“ He, who can, does ; he, who can not, teaches, ” said Bernard Shaw as he criticized the teaching profession. As regards this quote and as far as my teaching experience is concerned, I would like to say that I share this Irish playwright the same opinion. Most writers, poets, and users of a language in general have not worked as teachers in their life. But they have produced excellent works which teachers feel compelled to read. At first, I really had no idea what is the secret to their being excellent users of a certain language. Strangest is the fact that they only spent a short time in their school, and some of them have not even been to school before. It is only recently did I discover that those, who can, do and those, who can not, resort to teaching.
It is a truism that good teachers make a difference in the academic life of students. But this does not necessarily mean that the latter are going to produce something in their future. It is not because they do not have the necessary tools to do so, but because their teachers have not impressed on them the need to do something. And since these students, like their teachers, can not produce, the only opportunity that will be offered to them in the future is teaching. Here, I can not help remembering a friend of mine on Facebook website who, whenever I post something, kept looking for my language mistakes. At first, I thought that this person is also a writer. But later on, I found out that he is merely a teacher. His job is only to look for others’ mistakes, nothing more.
Unfortunately, some teachers do not serve as models for their students. They serve only as fault-finders and on-the-spot error detectors. If only students knew how much delight teachers take in correcting them, and not in helping them produce! I still remember some of my ex-teachers who only showed us what do and not how to do it, for they themselves could not stand doing it. For instance, some teachers abhor the writing skill, but they force their students to write, while others can’t bear the speaking skill, but they force their students to speak in class. Of course, not every teacher does that. But most of them do. I am sure that there will come a time when the role of teachers is no longer significant to students. The latter haven’t simply discovered that yet.
When I talk about teachers, I am mainly addressing language teachers in particular. As teachers, they think that their job is only to teach. However, when one examines the ultimate function of any language, one finds that it is communication, the mother of competences. This communication can be written or oral. Now how many teachers have written in the language they are teaching? And how many teachers have given a presentation in the language they are speaking in their classes. The few elite, of course.
On the other hand, there are people who do not teach, but produce. These are writers, poets, novelists, journalists, etc. I am stunned to learn that teachers are committed readers for these people. They read their works mainly to learn from them. I believe that one must become a writer before attaining the position of teacher, and not the other way around. What does a language teacher mean? For me, it is a good user of a language and because of this, he is recruited to teach it to others. Nowadays, the contrary is the case. Most teachers teach what they know about a language, and not how to best use a language. Detecting grammar and pronunciation mistakes does not lead one towards to becoming a great user of a certain language. It is practice that counts, the thing we lack in most of Moroccan classes.
Frankly, I can not expect students to become good writers or speakers if their teachers detect mistakes and find faults. Rather, teachers should inspire their students to use the language in a communicative way no matter what sort of mistakes they make. If teachers do not do so, this means that they think that their role is only confined to correcting mistakes. The do not have to worry too much about students, for they will unconsciously polish their language with time and experience.
Let us just draw an analogy between Mohamed Choukri, a novelist, and a Ph.D. holder at the faculty on the same field, that of fiction. Choukri had not been to school before he became a writer. He had been reading voraciously in Arabic, thus managing to come up with some of the finest works in Arabic literature, whereas the Ph.D holder’s job is simply to peruse these works, study them and lastly instruct them to his students. He does so either because he wants to become like him or simply because he can not write in this language and has no other choice but to teach. The latter reason is the most common, unfortunately.
Sometimes, whenever I read another essay or a novel by a writer who has never worked as a teacher, nor has he been to school before, I find that he fully masters the language and writes exceptionally well. And since I have seldom read works written by teachers of the same language, out of curiosity, I begin to wonder who should be expected to teach this language, these writers who are good users of the language or teachers who only teach the language, but do not make use of it?
It is a truism that good teachers make a difference in the academic life of students. But this does not necessarily mean that the latter are going to produce something in their future. It is not because they do not have the necessary tools to do so, but because their teachers have not impressed on them the need to do something. And since these students, like their teachers, can not produce, the only opportunity that will be offered to them in the future is teaching. Here, I can not help remembering a friend of mine on Facebook website who, whenever I post something, kept looking for my language mistakes. At first, I thought that this person is also a writer. But later on, I found out that he is merely a teacher. His job is only to look for others’ mistakes, nothing more.
Unfortunately, some teachers do not serve as models for their students. They serve only as fault-finders and on-the-spot error detectors. If only students knew how much delight teachers take in correcting them, and not in helping them produce! I still remember some of my ex-teachers who only showed us what do and not how to do it, for they themselves could not stand doing it. For instance, some teachers abhor the writing skill, but they force their students to write, while others can’t bear the speaking skill, but they force their students to speak in class. Of course, not every teacher does that. But most of them do. I am sure that there will come a time when the role of teachers is no longer significant to students. The latter haven’t simply discovered that yet.
When I talk about teachers, I am mainly addressing language teachers in particular. As teachers, they think that their job is only to teach. However, when one examines the ultimate function of any language, one finds that it is communication, the mother of competences. This communication can be written or oral. Now how many teachers have written in the language they are teaching? And how many teachers have given a presentation in the language they are speaking in their classes. The few elite, of course.
On the other hand, there are people who do not teach, but produce. These are writers, poets, novelists, journalists, etc. I am stunned to learn that teachers are committed readers for these people. They read their works mainly to learn from them. I believe that one must become a writer before attaining the position of teacher, and not the other way around. What does a language teacher mean? For me, it is a good user of a language and because of this, he is recruited to teach it to others. Nowadays, the contrary is the case. Most teachers teach what they know about a language, and not how to best use a language. Detecting grammar and pronunciation mistakes does not lead one towards to becoming a great user of a certain language. It is practice that counts, the thing we lack in most of Moroccan classes.
Frankly, I can not expect students to become good writers or speakers if their teachers detect mistakes and find faults. Rather, teachers should inspire their students to use the language in a communicative way no matter what sort of mistakes they make. If teachers do not do so, this means that they think that their role is only confined to correcting mistakes. The do not have to worry too much about students, for they will unconsciously polish their language with time and experience.
Let us just draw an analogy between Mohamed Choukri, a novelist, and a Ph.D. holder at the faculty on the same field, that of fiction. Choukri had not been to school before he became a writer. He had been reading voraciously in Arabic, thus managing to come up with some of the finest works in Arabic literature, whereas the Ph.D holder’s job is simply to peruse these works, study them and lastly instruct them to his students. He does so either because he wants to become like him or simply because he can not write in this language and has no other choice but to teach. The latter reason is the most common, unfortunately.
Sometimes, whenever I read another essay or a novel by a writer who has never worked as a teacher, nor has he been to school before, I find that he fully masters the language and writes exceptionally well. And since I have seldom read works written by teachers of the same language, out of curiosity, I begin to wonder who should be expected to teach this language, these writers who are good users of the language or teachers who only teach the language, but do not make use of it?
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