS TO INFER THE MEANINGS OF CERTAIN WORDS YOU HAVE CHOSEN CAREFULLY. INFERENCE OF WORD MEANINGS IS A LEGITIMATE SKILL WE NEED TO DEVELOP IN OUR STUDENTS.
2. What is it we should not do upon introducing new vocabulary items?
Some teachers’ practices upon teaching vocabulary are:
a. They write the words on the board and ask the students to give the meanings of words. Some teachers think this is challenging.
b. Some teachers teach vocabulary as their students read aloud.
c. Some teachers ask their students to “prepare the text at home”. This implies that the student has to read the text and “understand” it before he comes to class..
d. Some teachers ask their students to look up the “new” words in the dictionary and “learn” those words before they come to class; most often, the teacher does not specify which words the students are to look up.
In all these instances, the teacher has not taught any vocabulary.
a. It is impossible for the student to understand the text if he has not learned the vocabulary first.
b. The learner will not learn the “new” vocabulary unless he has been taught it in a systematic way.
c. Just “telling” the learner the meanings of words (probably as he reads aloud) is not enough, and often confusing.
Rule 4: TEACHING VOCABULARY IS AN IMPORTANT ACTIVITY. WITHOUT IT THE STUDENT’S COMPREHENSION WILL BE HAMPERED.
Rule 5: VOCABULARY NEEDS TO BE TAUGHT CONSTANTLY AND IN A SYSTEMATIC WAY.
Rule 6; TEACH VOCABULARY BEFORE YOU ASK YOUR STUDENTS TO READ.
A suggested format for teaching vocabulary:

3. Is it appropriate to assign dictionary work as a preparation for the next lesson?
a. Using the dictionary is a skill that needs to be taught and developed in our students. We should not expect our students to use the dictionary properly unless we have taught them to do so.
b. This skill should be introduced, taught and practiced in class first. There are two stages: First, students learn to use the dictionary, and second, they use the dictionary to learn. We cannot go to stage two unless we go through stage one first.
b. Especially at lower classes, the students will find difficulty in knowing which part of speech to choose, and which meaning fits the context of the lesson.
A suggested procedure for teaching the dictionary skill:
1. Explain the importance of the skill.
2. Teach the students the alphabet (in the correct order).
3. Teach your students to alphabetize words. Give exercises in alphabetization.
4. Assign in-class tasks where students have to alphabetize words and look them up, and decide which meaning fits the context of the lesson.
5. Keep assigning dictionary tasks from time to time.
6. At lower levels, the teacher chooses words that are not confusing to assign them for dictionary work.
7. Most importantly, check that the students got the meanings of the words right before they learn the wrong meanings.

4. Is stating the grammar rule and doing the exercises enough for the students to “learn” the rule?
A student of mine once said, “Adverbs of frequency come always before the ordinary verb”!
a. The aim of teaching grammar is not to make the student memorize the rule, but to apply the rule as he speaks or writes. Memorizing the rule may be helpful, but it is not enough.
b. Therefore, teaching any grammar rule demands thorough oral practice in class, ideally centered around one context.
A suggested procedure is as follows: (Example: teaching “used to”)
a. Presentation and modeling: The teacher explains that “used to” means previous habit. He chooses one context like: “my childhood”, then makes a few sentences with “used to”.
b. Repetition: the teacher repeats for reinforcement.
c. Verification: the students make the same sentences (probably with a teacher’s cue)
d. Application: the students make similar sentences
e. Writing: The students write the sentences they have just practiced (or similar ones). 
The teacher follows the same procedure for teaching the question form, “Did you use to” and the negative “I did not use to”.
Another procedure is to use prompts for practicing oral work followed by writing:
·               One day Mrs. Brown (go) London (lose)/ way.
·               She (see) a man/ (ask)/ way/
·               Man (open) / book (read) / phrase
·                       He (say) / sorry / I / (not speak) English
The teacher follows the same procedure described above (presentation, repetition, verification and writing).
Rule No. 7: MAKING THE STUDENTS MEMORIZE A GRAMMAR RULE IS NOT ENOUGH.
Rule No. 8: THE STUDENTS NEED THOROUGH ORAL PRACTICE FOLLOWED BY WRITTEN PRACTICE IN ORDER TO LEARN TO APPLY THE RULE.

5. Is it always appropriate to assign free writing tasks for homework?
a. Writing assignments are important to reinforce what the teacher taught in class and to develop the student’s writing skill.
b. Many students write poorly because their teachers do not assign writing tasks for homework.
c. The best way to develop the writing skill in your students is to assign writing tasks, correct the students’ papers, and ask them to rewrite the sentences that they did not write correctly.
d. We go from very controlled writing to free writing.
e. Some forms of controlled writing are:
1.                 Copying
2.                 Filling blanks
3.                 Joining sentences
4.                 Arranging words in the right order to make sentences
5.                 Arranging sentences in the right order
6.                 Matching sentence parts
7.                 Putting some elements in the sentence in their right form
8.                 Writing from prompts
9.                 Answering questions
10.               Making questions
11.               Making sentences
f.                 Some forms of free writing are:
1.                 Summarizing
2.                 Paraphrasing
3.                 Letter-writing
4.                 Writing from a table or a chart
5.                 Writing from an outline
6.                 Writing a paragraph
7.                 Writing an essay
Rule No. 9: MAKE YOUR STUDENTS PRACTICE WRITING CONSTANTLY. GO FROM CONTROLLED TO FREE WRITING.
Rule No. 10: CORRECT YOUR STUDENTS’ WRITING AND MAKE THEM LEARN FROM THEIR MISTAKES.