TTT vs STT

Mariella Maisonnave
20 June 2010
Montevideo - Uruguay
I ve recently enrolled in a French course. I had great expectations but.
As lessons went bye I felt more and more uncomfortable. And then, being a studen
t myself again, I realized what was wrong.
I hadnt have the opportunity to say a word in French. Id spent every day liste
ning to the Teacher without being able to try even a single word in that new lan
guage.
I continued with my lessons but it represented a great effort for me.
It made think deeply about my students and the lessons they receive from me.
I wish they didnt feel the way I did, so I decided to reflect on my practice:
As EFL Teachers, TTT needs to be one of our main concerns.
Why is it important to avoid monopolizing classroom talking time?
Some suggestions on how we can reduce TTT in our classrooms.
Learning a language is learning how to communicate, the ability to use the langu
age for different purposes.
Communicating implies being able to manage the four skills. That is to say to ma
nage how to read, write, listen and speak in the second language.
These skills are supposed to be taught in the classroom, as it is where the lear
ner is exposed to the new language.
Sometimes this is the only place where the learner meets the new language. For t
his reason it is crucial that the Teacher acts as an example, facilitating learn
ing.
Different methods can be applied to promote the learning of the target language.
Audiolingualism for instance, claims that language learning is a process of habi
t formation. But this method fails to provide language in meaningful contexts wh
ich promote its use in real situations outside the classroom.
It may be thought that in the classroom learners do not have the same opportunit
y to learn how to use the target language as it would happen being in contact wi
th native speakers.
That is exactly the kind of work a Teacher must do: to provide students with as
many opportunities as possible to be in contact with the new language.
The teacher is the main source of correct language and it is his/her responsibil
ity to present it in motivating contexts, taking into account students interest
s and needs. This is the best form to get students really involved in the lesson
, hence the best form of learning it.
But we Teachers, must be very careful not to monopolize the time we speak in cla
ss leaving learners no opportunity to use the language by themselves. Students m
ust be encouraged to use it to struggle to communicate from the very beginning,
taking the risk to make mistakes.
Communicative Language Teaching sees errors as a source from which students can
learn. Errors are not corrected as long as they do not interfere with comprehens
ion giving learners a comfortable zone to take the risk to speak.
The role of the Teacher in the classroom must not be central, activities must be
implemented with learners having a central role. Along the activity, the Teache
r must withdraw facilitating communication among students and between the studen
ts and the material presented, monitoring their work, guiding them to use the la
nguage but not interfering.
No matter what paradigm of learning is used to prepare the lessons. During the P
ractice stage if using PPP, during the Task cycle if using TBL, students must be
encouraged to use the target language with the Teacher helping but not interfer
ing.
Having a good rapport is also very important to create a comfortable atmosphere
to learn. It is essential to lower the affective filter which may impede learner
s to use the input available in the environment if they feel anxious or nervous
about what is expected from them and their performance in the classroom.
To get this, there are some practices we should avoid during the lesson:
to correct language immediately as an error or mistake occurs,
to give no time to think waiting for an immediate answer,
to finish the sentence or idea for them,
to work only with the faster students.
Things we do more often as we realize.
Teachers always have to bear in mind that what is important is that students are
using the language to communicate. It is essential that we make the correct dec
isions in our choice of activities to allow student to take efficient actions to
maximize learning.
In order to achieve our goal, which is with no doubt to teach students to commun
icate in the target language, there are some easy activities we can implement in
class:
- To work in pair or groups-. Varying group work allows student to have differe
nt learning experiences.
- To use role plays. To ask students to act out a situation in class
- To bring to class a situation or problem to solve, setting a class discussion
which allows students to interact with each other.
- To use games
As it was said above, any activity that gets students interested, motivated and
really involved in the lesson will lead to learners success in language learnin
g.
Monopolizing TEACHER TALKING TIME in the classroom is the best form to prevent t
his to happen.

EFL English as a Foreign Language

TTT Teacher Talking Time
STT Student Talking Time
PPP Presentation, Practice, Production
TBL Task Based Learning

Bibliography
Widdowson, H.G.- Teaching Language as Communication - OUP 1978
Halliday,M.A.K. Learning How to Mean: Exploration in the Development of Languag
e - Edward Arnold 1975
Richard and Rodgers Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching Cambridge Un
iversity Press 2001
Scrivener Learning Teaching An Introduction to Classroom Management - Macmi
llan 1994
Lightbow & Spada How Languages are learnt OUP 1993