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Parents are the first contact of students and play quite an important role in learning English. Students will achieve a better outcome if parents cooperate with the teacher in an efficient way. Since a teacher can only provide teaching and assistance when a student is at school and most of the time, the student is supposed to be at home, which makes home education essential. So what kind of roles can parents play? Firstly, parents should act as a model. ‘A fine example has boundless power’- parents are the first teachers of the student and have great influence on the student which will reflect on student’s behaviors. If parents master English language themselves, it’s best that they speak to and teach the baby from the very beginning to indulge the baby in an English environment. It will be easier for the baby to learn English as they learn their first language. If the parents don’t have any knowledge of English, it’s helpful that they learn together with the student to let their child see that his/her parents are working hard to learn a language and they will make progress together. It will be funnier if parents learn with the student and get the student interested in the learning. Co-learning is always a good method to get a student involved in the activity related. Secondly, parents should act as a guide. Language learning is just as the other new knowledge for a student which requires guidance. Whenever a student encounters problems and needs help, a parent should be there to provide support, whether to instruct the student to find a solution on his/her own or guide him/her to the resource helpful. In-time support will prevent the student from being frustrated and defeated. Exploring the language should be fun and enjoyable rather than boring and disappointed. While parents should guide a student to problem solving, they should never provide the answers directly, otherwise the student will always rely on the result rather than enjoy the process of learning. Thirdly, parents should as a facilitator. Parents should try to provide the English environment for the student as much as possible. For example, if the student likes to listen to music, try the English ones; if the student likes to watch TV, try the English programs. It will do good than harm to have the student merge in English environment. Parents can buy English books for the student and take them to an English show. All in all, parents should facilitate the improvement of English by making good use of English materials. Those materials can increase the abilities of listening and reading as well as speaking and writing if they are applied properly. Last but not the least, parents should as as a bridge between the student and the teacher. In a way, a teacher is more professional in teaching English than parents, so parents should be open-minded to seek help and advice from the teacher. Since parents are supposed to know the student better than the teacher and also understand the learning status of the student outside school, it’s important that the parents talk and report to the teacher whenever necessary on how the student behaves and get a knowledge of the student’s strength and weakness. Parents and the teacher can then carry out a better plan to improve the student’s weakness and develop his/her strength. In a word, parents are the best teacher for their children and should share the responsibility of education in language learning. Responsible and disciplined parents are more likely to bring up excellent and successful students. Though a teacher may carry the heavier burden of teaching well of English, parents are always the catalyst to make the student stay eager and hunger for new knowledge. We, as an EFL teacher, should encourage the parents to participate in students’ learning and growth as much as possible and respect their work and achievements. Coordinate with the parents in an effective way, we should be confident in achieving an impressive outcome in English teaching.
