Management of classroom communication [Archives:2008/1132/Education]

Dr.Mohammad Ejaz Alam
[email protected]
[email protected]
Assistant Professor of English
Faculty of Education & Arts
University of Science & Technology, Sana'a,
This article deals with the management of classroom communication. We know that communication is the ultimate goal of all languages, and of all human endeavors. Classroom communication is an important stage in the all round development of a student. The better the communication, the better the result; the failure of communication is detrimental to the process of development of students. Hence, the management of classroom communication acquires vital importance.

Communication is inevitable to human activity and an essential device to teaching and learning. Classroom Communication paves ways to use communication to facilitate the learning process. There are some useful strategies that help students in enhancing their learning and in establishing successful classroom communication. Students should attend classes regularly, ask questions during the class, keep up the readings, and discuss the course content with their classmates. Now, the question arises what is the duty of teachers to make the classroom communication effective, forceful and engaging.

Pre-lecture planning

Good speakers read the mood of the audience and prepare themselves to use such communication that should be stimulating enough to control the mood of the audience. Teachers are expected not to simply 'lecture' but to address an identified group. Like all successful speakers, every teacher must also analyze the audience before starting to teach. Precisely, a teacher should focus on the following aspects to strengthen classroom communication:

– Analyze the audience,

– Establish the objective, and

– Customize the presentation.

Sometimes we become so confident about our performance in the classroom that we do not even revise the lecture we are going to deliver. This over- confidence affects our performance adversely. Preparing beforehand gives us time to plan where we would like to bring in examples or revise or ask a question. Unplanned teaching forces a teacher to ask just entering the class, “Where did I finish last time?” This question diminishes the interest of students who are bound to think that the teacher is not prepared for the lesson he is going to teach. This may be a strategy of the teacher to find which of the students are prepared and have revised the lesson but this strategy does not work in higher classes. Recapitulating the previous lecture and then setting the agenda for the class give an ample opportunity to inculcate interest in the students.

Keynote address

There is never a second chance to make a love at first sight, similarly, there is never a second chance to make a first impression on the audience/students. The first 5 to 7 minutes are very important because the audience is fresh and attentive. The speaker should capitalize on this opportunity and mention the key points that he/she is going to take up during the class. This sets the agenda for the class and also informs the audience that the speaker knows his job and has prepared himself for it.

The classroom has an average time of 40 to 50 minutes. It does not mean that a teacher should always have an eye on the watch: he needs to start with an impressive statement, a question, a statement which can trigger a healthy discussion and make students inquisitive.

The best arguments should not be mentioned at the beginning. As the class progresses the receiver settles and slowly the interest diminishes. For an average speaker and an average audience around 25 to 30 minutes, the audience starts to lose interest. The speaker should have in reserve the best arguments, anecdotes for this occasion so that the audience can be awakened and refreshed. In formal classroom teaching it may be a good strategy to mention the importance of the lesson from the point of view of examination or in the larger context of the chapter or discipline. This immediately attracts the attention of the students.

Towards the end of the class 5 to 7 minutes summing up is very useful as it helps the students to recapitulate after 40 or 50 minutes of lecture. This has high pedagogic value as this helps retention. This is also rewarding from the communication point of view as we all like our lectures to be retained and the students like to be attentive at the end so that they can make a lasting impression on the learner. We know “all's well that end's well” and any class which ends this way ends well. In our colleges it is customary to take the attendance of students in the beginning of the class that seriously damages the atmosphere and hampers the classroom communication.

Content Management

For a better classroom communication, content management is also very much essential. Expansion of ideas with rubbish materials corrupts the classroom interest and the students don't concentrate on what the speaker is going to explain. Precise statements with logical interpretation makes students curious and full of queries. It is never appreciated that the speaker should prolong the class beyond the schedule time. Short presentations are appreciated, long are disastrous. In case the teacher feels that he will be too short of material, he should invite students to express their views. At the end of the class teachers must interact with students and 5 to 7 minutes be spent in solving the problem of students that occurred in course of the day's teaching.

Structure of theme

Explaining an idea a number of times does not serve the purpose. We should take one theme after the other. In each theme we should like to have a number of points to discuss them one by one. This is a good format to let the lecture flow in a smooth manner. When we follow the structural method for our lecture, it is a good idea to mention 3 to 5 points regarding a problem at a time. Sometimes when a teacher is going to mention point after point, he himself gets confused as to how many points will be discussed. This gives an impression to the students that the teacher is inventing points. Hence, points must be made in advance and be divided into groups of three to five points and no more.

Language

Language is an important device through which the classroom communication reaches its zenith and students benefit a lot. The following strategies make an interaction fruitful:

– Try not to focus on differences in pronunciation and accent.

– Try to identify exactly what the students fail to understand.

– Try to simplify the difficult and uncommon words called 'Jargons'.

– Try to pass some hints in the students' mother tongue.

– Try to make all efforts to develop a perfect command over the language.

Besides the above noted strategies, the form or setting of the class also has a very great effect on the learners. How the desks and students' benches are set also has an effect. There are some broad suggestions but all would not work in all situations. A good teacher invents his own strategies to manage the classroom and explores new vistas for achieving academic goals and realizing the desired learning dividends.
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