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In primary education, teacher talk is a rich source of input for students. Teachers make efforts to talk to and interact with children based on their own assumption of what makes our input comprehensible and meaningful and make sure that the children are indeed working at understanding. While teaching English in English has been advocated by many teacher trainers and practiced by many teachers, the teacher training does not seem to address what is beyond fluent teacher talk or Classroom English. Teacher talk analysis is essential so that teachers can reflect on their own teacher talk and expand the repertoire of teacher talk strategies.

Through three-year teacher training I was involved in Shiojiri, Nagano, I realized that some Japanese teachers rely on simplified language or translation to make their teacher talk comprehensible to children because of the lack of confidence in their English speaking ability but also the lack of understanding of various strategies in teacher talk. Through the training, the teachers not only studied various transcripts, but also transcribed their own talk, and observed other teachers' lessons. The results were that teachers gained a deeper awareness of their own talk and its role. The direction of the training sessions shifted from merely linguistic analysis of teacher talk towards learning about social interaction that occurs in the classroom.

There are two major points I would like to address here. Firstly, as research has shown, interactionally modified input is more comprehensible than premodified input. That is, teachers can maximize learners' comprehension through interaction in the direction of elaboration and rephrasing, not simplification or translation. Secondly, not only teachers’ linguistic efforts, but also affective variables such as nonjudgmental and tolerant behaviors of teachers are important factors for engaging children in learning. I hope you will find the next list of teacher talk strategies (both linguistic and extra-linguistic) useful for you to analyze your own teacher talk.

Linguistic efforts and strategies that make teacher talk comprehensible

1. Classroom English
   The set of useful phrases which you can use in conducting lessons in English ranging from giving instructions, classroom management to acknowledgements). It is especially useful for non-native English teachers.
2. Premodified input
   Adjusting teacher talk beforehand to the level of children.
3. Interractionaly modified input
   Adjusting teacher talk through interacting with children.
4. Elaborating / Contextualizing
   Giving examples and relating to what children already know
   (ex. "grow" We all grow). A baby grows up to be a boy or a girl, and then a man and a woman. A caterpillar grows into a  ? Yes. A butterfly!
5. Recasting
   Putting children's utterance in Japanese into English and recasting it to the whole class
   (ex. できるかどうか聞いてるのね!? You're asking us whether we "can" do it or not, right?). Yes, if you CAN ski and you're good at skiing, please stand up! I CANNOT do judo, but if you CAN do judo. Please stand up!
6. Rephrasing
   For example, "Famous? Umm… 'famous' means everyone knows that person, like.... you know, I know, she knows, he knows, we all know..."
7. Responding to learner talk: accepting, evaluating, rephrasing, extending
   For example, "Oh, you went to see a movie with your dad! Good job! You can say your name very well! I see. You want a game for Christmas, right? How about you? What do YOU want for Christmas? (asking the rest of the students)"
8. Verbal scaffolding
   Helping children to say what they cannot say on their own/Putting their word-level utterance into sentence-level utterances
   (ex. Piano! Oh, you take piano lessons. What day do you take the piano lessons? Monday! Good. You take piano lessons on Monday.)
9. Asking questions
   Display questions (the teacher knows the answer, ex. "What color is this?")
   Referential questions (the teacher does not know the answer, ex. "What is your favorite thing to do?")
10. Asking learners for clarification / confirmation
    For example, "You mean you want a new game, but your mom says No and you won't get it for your birthday?"
11. Eliciting
    Pause and let the children speak. For example, "Nanako's wearing.....? Yes. She's wearing a dress. A pink dress."
12. Making mistakes deliberately
    Raising awareness and encouraging active listening. For example, "It's very warm today. NO! It's very cold today!"

Extra-linguistic efforts that make teacher talk comprehensible

1. Gesture/facial expressions
   Non-condescending, and yet friendly
2. Nonjudgmental attitudes
   Accepting, acknowledging children's contributions
3. Positive attitudes and positive assumptions towards students learning
   Not-underestimating children's comprehension ability
4. Patient attitudes
   Giving space and time for children's active understanding

The purpose of the teacher talk analysis is not to pass the prescriptive judgment on your teacher talk, but rather to gain a tool to reflect on your own teacher talk descriptively, and even challenge your assumptions of what makes input comprehensible. Teachers' experiential way of knowing and guiding principles should be examined in order to expand classroom interaction research. (Mori 2003, Rost 2002) notes that the common ground for most claims about the role of input in L2 acquisition is that the L2 acquirer must have ongoing access to meaningful input. "What is meaningful to a learner will of course change over time, and needs to be 'tuned' to the learner's interests and needs" (Rost, 2002). Thus, it seems our life-time pursuit that we make constant efforts to our teacher talk comprehensible to our students.

References
Cadorath, J & Harris, S. (1998). Unplanned classroom language and teacher training. ELT Journal, 52, 188-196
Cervantes, R. & Gainer, G. (1992). The effects of syntactic simplification and repetition on listening comprehension. TESOL Quarterly, 24, 767-770.
Garton, S. (2002). Learner initiative in the language classroom. ELT Journal, 56, 47 - 56.
Lynch, A.J. (1988). Speaking up or talking down: Foreign learners' reactions to teacher talk. ELT Journal, 42, 109 - 116.
Mori, R. (2003). Respect for students: An alternative paradigm for classroom interaction research. FPU Journal of Nursing Research, 1, 3-13.
Rost, M. (2002). Teaching and research in listening. Harlow: Longman.
Slattery, M., & Willis, J. (2001). English for primary teachers: A handbook of activities and classroom language. Oxford: Oxford University Press
Supp Cabrera, M. P. & Martinez, P. B. (2001). The effects of repetition, comprehension checks, and gestures, on primary school children in an EFL situation. ELT Journal, 55, 181-188.
Takahashi, A (2005). A study of teacher talk and its modification in a Japanese elementary school classroom. Teachers College, Columbia University M.A. Project
Willis, J (2002). Teacher talk in the primary school. The Language Teacher

Akiko Seino has experience teaching English in primary and secondary schools.  She currently runs her own school in Matsumoto, and is the co-author of the Pearson Longman's English Land.