Strategies for Teaching ESL Student - ESL Students in the Classroom
Teaching students who have a limited understanding of the English language can be a daunting task. Since ESL students speak a different language at home, some of them do not know the meanings of simple English words and phrases, and it can be difficult for teachers to communicate with them. Nevertheless, teachers can exercise more patience and try to find the right ways to help to their students become more proficient in the language. Here are a number of effective strategies for teaching ESL.
Teaching ESL - Lots of English class materials for students of English.
English Grammar - Teaching English grammar.
English Conversation Questions - Teach the English language by using conversational questions that require the students to provide answers.
Understand the Individual Needs of Students
In an ESL classroom, English language proficiency and academic experience among students can vary greatly. In order to help every student improve, teachers have to understand every individual student's level of language proficiency and educational history. The best way to make lessons comprehensible to all students is to replace difficult texts with simpler terms. They should not use oversimplified vocabulary because some students may find this insulting. It is important for ESL teachers to establish a more personal relationship with every student and their family. Simple actions such as pronouncing the students'names correctly and showing interest in their cultures will go a long way in giving students a more pleasant learning experience.
Understanding the Needs of ESL Students: This excellent article shows how ESL teachers can understand and meet the needs of their students.
Make Sure that Students Know What is Going On in Class
Some ESL students do not have sufficient knowledge of the English language to understand the instructions that are provided by their teachers. As such, they may not know exactly what is going on in their classes. Teachers have to encourage their students to ask for clarification when they do not understand certain instructions. During the course of a lesson, they have to let their students know which points are important and give them more time to ask questions. At the end of the lesson, they should ask the students to write down all the things that they have learned and aspects of the lesson that they are unsure of. Then, they can use the information to provide better clarification at the beginning of the next lesson.
Teaching ESL FAQ: Frequently asked questions about teaching ESL.
Help Students Speak English More Comprehensibly
There is no need for ESL teachers to eliminate accents when they are teaching their students to pronounce English words. The important thing is to teach them to speak comprehensibly. Teachers should speak clearly and repeat words that are difficult to pronounce, and they can help their students learn how individual sounds are produced by showing the right positions and movements of tongue and lips. Students should be encouraged to speak slowly, so that their pronunciation will be clearer and more accurate.
Teaching ESL Pronunciation: This website offers helpful advice on how to teach ESL students to pronounce English words correctly.
Encourage Students to Speak English Outside Class
To help ESL students make better progress, teachers should encourage them to converse more frequently with native English speakers. Also, they can ask their students to speak more English at home or take part in activities that require them to speak or read English.
Tips for Teaching ESL to Adults
Tips for Teaching ESL to Adults
Education, employment, recreation, and leisure have all gone global. People of different nationalities, in an attempt to seek greener pastures, now seek employment overseas. Even students do the same as well. Students who can afford to be enrolled in a prestigious school often leave their home countries to study, as many believe that this would present greater opportunities for them in the future. Also, many people nowadays resort to overseas travels to be able to relax and have a good time. As a whole, these situations indicate that, in the past few decades, globalization has grown significantly. As a result, many people seek the help of English instructors to be able speak and understand English ' the Universal Language. In addition, the majority of these non-native English speakers are adults, which is why more and more English instructors adapt to teaching methods that are suitable for adults who come from various countries and cultures.
ESL instructors for adults must be aware of the fact that the learning patterns of an adult slightly differ from that of a child. An average adult, according to research, is expected to be self-directed and must have a set of goals ready for learning a particular subject. These two factors alone imply that the adult ESL teaching methods are slightly different from those methods that are intended for young learners. In addition, the learning environment and the lessons should be formal and systematized. Since the demand for ESL lessons should be more focused on adult learning, here are some of the things to keep in mind while teaching:
Try to know each student's needs and preferences first, and do your best to motivate the student by giving him/her challenging activities that he/she is capable of doing. An instructor should be able to determine the appropriate level of difficulty that a particular student can handle.
Be creative when presenting lessons. Although adult ESL lessons should be formal and systematized, an instructor could still use videos, music and other forms of media related to the lessons.
Keep in mind that instructors should be able to encourage good performance in class, as well as positive behavior so that the students could easily recall what they have learned in the previous lessons. This also means that, somehow, it is the instructor's responsibility to help students by providing activities and exercises that would encourage them to think and recall what they have learned from class before.
The lessons that the students learned should eventually be incorporated in a new setting other than the classroom. It is crucial for the instructor to keep this in mind as well.
There are various barriers involved in learning ESL. Probably the most difficult barrier to handle is the language barrier, which is why many instructors still struggle to correct the pronunciation of some of the English words, the grammatical errors, etc. However, it is still the responsibility of the instructor to make an effort to break these barriers and create a good learning environment. By and large, still, being an ESL teacher is not easy because there are so many things to consider and there are just so many things that he/she needs to learn.