On the Importance of Teacher Language in the Classroom (PDF)

Bachelor Thesis from the year 2012 in the subject Pedagogy - The Teacher, Educational Leadership, grade: 1,0, University of Flensburg, language: English, abstract: Language is an omnipresent medium for humans to establish contact with other people, to exchange with them, to present something and to be able to process information at all. While in conversations between friends there is usually an equal relationship, this is not the case in educational institutions such as schools. Here, the teacher is the guiding person who shapes the lessons, especially with the help of his or her language, and guides the pupils with the aim of triggering learning processes. The content aspects - the subject matter to be taught - but also the formal aspects - such as the style of language - are important. In addition, there are inevitably vocal variables, e.g. the pace of speech, as well as non-linguistic elements, e.g. gestures.

I became aware of the high relevance of the totality of these language-related aspects especially during my studies of mediation sciences. On the one hand, one finds oneself in the situation of the "student" who observes the lecturer and realises how soporific an overstraining linguistic style combined with a monotonous voice leading and little physical action on the part of the lecturer can be. On the other hand, one is oneself, for example, in the context of presentations or in a school internship, the person who is the centre of attention with one's linguistic competences and who has to use them consciously to generate interest in the listeners. However, few people are aware that this can be a particular challenge for students, newcomers to the profession as well as for experienced speakers.

Due to the experience already gained in the context of teacher training and the rather low relevance of the topic of teacher language within university seminars, I have therefore decided to examine teacher language and its importance in the classroom more closely. Neither the teaching of a subject, the teaching methods nor leadership styles are taken into account. The focus is on the manner and formal aspects of teacher language. In particular, the question arises as to what elements make up teacher language and what effects positive or negative teacher language can have on students in classroom communication.