English teacher is one of the most important professions of the present time. The reason is quite simple: to know English in the 21st century is considered prestigious. Therefore, the specialists who teach this skill are in great demand. Being a good teacher of a foreign language is not so easy. First, you need to get a higher education. Secondly, you need to be a very literate person. The teacher sets an example to all his students. Any teacher must also be attentive and careful. In this article you will find useful tips on how to submit the material in order to be understood and so that everyone is interested.
Such points will be covered:
1. Tips for teaching English to kids.
2. Tips for teaching English to teenagers.
3. Tips for teaching English to adults.
1. Tips for teaching English to kids
Do you often hear precious little laughs and dramatic sobs in the same say?
Have you ever felt like you’re becoming your mother (“Stop making that face or it will freeze that way!”)
If you answered yes to any of these, you might just be an elementary teacher!
That is until you encounter some difficulties unique to teaching children because they certainly exist.
What you should remember is only 4 strategies to success:
1.1. Make it fun. Fun is the only factor that really matters to kids. And that goes for every kid on the playground as well as those in the classroom. Some educators believe that kids learn best through play. And this is true of English-speaking children as well as of your English-learning students.
1.2. Be Creative. It is boring for your students to do the same things in the class every day, and you’re liable to fall asleep on the job, too. So be creative with your ideas. Change things up on a regular basis. Rearrange your students’ seats so they get a different inspirational view from time to time. Provide your students with the tests before you give the material, and let them answer the questions while they learn. Invite guest speakers in whenever you get the chance. You should vary the types of exercises that you do. Rotate between doing exercises from the textbook, having students work on the computer on social media or ESL learning websites, and giving them real-life materials to work with rather than ESL materials.
1.3. Include Art in Your Class. It is well known that kids like to make colorful things in class. Pablo Picasso observed that “every child is an artist.” It is profitable to take advantage of that inborn quality and use art to teach your young students the English language. Normally, you can talk about obvious things like colors and shapes when you use art, but creative projects have more power.
1.4. Make It Active. One more thing that kids like is moving. In fact, Dr. Maria Montessori suggested that young children are not able to learn unless they are also able to move. It is worth to add that involving the whole body in language learning is a helpful teaching method. The more pupils move, the better and faster they understand what you are teaching and it is easier for them to keep the information.
TPR (Total Physical Response) is a teaching method that works really well with children. Students move as they learn. They follow instructions, copy your movements and get their whole bodies involved when they practice language concepts.
You can avoid putting pressure on students by:
Not correcting every error they make. Correct the errors with those words and structures that you have recently taught. If you haven’t covered a grammar question yet, let it go.
Modeling correct language use. Use a word correctly afterward when you hear a student say the wrong word. The feedback system in the human brain will notice the difference, and your students will likely use the language correctly just from hearing it right.
Not giving everything a grade. It’s enough to discuss the correct answers together. You don’t have to mark the paper with the red pen.
Teaching anything at an early age has its own advantages. And English is rather easy to pick up when taught the right way. Keeping things varied and interesting is one way to go about it.
2. Tips for teaching English to teenagers
Most of the teenagers have a pretty firm base in English. The most advanced students I've ever had were between 14 and 18 years old. It is enjoyable for them to communicate in English. Teen classes are usually fun and full of laughter. They mostly start with funny stories from school. It is easy for them to start joking in English. Teenagers are often described as an undesirable bunch of learners. And this may be true, as for any age group, when you do not know how to deal with them but with their mix of enthusiasm and ability to learn quickly, they can also be the most rewarding. So here are my tips for teaching teens.
2.1. Use a favorite TV show to work on speaking and listening skills. First, mute a scene and have them improvise what’s being said in groups. This is also a great lead-in to talk about the importance of gestures when we communicate or the physical aspects of pronunciation.
2.2. Have them answer questions as if they were a certain character. We use the same language when we talk about ourselves. The necessity to think in terms of some fictional characters usually forces them to be more creative with their answers and to use English vocabulary they probably wouldn’t otherwise. You can even kick things up a notch with an innovative media tool like FluentU. Teens will love the authentic English videos they find on this platform, including music videos, celebrity interviews, movie trailers, funny YouTube clips and more. These videos will improve the student's vocabularies.
2.3. Find topics that are relevant to their lives. We can’t rely on a textbook to keep teenagers engaged and motivated. Their interest and preparation will be a result of your creativity. If you want to get them talking, engaging with one another you have to learn as much as you can about them and what gets them really excited.
2.4. Breaking grammar rules. Does everyone you know speak grammatically correct English all the time? Probably not. Language is changing and that is why to learn a language is so interesting. If we want to bring English into the real world we should throw the rulebook out from time to time. This is easy to do because teenagers like listening to music. It is a great motivation and opportunity for students to advance in learning this language. So it is worth to build lessons around songs. The tasks will be whether to transcribe the song or to find some tenses or nouns. The students will be able to hear how people speak in real life.
As teachers, we strive to speak accurately and pronounce every syllable perfectly so our students can understand. This is a good habit while working with beginners but try to be honest with your teenage students: not everyone is going to speak correctly.
Don't hesitate to introduce some slang or colloquialisms when you want to make the lesson unique.
So there’s no doubt that teaching English to teenagers has its own unique challenges and differences when compared to young kids or adult learners, but I promise you: if you become the teacher that all the teenagers want to have a class with, you’ll have a competitive advantage. Teens want the same respect you want from them. Aim for that place of mutual respect, set high expectations while giving them their fair share of freedom and be creative in your choice of material and activities. It’ll be worth it.
3. Tips for teaching English to adults
Teaching English can be a complex process. Especially, when you teach adults. It can be a little tricky if those adults are a lot older than yourself. You need to take into account many factors, such as respect and making sure you do not patronize them. Here are my tips for teaching adults.
3.1. Keep the class relevant to the age group. It is quite common that most of your students will be older than you. That is why it is important to keep the topic of the class relevant and be something that they will understand.
3.2. Be passionate. It is very essential to have an interest in your own subject. Actually, nobody will learn your subject if you don`t seem to care.
3.3. Encourage the adults to ask questions. You will be teaching the people who haven`t been in school for many years. So it is necessary for them to ask as many questions as possible.
3.4. Keep them engaged. It is a vital skill that you will learn over time. It isn't good to focus on those who are participating and leave more inactive without attention. Try to include everybody in the class equally. Speak with everyone, ask them different questions concerning the topic to those who don`t often speak.
3.5. Distribution. It is a thing closely tied with the previous tip. Involve everyone in the conversation and give them a chance to practice their speaking skills. It happens very often that a student is very active and talkative than the others and therefore not give the rest of the class the opportunity to express their thoughts. So allow everyone to participate.
3.6. Smile. Smiling is one of the simplest things in the world. Teaching has changed a lot since you were a student. Your teachers might have been tough, stern people who never smiled. So try to smile, this will get the class to be happy and relaxed.
3.7. Recognize Learning Styles. Everybody has their own ways of learning. The most common are visual learners. Investigate the specific styles and choose which ones your students will fit into. It will be easier to use the techniques into the class.
3.8. Be flexible. Beginner teachers usually have a plan written out, including different activities. However, everything can go wrong. But remember that as long as you keep on topic, the class will be saved.
3.9. Correction. If the teacher is younger than a student, it can be absolutely awkward to correct mistakes. Don`t be afraid, you need just to behave yourself less patronizing and to start your conversation with the sentence, " That was a good sentence but... Can you think of another answer or how to improve it?". It will make them examine their own grammar mistakes and correct them.
3.10. Eliciting words. It is important to have the students speak with their own words in English. Doing it the students will find out that they already know the vocabulary and the only thing that is left is to let it out. See “How to Elicit Vocabulary: Top 6 Techniques”.
3.11. Have fun. School and learning shouldn't be boring. Engage the students by making the class fun. Come up with various games and it will be guaranteed that you will get everyone interested. Be assured that shy students will start talking.
It is worth to remember that adult students are not different from younger ones. They have more life experience and perhaps they will be critical, pick up things quicker, but they are students and newbies in English and you are there to teach them this amazing language.
Conclusion
Therefore, there are various tips concerning teaching English which are differentiated when it comes to different age groups. There are often some difficulties in teaching children. The only thing that you should take into account is only 4 strategies that will help you make contact with children and let them understand you. Here you will encounter fun, creativity, art, movement.
When you are dealing with teenagers you must be aware that this age group is the hardest. I mean that it is hard to control them because of their puberty, mood changes and so on. Using a favorite TV show, an innovative media tool, relevant topics to their lives and breaking grammar rules will certainly arouse their interest and craving for learning the English language.
Teaching adults can be complex. This complexity takes its place in the difference of ages. Here you shouldn't be a teacher who commands but a teacher who respects them, consults and becomes a reliable friend who directs them to the right path to learning English. This aim will be achieved with the help of such tips as: keeping the class relevant to the age group, being passionate, encouraging them to ask questions, keeping them engaged, distribution, smile, recognizing learning styles, being flexible, correction, eliciting words and having fun.
Комментариев нет:
Отправить комментарий