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2. The Nature of Learning
Learning has always been a primary interest to teachers responsible for having children master the academic curriculum of the school. It is of even greater concern to
the modern teacher interested in the child’s all round growth, for the principles of learning apply just as surely to emotion or personal adjustment as to the multiplication
tables. Learning is a part of the larger and much more significant process of adjustment to environmental demands. Mouly, 1968: 297
Learning is active and purposeful. Learning is an active process, not a spectator activity Marks, Purdy, and Kinney, 1958: 19. A search in contemporary
dictionaries reveals that learning is acquiring or getting of knowledge of a subject or a skill by study, experience, or instruction. Learning is a relatively permanent change in a
behavioral tendency and is the result of reinforced practice Kimble and Garmezy, 1963: 133 as stated in Brown, 1994:7.
According to Brown 1994: 7 there are some domains of learning: 1
Learning is acquisition or “getting” 2
Learning is retention of information or skill 3
Retention implies storage systems, memory, cognitive organization 4
Learning involves active, conscious focus on and acting upon events outside or inside the organism
5 Learning is relatively permanent but subject to forgetting
6 Learning involves some forms of practice, perhaps reinforced practice
7 Learning is a change in behavior
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Learning, then, means an active process on acquiring information and changing behavior.
3. Teacher’s Role
A commitment to professional standards is essential for teaching. Professional standards in this context refer to a teacher’s commitment to high quality instruction and
personal and social conduct of high repute. There is a closely relationship between the teacher and the learner roles.
… in general it might be said that teachers would be expected as a minimum part of their role to have adequate knowledge of their
subject matter, to know something of how children learn and develop and to be able to devise appropriate learningteaching experiences in
the light of these two considerations. Pupils would be expected as a minimum part of their role to be interested in being learners, to
develop the skills of listening to a teacher’s exposition of a topic and to acquire the skills of reading about and understanding subject
matter as well as developing some skill with members. Cortis 1977: 20 as quoted in Wright , 1987: 51
Essentially, teachers have two major roles in the classroom: 1.
To create the condition under which learning can take place: the social side of teaching;
2. To impact, by a variety of means, knowledge to their learners: the task-
oriented side of teaching. Wright. 1987: 51 A primary function of teachers’ management role is to motivate the learners
who are demotivated and to nurture those who are already well motivated to the task
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of learning of foreign language, there are several ways in which teachers can achieve this:
1. Adopting a positive attitude towards the learners.
2. Giving pupils meaningful, relevant, and interesting task to do.
3. Maintaining discipline to the extent that a reasonable working atmosphere
is established. 4.
Being motivated and interested themselves. 5.
Involving the learners more actively in the classroom process in activities that demand inter-student communication and co-operative efforts on their
part. 6.
Introducing learners to the concept of self-appraisal and self-evaluation through reports and discussion.
7. Giving positive feedback on written assignment.
8. Encouraging pride in achievement by allowing learners to display their work
on the classroom walls and notice boards. There are other roles within characterizations of the teacher drawn up by
Barnes Wright, 1987: 63: 1.
The teacher is an evaluator of learner’s efforts and contributions. The teacher judges whether learners’ contributions to the teachinglearning
process are valid, relevant, and correct. 2.
The teacher is a guide to the ‘subject’ under consideration and the way in which it is learnt in the classroom.
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3. Closely linked to the ‘guide’ role is the role of resource. The teacher is a
resource of knowledge about the subject and also how to acquire it 4.
The teacher is also, as implied by 2 and 3, an organizer. The teacher organizes classroom activities, sets up learning tasks and assists the learners
in doing these activities. From those explanations, the main roles of a teacher are to facilitate and to
motivate. Teacher should facilitate what the learners need concerning with the teaching and learning process and also teacher should motivate them to learn.
All teachers should aim to enhance to optimum achievement of learners. A teacher should apply the most efficient methods, strategies, procedures, and principles
so that learners will develop to the full extent of their capabilities.
4. Learner’s Role
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