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There are many common “trouble spots” that can be identified when teaching English to foreign language students. Even very experienced teachers can run into snags sometimes, so it is important to identify these difficulties so they can be tactfully addressed. Some of these potential difficulties include, the first lesson, getting students warmed up to English, the students having different levels of English, the class size being large, the students’ use of their native language, reluctant students, and students having trouble with listening content. In this unit, these common problems areas are discussed.
The potential trouble spot that unit 20 focused on the most was the introductory lesson. This can be crucial for a class, since it sets the tone for the lessons to follow. Teachers can often be intimidated by them, and chose to simply start delivering content. However, there are some things that they need to keep in mind. Do the students know each other? Are they familiar with taking EFL classes? Depending on the answer to these questions, the teacher should change how they approach the first lesson.
Once the teacher knows some basic information about their students, they can focus on how to establish rapport. No actual content should be introduced in the first lesson, instead the teacher should take the opportunity to introduce themselves to their students, and in turn get to know a little about each student as well. This shows the students that the teacher cares, and wants to get to know them. Also, the teacher should take the opportunity to learn about each students’ language level and abilities. They can get a sense of their students’ skills through various introduction games, or student surveys. Student surveys are also useful in gaining insight from students, about what they want from the class, and so on. So while it’s tempting for a teacher to jump right into content first day, allowing the students to get to know the teacher and each other can really set the tone for the rest of the course.
It’s inevitable that teachers will run into some difficulties throughout their teaching careers. This could range from extremely large class sizes, students speaking in their first language, students being reluctant to participate, and so on. The introduction class can also be a potential trouble spot. It’s crucial for teachers to confront these potential problem areas, and to develop strategies to overcome them.
