Teaching Methods and Types of Personality: Spontaneous Type

Teaching (and learning) methods suitable for a spontaneous type of person stand in the opposition to the methods for a planner. Spontaneous people tend to be more active and changeable than planners. They enjoy being in the constant move, joining different activities spontaneously and making on-the-spot decisions. Spontaneous types would prefer to learn a foreign language not during carefully planned lessons where everything is in a particular order but rather through various and spontaneous activities. In fact, organising such a „spontaneous lesson” would require some preparations from a teacher. However, what is essential is that the lesson should not seem to be running rigidly.  A teacher has to plan a lesson but in such a way to make a student be not aware of that fact. Of course, not everything should be planned and a lot of things will probably appear in the course of the classes, which would be even more beneficial to a student. 

Here are some of the methods suitable for the spontaneous type:

  1. Make your lesson seem to be spontaneous (prepare such activitis and exercises whose form and topic will be constantly changing).

  2. Combine teching a language with movement. If you teach children, use Total Physical Response Method: active games, instructions based on moving, jumping and running. If you teach adults, choose such activities as: meeting with a group of natives in a cafe, organising speed dates exercises, going for a guided walk in the city (you can play the role of a tourist guide and tell your student about some interesting things about the city and its attractions).

  3. Do not make routines. Every lesson should be different: one day you should oranise an interesting grammar lesson (based rather on induction method: allow your students to make conclusions on the basis of given examples or materials) and another – let’s watch a film together and make  a discussion afterwards.

 

  4.  Keep in touch with your student outside the classroom (a good idea is to send them text messages or mails in a foreign language).

  

  5. Be a friend (only in case a student is an adult), organise language games, meetings, trips, film debates etc.

  6. Put more emphasis on a practical use of language rather then theory.