A criticism on demostration lessons in EFL teacher training

Abstract

ABSTARCT: The scene is set, the audience waits with bited breath, the minor actors giggle nervously and fidget uneasily, the star performer checks his props and takes a last look at his lines. A scene in a West End theatre? It might as well be, but when we identify the audience as a group of TEFL trainees, the minor actors as foreign student volunteers and the star performer...does anybody out there recognize himself? Is there much difference between the demonstration lesson and a theatrical performance, or is that where the similarity ends?