For a language teacher to not be in touch with the concepts put forth by Dr. Krashen and Dr. Beniko Mason and the other comprehensible input experts carries a high price tag in terms of the actual results we get from our students.
This is true not just when applied to academic gains but also strongly affects how our classrooms feel, which is far more important than the academic gains. This is because in language teaching, if the room feels good, the academic gains are assured. This is not true in other subjects, but it is very true in our field, and the research supports it.
If it is so important, then what are we going to do about this problem of how our classroom feels? Retain the status quo or be bold and make changes to what we are currently doing? Do we really want good classroom management or are we merely going to fret away another year wanting our kids to like our class but not really doing anything concrete about it?
Why ask these questions? It is because, in my view, at least 70% or 80% of all classroom management problems are caused directly by bored and disengaged students.
Dr. Krashen has shown that when we force our students to think about the way the language is built (bad) instead of just focusing on the message (good), while listening with the whole brain and letting the power of the unconscious mind do the acquiring, we are basically wasting everyone’s time in the classroom – we are boring people.