The answers as to what makes a good English teacher can vary based on different teachers’ teaching context but the following can summarize the responses teachers might produce in their discussions.
A good English teacher should make his/her lesson interesting so that learners don’t fall asleep during the lesson. Teachers who make their learners sleep are not good teachers. Learners obviously sleep when the teacher uses teacher centered method. Learners must remain active to avoid sleeping in class. You might have heard from many teachers that learners sleep in class. It is lack of a good teacher in that classroom.
If you are an English teacher and you intend to be the good one, please, try hard to engage your learners so that they don’t make your classroom a bedroom. Using the communicative language teaching and learning will greatly help you. The classroom will turn into a talking classroom where teacher talking time is limited. The learners will take full charge of their learning.
A good English teacher must love his/her job. If the teacher really enjoys his/her job, that will make the lesson more interesting. I know it is not easy for teachers to love their teaching jobs in South Sudan. The monetary support given to teachers is little. It is the reason they are less serious in teaching. But a self-motivated teacher will face the challenge with courage.
A good English teacher must have his/her own personality and doesn’t hide it from the learners. Students tend to be interested in their teachers. The ones who share their personality with their classes often have better results than those who don’t.
Learners knowing your personality as a teacher, they will easily learn to trust you. They will be open with you. They will not get disappointed with you. You will be the first person to hear what they go through. Many learners go through a lot but they rarely get who to talk to. What a privilege that you will be there for them!
A good English teacher must have a lot of knowledge, not only of his/her subject. A comprehensive knowledge of an English teacher is the testament and a mark of a true English teacher. Comprehensive knowledge in wider subjects is solidly obtained through extensive reading. Good English teachers don’t limit their readings. Through wider reading they get what to say in any subject. Remember knowledge in only your subject areas of studies is not authentic enough to help others.
A good English teacher is an entertainer and in a positive sense, not a negative sense. Students enjoy being entertained and amused. However, a balance has to be struck between entertainment and teaching and learning. Mere laughing in class is not being an entertainer. You should make logical swift of ideas. If you go too much in entertaining the learners, it will create boredom in their class. You must know when to make them laugh and when you should stop laughing. What matters is communicating to the learners that learning can be fun. They must enjoy learning.
A good English teacher is the one learners talk to freely when they have problems and cannot get along with the subject. A good English teacher must be approachable. Being approachable counts but it comes with a lot of efforts. Though you should not be lion to scare your learners away, you must not also be a sheep. Dealing with learners is the most critical agenda. Some learners will misinterpret your kindness to something else. Many male teachers get into sexual sin with female learners due to being approachable. The more time you take with a female learner discussing things the more attachment. That attachment if you are not wise will lead to misinterpretation of your feelings until you will grow up into sexual sin. Be approachable but be careful. Many teachers have fallen just because of it. Many men are weak when it comes to sex. Protect your history.
A good English teacher is somebody who has an affinity with students he/she is teaching. Successful teachers are those people who can identify with the hopes, aspirations and difficulties of their students while they are teaching them. Giving hope to their learners is very important. We should not be defined by our knowledge alone. We should communicate to the learners the reason they should be serious in their learning.
A good English teacher should try and draw out the quiet ones and control the more talkative ones. He/she should be able to correct learners without offending them. There are learners who don’t believe they can answer questions in class. They always want other learners to answer for them. It is the duty of a caring teacher to bring them up. All the learners in class need equal participation. It is not right for one learner to dominate. Some teachers who are not serious will leave that one learner to give every answer.
Learning is activeness. If some learners aren’t active, this confirms that they are not learning at all. It is your full role as an English teacher to bring up such quiet learners. With practice they will come up to be good ones.
A good English teacher is someone who helps rather than shouts. So many teachers only choose to shout than helping the learners to learn. Learning is failing and succeeding. Success entirely builds on some failures. You cannot imagine that your learners succeed all the time. There are times they fail which do not mean they cannot succeed again. They just need a second chance. I assure you, they will obviously succeed.
Very importantly, good English teachers know their learners’ names. The first identity of a human being is his/her name. We all love our names. The time someone calls your name, you feel happy and appreciated. It’s time you confirm someone knows you. Human beings go mad because someone knows them. Please, let’s learn to master our learners’ names. They like it very much. They feel loved when their names are called.
A good English teacher should be creative in class. Creativity almost defines everything about a good English teacher. It is creativity that helps you vary your activities in class. Creativity will invite flexibility. You will not be shocked by any situation in the class.
With creativity too, the English teacher in classroom will bring something new. Learners expect something new from their teacher every time he/she gets to them. Class activities should be designed in such a way that they are felt new and fresh. It is only a good English teacher that can do such a thing.
A good English teacher avoids predictability of what he is coming to teach the next class. There are teachers whose lessons are predicted before he gets to class. Learners will speak and say, “He/she is still coming to bore us about noun. They know every time you go to class you talk about noun alone. Your vocabulary is almost the same every time. Avoid monotony to avoid predictability of your lessons.
A good English teacher should have correct pronunciation. Pronunciation is the key for the success of every English teacher. English teachers should have native like pronunciation. It is true we should not be like the natives. But we should at least be close to them. We must use the correct accent, the IPA. English teachers must master all the speech sounds. In our country, speech sounds are not learned in primary and secondary. But we should make use of our university courses of phonetics.
A good English teacher must be fluent in English both orally and in writing. In addition to mastering the speech sounds, fluency in English both orally and in writing is very important. Through practice we can be fluent. We should not force speaking English. We should learn to speak freely. I know it is not easy. But we can still perfect with time. Before you tell your learners to write a composition, you must be able to write a composition.
A good English teacher should also be fluent in the meaning of words and use language games. An English sentence can be grammatically correct, but can be semantically wrong. English teachers must understand the meanings of words. It is discouraging when learners ask you to tell the meanings of words and you are not able to do it for them. Do more readings to master vocabulary.
A good English teacher emphasizes on fluency than accuracy. The main function of a language is tied to communication. A language is meant for communication. If the learners are able to communicate clearly what they want to say, it does not matter whether they do it correct or not. We must focus on the function of the language. Learners should be allowed to practice the language. Let them speak the wrong English they have. With time they will speak it correct.
If you are an English teacher, you have chosen a good thing. Continue to grow in your profession. Help others learn it. A language entirely functions for communication. Be kind to the nation.