The end of an era... or two!

The end of an era is upon us!

And no, I'm not JUST talking about the end of the third season of Game of Thrones! I'm also referring to the final post by Scott Thornbury on his brilliant ELT blog, An A-Z of ELT.

In 'The End', bringing to a conclusion an alphabetical reflection on key issues in our profession (as teachers of English as a foreign language) and more generally about language learning itself, Scott presents a few telling quotes from the 7000+ comments which have been posted on his blog since it began, three years ago.

In this post, I'm going to select just one of these (for now!) and look at it from a personal perspective, whilst drawing on a very tenuous Game of Thrones analogy or two! I hope you find this reflection both interesting and useful.

First of all, then... this is what has been said under the topic "T is for Teacher Development":

"Creating the sense of 'feeling at home', i.e. creating a dynamic whereby students feel unthreatened and at ease with one another and with you, is one of the most important things that a teacher can do".

Whilst few can argue with this, of course, I do think it's worth delving a little more deeply into what the implications of this are for the teacher, and for the student.

What does it mean for a learner of English to 'feel at home'? Well, as Scott himself immediately qualifies, part of it is the creation of an unthreatening environment (in the classroom) and good rapport amongst students and with the teacher. This is all very well for the classroom, and something we all strive for and succeed with, I dare say, to varying degrees... yet the real challenge is to extend that feeling of confidence and comfort beyond the boundaries of the classroom and into the interactions that our learners may have with strange (as in unfamiliar.. but also, yes.. strange!) foreigners visiting Brazil; namely, the people they will need to interact with in English in real life, removed from the context of the classroom.... let's call them the White Walkers, if you will!

I'm sure we've all had the experience of rehearsing phrases and words in a foreign language, perhaps on a journey in a foreign land, or if we're about to meet somebody we know is from another country and doesn't speak our L1 (or L2!).. only to find that when our familiar surroundings are removed and the easy,  close relationship we have with peers, teachers, family and friends is not there (i.e. upon meeting somebody for the first time in a professional capacity)... everything we so carefully planned to say can be forgotten! Or worse... we simply freeze up and 'draw a blank'.

This is common enough for our students even WITHIN their comfort zone in the classroom, so we need only imagine how challenging it must be 'out in the cold'... almost as if they've left behind the warmth of any fire and stepped, say, beyond the North Wall of Westeros!!

One possible solution to this problem is to encourage learners to reach out and make contact with these mysterious creatures from beyond the wall (of the classroom)... a.k.a. internet users!!!! It is both simple and cheap (that is, free!) for learners to connect with speakers of English using tools such as Pinterest, Instagram, Flickr, Tumblr, Facebook, Skype, Twitter and a whole host of other resources, too numerous to mention here. What these tools all have in common is their capacity to place our students in direct contact (through wallposts, tweets, comments and chats etc) with proficient users of English from OUTSIDE Brazil. In this way, Ss gain confidence in using their language skills for real life communication  not just with their classmates and teachers (with whom they feel quite comfortable thank you very much), but also with that most feared of magical creatures... the foreigner!

In case you do feel tempted to experiment with some of these tools to enable/encourage your students to reach out 'beyond the wall', here is a shield of tools, fit for any Ser (or Lady) who thinks they might just have a claim to some of the power commanded by that Iron Throne of communication in English!