Unit 02 TEFL Training - Gotoco | go to China · drawing the relatively dull ‘hangman’ the game can be adapted to have two teams play against each other guessing a letter at a

GOTOCO

how to teach language

unit 2 – how to teach language

Activities

Understanding meaning

Understanding language form

contents

unit 2how to teachlanguage

in this unit:

Learn how to create activities which teach language

Learn how to teach students to understand meaning

Learn how to teach students to understand language form

how toteachlanguage

For this second unit we will review how teachers can choose activities which support understanding of new language and of language form.

how to teach languageIn any ESL setting, a big part of your job

as a teacher is exposing students to the

words they can use later.

For beginner level learners, this means

engaging in activities such as

Holding up physical objects or

photos of objects in the class and

teaching students ‘it is paper’ or ‘it

is a camera’. Students learn the

vocabulary through repetition.

Playing short dialogues where one

speaker extends an invitation and

another responds. The teacher

should play this dialogue two or

three times to ensure the students

get a chance to hear the

vocabulary, the tense and different

parts of the sentence.

Handing students printed pages

which correctly use a new word in

multiple ways, such as listing five

sentences where ‘take’ can be

used properly.

Language activities will vary greatly depending

on the class size, level and age. Let’s consider

a class for children under twelve first. Kids in

China can be somewhat unruly when they

realise they are not in their rigorous Chinese

school and they have an entertaining foreign

teacher. They would not dare claim a lesson

was boring in front of their Chinese teachers

but they might in front of a foreign English

teacher. Prepare tasks that have a ‘kids’ spin

on them. Involve drawing, colouring, cutting

and sticking as a means to engage them and

use funny examples for sentences: ‘I have a

blue car’ is more entertaining remodelled as ‘I

have a purple egg’.

Flash cards work well with kids as a basic

vocabulary call and reply activity but also as a

way to get them to practise dialogue. Hand out

cards featuring vocabulary such as clothes or

food and the student can ask questions such

as ‘what have you got?’ and reply ‘I’ve got

three apples and one orange’. This way they

practise a simple, potentially dull, grammar

area (singular and plural nouns) in a more

active way.

how can teachers help students understand meaning?

Teachers can

Use gestures, expressions, objects,

pictures, or drawings to help students

especially with simpler concepts.

Ask clarifying questions after playing a

dialogue such as

‘What does the speaker want?’

‘What are they going to do?’

‘Was the invitation accepted or not?’

These kinds of comprehension

questions check to see if the student

understood the language.

Get students to write their own

definition of words you have already

explained.

Games are key to winning over children. Using the right games, they can

improve their English without even realising they are studying.

Hangman is a great game that can be adapted in a variety of ways. Single

words or whole sentences can be guessed to improve awareness of sounds

and the alphabet, as well as grammar if sentences are employed. Instead of

drawing the relatively dull ‘hangman’ the game can be adapted to have two

teams play against each other guessing a letter at a time with bad

consequences if they guess wrong and rewards if they guess correctly. If the

lesson is on clothes the students can make a sentence such as ‘We want a

green t-shirt’, if they guess the letters correctly, you draw it on their figure.

Often this format works well with the teacher pitted against the class to avoid

bickering between themselves. They are united against you. You can always

rig it that you end up wearing ugly clothes, have strange facial features or your

plate is full of horrible foodstuffs. Hangman can be adapted for any topic.

Games may be as simple as bringing a teddy in and having them throw it

around, say a word and pass it on. Or ask a question and throw the teddy to

the person they want to answer it. This may sound boring, but kids often love

it. Depending on the space, you could orchestrate a football or basketball

shootout where they get more chances for correct sentences or words.

Kids love rewards so consider a way of praising them through stickers or a

fake money system whereby they can exchange for small gifts after they earn

twenty or so.

Below find some examples of good exercises

for helping students learn vocabulary.

Write the vocabulary on the board and elicit

meaning until students can define the words

themselves.

Use gap fill exercises as a great test of

whether your students actually comprehend

what you have taught them.

Cut up slips with vocabulary on one side and

meanings on the other. Students have to

match meaning to the word or phrase.

Employ memory games. In a small group you

could give students a model sentence like

_______ (name) went to _______ (name of

shop/business) and she/he bought ________.

The students must say a sentence using the

model then the second student repeats it and

adds their own, different, sentence. By the

time we get to the fourth student he/she

must remember four sentences or in other

words four words for shops/businesses and

four words for things to buy. This activity

improves natural fluency (repeating the same

sentence) and allows students to remember

key vocabulary in a fun way.

How can teachers help students understand language form?

Teachers can

Sound out the new words or even

spell them out. The teacher can

demonstrate how each sound is

made in an exaggerated fashion to

show the stress.

Ask students to write an alternative

invitation using similar vocabulary.

The students might ask ‘would you

like to get dinner?’ or ‘go to the

cinema?’ and then write the

response.

Ask students to write out synonyms

and antonyms for the words so that

they can see the most appropriate

situations for the word use.

Presentations on an overhead projector

can save paper, provide a focus in a class

and be used for reading exercises.

Many students tend to avoid reading as

they find it tedious and want to move

quickly onto ‘speaking fluently’. But

learning English is not an overnight

process. Reading out loud is a great

activity to improve fluency and get a feel for

natural intonation and stress. Students can

also identify correct use of grammar that

they have learned and be challenged by

grammar they may not have encountered

before. Commonly used structures will

appear again and again, likewise with

vocabulary.

The key is to make sure reading activities

are not too hard. You might write a short

article yourself on a topic the class are

interested in or take one from a website.

Either way, make sure you edit it so that

there are not too many difficult words. You

might need to restructure the language if it

is too hard for them.

You should also ensure it is not too long.

The reading material can be used as a

topic or theme for the class but remember

the students need to learn by using the

language themselves.

Teachers can

Create activities where students

repeat the words, say the words over

and over, or use the words in

combination with previously learned

vocabulary.

Have students make different

invitations, then form alternative

responses to their invitations, including

both acceptance and denial of said

invitation. Students can also work in

pairs and hold conversations with their

invitation dialogue.

Ask students to write their own

sentences correctly using the new

words.

How should students practise?

Fairly simple games can also work with adult classes, bearing in mind

they cannot play too many complex games depending on their level.

Matching pictures and words, cutting up a selection of words and

putting them back together, or using flashcards work for both adults and

children.

Activities are often easier to plan for adults as they are more focused and

motivated and you can make the activity the exact part of the language

you want to study.

Role-plays are key activities in oral English classes as they allow students

to use the vocabulary they have learned in a realistic scenario. You can

prepare very rigid role-plays in which you prepare the dialogue and only

leave out certain words for them to fill in. Or with higher level students

allow them more freedom to reply. As an example, you might have a

question which student A asks and student B answers without any other

prompt. Or maybe B has the answer on the sheet, but A has a blank

where the question must be, ensuring it fits in grammatically and logically

with the reply.

E.g.

Beginner dialogue

Student A: Do you have any_____________?

Student B: No, we _________, sorry.

Intermediate dialogue

Student A:

Student B: Sure, stand over there. Do you want everyone in the picture?

In the examples above, the first one is straightforward and the students

must work out the correct vocabulary to use, but the second dialogue is

more difficult as it requires logic and use of the correct grammar.

Students need to be exposed to language in all forms.

Teachers must use different methods to help students understand sentence construction.

Teachers must use different methods to help students understand the construction of sentences.

Teachers can rely upon different methods to encourage students to practise new language.

summary

worksheetunit 2

Describe three types of activities teachers can use to teach language as shown above and make up one of your own.

Explain how teachers help students to understand meaning.

In your own words, explain comprehension questions.

List how students can practise using the examples included in the text.