Edge Hill, Delaware TESOL Online & Teaching English Jobs

PRODUCTIVE = (words that students know and use) [Speaking & Writing] A. SPEAKING SKILLS Accuracy activities (controlled) = [study phase] to concentrate on producing the correct usage of the language grammar. Fluency activities = [activate phase] to concentrate on allowing students to 'experiment' and be 'creative' with language without interruption. Less concerned with accuracy ... more concerned with 'effectiveness' and 'flow' of the communication. ACTIVITY IDEAS FOR SPEAKING: 1) CONTROLLED ACTIVITIES = [study phase] drilling - a way to practice pronunciation in a safe environment. Listening to and repeating of the teacher's modal in a 3X3 drill format. e.g. Teacher says a word/phrase and asks students to repeat out loud three times (choral), then teacher ask three (individual) students by name to repeat out loud. 2) CONTROLLED ACTIVITIES = [study phase] prompting - a session of pre-planned questions and answers. 3) GUIDED ACTIVITIES = guided role-play (accuracy based), controlled by the teacher but focus on student's creativity and productivity of the task. 4) CREATIVE COMMUNICATION = free role-play (fluency based), scenario created and controlled by the teacher, however, the student language content is not. 5) CREATIVE COMMUNICATION = information gap (fluency based), e.g. each student has a different piece of information and they have to share it to get the complete picture/phrase to solve the task. BUILDING INTEREST/MOTIVATION The teacher is responsible for creating a comfortable classroom atmosphere, e.g. students should be comfortable and not be afraid to speak or make mistakes and ENJOY communicating with the teacher and each other. INTERACTION TECHNIQUES & IDEAS - careful planning. - pair-work and group work, or change the classroom dynamics all together. - BEFORE fluency activities... plenty of controlled and guided practice. - purposeful speaking activities... create a desire and need to communicate. - some activities need/allow 'student time' to think about what they are going to say. 1) Students need an understanding the purpose of the activity. - lesson preparation has to be clear as to why the students need it, and how you will be conveying the information to them. 2) Elicit questions before you start the activity to create a need or desire. 3) Use pre-teaching if you notice a lack of understanding e.g. grammar, vocab, pronunciation, etc. 4) Use pairs/groups in your activities to build student confidence by gaining more speaking practice, while familiarising with their fellow members. 5) Use and adapt games to suit the activity. All games have a set of rules, by adapting a 'language' teaching point to it, you produce an 'element of fun' for the students. Either competitive or co-operative. B. WRITING SKILLS Written text differs to speaking: - in 'grammar' e.g. contracted forms in speaking don't apply as much to writing. - in 'vocabulary' more formal in written, e.g. spelling, handwriting, layout and punctuation. * Handwriting - it's a personal preference, however, poor hand writing should be addressed to at least make sure the student forms the/each letter(s) correctly. This can be a major problem if students are using a different alphabetical system from the English language. * Spelling - incorrect spelling is 'perceived as' lack of education. However, it can cause the student to 'misunderstand' if not addressed swiftly. Adding to this, we have similar word pronunciations with different meaning, or exact words for different meaning. Not excluding different British/American English spelling or today's digital world of accepted 'slang' spelling. * Punctuation - again it's a personal preference. Again, this can be a major problem for students who are using a different alphabetical system from the English language. e.g. different punctuation/or none at all. Practice makes perfect! Practicing as many layouts as possible with students so they can familiarise with various formats, e.g. business letter, postcard, e-mail, etc. TWO POINTS TO CONSIDER: 1. CHECK! After students complete a piece of written work, get them to check it over the layout and style of writing [formal/informal], for grammar, vocabulary, spelling, etc. 2. ALOT TIME! Written work and speaking activities need planning time. ---------------- SOME GAME IDEAS ENGAGE: SLOW PICTIONARY = draw something slow on the board... after each stroke, student has to guess what thing it is. The slower, or the worse you draw or different angle...the better (you can get quite a lot of vocabulary from the students) ALPHABET RELAY = ask students to give a word beginning alphabet letter in relay format SEVENS = e.g. 'Name seven/10/3 things that can fly...' * can fit in the pocket or * fit in the circle (on the board) * can take on holiday WORD LINKING = story dialogue ... each student says ONE word and next must say another to continue the conversation or story STUDY: SPELLING = hangman / wordsearches / crosswords / unscramble jumbled words WORD ORDER = unscramble jumbled sentences into correct sentence order HINGED SENTENCES - Write a sentence on the board and ask students to come up with x sentences using 'one' word from the sentence on the board. ACTIVATE: PRODUCING MATERIALS = students (pairs/groups), put together an advertisement/brochure/news broadcast (relating to language point). STORY BUILDING = (pairs/groups) students create a story based on topics, headlines, picture prompts. STORY SEQUENCE = (pairs/groups) students create a story based on topic from a picture sequence. ROLE-PLAY = (pairs/groups) give students enough time to plan the role play (realistic situations) i.e. hospital and doctor's sitting room, travel agent and hotel, restaurant and cafe.