Teacher Talking Time
Teacher Talking Time (TTT) is the amount of time the teacher talks in the classroom. It pays to make it as little as possible.
Look at this typical TEFL classroom dialogue:
T: Jimal, what's your favourite TV show?
Jimal: Er...
T: Baywatch? American Idol? Top Gear?
Jimal: Baywatch.
T: Great! [teacher writes up Baywatch on the board] Now, the rest of you, what are your favourite TV shows?
Ss: Er...
T: Well who likes watching football on television? Louie?
Louie: Yes.
T: Ok, that's on the list. What about you Marie?
Marie: Er...
T: Well, do you like to watch Lost?
Marie: Yes
T: Great, we'll add Lost to the list.
In this example the teacher is speaking about 90% of the time. The students are just occasionally agreeing or muttering one word answers.
There are a couple of interesting points about this example:
- The teacher speaks English perfectly - the one person who doesn't need to practice their English is doing most of the talking whilst those who need most practice rarely speak a word.
- The students don't need to listen to each other; they know that the teacher will do all the work for them.
Oh, and if you think that you speak far less in class, why not take a tape recorder in next time and record a typical lesson. When you play it back to yourself later you may well be surprised at how often you are speaking instead of a student and also how little work the students have to do!
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Reducing TTT
It can take a little patience, but the rewards are great. The first thing you need to do to reduce TTT is to simply wait for an answer.
T: Jimal, what's your favourite TV show?
Jimal: Er...
T: [waits expectantly]
Jimal: Er...
T: [still waiting expectantly]
Jimal: Baywatch.
T: [nods and smiles then writes it on the board; goes to Marie and gestures to her for an answer]
Marie: Er...
T: [waits expectantly]
Marie: Lost
Essentially you as a teacher are leaving a space; the students will eventually fill that space and in time the class will get into the habit that they are responsible for filling the spaces and they know that their teacher will stand their for fifteen minutes if need be waiting for an answer.
More Strategies
Don't Repeat
If a student says something then you can correct it if need be, but don't repeat it (after all, how often would you do that while speaking with another native speaker?).
If a student on the other side of the class doesn't understand or didn't hear and asks you, you gesture to the first student to repeat rather than repeat it yourself.
Open-Ended Questions
This is a closed question:
T: Did you go to the zoo yesterday?
S: Yes.
And this is an open question:
T: What did you do yesterday?
S: I went to the zoo.
Wait Some More
But it doesn't end there. Don't speak and wait some more:
T: What did you do yesterday?
S: I went to the zoo.
T: [waits expectantly, looking at the student]
S: We saw some... some lions.
T: [waits expectantly some more]
S: From Australia.
T: [puts on a very puzzled face and waits expectantly for clarification]
Second student: From Africa.
T: [smiles and nods]
