Being a coach

'Humans acquire language in only one way - by understanding messages or by receiving "comprehensible input"'   Krashen, 1985

The teacher’s role in the classroom when using the SimplyConversations^TM system is radically changed.  

With this material, the teacher and student can become co-creators of the teaching curriculum.  Together they can determine what should be practised and which areas which need to be developed.

In class the teacher transforms into a guide rather than a lecturer.  He corrects and facilitates, moderates, reviews and prompts – using his knowledge of the language to monitor students'  errors and provide feedback.

The teacher is the coach releasing a potential that already exists. 

The team 

On the whole students are actively involved in the progression of their own learning.

The use of the cards is straightforward and very simple.  No complex directions are required; the student reads the question then asks or answers.

There is high level personal impact in learning: students subconsciously acquire English through their own curiosity and self-interest.  As the topics revolve around real life issues, they are motivated to participate, have a stake in the outcome and therefore understand the objectives behind the task itself, along with its practical applicability outside the classroom.

Only when the language items are fused into active meaning systems by the process of use, is the language system developing for the learner’s own purposes. We may learn the tokens of language formally, but we learn the system by using it through reading or writing, or conversing.   Christopher Brumfit, Individual Freedom In Language Teaching, O.U.P. 2001

Individual Freedom in Language Teaching: Language Education and Applied Linguistics (Oxford Applied Linguistics)