theory versus practice

[obatala]

Do you really think that learning about Krashen and Vigostky and all those linguists will help me to be a better teacher?....teaching is innate you are a good teacher or you aren’t ,,,,I think that the best way is just to follow the teacher’s book...........most of the theory is not applicable in the classroom………

[oshieroo]

Teaching is an art form.
You said that some people are good teachers, and some people aren't. I agree, but I think that a good teacher can become a great teacher if they know a little theory. I believe that practice teaching and interacting with students is the greatest way to become a better teacher, but theory has its place. Theory will help you think about how you are teaching in a different way which can lead to new and better ways of teaching.

That said, I think the most important thing is learning what your strengths are in the classroom and how you can best use them to teach your students.

[azharyoussef]

I think that we can't seperate theory from practice.
Both of them complete each other.

Teacher should have a theoretical background before practising teaching.
This will help him/her select what is suitable for his/her students.

For Krashen & Vygotsky, they are very great linguists for me.
They called for very applicable theories and I used them in my classroom.

Krashen called for creating some sort of naive environment
and we need this theory nowadays very much.
He thought that we can transfer this environment to our EFL classrooms
through reading and listening to the English Language
This approach is called the Natural Approach.

For Vygotsky, he thought that students can learn from each other
What they do cooperatively, they can do alone later.

Actually, through theortical background, you can mix many approaches
and creat your own.

I like very much to culture my mind before starting
to create my own from my experience.
This makes me look at the strengthes and weakenesses
of those linguists' viewpoints,
and then adopt those are good and
adapt those are not suitable for my EFL students.

[petershell]

I think theory is wonderful inspiration.
Studying theory leads me to contemplate the art of teaching a lot more and has certainly helped me to evolve as a teacher.
Even if I don't entirely agree with the theory it still helps me to develop.

[Alex Case]

Some great answers there. Here is an article on the topic:

http://edition.tefl.net/articles/traini ... -module-2/

[cyndie]

I think that theory and practice should be used when it comes to teaching young children or learners of whatever age. The fact that learners are moving and doing an activity while pronouncing a word or sentence is very helpfuil because the students can associate the words with a physical activity. This way, their memory is much more activated about this subject. Some theory are actually promotig the use of physical activity in class. I'm not talking about running for an hour, but more like jumping when students are learning this word, touching something when they are learing the word ¨touch¨. This theory is call total physical response.