Effective FL Classroom Management: Grouping, Space, and Methods

Posted on Jan 29, 2025 in Early Childhood and Primary Education

Variables to Consider in Foreign Language Classroom Management

This essay examines class management when teaching modern foreign languages. First, it will analyze student groupings. Second, it will study the importance of space and time management, focusing on classroom organization and layout, classroom display, and time management. The third part will consider the selection of methodology, divided into four sections: Communicative Approach, Natural Approach, Globalization Approach, and Active Methodology. Next, it will study the roles of the teacher. The last part will be devoted to classroom control and discipline. Finally, it will compile the main conclusions and the bibliography used to develop this topic.

Regarding foreign language learning, the legal framework is the Organic Law 2/2006 of Education, 3rd May, modified by the Organic Law for the Improvement in Educational Quality, 8/2013, 9th December. Section XII of its preamble establishes that “the command of a second or third language has become a priority in the Education field, as a consequence of the globalization process we live in.” One of the most relevant aspects of the Organic Law for the Improvement in Educational Quality is related to Order ECD/65/2015, 21st of January, which establishes the relation among the key competences, contents, and evaluation criteria in Primary Education. On the other hand, Royal Decree 126/2014, 28th of February, establishes the Minimum Teaching Requirement for Primary Education. Article 7, Objective F, states “to acquire basic communicative competence, in at least one foreign language to enable expression and comprehension of simple messages and survive in everyday situations.” In addition, Order EDU/519/2014, 17th of June, modified by Order EDU 278/2016, 8th of April, establishes the minimum contents for Primary Education in the Autonomous Community of Castilla y León. Bearing in mind all these legal references, we will start by mentioning:

1. Student Grouping

The use of varied groupings in the English class will mitigate unfavorable classroom conditions and improve students’ communicative strategies. We will consider the following groupings:

1.1. Whole Class

This is the traditional teaching situation where all students work with the teacher. It is useful in the presentation and imitation stages when giving instructions, explanations, and feedback. The teacher can easily monitor students’ performance. Lockstep encourages the shyest students to speak.

1.2. Pair and Group Work

These encourage pupil cooperation and learning autonomy. They are useful in the practice and production stages because they allow students to talk about their opinions, ideas, and interests.

Pair Work is similar to real life because of the face-to-face situation. This technique increases self-confidence because students feel more relaxed when speaking with a partner, thus achieving greater fluency. It improves personal relationships when they share their knowledge and experiences, and children have more practice because they spend more time speaking than if they had to speak one by one.

In Group Work, there are three or more participants involved in an activity. It is ideal for activities of freer production, so fluency is developed with this type of grouping. It increases the amount of student talking time, therefore, it gives students the sense of using the language communicatively. It increases self-confidence in the use of language and is very dynamic. The big disadvantage is the selection of group members, where there must be weak and strong students mixed together. Group work can be used for oral practice, reading and listening tasks, cooperative writing, and games.

But how to organize pair and group work? The teacher must explain to her students that the purpose of these techniques is to become more accurate and fluent in English. The teacher should give clear instructions and tell the students how they are expected to behave. She should demonstrate the speaking activity with a confident student. The teacher needs to have an agreed signal to start and end the activity. At the end of it, the teacher asks two groups to demonstrate what they have practiced. Then, she corrects and gives feedback to the pupils.

1.3. Individual Study

This is useful in tasks that require concentration and silence, such as reading and writing. Students can relax from outside pressure. Working on their own makes them rely on themselves. It allows internalizing what has been learned orally and respects each child’s learning pace.

2. Space and Time Management

The classroom is not the best place to learn a language from a communicative point of view. It has space and time limitations.

2.1. Space Management

Careful arrangement of the classroom is important to create an organized and secure environment. The ideal classroom should be large enough to accommodate all the students’ desks, allowing sufficient extra space for activities such as role-play and dramatization, and having “English corners.”

Classroom layout can be in rows, where students face the teacher and can easily look at the blackboard. Another way of placing the students is the horseshoe shape, where students face the teacher and can see each other. In pairs, students can sit in pairs facing the teacher. Groups of four are also a great way of developing a communicative English lesson. To sum up, each layout has its advantages and uses. But what the teacher has to bear in mind is that the Foreign Language class is concerned with communication, and this implies a variety of interactions; she must find the best ways to meet this aim.

Whenever possible, the classroom should have particular areas or corners for different uses, such as the book corner, which allows pupils to look through books of their own choice and at their own pace. Borrowing books also provides an introduction to the written word in English. Or the classroom displays, which encourage a purposeful working atmosphere and lead to higher motivation because the students’ work is made public.

2.2. Time Management

This is a key factor when teaching. The teacher must work out the amount of time that will be devoted to each didactic unit and activity. The time will depend on the students’ age, the number of hours available, the type of contents, and the learners’ previous knowledge. Teachers have to learn how to vary the amount of time given to a particular activity when it takes much longer or shorter than planned.

3. Selection of Methodologies

3.1. The Communicative Approach

Its main principles are communicative competence, contextualization of language, and cognitivism. Learners are considered the agents of their own language competence. The activities should focus on the message and should be interactive, unpredictable, within a context, and authentic. We will use three types of materials: text-based, like textbooks; task-based materials, like role-play or games; and realia, with authentic material like magazines, songs, videos, and real objects. What is more, new technologies are essential in English lessons, as they offer a great variety of visual and aural resources that are highly motivating for students.

The aim in Communicative Language Teaching is the students’ communicative competence in the language. The students have to learn the language with accuracy, fluency, and appropriateness. The methodological procedure in Classroom Language Teaching follows a sequence of activities that can be seen in this outline of a lesson: Presentation, Practice, and Production. Errors must be analyzed by the teacher to help learners progress. They must be seen as something natural and logical since they are a positive sign of the learning process.

3.2. The Natural Approach

Here, the input should be a little beyond the students’ level of competence. Its principles are acquisition, learning, the input hypothesis, and the affective filter hypothesis. The methodological implications are comprehensive input, the silent period, a pleasant classroom atmosphere, and it is very important that the oral skills precede the written ones.

3.3. Globalization Approach

Its principles are that children perceive in a global way, establishing associations between objects and events without previous analysis. When teaching English, activities gradually increase in complexity, and children must relate the English subject to other subjects.

3.4. Active Methodology

The principles of the Active Methodology are that the learner has a higher degree of involvement in his learning process. Learners’ opinions, feelings, and motivation are taken into account, and there is higher autonomy from the teacher. The methodological implication in the active methodology is that motivation and teaching-learning to learn are key factors.

4. The Role of the Teacher

Nowadays, the teacher has a less dominant role than in traditional teaching. Their roles are organizer, participant, encourager, language consultant, and monitor. The teacher has to bear in mind how to control the class and maintain discipline. Jeremy Harmer found three areas that can cause discipline problems: the teacher, the students, and the situation. The teacher should be firm but kind and encouraging. She analyzes the students’ attitude, and the institution is essential for the teacher to be supported by a coherent school policy.

5. Conclusion

There are many variables the teacher must be aware of to create the best learning conditions for students. Knowledge in classroom management will avoid wasted time and disruptive behavior, making teaching more effective.

Bibliography used to develop this unit includes:

  • COUNCIL OF EUROPE. (2003). Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press.
  • EMMER, E.T. & GERWELS, M.C. (2002). Cooperative Learning in elementary classrooms: Teaching practices and lesson characteristics. The Elementary School Journal.
  • GARDNER, H. (2001): Reformulated Intelligence. Multiple Intelligences in XXI Century. Buenos Aires: Paidós.
  • HARMER, J. The Practice of English Language Teaching. London: Longman, 2008 (4th ed.)
  • NUNAN, D. (2010): Language Teaching Methodology. University Press.

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