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In the last unit of this course we looked at some of the most common problems as an EFL teacher and suggestion how to prevent or handle these problems. During the first lesson of a new group or an existing it’s vital to establish rapport with your students and with new groups help establish rapport amongst the students. An experienced teacher will not resort to the course book, but will use activities to establish rapport, find out their aspiration and the English level of the students. Some activities to accomplish these goals are through a questionnaire or survey, the game ‘Tell Us About’ or ‘Pass the Ball’. At the beginning of a lesson it is vital to have some sort, fun, communicative activities designed to get students motivated and using English which are called ‘warmers’. Some good examples of warmers are; hangman, Pictionary, Tongue Twister or memory games.
When dealing with different levels amongst student in class you can of course do nothing to not further increase the difference in level of students, but this can be can cause higher lever student to become bored or lower levels to become lost in translation. A way to handle this issue could be to pair stronger and weaker students together, allowing the stronger students to assist the weaker students or clarify and explain things. With this approach one must be aware that the stronger student will not dominate the weaker students. We could also divide the class into 2 groups with so the stronger students will use more difficult material like worksheets to match their appropriate level. As a teacher you should be aware to divide your attention and time equally amongst the two groups. Teacher could also decide to use the same material but assign different tasks to the appropriate levels. It is always useful to have some extra activities on hand for when students finish tasks early.
Sometimes you will find yourself standing in front of large groups of students which makes it hard to involve all student equally. When this happens you could use worksheets so all students will have participated. Using group work or pair work is good to maximizing students involvement, but be aware that clear instruction are vital. Teaching large groups often asks for large classrooms this will mean that the teacher must provide clarity in both speaking and board work. Choral repetition will involve all students.
Refrain from speaking the native tongue by both the students and teachers. To ensure student will speak only English in the classroom the teacher should use appropriate level English in activities so students can cope. The teacher should make sure the explanation is clear for all students before starting an activity. Encourage students to speak English and only use their native language if absolutely necessary. As a teacher it is also helpful only to respond to English, students should get used to express thoughts and ideas in English.
Reluctant students or students that don’t want to participate can be encouraged to do so if the lesson has plenty of pair work, controlled practice, use role play or you could have students record themselves outside of the lesson to express themselves.
Finally we also look at difficulties to listening to texts through CD or cassette. When teaching a monolingual group to ensure exposure to different accents and improving listening skills we must not avoid the CDs or cassettes.
