Selection and evaluation of the teaching materials for developing environmental awareness in all classrooms Contents Introduction Chapter I. Class as a social group and its atmosphere

Open questioning.Open questions encourage members of the group to talk more freely. They also allow other people to express and expand their own views. Below are some examples of open questions:
“What do you think about this topic?”
“Where would you like to go on holiday?”
“How did you spend your weekend?”
“Why have you chosen this particular job?”
In contrast, a closed question requires only a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ and thus will not be very helpful for participants to reveal much about themselves. These questions though might be useful as opening questions in a conversation. For example:
“Do you like such weather?”
“Did you have any hobbies as a child?”
“Have you ever been to some other countries?”


Chapter II. Creating English environment in teaching
2.1. Creating friendly atmosphere
They are carried out a research for their book Classroom Dynamics concerned with teachers’ most common staffroom complaints about problems involved in the teaching/learning process sending out questionnaires to language classs around Britain. The results were very surprising to them as the teachers were far less concerned with activities and techniques of teaching English then by the class atmosphere or the chemistry of the group of learners mentioning problems with learner’s cooperation, with learners refusing to work with each other, refusing regrouping, different levels of motivation and participation or significant differences between learners as personalities leading to conflicts, intolerance, disability to deal with problems, to compromise, teacher-dependency, spirit-killing learners, no trust in the group and so on. Another research aimed at learners showed that they as well consider the affective part of language learning very important mentioning the teacher’s attitude and the relations among learners as factors influencing their learning.
There are many materials for teachers to have a chance to improve their teaching in terms of teaching the four skills, listening, speaking, reading and writing or grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation but there isn’t much practical material concerned with the affective part of teaching/learning process as classroom atmosphere or classroom dynamics dealing with topics like relations among students, tolerance or cooperation. Share the opinion of that this may be due to the fact that these topics were probably not as important in the past when teacher-centred learning was the most common in language classrooms. However it is very important to pay attention to the affective part of learning now as today cooperative and communicative language learning employing pair work and group work has become the norm and it wouldn’t be effective or successful without good relationship and supportive attitude between learners as they are the source of learning to one another. Even research in social psychology confirms that cohesive groups have better results.
“A positive group atmosphere can have a beneficial effect on the morale, motivation, and self-image of its members, and thus significantly affect their learning, by developing in them a positive attitude to the language being leaned, to the learning process, and to themselves as learners” ¹⁴.
Hadfield uses the term “Successful group” connecting all the attributes mentioned above to describe what this term stands for in particular:

• 
  cohesiveness of a group;
  
• 
  positive, supportive atmosphere of trust among members as well as positive attitude to the learning experience, the language and culture studied;
  
• 
  positive self-image of its members supported by others, tolerance;
  
• 
  members feel comfortable with expressing their individuality, feel secure and accepted;
  
• 
  ability to compromise;
  
• 
  ability to define the goals both group and individual;
  
• 
  willingness to cooperate with all members of the group productively;
  
• 
  ability to listen to each other;
  
• 
  ability to take turns in speaking and activities;
  
• 
  ability to be open-minded, welcome new ideas, empathize with others and respect their different point of view;
  
• 
  self-reliance of the group, ability to overcome problems on their own;
  
• 
  sense of fun.
  

When a new group is formed and a good atmosphere is established it does not necessarily mean that it will stay that way throughout the whole year because maintaining a cohesive group is much more difficult than forming a new group.
Student’s groupings and their influence on classroom atmosphere
According to pair work is a way of increasing students’ participation, the amount of students’ practice, and language use as a whole. He says that: “It can be used for an enormous number of activities whether speaking, writing or reading”¹⁵. … Pair work allows the students to use language and also encourages student cooperation which is itself important for the atmosphere of the class and for the motivation it gives to learning with others to prevent discipline problems working with children or teenagers, Harmer suggests the teacher to remain at the front of the class to watch over the group as a whole and provide feedback at the end to see how successful the task was. According to my experience discipline can be also managed when a teacher walks around a classroom helping individual pairs without concentrating on one pair for too long. Harmer further suggests If the noise rises to excessive levels then the teacher can simply stop the activity, explain the problem and ask the students to continue more quietly Based on my experience, headphone system when used effectively can be very helpful to keep the level of the noise down as learners enjoy using it and make effort to speak quietly to the microphone in order to be allowed to continue this activity by the teacher. To make sure everyone is working on their task a teacher can use the intercom to hear individual pairs in his headphones and talk to them. The classroom I teach in is equipped with the headphone system where each learner has a pair of headphones available for activities such as dialogues or practicing reading in pairs. This system proved itself to be very useful for such activities as learners enjoy using it very much so it also functions as a motivational factor for them. Harmer also points out that pair work should not last too long as it can get boring and sometimes frustrating working with just one person.
Regarding group work Harmer states: In some ways group work is more dynamic than pair work: there are more people to react with and against in a group and, therefore, there is a greater possibility of discussion. This can positively contribute to the classroom atmosphere in terms of learners expressing their opinions and getting to know each other better. There is a greater chance that at least one member of the group will be able to solve a problem when it arises, and working in groups is potentially more relaxing than working in pairs, for the latter puts a greater demand on the student’s ability to co-operate closely with only one person. It is also true to say that group work tasks can often be more exciting and dynamic, than some pair work tasks. The ability of group work to decrease the level of stress in learners and stir up excitement which goes hand in hand with motivation can be very beneficial for learner’s achievements as well as for the classroom atmosphere as a whole.
Disruptive behaviour and classroom atmosphere. All teachers at one time or another experience disruptive behaviour, which Harmer defines as behaviour of a student or students getting in the way of the class. The same author also names the teacher, the students and the institution as three possible reasons for discipline problems. As was mentioned earlier in this thesis teacher plays a key role in the classroom having a major effect on discipline and thus being able to influence significantly by his behaviour and actions. He advices teachers to avoid certain things, in order to prevent problems, as inconsistency regarding class rules, issuing threats which will not be carried out, rising their voice, being unfair to the class or its individuals, violating the rules showing students the wrong example or even giving boring classes as one of the major causes of learners’ misbehaviour is boredom. He states that the ability to control a group of students when things get out of hand depends to a large extent on the personality of the teacher, and some teachers certainly appear to find it easier than others. However, he suggests several possibilities of actions that can be taken by any teacher in case of a learner’s misbehaviour as stopping the class to show him what was wrong, reseating, change of activity (to for example writing task) in case of the majority of the group getting out of hand. A teacher should act immediately or right after the class because “the longer a discipline problem is left unchecked, the more difficult it is to take action. Warm and Inclusive Classroom Environment. The type of classroom environment that a teacher creates and encourages can either increase or decrease a student's ability to learn and feel comfortable as a member of the class. The classroom environment should do as much too foster cooperation and acceptance as the teaching methods that the teacher uses. This article describes a number of methods to help teachers plan for and create a classroom that welcomes and supports all children.
At the beginning of the year teachers have the goal of establishing a classroom environment that is favourable for helping all students work cooperatively in order to learn. The classroom environment can either improve or impede a student's ability to learn and feel safe and comfortable as a member of the class. Classrooms that encourage emotional well-being create an atmosphere for both learning and emotional development.
Educational research supports creating an atmosphere of mutual respect, where students feel relaxed in asking questions and expressing their thoughts and feelings. Some areas to consider when creating an atmosphere of mutual respect are classroom design, classroom procedures, and classroom strategies. Implementing a few strategies that address these areas can help develop a strong sense of community and encourage positive interactions and cooperative learning for students with and without disabilities. A warm classroom environment can lead to increased academic achievement and a sense of pride and belonging in the class.