Classroom management and interaction
Interaction patterns and roles
Choose deliberately among teacher-to-class, open and closed pairs, small groups, mingles and individual work. Teacher roles include controller, organiser, monitor, facilitator, resource and participant. Classroom talk is often dominated by IRF (initiation, response, feedback), which limits student turns; extend it with wait time, 'say more' and student-to-student nomination.
Instructions
Get attention, keep the language short and sequenced, demonstrate, then check. Use ICQs (instruction-checking questions such as 'Are you working alone or in pairs?') rather than CCQs, which check the meaning of language.
Grouping and rapport
Pair and group work raise student talking time but need clear set-up, roles, a time limit and a feedback stage. Noise is not the same as learning, and it is not automatically a problem. Rapport comes from learning names, attending to affect, consistent boundaries and purposeful use of the L1.
Traps
Confusing ICQs with CCQs; assuming group work is automatically communicative; nominating the same students; correcting every error during fluency work; treating all teacher talk as bad when clear instruction and modelling are essential.
Rule of thumb
Any instruction should survive being repeated back by a learner. If it cannot, shorten it and add a demonstration.