EDITORIAL

THE IMPORTANCE OF CLASSROOM ATMOSPHERE

One of the most .important factors to consider in mak- ing teaching effective is classroom atmosphere. This is especially important in classes dealing with the teaching of foreign languages. Unless the student feels verymuch at home with his teacher and with his fellow students, he will not be able to achieve the freedom necessary for learning to produce sounds that are strange to him. This freedom cannot be attained if there is any sense of strain or tension either among the students or between the student and the teacher.

To achieve this free and wholesome atmosphere it is necessary for the teacher to maintain an air of cheerfulness and good humor throughout the class; to give each student a feeling of satisfaction in attaining some goal, however small, during each class hour; to prevent the student from being embarrassed in any way; to be as patient as possible with the student’s mistakes; to encourage those who are having great difficulty and to avoid controversial discussions which involve personal or subjective opinions (e.g. anything arising out of a disagreeable or deprecating reference to a person’s cultural or linguistic problems).

A feeling of security is essential to attaining optimum results in the classroom. This can be partially ensured by a definite routine in procedure - a routine which is varied enough to prevent monotony, but similar enough each day so that the student will have a general idea of what to expect of the teacher and what the teacher will expect of him. An example of this is found in the manner of recitation. By a simple gesture or by some signal the students should know that they are to recite in unison or individually. This will prevent a student from being embarrassed by blurting out an utterance in a loud voice when everyone else is silent and listening to another student’s recitation.

Imitation of the teacher (even to an exaggerated de- gree at first) is essential in striving for an acceptable pro- nunciation of a foreign language. The student tends to be self-conscious if he is not completely at ease. If the class- room atmomhere is one of congeniality and freedom the stu-

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dent will And it easier to imitate and exaggerate the sounds which seem peculiar to him. Strain or an ill-at-ease feeling prevents development of the flexibility which is essential in learning new patterns of structure and sound.

If the teacher can recognize an agitated state of mind it is better not to ask the student to repeat an utterance several times. Many students can be corrected time and again without embarrassing them, but others must be handled carefully. Age and professional position seem to be directly correlated to this point of diminishing returns. The older and more educated a person is, the more careful a teacher must be to observe signs of self-consciousness.

Individual differences must also be considered in con- nection with imitative ability. To hold all students respon- sible for the same standard is an impossibility in something a s unpredictable as imitative ability. Some find it very easy to make peculiar sounds; others find it difficult. Some can throw themselves into the experience of language learning and forget their self-restraint or pride; others find this dif- ficult and often impossible. The teacher, in each case, needs to discover the utmost capacity of the student in this regard and hold the student responsible for that capacity. This will provide a goal for each individual which wi l l not be beyond his reach.

How exacting should a teacher be in the matter of oral production? How much accuracy should a teacher demand? The decision is easy to make for a word. We can demand high standards for as short an utterance as a word or a sentence containing relatively few difficulties, but in a longer and more complex utterance the student may find complete accuracy toa difficult to achieve. Over-correction may dis- courage the student and interruption of recitation sometimes disturbs him. It is better therefore to concentrate on the correction of a limited number of items at a time until the student can master them, and then add more until he finally reaches a state of near perfection in the whole utterance. It is better also, to wait until the student has finished his utterance, then correct it, and ask him to repeat it. In some cases a few words of encouragement prove an effec- tive stimulus even though the student has not achieved any- where near the accuracy the teacher might desire.

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The ultimate success of the student in learning a foreign language depends a great deal upon the teacher’s ability to maintain a wholesome atmosphere in the class- room and to take into consideration the individual differ- ences of the students.

B. J. W.

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