Teacher role

Teacher role refers to the different functions a teacher can have in a class. The role usually implies the relationship between the teacher and learner, particularly in terms of the autonomy the learner has over their learning.

ExampleFacilitator, assessor, manager and evaluator are all teacher roles.

In the classroomTeacher roles can be discussed with learners as part of learner training, along with other aspects of classes. Learners can think about what roles they prefer for their teacher, how this preference fits in with other aspects of their learning style, and why the teacher chooses each role.

http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/think/knowledge-wiki/teacher-role

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Learning English

Unit 16: What is the most important role of the English teacher?

I. Before You Read

In groups, discuss the following question: What do you think the most important role of an English teacher is? Try to agree on one role you all think is most important.

II. Reading

What is the most important role of the English teachers?

Often students think of English teachers mainly as people who know everything about English and explain it all to students. In this way of thinking, the English teacher is a "sage" - more or less like Confucius - and the main role of the teacher is to give her/his knowledge to students.

This view of English teachers is not entirely wrong; after all, English teachers do know more about English than their students do, and part of the job of English teachers is to teach students what they know about English. However, in many ways, an English teacher is more like a "coach" or a "piano teacher" than a "sage." Why?

The main reason is that learning English doesn't just involve gaining knowledge. An equally important part of learning English is developing skills, and skills can only be developed by practice. Just as a coach can't make someone a good runner just by explaining how to run, an English teacher can't make students good speakers (readers, writers, etc.) of English just by explaining English to them. Instead, like a coach, a teacher must help students learn how to practice effectively, and also encourage them to practice a lot - even when the teacher is not around.

Sometimes people criticize the traditional teaching method in China, saying it is too much like "stuffing ducks" (tian ya) (teachers stuff students with knowledge). Perhaps this metaphor can help us better understand the role of an English teacher. It is possible for a cook to stuff a duck quite nicely as long as 1) there are not too many ducks; 2) stuffing a duck doesn't take very long. However, if there are lots of ducks and not enough time, the cook can't stuff them all one by one. Instead, the cook has to provide the ducks with attractive food and train them all to feed themselves. (Of course, the ducks also still need to be alive.)

Likewise, English teachers can't just stuff students with English, one student at a time, one word at a time, one grammar structure at a time, and so forth. They also need to do three things:1) They need to make English study as interesting and attractive as possible - so that students will want to "feed" themselves.2) They need to teach students how to study English effectively - so that students will know how to feed themselves.3) They need to help students' develop their own plan for studying English, and help students keep their plans - and their interest - alive. Students need to know it is up to them to feed themselves - and not always wait for a teacher to stuff them.

Word and phrase usage

to think of (A) as (a kind of person): to consider A (a certain kind of person). Ex: Many British people think of Winston Churchill as a hero.sage: a very knowledgeable and wise person.as long as: if and only if. (Used for stating conditions). Ex: You can borrow my book as long as you return it tomorrow.one at a time: one by one. Ex: The gate was too narrow for more than one person, so we had to pass through it one at a time.

III. Comprehension Questions

What is the first possible model for the role of the English teacher mentioned in the passage?

According to the passage, why is an English teacher like a coach?

How does the passage say teaching English is like stuffing ducks?

IV. Discussion Activities

Pair/Small Group Task: "What makes a good language teacher?"In pairs or groups: 1) First list characteristics of a good language teacher. (These could be written as sentence completions: Ex: "A good teacher _______.") Brainstorm and make a long list. 2) Then decide which five of these characteristics are most important. Be prepared to share this list with the class, and explain why you feel these five characteristics are the most important.

Pair/Small Group Task: "Principles of good language teaching."Imagine that a young (inexperienced) English teacher has come to you asking for advice on how to be a good English teacher. What would you say?

In pairs or groups: 1) First make a list of tips for this young teacher. State each as a piece of advice. Ex: "You should (or should not) __________." 2) Pick the three most important, and be ready to explain to the class why you think these three are most important.

Pair/Small Group Task: "The headaches we face."What are the main problems you face in teaching English? In pairs or groups: 1) List the problems you face. 2) Decide which three problems are most important, and be ready to explain why you picked these.

Pair/Small Group Task: "New ideas about teaching"Many of the methods foreign teachers use are somewhat different from the methods Chinese teachers normally use. While some of these methods might not be very effective in a Chinese classroom, others might be.

In pairs or groups, consider the following question: As a result of being in this course, have you gained any new ideas that might be useful in your teaching in China? (These ideas do not need to be from suggestions in the book.) List any new ideas you got, and also ways in which the ideas might need to be modified for your classroom.

Other Discussion Questions:

In English classes, should only English be used?What should be done to improve English teaching in China (especially in middle

schools)?How should language teachers be trained?How should teaching practice for future language teachers be conducted?How should discipline problems in class be handled?What can teachers do to continually improve their teaching?What is the best way to motivate students?Should songs be used in English teaching? If so, how?Should games be used in English teaching? If so, how?In English teaching, which is more important - good English or teaching experience?(Foreign teacher question) How are language teachers trained in China?(Foreign teacher question) What is a traditional English lesson usually like in China?What are the strong points and weak points of this approach to language teaching?

V. English Hotline

Does my English have to be really good for me to be a good role model for my students?Obviously, for a number of reasons, it is best if English teachers have a good command of English. Teachers who have a good command of English will have more confidence to use English in class, and also have more confidence when answering students' questions. Students will also tend to have more confidence in teachers whose English is obviously good, and will tend to look up to them as role models.

However, sometimes students find it difficult to identify with teachers whose English is extremely good. While students will respect such teachers because their English is so good, students may also feel that they can never be as good as such teachers. In fact, sometimes students believe that teachers whose English is very good must have a "gift" for languages; in other words, they must have some special language learning ability that other people don't have. If students believe this, they may think that success in English learning depends mainly on having such a gift. However, a good command of English is generally achieved more through hard work than through some mysterious "gift."

So the best kind of role model for students is often a teacher who has worked hard - and continues to work hard - to learn English as well as possible. It is not essential that the teacher's English be perfect; in fact, sometimes the best role model is a teacher who has obviously had to struggle to learn English, but who has persisted and made real progress. This is the kind of role model many students can identify with, and that will encourage them to work hard in their own English study.

VI. Teaching Ideas

Show and Tell. One of the most valuable gifts English teachers can share with students is their experience in language learning, and they should spend some class time sharing their experience with students.

"Show and Tell" is a simple activity in which teachers bring something to class and then tell their students about it. Show And Tell is good for providing listening practice and arousing interest in a topic; it also serves as a good informal warm-up or as a break from "real" class. It can also be used as a way to share in class about English learning experience.

Procedure:

1) Find something you can take to class to show students as you talk about some aspect of your English study. This might be a textbook, language tapes, vocabulary flash cards, and so forth. (Of course, you can also talk about a language study method without showing students anything, but they will generally be more interested if there is something they can see.)

2) In class, show students the thing and demonstrate how you use it.

http://one.indoskripsi.com/judul-skripsi/bahasa-inggris/relationship-between-interest-learning-english-and-result-english-summa

The Relationship Between Interest in Learning English and The Result of English Summative Test of The Second Grade Students of S

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Posted June 5th, 2009 by Samudra-Sam Bahasa Inggris

abstraks: 

The ultimate of purpose of the research is explaining the relationship between Interest in Learning English as an independent variable (X) and the Result of English Summative Test as a dependent variable (Y), and the relationship is formulated in a hypothesis: “Students’ interest is related to their score of English Summative Test positively”The Interest is measured through four indicators, such as: level of attention; level of preference; level of self confidence and level of improvement activities in English,

whereas the Result of Summative English Test was available.In conclusion from the analysis by linear regression indicated that the hypothesis is accepted. And how the Interest influence to the Result of English Summative Test is explained through the equation of regression: Y = 2,30 + 0,71 X. It means: if the Interest is increasing one (1) score, the score of SummativeEnglish Test Interest is increasing 0,71. So, very important for school as an institution of education to create conditions that can raise students’ interestin English , very important for English teacher to develop students’ interest through creativity in application of learning methods too, beside to increase their English proficiency through training or advanced course.

CHAPTER IINTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study.In education, interest is very important. Effendi and Praja (1989) say that learning with interest is better than without any interest. Interest occurs when people are interested in something as it is compatible with their needs or because they feel that what they learn is important for them. In other words, if students are interested in learning English they will study it easily and seriously. By this way, their ability will be likely to increase. In contrary, if they are not interested, they will get difficulty in learning a language. Thus, the success of learning English, less or more is affected by interest. If we can argue that interest may be as determinant factor of performance variance that cannot be explained by ability variables, we can state that interest affecting to the result of English summative test as reflection of their English performance.Tim Penulis Depdikbud (1980) formulates a boundary of interest and its importance in teaching learning process. They said that interest influences the process of learning result, when a person is notinterested in learning something, the result cannot be expected to be well successful. It is assumed that the student with great interest inlearning English will be more successful, and the result will be maximal than the student with little or no interest at all. Writer would like to test the relationship between interest and English Summative Test as the argument above. In other words, writer try to answer a question - what can be said about a student’s result of English summative test in relation to his interest inlearning English ? In this case, object of research is the fourth semester students of the senior high school, specifically is SMU 8 Samarinda. That’s why, writer choose the title ofresearch as following: “The Relationship Between Interest in Learning English and The Result of English Summative Test of The Second Grade Students of SMU 8 Samarinda in 2003/2004 Academic Year.

B. Problems of the StudyBased on the background of the study mentioned above, the problems of the study are formulated as follows:1. How is the students’ interest in learning English?2. How is the summative test result of the students?3. Is there any significant relationship between students’ interest in learning English and their summative test result?”

C. Purpose of the StudyIn accordance with the problems stated above, the purposes of the study are:1. To know how the students’ interest in learning English is.2. To know how the summative test result of the student is3. To know whether there is any significant relationship between students’ interest in learning English and their summative test result.”

D. Usefulness of the StudyThis study is expected to get the result that will be useful for readers, in terms of:1. As an input data for the English teachers about the students’ interest in learning

1. English and giving information to the English teachers about the importance of the students’ interest in learning English.2. To motivate students to increase their learning interest.3. To fulfill one of the requirements of having sarjana degree from Mulawarman University in English language.4. It is hoped that this study will contribute or would be of any value to other students in conducting further research of the similar topic.5. Directly, the writer’s knowledge can be developed and broadened by investigating the topic.

E. Scope of the StudyIn order to limit the discussion of the study, the writer thinks that it is necessary to limit the scope of the study as follows:1. The population of this study is the second grade students of SMU 8 Samarinda in 2003/2004 academic year the study is limited to an internal factor of motivation only, especially on students’ interest in learning English.2. The English summative test is held for the second grade students in 2003/2004 academic year.

F. Definition of Key-TermsThe formulations of key-terms are as follows:1. Interest is preference of someone to love something, so he/she is ready to give attention and mobilizing his/her energy, ideas, time and finance which might be developed by given more stimulant. Level of interest can be expressed verbally or in real activities which relate to somethinginterested for those involved. 2. Learning is an activity that makes a relative permanent change in behavior and the behavior distinguishes the condition between before and after the individual learning.3. Summative test is a test given to determine students’ score, which is intended to give students certification or grading at the end of a unit or semester.

G. HypothesisBy assuming English Summative Test score as out-put of learning process, which it is depend on some factors, such as: ability and non ability, and Interest is one of non-ability factors.. So, we can formulate the hypothesis in thisresearch: “Interest is related to score of English Summative Test positively“

To test the hypotesis, we need formulating statistically as follows1. Ho (Null Hypothesis), which means there is no significance relationship between interest in learning English and the result of English Summative Test of SMUN 8 Samarinda in the Academic Year 2003/2004.2. Ha (Alternative Hypothesis), which means there is a significant relationship between interest in learning English and the result of English Summative Test of SMUN 8 Samarinda in the academic year 2003/2004

http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Hussin-Motivation/

Sustaining an Interest in Learning English and Increasing the Motivation to Learn English: An

Enrichment ProgramSupyan Hussin, Nooreiny Maarof, and J. V. D'Cruz

supyan [at] pkrisc.cc.ukm.my Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (Malaysia)

This paper was originally presented at The Millennium MICELT 2000, 3rd Malaysia International Conference for English Language Teaching, 15-17 May 2000, Melaka , organized by Universiti Putra Malaysia.

A persistent problem faced by many English teachers, especially the non-specialists, is the attempt to sustain genuine interest in continuing to learn English and to use the English language once the examinations are over. Teachers have to create a healthy balance between preparing students for the standardized examinations and for life-long language skills. One solution is to develop a continuous program which includes an integrated in-class and out-of-class language activities that help nurture student language skills. Within the program, an environment, which is rich with language input, is thus provided. The program requires the retraining of in-service teachers who are provided with a framework within which they can apply new techniques in language teaching. The presenters will draw upon their experience in conducting a retraining of 77 teachers in Pahang whereby an enrichment program was introduced. Feedback received from the training group supports the use of enrichment programs, which make use of on-going activities within the school English language curriculum..

Introduction

The famous proverb "Don't give your students fish, but teach them how to fish" is perhaps true in language teaching. But how do we go about teaching them the language skills so that they become more interested in learning the language? Also how do we maintain their interest in language learning when English is not seen as important for their immediate needs other than to pass the examinations?

Often, English language teachers who subscribe to the behaviorist approach to language teaching adopt the Audiolingual Method (ALM) or Direct Method which focus on forms and accuracy of the studentsâ output or performance. Thus, many teachers are found drilling the students with continuous grammatical exercises especially at the primary school level. Despite exposure to training in the communicative approach, may teachers still avoid practicing the approach because the communicative component, i.e. oral communication makes up only ten percent of the exam score on the English test. In other words, many teachers are more interested in training students how to read and write well in addition to teaching students to master the grammar component of the language.

Although the drill-and-practice approach has some advantages in language teaching, it however does not help the students to master the language in the long run. Often, we find students who become good test-takers, and yet they are not able to speak and write competently when they graduate from high schools. What is more important is that teachers realize that given an environment (in rural areas) where the English language input is limited and non-conducive to learning the target language, teachers need to find creative ways to teach the language and increase the student's motivation to learn the language and to eventually appreciate the language. Undoubtedly, possessing some knowledge about various language teaching methodologies (e.g. ALM, Direct Method, Grammar-Translation, Suggestopedia, Community language Learning, Natural Approach, Total Physical Reponses, Communicative method) is crucial, but it is more important for teachers to know what the most appropriate approach to teaching the language in that particular environment is and what activities are suitable for a given group of learners.

Based on our general observation of language teaching in schools, at least in the Maran District schools where we conducted our language teaching workshops, teachers tended to ignore the importance of such factors as positive self-concept, high self-esteem, positive attitude, clear understanding of the goals for language learning, continuous active participation in the language learning process, and the relevance of a conducive environment that could contribute to the success of language learning. In most cases, teachers are worried about how to drill the students to obtain high scores on the English paper in the national examination. The problem for many English teachers, especially the non-specialists, is how to encourage genuine interest among students to continue to learn and use the English language once the examinations are over. The question that needs to be addressed is how do teachers create a healthy balance between preparing students for the standardized examinations and for life-long language skills.

Motivation

Gardner and Lambert (1972) introduced the notions of instrumental and integrative motivation. Instrumental motivation refers to the learner's desire to learn a language for utilitarian purposes (such as employment or travel or exam purposes) in the context of language learning. On the other hand, integrative motivation refers to the desire to learn a language to integrate successfully into the target language community. In later research studies, Crookes and Schmidt (1991), and Gardner and Tremblay (1994) explored four other motivational orientations: (a) reason for learning, (b) desire to attain the learning goal, (c) positive attitude toward the learning situation, and (d) effortful behavior.

Many theorists and researchers have found that it is important to recognize the construct of motivation not as a single entity but as a multi-factorial one. Oxford and Shearin (1994) analyzed a total of 12 motivational theories or models, including those from socio-psychology, cognitive development, and socio-cultural psychology, and identified six factors that impact motivation in language learning:

Attitudes (i.e., sentiments toward the learning community and the target language) Beliefs about self (i.e., expectancies about one's attitudes to succeed, self-efficacy,

and anxiety) Goals (perceived clarity and relevance of learning goals as reasons for learning) Involvement (i.e., extent to which the learner actively and consciously participates

in the language learning process) Environmental support (i.e., extent of teacher and peer support, and the

integration of cultural and outside-of-class support into learning experience) Personal attributes (i.e., aptitude, age, sex, and previous language learning

experience)

Based on this brief discussion, we believe that teachers are able to drive the students to learn the language and to sustain studentsâ interest in language learning if they can provide activities that are:

interrelated between in-class and out-of class language activities communicative (game type) integrative (short/small activities form larger

activities) pleasant, safe and non-threatening enthusiastic group-based meaningful or relevant challenging

These activities help promote: self-confidence experiences of success

learning satisfaction good relationships among learners and between teacher and students

An Enrichment Program

Research has shown that factors such as positive learner and teacher attitudes, which are interrelated to motivation, must be sustained for successful transfer of language learning (Finocchiaro, 1982; Ngeow, 1998). To foster positive attitudes and to motivate learning, in particular, the learning of English as a Second Language, an environment conducive to learning must be created. Factors that help create such an environment include:

a learning situation that has a "low affective filter" (Krashen, 1987) whereby the learners learn to use the language in a non-threatening and fun environment. Otherwise, learners will feel uncomfortable and insecure which will further induce a "psychological barrier" to communication and learning (Littlewood, 1995)

providing various types of input which are auditory, visual, sensory, verbal and non-verbal in nature and input which is comprehensible or a little beyond the level of the learner ( i + 1)

providing a continuous and consistent exposure to the language being learned an environment where the teachers and the students are supportive and

encouraging having access to situations wherein students are able to use the language as a

"natural means of communication" (Littlewood, p. 58, 1995)

These factors should be present in any language learning program. The enrichment part of a language curriculum must encompass these factors which encourage successful transfer and learning of the target language.

A language enrichment program should not be seen as separate from the school curriculum. Instead, it needs to complement and strengthen the development of language proficiency of students in schools. Therefore, what occurs in the language classrooms must be extended beyond the walls of the classrooms so that a link is created between what is learned in the classrooms with what occurs outside of the classrooms. A healthy balance has to be created between the immediate needs of examinations and the long-term needs of communicative competence. Furthermore, within an enrichment framework other interrelated factors such as the teachersâ philosophy, theories, and experience of the language; the contemporary climate of the teaching situation (which is affected by such factors as the political, economic, and technological advances of the country); the available teaching aids and materials ; and the constant demand to prepare students for the standardized exams all play interconnected roles within the school language curriculum (See Appendix A for a diagram of the framework).

Within the enrichment program, various activities and tasks are prepared which require active participation of the learners. Some examples of such activities include:

a reading program with such tasks as writing a synopsis, journal, and compiling vocabulary lists

language immersion projects such as language camps and visits a specific day or week or month or time and space devoted to the use of the

language such as an English zone, spelling bee competition, story-telling corner, read-to-me corner, essay and drama competition, poetry reading at the general assembly, etc.

a network of people who could provide the constant input of the language such as pen pals, teacher mentors, conversation partners and so forth

These activities are supported by classroom or school environments that provide simple strategies to encourage the use of the language such as murals, labels in and around the school, consistent exposure to language competitions (choral speaking, scrabble, etc.) and English notice board (interactive in that learners can pose questions or reply to questions). All these need to be given acknowledgment and recognition in the form of rewards and encouragement (e.g. prizes, public mention, etc.) to motivate and sustain interest in the use of the language.

It should be pointed out here that the main emphasis of this enrichment program is more on the process of learning rather than the performance of learning. It is hoped that a series of language activities, in-class as well as out-of class, will lead the students to a successful language acquisition process.

A Report on Our Teacher Training Workshops

The purpose of the teacher training workshops was to exchange ideas and experience as well as update teachersâ knowledge and skills on language teaching and learning. Some teachers who have been teaching over a period of time may need to update themselves with the current teaching-learning trend. Some others, especially, the non-trained teachers, lack knowledge, skill, and experience and may still need some general exposure on effective teaching techniques that could be carried out in their schools. The training workshops, involving 77 English teachers from the Maran District, were conducted in Jengka during the school holidays. With the help of the Maran Education District Office, the teachers were selected from several schools to participate in the training workshop.

These workshops were initially meant for teachers who were not English majors and those who have taught English for less than two years. The teachers were divided into three groups: primary, lower secondary, and upper secondary. However, because there were not enough teachers who were not English majors, other English teachers were also asked to participate. Table 1 shows the academic background of the teachers and Table 2 depicts the number of years that the teachers had been teaching. A majority had taught for less than 3 years.  

Table 1: English Teachers' Academic Qualification

Academic QualificationPrimary

N=29

Lower secondary

N=23

Upper secondary

N=25

English/TESL Degree 11 15

Non-English/TESL degree with Dip. Ed. (English/TESL)

6 4

Non-English/TESL degree 6 4

English/TESL Teaching Certificate 21 2

Non-English/TESL Teaching Certificate 8

Table 2: Years of English Language Teaching Experience

YearsPrimary

N=29Lower secondary

N=23Upper secondary

N=25

1-3 16 11 14

4-6 6 4 4

7-9 2 2 1

9-11 1 2 3

More than 11 4 4 3

The three workshops, each run consecutively over three days, were fully funded by Lembaga Kemajuan Wilayah Jengka (LKWJ) or the Jengka Development Authority, a governmental body responsible for the welfare and the development of the Jengka district in Pahang. LKWJ has been working hard to raise the educational level and the economic standards of the Jengka settlers. The majority of the settlers in Jengka grow palm oil and rubber trees under the government's Federal Land Development Authority (FELDA) scheme.

Contents of the Training Workshops

The overall design of the workshop comprised three main parts.

Part One

The first part consisted of an introductory session whereby the teachers participated in a number of ice-breaking activities, and were provided with an overview of the objectives of the workshop. The purpose of the introduction session was to provide the participants with a sense of purpose and commitment and to allow an opportunity for them to get acquainted with each other. The session was necessary to ensure that all participants were comfortable and were ready to participate in the activities to be conducted. At this initial stage, the teachers were also requested to fill-in a form in which they provided information on their personal and academic background.

Part Two

The second part of the workshop consisted of a session which was designed to expose the teachers to established and current literature on the theoretical content of teaching and learning a language, in particular, content background knowledge on ESL pedagogy. The teachers were asked to answer a written survey on common terminology and concepts related to ESL teaching and learning. For instance, they were asked to put a check against words and phrases in a list that they had heard of or had encountered before or ones they thought they could explain such as "Monitor theory, ESP, ESL, Audiolingual method, i + 1, choral speaking, Piaget, interlanguage " and so forth. This activity served as an advance organizer to understand the content knowledge that was provided later in the session. A facilitator presented information and content which included an overview of the current status of English within the Malaysian context and its interrelationship with contemporary changes and advances in the political, economic and technological climate in Malaysia and in the world in general. For instance, the teachers were made aware of the role of English as a world language and its significance to Malaysia's Multimedia Super Corridor project and how as English teachers they play a crucial role in ensuring the success of the project. They were further reminded of the Malaysian National Philosophy of Education and were provided with information and problems on issues related to English language teaching. In addition, theoretical background on the various approaches and syllabi, methodology, factors affecting ESL learning and the processes of language acquisition and learning were explicated. Teachers were encouraged to discuss this in groups and then presented their views and solutions to the problems posed. A discussion of possible strategies and approaches in integrating an enrichment program within an examination-oriented curriculum were conducted before they were introduced to the suggested enrichment program framework and the theoretical underpinnings of the approach.

The teachers were later introduced to a variety of in-class activities and out-of-class activities that form part of the enrichment program. The teachers had to actually participate in each activity to help raise their awareness and foster empathy for students. A sample of the activities included:

jig-saw reading interpreting cultural bias (use of cartoon strips and a colloquial variety of English

and idioms) jig-saw listening shared journal writing song cloze and punctuation exercises using songs the use of English jokes and tasks using the different shades of meanings of words vocabulary building tasks a chain story activity a visual expression of the self (using symbols and analogies to describe teachers

and students) activity a "create an advertisement" group activity using materials found in the home

The participants carried out the activities in small groups and were later required to present some of the products of the activities to the whole group. Open discussions and comments were encouraged. At the end of the activities, the teachers were asked to reflect on the activities in which they participated and to comment on their feelings and reactions as an individual teacher and alternatively as a student. The teachers were provided with references on books and other materials to which they could refer for more creative ideas on language learning tasks and activities (for example, Gaudart's "Reaching out to Learners: Creative Ideas for Teaching English")

The teachers' participation in the activities helped make them realize that English language learning can be interesting and fun using simple and useful tasks and activities that could be incorporated within any English language lesson. The teachers were also made aware that even within an examination-oriented syllabus, such tasks and activities could be injected into the routine of "drill and practice" for the examination. Students require a break from the monotony of examination-format exercises through short, fun-filled activities which at the same time help reinforce items learned in the drill practice sessions. The in-class and out-of-class activities have to be related and continuous. For example, in practicing grammatical items in role-plays, students can be further encouraged to use the language learned in a drama or short skit presented as part of the school's teachers' day celebration. Poems created in class activities could be read at the school's general assembly.

The participants were also provided with general information about language learning and teaching such as the myths about the skills of reading and writing, what teachers think are their "persona" as a teacher, poems on being a teacher, a student and roles of an ESL teacher. The teachers devoted some time to reflect on some of the issues raised about their roles and their professional development.

Part Three

The third part of the workshop involved a series of presentations by the facilitators on guidelines and tips on how to assist students in preparation for the examinations. This session was requested by the organizers for they wanted the teachers to be further exposed to various test-taking strategies and techniques which could help the teachers manage the preparation of students for the standardized examinations. A brief session of reviewing sample examination papers and strategies in approaching the various test techniques on the papers were conducted. However, the final activity conducted was a session whereby the teachers reflected upon the ideas and concepts found within the visual representations (the drawings that showed what a teacher stands for) and symbols they had drawn in the beginning of the workshop and compared each one to the one they drew at the end of the three sessions. It was a revealing and enlightening discovery for many of them. A majority had shifted their view on the roles of teachers and students from being teacher-centered to one which is more student-centered and humanistic. Based on feedback at the end of the workshop (an evaluation form), the teachers seemed convinced to a certain extent that simple and short activities, both in-class and out-of-class, are worth attempting even within a serious exam-oriented syllabus.

Conclusion

Teaching a second language to students in rural areas remains a great challenge because performance in exams in considered more important than for other purposes. It requires not only courageous, well-determined, and committed teachers but also creative and innovative teaching techniques. Teachers have to find practical ways to motivate the students to learn and appreciate the language, and at the same time, sustain studentsâ interest in the language learning process. The framework of the enrichment program that we suggest here recognizes motivation as a crucial factor which interacts with other factors involved in language learning process. Hence, if continuous, interrelated, and meaningful activities, which are process-based rather than product-based, were implemented in schools, the dilemma between training the students to score high in the examination and teaching life-long language skills can be resolved. The enrichment program must exist within any exam-oriented school curriculum in order to maintain studentsâ motivation and interest in learning ESL in Malaysia schools.

References

Crookes, G., & Schmidt, R. W. (1991). Motivation: Reopening the Research Agenda. Language Learning, 41, 469-512. [EJ 435 997]

Finocchiaro, M. (1982). Motivation: Its Crucial Role in Language Learning. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 223 3085).

Gardner, R. C., & Lambert, W. E. (1972). Attitudes and Motivation in Second-Language Learning. Rowley, Mass.: Newbury House Publishers.

Gardner, R. C., & Tremblay, P.F. (1994). On Motivation, Research Agendas, and Theoretical Frameworks. Modern Language Journal, 78, 359-368. [EJ 497 731]

Gaudart, H. (1997). Reaching Out to Learners: Creative Ideas for Teaching English. Shah Alam: Fajar Bakti.

Krashen, S.D. (1987). Principles and Practice in Second Language Acquisition. New York: Prentice-Hall.

Littlewood, W. (1995). Foreign and Second Language Learning. Cambridge:CUP. Ngeow, Karen Yeok-Hwa. (1998). Motivation and Transfer in Language

Learning. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 427 318). Oxford, R., & Shearin, J. (1994). Language Learning Motivation: Expanding the

Theoretical Framework. Modern Language Journal, 78, 12-28.

Appendix A

Framework for an Language Enrichment Program