ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on problematize notions of ‘the good language teacher’. Almost everyone has an opinion as to what makes a ‘good’ teacher. It examines differing patterns of classroom management and control, and the possible implications of the teacher interventions for classroom interaction and second language learning. Classroom management, that is, how teachers organize and direct learners and learning to make the most effective use of available time and resources, is ‘the central element of every teacher’s daily professional experience’. High and low structure approaches to classroom management differ in the amount of control teachers and learners have over classroom practices. The chapter considers the impact and role of new computer and online technologies in the English language teaching classroom. The use of technology in language teaching is not new; language laboratories based initially around audio and more recently around multimedia systems have been in use since the 1950s. It also considers the management of ‘large classes’ in ‘difficult circumstances’.
