Teachers Talking About Teacher Talk

Abstract

Teachers whose lessons are based on communicative language teaching (CLT) (Richards & McCarthy, 2006) or similar approaches are often discouraged from engaging in too much teacher talking time (TTT) for the fear that otherwise, the result might be a lecture. Nevertheless, some of them may not be aware of what or how to critically cope with that. For example, a simple internet search reveals many articles offering teachers exactly this advice, sometimes with specific percentages about the proportion of lesson time that should be taken up with teacher talk. CLT and Task-based Learning (TBL) (Nunan, 2004) are two methodologies that generally regard TTT as something to be kept to a minimum. The first one has strong leanings towards centering students and many activities using that methodology promote student-student interaction. Likewise, the latter heavily focuses on the interaction between students. In these methodologies, the amount of TTT might equate to a lack of learning opportunities for learners; hence lessons may be regarded as less effective if TTT is deemed high (Paul, 2003:76 (Esfandiari & Knight, 2013:20-21). However, limiting teacher talk runs the risk of 'underestimat[ing] the value of the teacher as both a source of input and an interactional pattern' (Thornbury, 2006:225). In light of these points, this paper proposes a reflective analysis concerning when and how to make sound use of TTT, as the sole reduction of TTT does not amount to an automatic improvement of productivity in a lesson (Hitotuzi, 2005:105) In this paper, we address a series of research questions regarding what teachers think about the amount of TTT they engage in. We draw on qualitative data from an online survey and the transcripts of follow-up interviews of survey participants who consented to a short, semi-structured interview with one of the researchers. In both the survey and the interviews, our main interest is how the participants themselves view the amount of time they spend talking in lessons. We ask them how much they believe their teachers talk during their lessons and whether they are happy with that amount. In addition, we are interested in whether specific lesson stages influence the amount of importance TTT has for the practitioner-participants. We also explore what might have contributed to the formation of the participant's views, including initial teacher education or continuing professional development activities.