I ask from students to read texts aloud in class
Sometimes
19%
Rarely
3%
Always
47%
Usually
31%
Figure 15. The frequency to which respondents ask from students to read texts aloud in class
Concerning the teaching model employed, figure 16 shows that most usually
respondents teach in lockstep (see appendix IV, p. 125, table 64), as students have to
raise their hands to answer questions. This claim is also supported by the finding that
only 14% organize their lesson in groups or pairs on a regular basis (see appendix IV,
p. 126, table 67).
My questions are addressed to the whole class
and students raise their hands to answer
Sometimes
22%
Alw ays
22%
Usually
56%
Figure 16. Frequency of lockstep teaching
However, an organization of the lesson in groups or pairs has a number of advantages
over lockstep as, according to Long and Porter (1985: 208), it increases both the
quantity and quality of talk while, as Ur (1981: 7) points out, the context of small
groups helps students who are shy express themselves more freely. Brown and Yule
(1983: 34) emphasise that in the safety which small groups offer, the speaker’s
‘communicative stress’ decreases and students feel more comfortable in producing
what they have to say, something which is also stressed in Krashen’s Monitor Model
(see the ‘affective filter hypothesis’ in section 1.2.2.2). Finally, Fisher (1993:164)
stresses that the interaction between students releases them from the control of the
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