8/19/2019 Good Talk and Warm Language

1/3

By Jessica Cinco

Have you ever had one of those   teachers? The ones whose monotone voice drones on

and on…and on, until you either doze off in the middle of the lecture or hopelessly slump

down in your desk, with your hands covering your face wondering if the Cosmos was tryingto punish you? Or maybe you had a professor whose lectures were so unclear, complex, or

abstract that you spent every single moment in class trying to quell a panic attack because

you knew that you wouldn’t be comprehend the course material enough to pass the test.  

I had one such pr ofessor, whom I’ll call “Dr. O,” during my freshman year of college. At that

time, I was a business major with high hopes of becoming a successful business woman. I

enrolled in Dr. O’s Introduction to Microeconomics class, and as I settled myself into my

desk on the first day, I knew I was in trouble. Dr. O quickly introduced himself, the syllabus

and the class. Then, he immediately launched into his initial lecture on microeconomics. He

was definitely not a dynamic speaker. To begin with, he never once made eye contact with

the students. He spent most of the class lecturing in a dull, detached voice while

simultaneously furiously scribbling information on the board. As a result, his back was to

the class for the majority of class, while he spoke—mumbled, really—to the blackboard,

instead of to the students.

While the words coming out of his mouth were in English, I struggled to understand what he

was actually saying. As I glanced around the lecture hall, I noticed expressions of sheer

bewilderment on the other students’ faces and felt slightly comforted that I wasn’t alone in

my lack of comprehension. A few brave students tried to ask Dr. O some questions toclarify the information, but his answers were just as cryptic as the rest of the lesson. As the

semester wore on, Dr. O continued to confuse, befuddle and bore students with his

lectures. My final grade in that class was not one that I am proud of, which made me realize

I was in the wrong major. I changed my major to German and Communications and upon

graduating, embarked on an ESL teaching journey that has taken me around the world a

few times and now, to Arizona. To this day, economics remains a mystery, but I do have

Dr. O’s teaching skills, or lack thereof, to thank for inspiring me to leave the business field!

If someone were to write a book entitled, How Not to Teach, Dr. O would likely be pictured

on the front cover. Now, don’t get me wrong, Dr. O was an absolutely brilliant man, and an

expert in the field of economics; however, that doesn’t automatically make him a great

teacher. Sadly, he was unable to organize and simplify the vast amount of economics

information stored in his brain and present it in a manner easily understood by 18 year old

freshmen, most of whom had never taken an economics class. Dr. O is not alone. Teachers

in every field—economics, math, physics, and yes, even language—struggle to convey

their wealth of knowledge in a logical, clear fashion so that students can not only

understand ideas, but also engage and take a deep interest in the material.

Ken Bain, the Director of the Center for Teaching Excellence at New York University, spent15 years researching the qualities of the most effective university professors. He observed

8/19/2019 Good Talk and Warm Language

2/3

them in class and compiled the results of his research, and offered some helpful tips to help

all educators strengthen their teaching skills. Here are two of his ideas:

Good Talk 

Teachers can treat the lesson as a conversation instead of a performance. Here are a few

of Bain’s suggestions: 

· Interact with students.

· Have eye contact with all students.

· Routinely check that students are understanding.

· Be aware of students’ facial expressions or body language. Bored or confused looksshould be signals to rephrase your information. Smiles and nods mean that students are

interested and relate to what you’re saying. 

· Move around the room, don’t be anchored to your podium.  

· Learn the students' names.

· Engage students in banter and allow them to ask questions, offer opinions and interact

with the lesson.

· Use conversational tones.

· Speak clearly and carefully. Be sure to enunciate.

· Project your voice.

· Change the focus or activity every 10-12 minutes to stimulate and hold students’ interest. 

Warm Language, 

Teachers and professors, in an attempt to look austere or scholarly, can sometimes take

themselves and their classroom content too seriously. Traditionally, this was done to make

the teacher appear as the all-knowing expert up on a pedestal, whom the students revere

and dutifully take notes from. As teaching methods have evolved, so have views of

teachers and classroom interactions. Teachers who adhere to the communicative approach

have made a conscious effort to avoid “putting themselves up on a pedestal,” and instead

have adopted a warm, engaging learning environment. “Warm language” was discussed in

Video 5 as a means to draw students into the lesson and further engage them. Here are

some techniques for using “warm language” in your classes.  

8/19/2019 Good Talk and Warm Language

3/3

· Talk about  ideas, instead of around them.

· Bring the student “into” the lesson and work through ideas together. 

· Create a clear image or idea that students can relate to.

· Personalize the class.

· Use asides (“You know,….”) and explanatories (“Well, wouldn’t you know….” and

“Goodness….”). 

· Be explicit and transparent.

· Tell the “story” (or lesson) and give clear, simple explanations that students can easily

understand.

· Ask critical thinking questions that provoke thought.

· Use humor in the class.

· Bring the language down to the students’ level of knowledge without talking down to them

(Bain, 2004).

By employing “good talk” and “warm language” techniques in your classes, you can make

yourself seem more human and bring yourself down to the students’ level for a more

comfortable classroom atmosphere. As a result, students react more positively, are more

engaged in the class, and are more likely to retain what they learn from your class for years

to come. You might’ve noticed that these are some techniques that we, ourselves, have

been utilizing throughout this course. Instead of being one of those   dull, incomprehensible

teachers whose classes students dread like my econ professor, Dr. O, our goal for this

course is to engage, inspire and empower you to become effective teachers in your own

classrooms!

Bain, K. (2004) What the Best College Teachers Do.