Page 111 - Beyond Methods

Minimizing perceptual mismatches 99
Item
Learner attitudes (total for each) 123
Teacher attitudes
Remarks
Figure 4.5
4.2.5 Return the completed questionnaire to the students. Ask them to discuss their responses in small groups for about ten–fifteen min- utes, and then report back to class on what they discussed.
4.2.6 Lead a discussion on their report. Focus on whether students changed their attitudes after talking to their classmates in their groups and if so, why.
4.2.7 Based on the information compiled from the questionnaire and class discussion, reflect on the differences between teacher and learner attitudes. See whether and to what extent these attitudes are based on stereotypes.
4.2.8 Reflect on the extent to which you can modify the aims and ac- tivities of your class in order to be reasonably sensitive to the attitudes learners bring with them.
4.2.9 Monitor changes in the learners’ attitudes, individually or col- lectively, during the course of a semester or an academic year.
4.2.10 Finally, at the end of the course, look back to assess whether and to what extent this process of finding out differences between learner and teacher attitudes is worth the time and effort.
In Closing
This chapter reveals the importance of minimizing perceptual mis- matches in the language classroom. It also shows how challenging it is to identify and analyze them. Only a concerted and cooperative effort on the part of the teacher and the learner will bring out the gap between teacher intentions and learner interpretations. An under- standing of the similarities and differences in the way the partici- pants perceive classroom aims and events can only lead to an effec- tive pedagogic intervention.