How to Teach English by Jeremy Harmer is comes highly recommended by experienced teachers. The book is written for new teachers starting out their TEFL career, giving the reader an idea of what to expect in anything from language issues to classroom management. The book is divided into several parts and can be used as a workbook for teacher trainees. This review will deal only with the first part of the book, which is 14 chapters regarding the various aspects of teaching English.
Harmer begins his book by discussing the learners and the teachers. It is an excellent way to introduce teaching and the effect that it can have on both parties involved. He moves in classroom management before diving specifically into the actual process of teaching English, covering the four macro skills (reading, writing, speaking, and listening) in their own individual chapters. He ends this section of the book by talking about other--yet no less important-aspects of English language teaching: using the coursebook, planning lessons, and testing. The final chapter is a catch-all entitled "What If?". It is a rather brief sum-up of common questions new teachers could have and answers to those questions.
Harmer's writing is a bit clunky. He goes into extreme detail when it is not needed and skims over aspects that seem more important. For example, in each of the chapters that discuss teaching the macro skills, the examples he gives are extremely long and very in-depth, whereas his discussion of the actual teaching methodology and recommendations is very short. Each conclusion of the section seems like a too quick sum-up in order to get to the next page. Though I appreciate having in-depth examples of how to teach these skills, it wasn't at all what I was expecting. It seems that from the beginning of his book that he would be talking about the pedagogy of each skill, rather than saying "here are a bunch of examples, have fun."
Furthermore, his examples, though good and helpful, begin to feel weighty and long. There were some that I skimmed rather than read fully because the explanations were not that clear. Also, the actual presentation of the examples (i.e. the typeface and paragraphing styles) is not pleasing to the eye. I know that sounds very nit-picky of me, but when I read a book or an article, I prefer to have it flow visually. Not only does that assist with the "eye exercises" one goes through when reading, but it allows one to focus on the words and not be sidetracked by the bad formatting and styling.
There is one thought, however, that Harmer presents that I very much enjoyed and wished that he went into more:
"...teaching is a job, not a lifestyle, and in order to act professionally, we need to be able to stand back from what is happening so that we can react dispassionately, rather than taking instant decisions in the heat of the moment....Instead of interpreting the behaviour as an attack on us as people, we need to view it as something 'the teacher' has to deal with. Of course this is easier said than done, but some kind of emotional detachment will always be more successful than reacting emotionally" (p. 181).
This is a powerful and profound statement. Often in life we take things personally, even if it is meant purely on a professional level. We get easily offended, angry, and heatedly reject construction criticism. It is a sad reality and needs to be addressed. I (and now let's get a bit personal) am an emotional thinker, not to be confused with being emotional. There are different types of thinking (linguistic, mathematical, etc.) and emotional thinking is the type that I identify with the most. I am empathetic and desire people's happiness. Whenever someone is overly moody, I have a tendency to project that onto myself. Though I am logical and efficient, I do not believe that emotions should be sacrificed when facing a problem; if these emotions are controlled, then they can provide a wonderful solution.
Thus, when teaching a group of children or adults it is important to know that it is nothing against you. Yes, be genuine and open, but realize that when students don't cooperate or want to participate, it is not because of you on a personal level. It is necessary to detach oneself and see you in the teacher role only. It is vital not to let your emotions wind up in your work. You can be passionate without reacting passionately. You can be emotional without taking things personally. It is hard, I know! When you are told "you suck", it is hard not to let that wound you. But, it is necessary to see it merely as part of the career choice that you have made and continue forward.
Harmer's insight was invaluable to me in reading this section, but it should have been placed at the beginning of the book rather than as a last minute thought at the end.
Now, back to the real reason of this post: a review.
Harmer's book is helpful and gave me a good idea of what to expect as a new teacher. Though I appreciated the myriad of examples, it would have been better served to have an example section as not to weigh down his too-brief discussions. His insights on teaching were helpful and despite the title of the book being a "how to", it did not feel like he was telling you that this was the only tried and true way of teaching. His book feels like a series of suggestions and strives to show that there a variety of ways to teach English effectively, using bits and pieces of various methods. He develops a good rapport, though at times he seems to focus too much on being clever rather than the actual writing or topic. It is a quick read, though the formatting does not flow. Yet, at the end of the day, it was a helpful read.
Rating: 4/5
Harmer begins his book by discussing the learners and the teachers. It is an excellent way to introduce teaching and the effect that it can have on both parties involved. He moves in classroom management before diving specifically into the actual process of teaching English, covering the four macro skills (reading, writing, speaking, and listening) in their own individual chapters. He ends this section of the book by talking about other--yet no less important-aspects of English language teaching: using the coursebook, planning lessons, and testing. The final chapter is a catch-all entitled "What If?". It is a rather brief sum-up of common questions new teachers could have and answers to those questions.
Harmer's writing is a bit clunky. He goes into extreme detail when it is not needed and skims over aspects that seem more important. For example, in each of the chapters that discuss teaching the macro skills, the examples he gives are extremely long and very in-depth, whereas his discussion of the actual teaching methodology and recommendations is very short. Each conclusion of the section seems like a too quick sum-up in order to get to the next page. Though I appreciate having in-depth examples of how to teach these skills, it wasn't at all what I was expecting. It seems that from the beginning of his book that he would be talking about the pedagogy of each skill, rather than saying "here are a bunch of examples, have fun."
Furthermore, his examples, though good and helpful, begin to feel weighty and long. There were some that I skimmed rather than read fully because the explanations were not that clear. Also, the actual presentation of the examples (i.e. the typeface and paragraphing styles) is not pleasing to the eye. I know that sounds very nit-picky of me, but when I read a book or an article, I prefer to have it flow visually. Not only does that assist with the "eye exercises" one goes through when reading, but it allows one to focus on the words and not be sidetracked by the bad formatting and styling.
There is one thought, however, that Harmer presents that I very much enjoyed and wished that he went into more:
"...teaching is a job, not a lifestyle, and in order to act professionally, we need to be able to stand back from what is happening so that we can react dispassionately, rather than taking instant decisions in the heat of the moment....Instead of interpreting the behaviour as an attack on us as people, we need to view it as something 'the teacher' has to deal with. Of course this is easier said than done, but some kind of emotional detachment will always be more successful than reacting emotionally" (p. 181).
This is a powerful and profound statement. Often in life we take things personally, even if it is meant purely on a professional level. We get easily offended, angry, and heatedly reject construction criticism. It is a sad reality and needs to be addressed. I (and now let's get a bit personal) am an emotional thinker, not to be confused with being emotional. There are different types of thinking (linguistic, mathematical, etc.) and emotional thinking is the type that I identify with the most. I am empathetic and desire people's happiness. Whenever someone is overly moody, I have a tendency to project that onto myself. Though I am logical and efficient, I do not believe that emotions should be sacrificed when facing a problem; if these emotions are controlled, then they can provide a wonderful solution.
Thus, when teaching a group of children or adults it is important to know that it is nothing against you. Yes, be genuine and open, but realize that when students don't cooperate or want to participate, it is not because of you on a personal level. It is necessary to detach oneself and see you in the teacher role only. It is vital not to let your emotions wind up in your work. You can be passionate without reacting passionately. You can be emotional without taking things personally. It is hard, I know! When you are told "you suck", it is hard not to let that wound you. But, it is necessary to see it merely as part of the career choice that you have made and continue forward.
Harmer's insight was invaluable to me in reading this section, but it should have been placed at the beginning of the book rather than as a last minute thought at the end.
Now, back to the real reason of this post: a review.
Harmer's book is helpful and gave me a good idea of what to expect as a new teacher. Though I appreciated the myriad of examples, it would have been better served to have an example section as not to weigh down his too-brief discussions. His insights on teaching were helpful and despite the title of the book being a "how to", it did not feel like he was telling you that this was the only tried and true way of teaching. His book feels like a series of suggestions and strives to show that there a variety of ways to teach English effectively, using bits and pieces of various methods. He develops a good rapport, though at times he seems to focus too much on being clever rather than the actual writing or topic. It is a quick read, though the formatting does not flow. Yet, at the end of the day, it was a helpful read.
Rating: 4/5
