Malakoff, Texas TESOL Online & Teaching English Jobs

This unit briefly introduced various pedagogies from the past and present along with five conclusions that can be drawn regardless of which one is chosen for a class. These conclusions are: students need as much exposure to the language as possible; teachers need to give a certain amount of input; the classroom should be as relaxed and anxiety-free as possible to ensure effective learning; students should be encouraged to experiment and learn language on their own; and communicative tasks are important but cannot stand alone. The unit then dives much deeper into one specific methodology, which is Engage, Study and Activate (ESA). Its name is derived from the three main parts of the method: First, the teacher will engage the students and try to arouse their interest in English or a certain topic, just to try to get them feeling relaxed and at ease, which would achieve one of the conclusions previously drawn. This ‘Engage’ phase does not have to relate to the main objective of the lesson since it is not designed to teach anything new. There are various games/activities that can be implemented to stimulate the class, and the one chosen depends on factors such as the level and culture of the students. Some activities to engage the students include having the students obtain certain information about one another, I spy, memory games, etc. The second stage in the ESA method is to study, or in other words, teach the class something new. This can range from target vocabulary to grammar that is useful in specific situations. This is where students will absorb the most from the teacher, and where the teacher will be talking the most while still keeping his/her talking time at a minimum. There are also various activities to accomplish this as well, such as hangman, gap fills and tongue twisters. Again, the selection will be based on the class. The final step is ‘Activate’, which is when the students are let loose so to speak and given the freedom to express themselves with L2 in some way. This can be through creating certain materials, such as brochures, performing role plays for daily situations, holding debates, etc. This is when students will be doing most of their discovery and experimentation with the language. There are multiple ways to apply the ESA method, the most simple being the ‘Straight Arrow’. A ‘Straight Arrow’ class would follow this pattern: Engage > Study > Activate. It is best for young or elementary learners. Another way to execute an ESA lesson would be the ‘Boomerang’. Such a lesson would progress as follows: Engage > Activate 1 > Study > Activate 2. This progression is better for higher level students and requires more prep time for the teacher. The final type of ESA lesson that was discussed is called ‘Patchwork’. This type of lesson would have as many ‘Study > Activate’ series as necessary and would be most helpful for a high level class studying difficult language structures. Regardless of which sequence is right for the class, every ESA lesson should begin with an ‘Engage’ phase and end with ‘Activate’. The unit also went over useful points that can be applied to any type of class, such as elicitation, which can be achieved through miming, use of realia or flashcards, definitions, etc. Elicitation is important because it gives the students more opportunities to use the language while also letting the teacher know their areas of strength and weakness. What/when the teacher should correct was another focus. The difference between a mistake, which is a slight slip up, and an error, which is something more deeply ingrained, was discussed, along with how the teacher should deal with them. Students should always be given the chance to self-correct. Then other students should be given the chance to try and help the student who made the mistake/error if he/she could not do so by him/herself. The teacher can aid by writing the mistake on the board for example. A teacher should never just correct a student, because then no one would have a chance to think about the mistake and therefore retention would most likely suffer. It is also important for a teacher not to correct too often, which could dash students’ confidence and their willingness to respond to questions or experiment with the language. Correcting students should mainly take place in the ‘Study’ phase of an ESA lesson, and it should be done delicately. How to correct written work was also outlined. Using correction symbols and allowing students to try and correct their own mistakes before handing their papers in a second time is another good way to help them think about the language and their mistakes. It also helps them reflect and notice their own areas of weakness. Feedback from the students is also an important thing for the teacher to consider because it will help him/her know if the class and activities were a success, along with what are the problems areas of the different students of the class.