Webinar presented on September 12, 2014 via WizIQ on the thorny issue of a teacher's knowledge of English.

1. The elephant in the room
The (taboo) question of a teacher’s English
Higor Cavalcante – September 12, 2014 - Webinar

2. Claims
• Teachers of English need to study a lot of English.
• They don’t.
• Therefore, the overall language level of Brazilian teachers is very low.
• ELT ignores this.
• Authors ignore this.
• Schools ignore this.
• Teachers ignore this.
• Native-speaking teachers thrive. Students tend to prefer them.

3. By the end of this talk, we’ll hopefully have
• …discussed the unproblematized area of a teacher’s language skills;
• …why the area is unproblematized;
• …examples of the ‘elephant in the room’;
• …the very little that is done;
• …what should be done by ELT;
• …what can (and should) be done by teachers;
• …what I’m doing and intend to do next.

4. A quote to set us off
“(…) among the consequences of (…) a limited knowledge of language
are: a failure on the part of the teacher to anticipate learners’ learning
problems and a consequent inability to plan lessons that are pitched at
the right level; (…) an inability to deal satisfactorily with errors, or to
field learners’ queries; and a general failure to earn the confidence of
the learners due to a lack of basic terminology and ability to present
new language clearly and efficiently.”
Thornbury, S. (1997)

5. How about another one?
• “…People who are going to work with the language at an advanced
level as teachers or researchers need the deeper understanding
provided by the study of grammatical theory and related areas of
linguistics.”
Roach, P. (2007)

6. Just one more
“ (…)teachers need to know a lot about the subject they are teaching
(the English language). (…) Language teachers need to know how the
language works. (…) a knowledge of the grammar system and
understanding of the lexical system. (…) They need to be aware of
pronunciation features such as sounds, stress and intonation. He also
says students have a right to expect that teachers of the English
language can explain straightforward grammar concepts, including
how and when they are used. They expect their teachers to know the
difference between the colloquial language that people use in informal
conversation and the more formal language required in more formal
settings.”
Harmer, J. (2007)

7. Ten things you might be saying wrong
• 1. Open your books on page 20.
• 2. OK! Time’s over!
• 3. Do you want me to explain you the rule again?
• 4. Pay attention in the example.
• 5. Ask question four to Raul, please.
• 6. Today we’re going to discuss about politics.
• 7. These are slangs.
• 8. I gave you a homework last class, didn’t I?
• 9. Are you with your students’ book?
• 10. Does anyone have any doubts?
From www.luizotaviobarros.com

8. That’s not it!
• Some of the challenges of instructional discourse are pitching the
language at the right level, reducing teacher talking time to an
appropriate amount, setting and checking instructions effectively etc.
This is what CELTA & ICELT cover in their language component.
Instructional discourse presents itself as a problem for native and
non-native teachers still and all.
The point [I’m trying to make] is that LDT also refers to teachers’
communicative competence, which is their grammatical knowledge of
syntax, morphology, phonology and the like, as well as social
knowledge about how and when to use utterances appropriately. And
here, yes, I insist that there is very little out there.
• Moura, H. - CELTA tutor (personal communication)

9. That’s not it!
• “As someone who's had his hand "dabbling" in the business of hiring
and training teachers, I honestly have to confess that the number one
issue I faced when hiring a teacher was lack of command of the
language. This is, in IMHO, the foundation upon which TD rests. You
can't possibly reach a certain level in the profession unless you
develop your language. Period! It doesn't matter how knowledgeable
you may be in issues such as methodology, techniques and resources
- if you haven't got the content knowledge in your area, you won't be
able to teach at a certain level.”
(personal communication)

10. So what is it?
• What must teachers study?
• Grammar (how to use, describe and name it)
• Vocabulary (use, register, pronunciation, frequency)
• Phonology (individual sounds – phonemes –, intonation, stress in
words and sentences, connected speech)
• Discourse (how language is used, appropriacy)
• Cultural aspects of the language
• ‘Methodology(ies) and techniques

11. A simple question
Facebook post, April 15: I've just heard a journalist on BBC say 'Police
stations have been being seized...'. How does that sound to you?
http://www.screencast.com/users/HigorCavalcante/folders/Jing/media
/c4aecfdc-288f-4165-b6ff-08ab262178b8

12. A simple question: answers
‘Awful’
‘Wasn’t he stuttering?’
‘Native speakers don’t mis-speak?’
‘It is so embarrassing when supposedly educated people can't even
speak or fathom the language’
‘Wait a minute... if we can say "stations are being seized", why not
"stations have been being seized"... How else would you say exactly the
same thing, if it started in the past and is still going on as we speak? I'm
not a fan of normative grammar, but prefer a corpus-based, descriptive
approach. Still sounds clumsy though!’

13. A simple question: answers
‘Why do people suppose that us native speakers get it right all the
time? He made a mistake, his focus was probably on describing what
was happening rather than how he expressed this. It was a news item
not an English lesson.’
‘Nice slip of the tongue. Unfortunately, present perfect continuous in
the passive doesn't exist.’
‘Higor, let me know if u can see this page:
http://books.google.com.br/books?id=bZM2AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA169...
it explains what's going on here perfectly.’

14. Grammar
• Is it possible to use will in the if-clause of a conditional sentence? E.g.
If you will…, I will….
• Is using could or be able to for ability in the past interchangeable?
• What’s the difference between who and whom?
• Do we always put the verb one stage back when using reported
speech?
• I recommend she be promoted. Is this correct?
• What’s inversion? Non-finite clauses? When can you omit the relative
pronoun in a relative clause? etc.

15. Phonology
• “Pronunciation can be an overlooked area of language teaching,
partly because teachers themselves may feel more uncertain about it
than about grammar or lexis, worried that they don’t have enough
technical knowledge to help students appropriately. However, when
teachers take the risk, they are often surprised to find that it makes
for very enjoyable and useful classroom work.”
Scrivener, J. (1994)

16. Phonology
• As you listen to Jason Mraz’s song, consider what happens to the
parts in bold in the lyrics.
• People get ready, get ready (elision)
• ‘Cause here it comes (elision)
• A beautiful light (linking)
• She told me (elision)
• …do it right… (intrusion - /w/)
• You can always… (linking)

17. Phonology
• We’ve come a long way to belong here (linking, flap, elision)
• Just know…(elision)
• Every road is a slippery slope (flap, linking, linking)
• …a hand that you can hold on to (assimilation)
• …inside of you (linking, vowel reduction)
• …get back home…

18. Phonology
• What are the sounds /θ/ and /ð/. How are they different?
• How do you pronounce the regular verbs in the past?
• How do you pronounce the ‘s’ in plural words, third person singular
and genitive case?
• How do you count syllables in English?
• Are there rules for word stress?
• What’s sentence stress? What’s unstress?
• How does intonation work in English?

19. Vocabulary
• What’s collocation? Idiom? Phrasal verb?
• I’ll give you a broad/wide summary of this talk now.
• If you have any questions, please rise/raise your hand.
• She was caught red/yellow-handed stealing the test key.
• If she carries on/up like this, she’ll end/wind up in prison.
• Your proposal is bad.
• (appalling, dismal, ludicrous, absurd, pathetic)

20. Studying language
• Curiosity and interest
• Vast and varied reading
• Exposure to native(-like)/proficient English
• Organization and focus
• Research
• Vast and varied reading

21. Studying language
• Have a vocabulary notebook
• Read books, articles, news, blogs, recipes, graffiti…
• Watch series, movies, TV programs… Get hooked on www.ted.com
• Set a time to study every day/few days/week. Decide what you want
to study every time (grammar, vocabulary, phonology etc.)
• Google
• Read varied genres; read a little EVERY day. Always.

22. Anti-World Cup protests hit São Paulo and Rio
(BBC, May 15, 2014)
• “Riot police in Brazil have fired tear gas to disperse thousands of
protesters in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro who marched against the
cost of hosting the football World Cup.”
• “Last June, more than a million people took to the street over poor
public services, corruption and the high cost of hosting the World
Cup. The tournament is due to kick off on 12 June.”
• “The planned protests coincide with a range of strikes, including one
by the police force in the north-eastern state of Pernambuco. The
army was deployed there to provide additional support after some
robberies and looting, before the strike ended on its third day.”

23. Why unproblematized?
• “…the feeling is, perhaps, that non-native speaker teachers should
need no special treatment, and to offer it might be seen as insulting."
– a famous ELT writer, via email (April 30, 2013).
• "I think the sad reality is though that for a very large number of the
world's teachers their English is barely above A2! B1 to be generous."
– a famous course book writer, via Facebook (April 30, 2013).
• “It’s an important topic, but a very sensitive one (…) affect teachers’
self-esteem badly. (…) I think non-native speaker language teachers
ideally should have a certain level on IELTS or TOEFL or Cambridge
exams, etc. (…)
– a famous course book writer, via Facebook (May 7, 2014).

24. My opinion
• It’s too important an issue to overlook;
• We owe it to ourselves;
• We owe it to our students;
• It’s at the very least as important as everything else.
• Book
• Research (interviews, surveys etc.)

25. Thank you!

26. Bibliography / e-references
• About Language, Scott Thornbury
• The Practice of English Language Teaching, Jeremy Harmer
• How to Teach Grammar, Scott Thornbury
• How to Teach Vocabulary, Scott Thornbury
• English Phonetics and Phonology, Peter Roach
• How to Teach Pronunciation, Gerald Kelly
• www.luizotaviobarros.com
• www.bbc.co.uk

27. Contact information
• higor@higorcavalcante.com
• Twitter/Skype: teacherhigor
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/higorcavalcante