Back in my school days, English was my favorite subject and my academic performance in it was always better than other subjects. I had great confidence in my English proficiency, which made me choose English language and literature as my major in college. However, I faced a big challenge in college, because I had difficulty communicating with my native English professor. I realized that I was good at only grammar and reading in English. That is, I had lots of knowledge, but I could not put that knowledge into practical use. Through my experience as a language learner, I realized that the role of a language teacher is not to transmit knowledge but to provide a learning environment where students can construct their own knowledge and put that knowledge into practical use in real life situations.

 

  My Philosophy in language teaching is mainly based on Vygotsky’s theory (1987), which suggests that language learning should be socially constructed. Thus, language teachers should provide collaborative activities in which active interactions among learners can occur. The ultimate goal of my teaching is that my students can develop their communicative language competence by participating in the task based activities and interacting with each other. In the process of interaction in collaborative activities, students not only have opportunities to learn how to use language from each other but also practice language that is eventually applicable in real world situations.

 

  In this kind of task-based collaborative activity class, the role of an effective language teacher in my belief is a facilitator. First of all, I believe that the facilitator should provide appropriate scaffolding, which plays a crucial role in the zone of proximal development (Vygotsky, 1978). When learners actively engage in the interactions with the teachers, they can learn what they don’t know from the scaffolding teachers offer. Another important role of a facilitator is to provide appropriate feedback, whether it is direct or indirect. I noticed that my students were highly motivated when I gave them written feedback in their extensive reading logs. Many of them told me that error corrections as well as encouragements made them feel that they were learning something and thereby it motivated them to participate more in the class activities.

 

  Finally, I believe that teachers should make their classes exciting and enjoyable, because it can generate students’ active participation, which is one of the crucial factors in learning. Providing various activities tailored to learners’ learning styles can be a good way to generate students’ interest for learning, because each student has a different learning style. Some are visual or auditory learners, and others can learn better through physical activity. Thus, teachers should have an understanding of learners’ learning styles and expose them to various learning situations, where they can enjoy and develop their own learning. That is, a teacher needs to design the class which provides a variety of activities so that each student with different talents and interests can participate actively.

 

  In conclusion, though the best qualifications of a good language teacher entail a high level of professionalism based on understanding the process of language learning, I believe that the role of a teacher should be a facilitator in the student-centered classroom, not a transmitter of language knowledge, so that students can construct their own knowledge, which can be applicable in real world situations. Therefore, their job in the classroom is to guide students to be on the right track and to provide proper feedback and scaffolding while they are doing their tasks. Lastly but not least importantly, providing a learning environment in which students can enjoy is another important role of a teacher, because students can learn better when the class is exciting and they have a lot of fun.

 

  Reference

 Vygotsky, Lev S. 1978. Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes.       Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

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