TOGETHERNESS in ELT
But with Less Teacher Talk Time
and More Student Talk Time
Fenel Pierre
TESOL 2016
Aim
I. Encourage Teachers to self-assess
their TTT
II. Present useful activities to reduce
TTT and consequently increase
STT
"Teaching must be subordinated to learning." Caleb Gattegno
I
Encourage T to self-assess their TTT
"Teaching must be subordinated to learning." Caleb Gattegno
Introduction: Things in Common
1. Find someone you haven’t met before.
2. Introduce yourselves.
3. Find at least three non-obvious things you
have in common.
4. Share with another couple.
"Teaching must be subordinated to learning." Caleb Gattegno
Chorus
"Teaching must be subordinated to learning." Caleb Gattegno
The more we get together, together, together;
The more we get together, the happier we’ll be.
For your friends are my friends;
And my friends are your friends;
The more we get together, the happier we’ll be.
Preliminary definitions
TTT refers to the amount of time which teachers
instruct, lecture, manage or/and organize the
lesson (Nilton, 2005), roughly from 20% to 30%
of the class time to provide comprehensive
input (Krashen, S (1981).
STT refers to the amount of time students use
while in classroom interaction (Darn, 2007),
roughly about 70% to 80% during the course of
the lesson to provide output."Teaching must be subordinated to learning." Caleb Gattegno
1. Students’ opportunities to speak in class should be maximized to help them
develop speaking in English.
2. Students must be given ample opportunities to communicate, with as much
teacher intervention as possible.
3. Whenever a student can say something, the teacher should interfere or
intervene by talking.
4. Neither the teacher nor any one student should monopolize talking time in
class.
5. Teachers must give students sufficient time to formulate their ideas in order
for them to sufficiently elaborate.
6. The teacher should answer his or her own questions.
7. Classroom techniques like personalization and student-to-student questions
are not useful to maximize student STT.
From ICPNA’s Teachers’ Guide: Concepts, Practices &Techniques
"Teaching must be subordinated to learning." Caleb Gattegno
Task 1: True / False (Handout)
Data collection & analysis
Proportion of TTT VS STT
Nb of Ts’ words % Nb of Ss’ words % Total Nb words %
Teacher 1 3144 (86.4 %) 496 (13.6%) 3640 (100%)
Teacher 2 6034 (91.1 %) 590 (8.9%) 6624 (100%)
Teacher 3 4141 (89.5%) 487 (10.5%) 4628 (100%)
Teacher 4 2994 (60.4%) 1966 (39.6%) 4960 (100%)
Teacher 5 3226 (87.7%) 452 (12.3%) 3678 (100%)
Teacher 6 3130 (85.9 %) 514 (14.4%) 3644 (100%)
Average 3778.2 (83.4%) 758.8 (16.6%) 4529 (100%)
"Teaching must be subordinated to learning." Caleb Gattegno
"Teaching must be subordinated to learning." Caleb Gattegno
ZZZZZZ ????
Europa
Copa
BLA, BLA, BLA,
BLA BLA, BLA
• Who is doing the talking?
• What are the students doing?
• Do they seem engaged/
motivated/?
• Will they end up speaking the
target language? Why or Why
not?
"Teaching must be subordinated to learning." Caleb Gattegno
Task 2: Think – Pair – Share
Copa
????
Europa
ZZZZZZ
Behaviors/Techniques Conducive to
Excessive Teacher Talk Time (TTT)
See Handout
"Teaching must be subordinated to learning." Caleb Gattegno
Reasons to reduce TTT
1. It minimizes STT
2. It bores the Ss (BLA, BLA, BLA)
3. It concentrates on grammar rule,
vocabulary and feedback
4. It makes the learner passive
5. It discourages interaction
6. It minimizes SS’s learning autonomy
(Darn, 2007)
"Teaching must be subordinated to learning." Caleb Gattegno
II.
Useful activities to reduce TTT
and consequently increase STT
"Teaching must be subordinated to learning." Caleb Gattegno
What the experts say
According to second language acquisition
theories, both teacher and students should
participate in language classes actively.
Research (…) show that teachers need to
pay attention to the amount and type of
talking they do, and to evaluate its
effectiveness in the light of their pedagogical
objectives.” (Nunan, D. 1991: 198)
"Teaching must be subordinated to learning." Caleb Gattegno
Scenario: Imagine you have just come out
of teaching an English class, where you
subordinated teaching to learning.
What did you hear, see, feel, etc., in terms
of actual events?
Think – Pair - Share
"Teaching must be subordinated to learning." Caleb Gattegno
Some characteristics
• The students appeared to be motivated.
• They (not the teacher) were talking in
English the whole time.
• Participation was fairly evenly distributed.
• They were having fun and enjoying
themselves
"Teaching must be subordinated to learning." Caleb Gattegno
Activities / Techniques / Tasks
that can help reduce TTT and
increase STT
"Teaching must be subordinated to learning." Caleb Gattegno
I. Activities based on tasks
II. Activities based on game-like processes
III. Activities using the learning circle
IV. Activities based on prepared texts
V. Activities based on presentations
"Teaching must be subordinated to learning." Caleb Gattegno
Sample activities based on tasks
1. Find and list the differences between two
pictures or texts
2. Create a story
3. Decide on the solution to a problem
4. Plan an event
5. Debate: Decide whether a group agrees
or disagrees with a controversial
statement
"Teaching must be subordinated to learning." Caleb Gattegno
6. Don’t say yes or no
7. Dialogues
8. Reader’s theater (See Handout)
9. Jazz chants
10. A book / movie review
"Teaching must be subordinated to learning." Caleb Gattegno
Sample activities based on tasks
Things to consider
1. Include ‘speaking lots of English’ as part of the task.
2. Share with them the importance of keeping to English.
3. Let Ss know they can succeed
4. Provide a good learning environment where Ss feel
comfortable with the people they are speaking to.
5. Make the activities interesting and fun to do.
6. Make the demands of the speaking task well within the Ss’
ability.
7. Let Ss know their speech will be well received
8. Appoint monitors.
9. Include assessment of amount of English spoken as part of
feedback session.
"Teaching must be subordinated to learning." Caleb Gattegno
Picture 1
"Teaching must be subordinated to learning." Caleb Gattegno
Picture 2
"Teaching must be subordinated to learning." Caleb Gattegno
"Teaching must be subordinated to learning." Caleb Gattegno
Task 3: Find and list the differences
between these two pictures
Why was it fun?
A game-like challenge, involving
• a task which has clear, achievable goal with tangible result
Also:
Open-ended
Full participation
Success-orientation
"Teaching must be subordinated to learning." Caleb Gattegno
Strategies to Reduce (TTT) and
Increase Student Talk Time (STT)
Do’s and Don’t’s
See Handout
"Teaching must be subordinated to learning." Caleb Gattegno
Task 4: Here are 10 qualities of a great teacher.
Put them in order of importance, through group
consensus (no voting!) (See Handout)
• Set high expectations
for all Ss to succeed
• Challenge Ss’ abilities
• Sense of humor
• Passion for teaching
and respect for students
• Leadership Skills
• Warm & enthusiastic
• In-depth Content
knowledge
• Lack of clear learning
objectives
• Ability to make subject
interesting
• Creative
"Teaching must be subordinated to learning." Caleb Gattegno
"Teaching must be subordinated to learning." Caleb Gattegno
# 4: Use the Learning Circle
"Teaching must be subordinated to learning." Caleb Gattegno
# 4: Use the Learning Circle
• There is no head
• No one can hide
• Everyone listens, leads, supports
• Everyone is accountable
Three questions to consider
1. Should the Teacher interrupt to correct
when a student is speaking?
• Hinders fluency, which is the main aim of
the activity
• May disturb and discourage the student
"Teaching must be subordinated to learning." Caleb Gattegno
2. How can I stop students lapsing into
L1?
• If they speak L1 here and there, it’s not a
disaster.
• If they speak English at least 75% of the
time – that’s success!
"Teaching must be subordinated to learning." Caleb Gattegno
Three questions to consider
3. What are some of Ss’ reactions
when they are in charge? YEAH?
• “It looks like the T is never prepared; s/he
hardly explains.
• “I paid my tuition to be taught.”
• “The students do all the work; the T gets
all the money.”
"Teaching must be subordinated to learning." Caleb Gattegno
Three questions to consider
1. Students’ opportunities to speak in class should be maximized to help them
develop speaking in English. (T)
2. Students must be given ample opportunities to communicate, with as much
teacher intervention as possible. (F)
3. Whenever a student can say something, the teacher should interfere or
intervene by talking. (F)
4. Neither the teacher nor any one student should monopolize talking time in
class. (T)
5. Teachers must give students sufficient time to formulate their ideas in order
for them to sufficiently elaborate. (T)
6. The teacher should answer his or her own questions. (F)
7. Classroom techniques like personalization and student-to-student questions
are not useful to maximize student STT. (F)
From ICPNA’s Teachers’ Guide: Concepts, Practices &Techniques
"Teaching must be subordinated to learning." Caleb Gattegno
Task 1: True / False
Conclusion & Recommendations
In communicative EFL classes, we need to
reduce our TTT to 20 to 30% and increase STT
to 70 to 80% of the class time. We need to
provide ample talking time to our students using
structured group work and pair work; and using
different strategies such as providing brain
storming activities, peer evaluation and
feedback.
"Teaching must be subordinated to learning." Caleb Gattegno
THANK YOU
"Teaching must be subordinated to learning." Caleb Gattegno
????????????
https://www.linkedin.com/in/fenel-pierre-
aa034841
References
Bailey, K. M., & Savage, L. (Eds.) (2006) New ways in teaching speaking. TESOL.
Caleb Gattegno, 1976. Freeing the Students, from The Common Sense of Teaching
Foreign Languages. Pp. 1-14. 1976.
Caleb Gattegno, 1970. Excerpt from What We Owe Children: The Subordination of
teaching to Learning. Pp. 115-121
Cook, G. (2000). Language Play, Language Learning. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Darn, S. (2007). Teacher Talk Time. “ Teaching English British Council and BBC.
http://www.teacingenglish.org.ok/think/articles/teacher-talk-time
De Jong, N., & Perfetti, C. A. (2011). Fluency Training in the ESL Classroom: An
Experimental Study of Fluency Development and Proceduralization. Language Learning,
61(2), 533-568
Folse, K. S. (1993…)Talk a lot / Discussion Starters / First discussion starters. University of
Michigan Press.
Graham, C. (2006). Creating chants and songs. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Harmer, P. (2005). How and when should teachers correct? Research News: The
Newsletter of the IATEFL REsearch SIG, 15, 38-39.
.
."Teaching must be subordinated to learning." Caleb Gattegno
References.
Klippel, F. (1985). Keep talking. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Krashen, S (1981). Second language acquisition and second language learning.
Oxford: Pergamon Press.
Nilton, H. (2005). Teacher Talking Time in the EFL classroom. Profile issues in Teachers’
Professional Development (6) pp97-106 Columbia: Universidad
Nacional de Columbia. Retrieved from:
http://redalyc.uaemex.mx/src/inicio/ArtPdfRed.jsp?iCve=169213801009v
Nunan, D. (1989). Understanding Language Classroom. New York: Prentice Hall.
Nunan, D. (1991). Language teaching methodology: A textbook for teachers.
Pica, T. (2000). Tradition and transition in English language teaching. System, 28 (1), 1-18
Pierre, F. Peer Interaction in the Haitian Public School Context, M.A.T. School for
International Training, 2005
Rossiter, M. J., Derwing, T. M., Manimtim, L. G., & Thomson, R. I. (2010). Oral
Fluency: The Neglected Component in the Communicative Language Classroom.
Canadian Modern Language Review, 66(4), 583-606.
Ur, P. (forthcoming) Discussions and more. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
"Teaching must be subordinated to learning." Caleb Gattegno
Chorus
"Teaching must be subordinated to learning." Caleb Gattegno
The more we get together, together, together;
The more we get together, the happier we’ll be.
For your friends are my friends;
And my friends are your friends;
The more we get together, the happier we’ll be.