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There have been many methodologies for teaching language and some debate on which is best. Some themes that keep resurfacing about optimal language learning are: language exposure and student self-discovery of language should be maximized, teacher provides some degree of input, communicative tasks are necessary but not sufficient, environment should be low stress/anxiety.
The engage, study, activate model developed by Jeremy Harmer incorporates student motivation, language exposure, and language use, and it allows flexibility for teachers and is perfect for newer teachers. Throughout this model, the theme of elicitation is important. It involves asking thought provoking questions to get student to response, increases the talk time ratio of student: teacher, and is less about teacher-tell and more about student discovery. Many techniques are exemplified in unit 3 material. Some techniques can elicit different words than teacher has in mind, so using supportive language is important. Say: “nearly," “almost,” and "you’re close," and do not say: “no,” or "that’s not it.”
The purpose of the engage stage is to drum up interest and get students involved, like a warm-up to get students thinking and speaking in the language. There will most likely not be new content here but can do some review. The study stage starts with elicitation and focuses on construction of language. The activate stage allows students to use any/all language they know freely, and the focus is on fluency over accuracy. It is important to start with the engage stage and end with an activate stage, and all of the three stages—engage, study, activate—need to be present in most lessons. The teacher can vary the order and have more than one occurrence of each stage. The orders of straight arrow, boomerang, and patchwork as well as many ideas and examples for each stage are provided and explored in the unit 3 material.
Using positivity and praise is important while giving correction to students, and the aim of correction is to encourage self awareness and improvement. Self and/or Student correction is best, with teacher correction as last resort. If the teacher swoops in too quickly, the students will rely on teacher and not remember and learn from mistakes/errors as well. Teacher corrections should mostly occur during Study stage. In Engage and Activate, the teacher should only correct when one of the following occasions arises: mistake is in the language point of focus/objective, mistake is repeated and risks becoming ingrained, mistake obscures understanding. Engage and Activate stages are about fluency and as much communication as possible, so the teacher can make correction notes and then go over with the class when the time is right.
