Nachdenken über Language Awareness

One way to think about language awareness is that everyone is a learner, since even teachers have to continue to explore language systems – a lifelong process. [I]n the context of learning a foreign language […] [teaching language awareness] for teachers means helping learners effectively explore, internalize, and gain greater understanding of the target language. […] Hence, the teacher’s role is no longer that of “great guru” – or “all knowing one” – but that of the facilitator of learning. (Bourke 2008: 15-20)

Bourke, J. M. (2008). A Rough Guide to Language Awareness. English Teaching Forum 46(1), 12-21.

Teachers’ language awareness encompasses an awareness of language from the learner’s perspective, and awareness of the learner’s developing interlanguage, and an awareness of the extent to which the content of materials/lessons poses difficulties for students. As Wright (2002) observes: ‘A linguistically aware teacher not only understands how language works, but understands the students’ struggle with language and is sensitive to errors and other interlanguage features’ (Wright, 2002: 115). (Andrews 2003: 86)

Andrews, S. (2003). Teacher language awareness and the professional knowledge base of the L2 teacher. Language Awareness, 12(2), 81-95.

It is a brave new world, indeed; and those who have to be bravest of all are the teachers of English. […] [I]n a world where traditional models and values are changing so rapidly, the task facing the teacher, in particular, is immense. Keeping abreast of all that is taking place is a nightmare in itself.  Deciding what to teach, given the proliferation of new and competing models, requires metaphors which go beyond nightmares. [...]

[T]here is no doubt in my mind that the concept of ‘best practice’ for the next century will need to be grounded in a dynamic linguistic relativism, recognizing as axiomatic the notions of variation and change. This is the chief challenge facing ELT specialists. (Crystal 2001: 63)

Crystal, D. (2001). The future of Englishes. In A. Burns & C. Coffin (Eds.), Analysing English in a global context. A reader (pp. 53-64). London, England: Routledge.