ABSTRACT
This chapter distils what a language teacher requires in order to be really effective while showing, through some case studies, that there is no single way to achieve excellence. It lists the key features of an effective language teacher, summarises some important methodological principles, and then looks in detail at three alternative and somewhat unorthodox ways of achieving success. The chapter discusses the two general schools of thought about how we learn languages: the idea of skill-acquisition and the long-standing nativist tradition where second-language acquisition is seen as a unique process in the brain very close or identical to first language acquisition. It presents a set of methodological principles which should help lead to maximum success in the classroom. The chapter also includes "case studies" which demonstrate that although there are many different ways of teaching languages, all of them involve providing TL input and opportunities to recycle language.
