The Teacher’s Awareness of Students’ On-going Development

The instructor’s comments were not randomly made, but the results of her close observations and intensive negotiations with students. From the participants’

reflection in the interviews which will be discussed below, it can be learnt that the instructor carefully monitored her students’ progress and development.

In Tony’s case, the teacher’s awareness of his on-going development allowed him to take the right path to move on so as to be a more seasoned presenter. Born and raised in Kaohsiung, he graduated from the best senior high school in Southern Taiwan. In terms of his English study, he regards himself as an inferior learner compared to his classmates coming from Northern Taiwan. Though living in the

largest metropolitan city in Southern Taiwan, in his view, he thinks English learners in Kaohsiung are less capable of speaking English because of fewer opportunities for exposure to English learning than students in Taipei. In the profile data, he showed his severe concerns about his English competence, especially regarding his oral ability.

In the observed class, he likes to talk to Ann. In Ann’s impression, Tony is

“not a fluent speaker, [and] I know he suffered a lot in preparing for oral presentations.

But I know he made a lot of effort to improve his performance throughout the whole

term” (他的口語能力沒有很好，他整學期遇到蠻多挫折，但是很認真。整個學期口語報告的能

力進步很多!) (Interview). From Tony’s view, he considers that his teacher provided him much facilitation to be a more competent presenter.

「不管是在課堂或是我們在面談的時候，她就是很有耐心聽我的破英文。我還記得第 一次面談的時候，我鼓足勇氣問老師可不可以聽我排練十分鐘然後給我一些意見，

我知道這樣問很尷尬，因為老師很忙啊，她竟然答應了耶!老師人真的很好。」

“My teacher has a lot of patience to listen to my non-fluent English no matter inside or outside the classroom. I still remember in my first conferencing, I asked if she could

spare ten minutes to see my rehearsal and give comments. Actually, I felt a little embarrassed to say so, but unbelievably, she said ‘yes’. She is a really nice person.”

Triangulating the collected data in Tony’s files, it was found that the instructor paid detailed attention to his oral performance. Helping him cope with the tremendous challenge of speaking in public, Ann provided several concrete comments and suggestions to guide Tony to be a more competent presenter.

Your performance is much better than my expectation. Maybe you can prepare early and thoroughly so that you can draw confidence. I believe it can definitely reduce your stage fright. Let me know if you need my help! (The instructor’s feedback for Tony’s SRF I)

By the way, the content in your PPT slides seems not so organized and I can’t see its coherence (it looks like a tangle of random thoughts). Please be sure that they are well organized, otherwise, your delivery will not be smooth and effective. (Adopted from one of the instructor’s emails to Tony, Dec/21/2009)

I can tell how much effort you’ve put into preparing your oral presentations! Your revised version of the PPT slides indeed made your discussion go fluently. Also, I noticed you didn’t read the script on hand this time. I know it’s hard, but you did it so well. Keep up the good work! 加油 (The instructor’s feedback on Tony’s SRF II)

From the above data arranged in a chronological order, it can be seen that Ann keeps track of Tony’s development. Throughout the course, her feedback was not just simple or general comments; instead, she used specific and precise words and instances to facilitate Tony to be a better presenter. As Tony reflected in his interview,

「她不是只是給一些很 general 的建議，類似甚麼 “very good!”, “great!” 的評 語。老師給的建議跟評語讓我知道她是真正關心學生進步的老師。同學做完報告，

她給建議是列點式的，所以每個人都會知道下次可以改進的地方在哪裡，非常清楚 的知道。」

“She does not only provide general comments, like “very good!” or “great!”. Instead, her precise suggestions and comments let me know she is the teacher who is indeed

aware of her learners’ development. It is also true when she gives comments after my classmates’ presentations. Usually, she gives comments point by point so that everyone understands exactly what she expects us to improve the next time.” (Interview)

It is also because of the instructor’s thoughtfulness of her students’ progress that students feel close to her. In the class, the teacher paid special attention to her students which often surprised them. Andrew’s and Nick’s words can also be examples to illustrate their close relationship.

「老師的記性很恐怖(笑)…才第二堂課就都記得每個人的名字。更可怕的是，誰上次做 報告或說了甚麼，她在上課舉例的時候都說得出來…她記得每件事，她就是這樣讓我 們覺得她把每個學生都放心上，你不認真都不行(笑)。」

“The teacher’s retention is awfully great (laugh). She could remember everyone’s name in our second meeting. More than that, when she did her lecture and needed examples,

she could recall who did or said something to make her lecture come alive…She remembers everything and that’s the way she makes us feel that she cares about everyone.

Her care of us makes me feel that I have no excuse for not working harder (laugh).”

(Interview, Andrew)

「老師都知道我的弱點在哪裡，所以她給建議的時候就是用很直接清楚的方式，而且我 們的討論氣氛也很輕鬆愉快，老師感覺很親和。也是因為這些討論的過程，讓我覺得 要完成 presentation 好像也沒這麼難。」

“Because she knows me well, she gives me direct advice and creates a friendly and relaxed atmosphere in conferencing. She is a very friendly teacher. It is all these above occurrences in our interactions that makes me feel that to face the challenge in completing presentations is not that difficult.” (Interview, Peter)

These two excerpts evidently show how students appreciate their teacher’s efforts and they try extremely hard. Because of her close attention to students’

progress, she can provide precise comments and encouragement to her students.

From the students’ point of view, they thought the teacher kept her eyes on them.

Also because of the intimate relationship and trust built through conferencing, learners took the oral event seriously and also felt less anxious to cope with the challenges while implementing the requirements.

For the instructor, Ann, her rationale of being a caring teacher is that,

「我知道對非英文主修的大二學生來說－要做一場英文的 presentation 真的很挑戰…

即使大家都認為他們是優秀的學生。所以我不想太 pushy 或 demanding, 因為每個人 開始的起點不同。我不能一廂情願的認定他們全都有優秀的口語能力，然後就用唯一 的標準要求每個人都要達到相同標準。每個學生都是獨特不一樣的！」

“I know it’s really a lot for a non-English major to do an English oral presentation in his second year of college. It’s really too challenging, even though they are usually regarded as superior learners. Therefore, from my perspective, I don’t want to be too pushy or demanding because everyone starts from different points. I mean, I can’t just overwhelmingly think they are “all” superior learners or take one rubric as the only standard and ask everyone to reach the benchmark. Every student is unique and different!”

From Ann’s excerpt, it is not difficult to realize why students feel she cares about them. Her coaching provided a tutorial-like direction to release students’

worries and anxiety. The one-on-one conferencing also provided opportunities for consulting, rehearsal, feedback and correction as a method to provide specific help for students. Through this process, the instructor sought to help her students optimize an educational experience and to assist their socialization into the academic culture.

The consulting relationship developed over an extended period, during which student needs and the nature of the relationship tended to evolve. Finally, because the instructor’s awareness of these changes, she gave different attention, facilitation, advice, information, and encouragement in conferencing discussions so as to be close to the learners’ various needs. Throughout the whole term, the instructor and her students established an intimate and personal connection naturally.

In the existing literature, however, taking such a view to examine interpersonal relationships between the teacher and students in an oral academic activity has not been discussed. But, again, it does not imply that this area should be neglected.

Instead, through this sociocultural view to examine the teacher’s role in the students’

learning, it was found that her encouragement provided another dimension to re-interpret the role of positive feedback in students’ acquisition of oral academic discourse. It is a different form of encouragement because it contains two deeper levels to care for students: close attention to learners’ development and awareness of learners’ changes. Most importantly, it seems this understanding of students’

development and changes contributes to raising learners’ intrinsic motivation (see Ellis, 1997; Lightbown and Spada, 2006) to work harder.