How to Become a Great English Teacher: Practical Advice for New Teachers
From time to time, people ask me for advice on how a new English teacher can become a great professional. The request is almost always the same:
“What does it take to become an excellent English teacher?”
With that in mind, I decided to share some lessons I have learned throughout my professional career — lessons I truly wish I had known when I started teaching back in 1993. Whether you are just beginning or already teaching English, these insights can help you grow professionally and pedagogically.
1. Behave Like a Professional
One of the most complex — and most overlooked — aspects of teaching is professional behavior.
You already have your own personality, habits, and way of interacting with people. However, as a teacher, you should always treat students and colleagues with respect, humility, patience, empathy, and professionalism.
A practical exercise:
- Take a sheet of paper.
- Write down 10 qualities you admired most in the best teacher you ever had.
- Then, describe in a few words what you believe should be the attitude of an excellent English teacher toward students and colleagues.
Keep this paper and read it daily. Reflect on your behavior in class and at work.
If something did not align with your ideal, improve it the next day.
Your behavior, attitude, and mannerisms should reflect the kind of teacher you would like to have as a student.
2. Study the English Language Deeply
As an English teacher, you must truly know your subject.
Knowing the coursebook used at your school is not enough.
You need to understand the English language itself:
- Its history and development
- Prescriptive grammar (rules, terminology, exceptions)
- Vocabulary — from everyday words to less common ones
- Both general usage and formal registers
Having grammar books and dictionaries is essential — but owning books is not the same as studying them.
You need to open them, read them, and learn from them.
You will never know everything, and that is perfectly fine. What matters is understanding that a good teacher is a lifelong learner. Every year — and ideally every month — there is something new to learn.
3. Learn About Teaching Methods and Approaches
To become an excellent English teacher, you must be familiar with the main language teaching methods and approaches, such as:
- Communicative Language Teaching (CLT)
- Grammar-Translation Method
- Audio-Lingual Method
- Silent Way
- Community Language Learning
- Total Physical Response (TPR)
- Content-Based Instruction (CBI)
- Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT)
- Lexical Approach
- Teaching Unplugged (Dogme)
- The post-method era
Once you explore these approaches, you will probably feel more drawn to one of them — and that is completely natural.
However, no single method works for every learner. Different students have different profiles, needs, and learning styles.
To get started, I strongly recommend reading at least one of the following classic books:
- Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching – Diane Larsen-Freeman & Marti Anderson
- Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching – Jack Richards & Theodore Rodgers
- How to Teach English – Jeremy Harmer
- Learning Teaching – Jim Scrivener
4. Learn How to Teach the Four Language Skills
Learning a language involves developing four core skills:
- Speaking
- Listening
- Reading
- Writing
A competent English teacher understands how each skill works and how to design activities that focus on one or more of them.
Teaching English is not just about explaining grammar rules or isolated vocabulary items.
Effective language teaching goes far beyond that.
Communicative English teaching requires:
- Meaningful activities
- Realistic contexts
- A focus on fluency development
Grammar — especially grammar in use — and vocabulary — especially formulaic language (chunks of language) — should be integrated into activities that promote all four skills.
Some essential books on teaching language skills include:
- How to Teach Grammar – Scott Thornbury
- How to Teach Listening – J.J. Wilson
- How to Teach Speaking – Scott Thornbury
- How to Teach Vocabulary – Scott Thornbury
- How to Teach Pronunciation – Gerald Kelly
- Teaching Grammar Creatively – Gerngross, Puchta & Thornbury
- Teaching Chunks of Language – Lindstromberg & Boers
5. Understand How Languages Are Learned
Learning how the brain acquires languages — first, second, or additional languages — helps teachers better understand what goes on in their students’ minds.
This applies to:
- Children
- Teenagers
- Young adults
- Adults
- Senior learners
When I started teaching in the 1990s, I knew very little about second language acquisition (SLA). Looking back, this knowledge would have helped me immensely in the classroom.
Understanding how learners process language allows teachers to:
- Design better activities
- Interpret student reactions more accurately
- Develop greater empathy toward learners
Highly recommended books include:
- Principles of Language Learning and Teaching – H. Douglas Brown
- How Languages Are Learned – Lightbown & Spada
- The Study of Second Language Acquisition – Rod Ellis
Conclusion: Never Stop Developing as a Teacher
The real secret to becoming a good English teacher is continuous professional development.
This means:
- Reading regularly
- Researching new ideas
- Exchanging experiences with colleagues
- Listening to students
- Attending events and workshops
- Taking courses
- Staying curious
However, if I had to summarize all these tips into one essential principle, it would be this:
Never consider yourself better than others.
You will never know everything. There will always be something new to learn — whether from colleagues or from your own students.
If you manage to connect with people, build trust, and stay humble, you will already be several steps ahead of many others in the profession.
Everything else is a matter of time, study, and consistent effort.
This article was first publish in Portuguese on November 5, 2014.
