Student talk and teacher talk There is a continuing debate about the amount of time teachers should spend talking in class. Classes are sometimes criticised because there is too much TTT (Teacher Talking Time) and not enough STT (Student Talking Time). Overuse of TTT is inappropriate because the more a teacher talks, the less chance there is for the students to practise their own speaking - and it is the students who need the practice, not the teacher. If a teacher talks and talks, the students will have less time for other things, too, such as reading and writing. For these reasons, a good teacher maximises STT and minimises TTT. Good TTT may have beneficial qualities, however. If teachers know how to talk to students, if they know how to rough-tune their language to the students’ level as discussed above, then the students get a chance to hear language which is certainly above their own productive level, but which they can more or less understand. Such comprehensible input - where students receive rough-tuned input in a relaxed and unthreatening way - is an important feature in language acquisition. Perhaps, therefore, we should not talk simply about the difference between STT and TTT, but also consider TTQ (Teacher Talking Quality). In other words, teachers who just go on and on, using language which is not especially useful or appropriate, are not offering students the right kind of talking, whereas teachers who engage students with their stories and interaction, using appropriate comprehensible input will be helping them to understand and acquire the language. The best lessons, therefore, are ones where STT is maximised, but where at appropriate moments during the lesson the teacher is not afraid to summarise what is happening, tell a story or enter into discussion, etc. Good teachers use their common sense and experience to get the balance right.
Student talk and teacher talk There is a continuing debate about the amount of time teachers should spend talking in class. Classes are sometimes criticised because there is too much TTT (Teacher Talking Time) and not enough STT (Student Talking Time). Overuse of TTT is inappropriate because the more a teacher talks, the less chance there is for the students to practise their own speaking - and it is the students who need the practice, not the teacher. If a teacher talks and talks, the students will have less time for other things, too, such as reading and writing. For these reasons, a good teacher maximises STT and minimises TTT. Good TTT may have beneficial qualities, however. If teachers know how to talk to students, if they know how to rough-tune their language to the students’ level as discussed above, then the students get a chance to hear language which is certainly above their own productive level, but which they can more or less understand. Such comprehensible input - where students receive rough-tuned input in a relaxed and unthreatening way - is an important feature in language acquisition. Perhaps, therefore, we should not talk simply about the difference between STT and TTT, but also consider TTQ (Teacher Talking Quality). In other words, teachers who just go on and on, using language which is not especially useful or appropriate, are not offering students the right kind of talking, whereas teachers who engage students with their stories and interaction, using appropriate comprehensible input will be helping them to understand and acquire the language. The best lessons, therefore, are ones where STT is maximised, but where at appropriate moments during the lesson the teacher is not afraid to summarise what is happening, tell a story or enter into discussion, etc. Good teachers use their common sense and experience to get the balance right.