In the book, Language Teaching Awareness, Fanselow points out the aim of exploration that is “seeing…teaching differently” (1988:114). The main theme of the book is ‘exploration of teaching’ which tries to identify some important techniques of language teaching along with some of the important features of an effective teacher. These are:
a. Simply gaining awareness of teaching beliefs and practices
b. Seeing nonjudgmental description as preferable to prescriptions of how teaching ‘should’ be done
c. The need to pay attention to language and behavior
d. Emphasis on going beyond usual ways of understanding teaching, especially that of problem solving(i.e., identifying and overcoming a problem area in one’s teaching)
e. Interest in having teachers considers ‘connecting questions’, that is, questions connecting who they are as people with who they are as teachers.
f. To highlight the importance of involving teachers in processes through which they can make more informed decisions. Bailey (1990) discusses the process of keeping a teaching journal. Wallace (1998) elaborates on doing action research. Gaies and Bowers (1990) present a process of clinical supervision.
g. To start with “a beginner’s mind” (Suzuki 1970), that is to start with an open mind as a fresher always.
