Jill Hadfield
Classroom Dynamics
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First published 1992
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Acknowledgements
I would like to thank the staff and students of the following institutions who sent replies to the questionnaires ‘Moaning and Groaning in the Foreign Language Staffroom’ 1 and 2, and ‘The Old Lags’ Project’:
Bell School, Cambridge; Bell School, Norwich; Bell School, Saffron Walden; Bourneville College; Bradford and Ilkley College; Brighton Polytechnic; Cambridgeshire College of Arts and Technology; Centre for Applied Language Studies, Reading; Christchurch College, Canterbury; Eurocentre, Bournemouth; Eurocentre, Forest Hill; Filton Technical College; Greenhill College; Hammersmith and West London College; Kilburn Polytechnic; Kingsway College; The Language Centre of Ireland; Millbank College; Pilgrims, Canterbury; Redbridge Technical College; Tresham College.
Particular thanks are due to: Rod Bolitho, Larry Cole, Charlie Hadfield, Maggy McNorton, Jenny Pearson, Gill Porter-Ladousse, Adrienne Short, Tessa Woodward, and all the staff of the Language Centre, South Devon College of Arts and Technology for stimulating discussions and revealing insights into group problems.
Above all, my thanks go to Angi Malderez, with whom this project began, and who has contributed more than I can possibly acknowledge to my understanding of groups and how they work.
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‘A Boy’s Head’ (p 58) from Miroslav Holub: Selected Poems translated by Ian Milner and George Theiner (Penguin Books, 1967), copyright © Miroslav Holub, 1967, Translation copyright © Penguin Books, 1967. First four lines from ‘People’ (p 85) from Yevtushenko: Selected Poems translated by Robin Milner-Gulland and Peter Levi, SJ (Penguin Books, 1962), copyright © Robin Milner-Gulland and Peter Levi, 1962. ‘The Door’ and Tonight at Noon’ by Adrian Henri, published by André Deutsch. ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’ from The Oxford Christmas Carol Book © Oxford University Press, 1988. Melody for ‘Five gold rings’ added by Frederick Austin, and reproduced by permission of Novello & Co. Ltd. Zodiac chart adapted from Project Video 3 published by Oxford University Press.
For Angi
The authors and series editor
Jill Hadfield has been involved in EFL, either as a teacher or teacher trainer, for over 20 years and is the author of over 20 books for teachers, some written with her husband Charles. She has taught and trained teachers in Britain, France, China, Tibet, and Madagascar, and held workshops and courses for teachers around the world. She is currently senior lecturer in the School of English and Applied Linguistics at Unitec, Auckland, New Zealand. She is the co-author of Presenting New Language, Simple Listening Activities, Simple Speaking Activities, Simple Reading Activities, and Simple Writing Activities, all in the Oxford Basics series published by Oxford University Press and of the Communication Games series for Longman as well as two travel books and a novel.
Alan Maley worked for The British Council from 1962 to 1988, serving as English Language Officer in Yugoslavia, Ghana, Italy, France, and China, and as Regional Representative in South India (Madras). From 1988 to 1993 he was Director-General of the Bell Educational Trust, Cambridge. From 1993 to 1998 he was Senior Fellow in the Department of English Language and Literature of the National University of Singapore, and from 1998 to 2002 he was Director of the graduate programme at Assumption University, Bangkok. He is currently a freelance consultant. Among his publications are Literature, in this series, Beyond Words, Sounds Interesting, Sounds Intriguing, Words, Variations on a Theme, and Drama Techniques in Language Learning (all with Alan Duff), The Mind’s Eye (with Françoise Grellet and Alan Duff), Learning to Listen and Poem into Poem (with Sandra Moulding), Short and Sweet, and The English Teacher’s Voice.
Foreword
This book tackles that most elusive, yet crucial, of factors in classrooms – the ‘atmosphere’. Why does one group ‘gel’ while another gives off ‘bad vibes’? We all know that if the atmosphere, the ‘feel’ is right, learning is facilitated.
As the author says, ‘a positive group atmosphere can have a beneficial effect on the morale, motivation, and self-image of its members, and thus significantly affect their learning, by developing in them a positive attitude to the language being learned, to the learning process, and to themselves as learners’ (page 10).
But can something so intangible and insubstantial as an ‘atmosphere’ be created? This book is an attempt to show that it can.
The author begins by analysing what characterizes successful and unsuccessful groups. She goes on to offer a range of activities to develop such positive characteristics as mutual trust, confidence in self and in the group, empathy within the group, and the building of a group identity.
Many teachers will