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furiousmilksheikali · Posted: Tue Apr 17, 2007 12:26 am Post subject: Verbal tics?

We all know the South Park teacher who punctuates every sentence with "Mmmkay" and we all find it very amusing. But when I started teaching a few years ago I started picking up a similar habit of saying "Right, okay then..." very frequently in a lesson. Over time I tried to say it less often as I was worried it looked like I didn't know what I was doing in the classroom. One of my students also pointed out that I said "Oops" every time I made a mistake on the whiteboard but I had been completely unaware of it until she pointed it out. From then on I tried to analyse the way I spoke in class and eliminate annoying and repetitive "verbal tics" as I didn't want to end up like the teacher in South Park.

Have you any of these verbal tics that you are aware of?

Without wanting to make you paranoid, do you think you may have some you aren't aware of?

Also, I have a co-worker who seems to say "no worries" about fifty times a day in the staffroom. Yet such is his general level of incompetence, "no worries" is the least appropriate thing he can say. He also seems to have some involuntary scratching-and-rubbing-his-chest problem which becomes more apparent the more stressed he is. When I teach in the classroom next door to him I see him going in with photocopies of listening exercises from textbooks chosen, apparently, at random. From what I can here the class consists of "Riiiiiiiight, Okaaaaaaaaaay, tick the boxes, okay? No worries." Then a CD is played. The process is then repeated a few times until the end of the lesson.

I think I should say something to him, if not about the poor quality of his lessons, to make him aware of his habits but he teeters precariously on the edge of a mental abyss at the best of times and I'm not sure if my comments would be appreciated.

Any ideas?

canuck · Joined: 11 May 2003 Posts: 1921 Location: Japan

furiousmilksheikali · Posted: Tue Apr 17, 2007 12:47 am Post subject:

Then I presume you practice what you preach and tell your co-worker the brutal truth as you advise me to do to mine?

spiral78 · Joined: 05 Apr 2004 Posts: 11534 Location: On a Short Leash

I once did a study on another teacher's language (when I was working on my MA). She said 'ok?' with the questioning tone very often, and had actually been told by management that it was a problem. However, I was able to find evidence in the ESL research literature that indicates checking in with your students in this manner is actually a pretty effective part of teacher talk, indicating a relatively strong connection with your learners.

If it's a distracting tic, then it's probably worth trying to break. But if it's a connecting technique, there are some good reasons to keep it.

I asked my students in the latest bloc, as a part of a consideration of personal tics that distract, to tell me whether I have distracting behaviors. I expected to hear comments about the fact that I cannot be still for long (one very good reason to be a teacher - freedom to stand up and move around as I wish, within reason). I did get this one, but also learned that I play with my hair in a distracting way. It's much shorter now, since this comment! At least, until I can break the habit...

Sonnet · Joined: 10 Mar 2004 Posts: 235 Location: South of the river

I think that most of us probably have our own favourite "ok" tic; for me, it's probably "right...." during many transitions.

One point, though; be careful about forming opinions of other teachers based on what you hear through their classroom walls; in my experience, nobody's teaching sounds particularly impressive from the room next door.

furiousmilksheikali · Posted: Tue Apr 17, 2007 3:36 am Post subject:

Yes, I can see where the use of certain language is useful and in fact the "okay" one is not too bad. Sometimes it indicates to students when you are finishing an activity or about to start a new one and you can find the students respond well to them.

That said I think it is also a good idea to critique yourself from time to time and to make sure you aren't starting to sound robotic (ha ha). I think that all kinds of problems can become ingrained in your intonation and vocabulary choice after teaching EFL/ESL for a long time. You can form certain unbreakable habits which turn into eccentricities if you're not careful, mmmkay?

Serious_Fun · Joined: 28 Jun 2005 Posts: 1171 Location: terra incognita

tedkarma · Posted: Tue Apr 17, 2007 6:40 am Post subject:

dmb · Joined: 12 Feb 2003 Posts: 8397

Many people aren't aware of it. Try recording yourself and you might be surprised.

I discovered I say 'take a break' far too often in lessons.

furiousmilksheikali · Posted: Tue Apr 17, 2007 9:56 am Post subject:

I agree with you Ted; there's little point in stirring up trouble at work.

Serious Fun's suggestion of recording each other's lessons is a good one, though.

quoi_de_neuf? · Joined: 06 Mar 2007 Posts: 48

During my CELTA course my lessons were filmed... When watching them back, I realised I had an "ok" tic (affirmative AND interrogative Wink

) but more embarrassingly I looked like a rabbit when doing a gesture to indicate the present tense. Indicating the past tense is fairly obvious - you wave your hand over your shoulder... For the present tense, I had both hands in front of me and repeatedly pointed to the ground (which I now wish had swallowed me up).

I now use timelines rather than bunny gestures Smile

Quoi de 9

Margot73 · Joined: 16 Feb 2007 Posts: 145 Location: New York City

I think the rabbit thing sounds cute! My worst tick is that I say "anyhoooooo" when something stressful, akward or embarrassing happens in class. Most recent example. One student started laying into another student because she thought the other student chatters too much during class. When they were done, I clapped my hands together and said cheerfully "Anyhoooo!" then changed the topic. I hate that I say this word, but it's hard to stop myself.