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In Unit 3
We deal with methods and techniques that aim to bridge the language gap between "L 1" and "L 2" students. L 1 being native English speakers and L 2 students with English as a second language.
Some of the main methods and techniques are:
Grammar-translation
Audio-lingualism
Presentation, Practice and Production
Task-Based Learning
Communicative Language Teaching
Community Language Learning
The silent way
Suggestopaedia
The Lexical approach
As we know students need exposure to the English language, get input from the teacher, have less anxiety and stress, and be encouraged to discover the language for themselves.
An effective method started by Jeremy Harper was called the Engage-Study-Activate 'ESA' As we focus on ESA we find it to be the most logical and effective of all the methodologies to learn and apply in the classroom.
A very useful component of the ESA process is called Elicitation. It considered by many to be the most important feature of an EFL lesson. Elicitation involves the teacher to get the student to communicate and talk more
Some examples of elicitation are: Real objects, Flashcards, Drawings, Ask for the question, Gap-fill, Lists, Follow-on questions, concept descriptions, Mime, definitions. To prevent predictability techniques should be varied.
ESA lessons should comprise of the following components: Engage, Study and Activate
Engage: warm up the students with activities to help them think and speak in English like games, music, pictures. Some ideas and time-filling activities mentioned are Introduction prompts, Partner information share, Fizz-buzz, Alphabet relay, sevens, I spy, Memory games, word linking, consequences to name a few.
Study: Where the students focus on the information and how it is constructed exercises like worksheets are given to check their understanding, also it is good to work in groups. Some activities to help with the study phase are elicitation, pronunciation, spelling, meaning, word order, analysis, games like hangman etc.
Activate: Students are encouraged to use the language they know. Exercises like Communication games, story telling, debates all are typical activate activities. Games like role-play like pretending to be a Doctor and patient or at a restaurant ordering drinks.
'Straight Arrow' ESA lesson: Is useful as the teacher know what the students need and will take them logically to the point where they can use the language. This is done in the ESA order. Teacher engages the student, then they study the language, finally they try the activate the language by putting it in production.
Engage - Study - Activate
'Boomerang' ESA lesson: Allows the teacher to see what the students need before teaching the language, and is useful for higher level students
Engage-Activate-Study-Activate 2
'Patchwork' ESA lesson: Lessons that are not straightforward and require a lot of mini-sequence building to a whole.
An example of this format is:
Engage-Activate- activate- study - activate - engage - study -activate
These lessons always start with the Engage phase and ends with the Activate phase.
Lastly there is a difference between errors and mistakes. Errors are deep ingrained and will take longer to correct whereas mistakes are easier to correct by bringing in self correction. This helps the student to remember mistakes that have been made as well as students helping each other. Teacher correction should be the last option or else students don’t think for themselves.
