Some of the differences between Language Coaching and Language Teaching
(taken from Rachel Paling’s book “Brain Friendly Language Learning – Neurolanguage Coaching”©, 2017)
| LANGUAGE COACHING | LANGUAGE TEACHING |
|---|---|
| – Active learning – Motivation is the top priority – Empathy is important | – Generally quite passive |
| – Coach has the ability to keep the coachee engaged, motivated, valued and committed. | – It could sometimes be described as mainly a one-way process. |
| – the coachee takes responsibility and ownership. – Flexible and self-directed. | – Often book-related – following the chapters and order of language learning books. |
| – Normally, no books are used. | – Often limited to the materials/books used. |
| – The coach and coachee have an equal status. – There is an awareness of limitations. – Learning matches the needs of the coachee. | – Teacher takes the role as the expert denoting superior status. – Relationship between teacher and learner is often not so close nor is it a realistic or personalized experience. – Often encompasses a more formal approach. |
| – “Teaching” is kept to a minimum. – Continuous feedback and acknowledgement. – Stimulates reflection. | – Instructive and mandatory. – Directional. – Demonstrative. |
| – Coach has the ability to adapt to the coachee. – Coachee-focused and tailor-made | – With groups – often trial and error – not tailored to individuals – Often the subject must be learnt, so the teacher is interested in the topic, but the learner is not! |
| – One objective is to maximise the potential of the coachee. | – Often does not take into account the social context and cultural interaction of the learner. |
| – Focus on cost effectiveness. | – Normally not cost-effective and no awareness relating to cost-effectiveness. |