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The 10 Commandments Of Language Teaching
The 10
CommandmentsOf
Language Teaching
LEARNER'S VERSION
*Go with your hunches*Dive in
*Get the BIG picture*Believe in yourself
*Fear not!*Love thy neighbor
*Seize the day*Cope with the
chaos*Set your own goals*Mistakes help us
TEACHER'S VERSION
I. Lower inhibitions2. Encourage risk-
taking3. Build self-confidence
4. Develop intrinsic motivation.5. Engage in
cooperative learning6. Use right-brain
processes7. Promote ambiguity
tolerance8. Practice intuition
9. Process error feedback
10.Set personal goals
CAN YOU MATCH THE TEACHER’S
COMMANDMENT WITH THE LEARNER’S
COMMANDMENT?
*Go with your hunches *Get the BIG picture *Dive in
*Fear not! *Love thy neighbor *Seize the day
*Cope with the chaos *Set your own goals
*Mistakes help us *Believe in yourself1. LOWER
INHIBITIONS
*Go with your hunches *Get the BIG picture *Dive in
*Fear not! *Love thy neighbor *Seize the day
*Cope with the chaos *Set your own goals
*Mistakes help us *Believe in yourself2. ENCOURAGE
RISK TAKING.
*Go with your hunches *Get the BIG picture *Dive in
*Fear not! *Love thy neighbor *Seize the day
*Cope with the chaos *Set your own goals
*Mistakes help us *Believe in yourself3. BUILD
SELF-CONFIDENCE
*Go with your hunches *Get the BIG picture *Dive in
*Fear not! *Love thy neighbor *Seize the day
*Cope with the chaos *Set your own goals
*Mistakes help us *Believe in yourself4. DEVELOP
INTRINSIC MOTIVATION
*Go with your hunches *Get the BIG picture *Dive in
*Fear not! *Love thy neighbor *Seize the day
*Cope with the chaos *Set your own goals
*Mistakes help us *Believe in yourself5. ENGAGE IN
COOPERATIVE LEARNING
*Go with your hunches *Get the BIG picture *Dive in
*Fear not! *Love thy neighbor *Seize the day
*Cope with the chaos *Set your own goals
*Mistakes help us *Believe in yourself6. USE RIGHT
BRAIN PROCESSES
*Go with your hunches *Get the BIG picture *Dive in
*Fear not! *Love thy neighbor *Seize the day
*Cope with the chaos *Set your own goals
*Mistakes help us *Believe in yourself7. PROMOTE
AMBIGUITY TOLERANCE
*Go with your hunches *Get the BIG picture *Dive in
*Fear not! *Love thy neighbor *Seize the day
*Cope with the chaos *Set your own goals
*Mistakes help us *Believe in yourself8. PRACTICE
INTUITION
*Go with your hunches *Get the BIG picture *Dive in
*Fear not! *Love thy neighbor *Seize the day
*Cope with the chaos *Set your own goals
*Mistakes help us *Believe in yourself9. PROCESS ERROR
FEEDBACK.
*Go with your hunches *Get the BIG picture *Dive in
*Fear not! *Love thy neighbor *Seize the day
*Cope with the chaos *Set your own goals
*Mistakes help us *Believe in yourself10. SET PERSONAL
GOALS!
*Go with your hunches *Get the BIG picture *Dive in
*Fear not! *Love thy neighbor *Seize the day
*Cope with the chaos *Set your own goals
*Mistakes help us *Believe in yourself
1. Lower inhibitions
LEARNER'S VERSION
*Fear not!*Dive in
*Believe in yourself*Seize the day
*Love thy neighbor*Get the BIG picture
*Cope with the chaos
*Go with your hunches
*Mistakes help us.
*Set your own goals
TEACHER'S VERSION
I. Lower inhibitions2. Encourage risk-
taking3. Build self-confidence
4. Develop intrinsic motivation.5. Engage in
cooperative learning6. Use right-brain
processes7. Promote ambiguity
tolerance8. Practice intuition
9. Process error feedback
10.Set personal goals
The Future’s Predicate
(process over product)
Know less to
understand more!
Pascal’s Teaching Gambit
We don’t know what the END is. So we should enjoy the process. Teach students to be happy and you will be too!
References
H.D. Brown, (2000) 'Principles of Language Learning and Teaching‘, New York; Longman
http://eflclassroom.ning.com
