Teacher talk time vs student talk time- issues of classroom interaction

When learning any language, it is absolutely important the interaction with others to achieve effective communication. Regarding to communication even in our L1 I think that we are losing that skill as human beings because we are dependent of technology.  Nowadays some people struggle when they have to meet people face to face, they are able to interact just through a screen.

Making reference about the EFL classroom, the time invested for talking will bring different results depending on who will take the time for speaking and the purposes of it. When you have classes with more than 45 children for 30 or 50 minutes per class sounds almost impossible to give to students the chance for speaking. Based on my experience I would say that it is challenging to let students talk and make them to speaking in English.

TTT known as Teacher Talking Time refers to the amount of class that the teacher uses to speak with the class. The easiest thing to do for the teacher is to use the time for explaining the topic, to control the activities, to expose through listening to the teacher to the new vocabulary, that is simple for teachers but we need to think if we do enough to give to our students’ different chances of exploring and experimenting with the language. Teacher Talking Time is not bad, it is necessary to give student input+ the point is to find a balance with students talking time.

“The class is a mess and useless if I let my students talk” this is the most common perception that my colleagues in Mexico have about the idea of letting students speak during the class, I think that the problem is that they do not have many ideas of how to make it work. The tips that I could share with colleagues to make students talk in the class will be the following. Include short and simple speaking activities as a routine and set timing for it, so students will focus on doing the tasks and monitor the activity. Set interaction routines, like in the baseball match, make your own code where a number of movement will mean that they have to work in pairs, teams of four, etc. and they will get together and arrange the classroom in 2 minutes or the time that teachers consider. At the beginning let students decide the people they feel more comfortable to talk with. Always provide enough examples and model the activity. Plan speaking challenges for students (tongue twisters, surveys, find someone who, oral presentations).