Teach English in ChengguAn Zhen - Yueyang Shi

Teaching English in a foreign country may seem to be challenging as you may not understand the native language of the learners. Effective classroom management guarantees the success of the learning process. Classroom management is the requirement that makes teaching in a foreign country and learning achievable. In order for an EFL teacher to be prosperous in their classroom management, they have to play the main role by planning, organizing resources & procedures, finding means to maximize efficiency and creating a positive environment for learning. Having a positive classroom environment will help in guarding against behavior problems as it provides students with an opportunity to think and behave in a positive manner. To achieve a positive classroom environment, classroom setup is an essential component. Proper arrangement of furniture attributes to the functionality of the classroom. That is, furniture should be arranged in a way that the students are oriented to the primary source of information. The teacher should then establish the seating arrangement taking into consideration the learning abilities of the students. An EFL teacher should make sure that all the students benefit from the seating arrangement and no one is disadvantaged. Classroom management refers to the wide variety of skills and techniques that teachers use to keep students organized, orderly, focused, attentive and academically productive during class. Classroom management also means that the teacher has to be precise and clear when giving instructions to the students. This can be helpful for an EFL teacher as they are dealing with students who may not understand or have little understanding to the English language. Therefore, as an EFL teacher caution should be taken when communicating with the students. The teacher should ensure effective communication as it is important to achieve effective classroom management. In order to ensure effective communication, the teacher should be mindful of their gesture, eye contact and the tone of their voice when communication with the students. As an EFL teacher respect is the foundation of effective communication, especially in the classroom. The teacher can demonstrate respect to the student by using a tone that is honest and considerate and choosing words that are appropriate. An EFL teacher should also make eye contact when speaking to the student and speak in turn without interrupting the student. These action will help build a rapport between the students and the teacher and in turn result in a fruitful teaching and learning process. Tools needed for proper classroom management include empowering, modeling, mentoring and resourcing. An EFL teacher acts as model to the students because he or she will be the only source of English that the student has. When acting as an English model, it means that the teacher should be chary to such things as time management. Time management is a skill that is very crucial in life. How long you handle digressions, off task behavior, discipline and how you handle the transgressions will have an effect on students learning, (Walberg,1988). Being an EFL teacher means you have to empower your students. This will have keep students motivated and interested in learning further, also it is important to motivate the students and keep a positive attitude at all times because this helps to energize, direct and sustain positive behavior over a long period of time resulting a well-managed classroom. In conclusion, effective EFL teachers must be highly competent in planning and organizing instructions as well as managing the classroom environment if they want their students to be successful in their learning. Teachers should be trained to apply principles of educational psychology in classroom as they deal with different people and different behaviors. This will improve attitudes, work habits and skills of the learners. REFERENCE Walberg,J.H(188).Synthesis of Richer on Time and Learning Educational Leadership,45(6):76-81.