In Chapter 2 of Teaching Languages: A Way and Ways, Earl Stevick introduces his concept of teacher “control? and student “initiative.? According to Stevick, there is no necessary conflict between the two.

Stevick argues that some kind of teacher control is necessary, even in “humanistic? classrooms. The teacher must structure the classroom activity. What, exactly, are we going to do during this hour or so of language instruction? Secondly, the teacher has to let the learner know how what he has understood, or said, or written in the foreign language compares to what a native speaker would have understood, said, or written.

?Initiative,? as Stevick uses the word, refers to decisions about who says what, to whom, and when. So used, Stevick argues that teachers can increase their control of what is going on without necessarily cutting into the students? initiative.

This idea is a little hard for me to understand. I don’t know that I want to give 30 high school students, mostly boys, an opportunity to say what they want to whom they want. I guess we have to understand that the students are doing what they want within the instructional framework or learning environment that the teacher has set up. They have freedom as long as they stay on task.

According to Stevick, “What so often happens, of course, is that the teacher, in the name of “exercising control,? also monopolizes initiative, telling the student which line of the drill to produce, which question to ask (or how to answer it), whom to talk with, and so on.? (p.20)

Again, I have to wonder how this will work in a high school classroom. If we’re doing conversational pair practice (I don’t do much of this myself) and I let students choose their partners, the frequent result is a conversation in English that has nothing to do with learning Spanish. I suppose that Stevick would agree that the teacher at this point can legitimately exercise control by reassigning partners or tasks. I guess that Stevick would agree with me when I assert that it’s easier to allow student initiative in smaller classes of more mature students.

Anyhow, Stevick identifies 3 things which we, as FL teachers, should not do. We should avoid letting the classroom become a power vacuum, but we should also steer clear of an Evaluational Paradigm, even if we try to make our evaluations positive rather than negative. Finally, Stevick doubts “the wisdom of trying to enclose the student in too much linguistic security.? (p. 24) I imagine that here he’s thinking about the Audio-Lingual Method, which presented students with pattern drills that were supposed to be “error-proof.?

Stevick continues by listing seven ways in which we may successfully work within a control / initiative context. One, we should know our students as persons in so far as possible. Two, we should look at our lesson plans and actual classroom activities in terms of the control / initiative paradigm. Third, we should foster a feeling of community and cooperation in our classes. Fourth, we should give off “good vibes?: i.e. facial expressions, body postures, tones of voice, and inferences expressing confidence in ourselves as teachers and in our students as learners. Fifth, we should at least occasionally come out from behind our Teacher Mask and put on the Ordinary Person mask, even though we are still slyly trying to teach. Sixth, we should model for students how one can be self-critical without that attitude unduly affecting performance. (A student who’s too worried about making mistakes in conversation may end up not conversing at all!)

Seventh, students should be free to give feedback to the teacher about the language and the language course they’re involved with.

I must say that my summary of Chapter 2 does not do justice to the subtleties of Stevick’s writing. If I were talking to Stevick in person, I’d agree with his argument, but I would point out how difficult it is for a public school teacher to follow all his recommendations. Probably he?d agree with me on that point.

Anyway, those interested in the full story should get a copy of Teaching Languages: a Way and Ways published in 1980 by Newbury House. I plan to move on to Chapter 3 and the “Silent Way? on Wednesday, August 13. I’m hopeful that I’ll be able to produce worthwhile blog articles on every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday of the week. Of course, when the regular school year starts on August 25, I may have to revise that commitment. we’ll see.