Effective Classroom Strategies

Badwan, Khawla (2018) Effective Classroom Strategies. In: The TESOL Encyclopedia of English Language Teaching. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 9781118784235

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Abstract

Employing effective classroom strategies has been one of the main goals underpinning the different language-teaching methods, approaches, and pedagogies since the 1940s. The notion of effectiveness has been strongly linked with the different views of what language is, how teaching should be done, who is a good teacher/learner, what roles should teachers and learners have in the classroom, and what the relationship between the classroom and the outside world should be (in other words, what the purpose of classroom instruction should be). In addition, the “effectiveness” of classroom strategies can be measured against a long list of factors depending on how the purpose of classroom instruction is perceived by the different educational stakeholders (teachers, parents, educationalists, students, etc.). As a result, the effectiveness of classroom strategies can be measured, among many other factors, against whether or not (a) they allow the students to achieve highly on summative assignments, (b) they develop important skills that students will need to use in out-of-class settings, and (c) they make the students enjoy the process of learning and therefore become key developing practitioners of learning (Allwright & Hanks, 2009). On the other hand, language teachers continue to aspire to employ what they would refer to as “effective classroom strategies,” but are more likely to be faced with differing perspectives regarding whether or not what they do is effective. This entry traces the historical development of classroom practices as shaped by the different teaching pedagogies, then offers some insights into what can be seen as effective, flexible, and inclusive classroom strategies without aiming to present an exhaustive list or an immediate recipe.