First in a series of courses that comprise the PRIME Teacher Training Program. This course looks at the nature of learning and begins looking at the features of a productive relationship between teacher and student. The book is a course reference compilation of articles to support the PRIME Approach.

1. Pragmatics Predictability Performance Perception
Practical
Resources Recognition Realia Resolve
Relevant
Imagination Investigation Inclusion Insight
Integrated
Multiple
Mystery Motivation Media
Intelligences
Meaningful
Energy Enthusiasm Extension Engagement
Enriching
C O M M U N I C AT I O N I N E N G L I S H
A Modern Approach to Facilitating the Acquisition of English as a Foreign Language
The Art of Facilitating Language
Learning
William Tweedie
Part 1 of the PRIME Teacher Training Program

2. The Art of Facilitating Language Learning
Introduction to the PRIME© Approach and Method
For English Language Acquisition Facilitation
Course Reference Book
William Tweedie
© 2005 - 2010 Kenmac Educan International & William M Tweedie
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3. TABLE OF CONTENTS
THE ART OF FACILITATING LANGUAGE LEARNING..........................................................................................2
INTRODUCTION TO THE PRIME© APPROACH AND METHOD..........................................................................2
FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE ACQUISITION FACILITATION...................................................................................2
COURSE OUTLINE..........................................................................................................................................5
KEY PRINCIPLES OF THE PRIME© APPROACH AND METHOD..........................................................................6
THE DIMENSIONS OF LEARNING......................................................................................................................................7
PRIME© CLASSROOM TIPS..........................................................................................................................15
THE ART AND CRAFT OF MOTIVATING STUDENTS .......................................................................................16
LIZ REGAN'S 20 TEACHING TIPS...................................................................................................................18
TEACHING TIP 1: PAIR WORK / GROUP WORK.............................................................................................18
TEACHING TIP 2: READING ALOUD...............................................................................................................19
TEACHING TIP 3: CHECKING UNDERSTANDING.............................................................................................20
TEACHING TIP 4: PRONUNCIATION..............................................................................................................20
TEACHING TIP 5: SPEAKING TO OTHER STUDENTS IN ENGLISH.....................................................................21
TEACHING TIP 6: GUESSING ANSWERS.........................................................................................................22
TEACHING TIP 7: STOPPING AN ACTIVITY.....................................................................................................23
TEACHING TIP 8: FEEDBACK.........................................................................................................................24
TEACHING TIP 9: DEALING WITH VOCABULARY QUERIES.............................................................................25
TEACHING TIP 10: MONITORING.................................................................................................................26
TEACHING TIP 11: ERROR CORRECTION.......................................................................................................27
TEACHING TIP 12: ELICITING........................................................................................................................28
TEACHING TIP 13: CHECKING TOGETHER......................................................................................................28
TEACHING TIP 14: READING BEFORE WRITING.............................................................................................29
TEACHING TIP 15: BRAINSTORMING............................................................................................................30
TEACHING TIP 16: PERSONALISING..............................................................................................................30
TEACHING TIP 17: TRANSLATING.................................................................................................................31
TEACHING TIP 18: PACING...........................................................................................................................32
TEACHING TIP 19: CONCEPT CHECKING........................................................................................................33
TEACHING TIP 20: USING DICTIONARIES......................................................................................................33
WHAT DOES A GREAT LESSON LOOK LIKE? ..................................................................................................35
CHARACTERISTICS OF EFFECTIVE TEACHING.................................................................................................36
ENTHUSIASM RATING.................................................................................................................................39
DEGREE OF PERFORMANCE.........................................................................................................................39
OVERVIEW OF SELECTED CLASSROOM STRUCTURES....................................................................................43
THE TEACHER'S USE OF LANGUAGE ............................................................................................................45
CONTEXTUAL SUPPORTS FOR LINGUISTIC DEVELOPMENT ...........................................................................46
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4. QUOTATIONS TO INSPIRE............................................................................................................................48
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Articles are the property of the authors and copyright owners. Permission is granted for
reproduction. Please cite the authors and source.
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5. Course Outline
The Art of Facilitating Learning
Developed and Presented by
William M. Tweedie
A) What Is Language?
B) The Nature Of Language As A Means Of Communication
1) Communicating Is A Creative, Imaginative Act
(a) Thinking And Writing Individual Activity
C) Learning and Teaching as Communication - The Practical Purposes
D) What Are The Practical Purposes Of Communication?
1) The Models Of Language Use - Real Needs And Wants Defined And Categorized
(a) Small Group Brainstorming and Categorizing Activity
E) How Important Are Practical Purposes In Facilitating Learning?
(a) “I Have To Do This.” Vs. “I Want To Do This.” - Whole Group Discussion
F) Relevance And Learning
G) Learning Vs. Acquiring A Language - Purposeful Language Is Acquired
1) Sequencing And Ranking Practical Purposes In Terms Of Relevance
(a) Small Group And Group Reporting Activity
H) How Effectively Do Contemporary Textbooks Provide Opportunities For Practical And
Relevant Use Of The English Language? How Can We Make The Textbooks Relevant?
1) An Introduction To The Seven Levels Of Engagement
2) Engaging The Imagination And Providing Opportunities For Real Use Of Language
(a) An Introduction To Theme Webbing And Project Based Learning
(i) Video Presentation And Small Group Webbing Activity
II) How Do We Facilitate Learning? Integrated Means…
A) The Human Means Of Communicating
1) Whole Group Brainstorming And Categorizing Activity
B) How Can The Means Of Communication Help Facilitate ELA?
1) Small Group Integrated Interactive Activity
III) What Do We Communicate? Meaning Means…
A) The Meaningful Nature Of Language
1) Accuracy And Fluency – “The Chicken Or The Egg”
(a) Demonstration Of The ‘Echo’ And ‘Backward Build-Up’ Techniques
IV) Education - an Engaging and Enriching Process of Discovery
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6. A) Learning Enrich Lives and The Global Community
Key Principles of the PRIME© Approach and Method
By William M. Tweedie
Communication is the primary goal in the facilitation of English Language Acquisition. The implications
take us beyond the accepted axiom that we should teach language usage, not about the language.
English, like all human languages, has one general purpose, which is to convey our thoughts and
feelings to other beings, to communicate. English is not the end. It is one means to the end.
Communication is PRACTICAL. People communicate for specific, identifiable purposes. We need to
know and understand why people communicate and how English can be used as one means to
accomplish these purposes.
Human communication exists when intelligible signals are transmitted and received in the context of
the satisfaction of needs and wants, fulfilling purposes. All else is communicatively useless action or
noise.
Students acquire English if it is RELEVANT to their lives, that is, if it satisfies real needs and wants,
involves them as individuals, addressing their backgrounds, interests, and goals.
The choice of language used in oral and written communication involves interactional uncertainty. The
language used in communication is, largely, unpredictable. Providing students with strategies to
manage this uncertainty and the unpredictability in discourse is essential to building beginners’
confidence and sustaining their motivation.
Communication is accomplished through a variety of INTEGRATED means that should not be isolated
in the learning/acquisition process. Observation takes its rightful place as an essential skill along with
Listening, Reading, Speaking, and Writing. All other motional and emotional means of communication
figure importantly in the process. Beginners need as many options as possible to support their efforts
to communicate. All communication options should be explored before resorting to their native
language and translation.
Communication is context dependent, must be comprehensible, and MEANINGFUL to both sender
and receiver. Facilitators must ensure that their communication with students and the language
students are engaged in acquiring are both comprehensible and meaningful and that the
understanding and conveyance of meaning takes precedence over correctness of form, content, and
structure.
The most important criteria in assessing students’ progress are first, the degree to which the student
is actively engaged in the process of English language acquisition and secondly, how effectively s/he
comprehends, negotiates, and conveys meaning, not the correctness of form or grammar.
Facilitators of language acquisition have the responsibility of providing students with the tools
necessary for progress. These include an array of strategies for learning in general and language
learning specifically. Language learning strategies, direct and indirect, must be incorporated into the
curriculum.
Students will acquire the English they want and agree they need to. Therefore, Students must first
Initiate, then Direct, Control, Monitor, and Evaluate (SIDCME) their own learning (The PRIME©
METHOD). Facilitators provide the framework and guideposts, students provide the substance. The
most significant implication of this principle is in the facilitator’s acceptance of the role as ‘guide on the
side, not sage on the stage’. To achieve the objective of students becoming autonomous learners, the
facilitator must have patience, resolve and be flexible, resourceful, engaging (motivating) and
enriching (FREE) in taking this Approach.
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7. Language acquisition is an indefinite process with characteristics distinct from other subject matter
learning. The psychological and emotional factors in language acquisition must figure largely in the
approach facilitators and students take to the process because communication is the expression of
self, one’s identity, in the process of fulfilling its purposes. Students cannot be expected to achieve
goals set out on a continuum of grammatical structures, forms, and functions. The content they need
and want to express in achieving relevant purposes will require different and varied structures and
forms at different times. The facilitator must have sufficient command and knowledge of English
usage to be an effective model for the students and provider of the information they need.
The facilitator’s language and classroom material are known and perceived by the students to be
models for their own language development.
The process must be enjoyable and ENRICHING to self and society. Is it not our ultimate goal, as
facilitators of the acquisition of language for its practical use in achieving meaningful purposes, to help
people understand each other so they can help each other progress towards a better world? This
principle will guide facilitators and students in the selection or development of material for classroom
modeling and practising.
Language acquisition is a process tangent to and reflective of the student’s development and growth
across all the dimensions of learning. The next section takes a closer look at this important concept.
The Dimensions of Learning
ESL standards articulated by such organizations as TESOL, USA and most commercial ESL
programmes pay little attention to the progress of students across all the dimensions of learning. It is
important that the facilitators be aware of the students’ progress along these dimensions as it is likely
they correlate directly to their progress in the acquisition process.1 The dimensions of learning
commonly articulated are:
1. Confidence and Independence
2. Skills and Strategies
3. Knowledge and Understanding
4. Use of Prior and Emerging Experience
5. Reflection - Contemplative and Critical
‘Learning occurs across complex dimensions that are interrelated and interdependent. Learning
theorists have argued that learning and development are not components of an assembly line that can
be broken down into discrete steps occurring with machine-time precision, but an organic PROCESS
that unfolds along a continuum according to its own pace and rhythm. The facilitator/facilitator and
student should be actively searching for, and documenting positive evidence of the student’s
development across the five dimensions listed above. These five dimensions cannot be separated out
and treated individually; rather, they are dynamically interwoven and interdependent.’ (Iverson, S)
Confidence and Independence
Growth and development occur when learners’ confidence and independence become coordinated
with their actual abilities and skills, content knowledge, use of their experience, and reflective of their
own learning. It is not a simple case of ‘more is better’. The overconfident student, who has relied on
faulty or underdeveloped skills and strategies, learns to ask for help when facing an obstacle; the shy
student begins to trust his/her own abilities and begins to work alone at times, or to insist on
presenting her own point of view in discussions. In both cases, students develop along the dimension
of confidence and independence.
Skills and Strategies
Specific skills and strategies are involved in the process of language acquisition as well as other
areas of learning that require instruction and the active participation of the students. These skills
1
While great progress has been made in expanding the scope of factors that affect ELA facilitation in recent years such as
Multiple Intelligence and Thinking Styles Theories, there is a need for more research of the relationships among emotion, the
psychology of learning, and language acquisition.
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8. include technological skills for computer communication for all students if they are to become active
participants in the global village. ‘Skills and strategies represent the “know-how” aspect of learning.’
How well students actually learn (performance ability or mastery of any given content ) or acquire, in
the context of second language acquisition, depends on how well they know and use the skills and
strategies laid open to them for their personal use.
Knowledge and Understanding
Content knowledge refers to the extent students understand the theory of new or revealed methods,
techniques, and topics and the relationship between theories and practise. It is measured by how
effectively the knowledge (ideas) is conveyed by facilitators of learning as well as by how well
students demonstrate their understanding of the ideas through formal and informal presentations
(examinations, writings, practical and relevant use of the knowledge). This dimension of learning is
the most familiar as it has been the most quantifiable and justifiable in terms of historically modern
educational systems. What is the simple past of the verb ‘to think’? What is a “web site” on the World-
Wide Web? These are typical content knowledge/understanding questions.
Use of Prior and Emerging Experience
Use of prior and emerging experience involves the students’ awareness of the importance and
relevance of their own experience, the ability to draw on this experience and connect it to their
engagement in the process of learning. ‘A crucial but often unrecognized dimension of learning is the
ability to make use of prior experience in new situations’ or when confronted with new learning
challenges. It is necessary to overtly encourage and value learners’ experiences and more over to
help them incorporate their experiences into the process of learning and acquiring a new language in
that case. ‘Observing learners over a period of time as they are engaged in a variety of activities will
allow this important capability to be accounted for.’ This dimension of learning is, after all, at the heart
of new imaginings and their realization. In structured, inflexible, predetermined curricula we cannot
discover, nor can the student, how his/her prior experience might help build new or greater
understandings, or how ongoing experience shapes the content knowledge and understanding, skills
and strategies, indeed, the confidence and independence he/she is developing. Imagine you have no
imagination.
Reflection - Contemplative and Critical
It is important to contemplate our own learning process and to analyse how we are progressing in the
process of acquiring our knowledge or a second language. How well are we using the skills and
strategies available to us to communicate better our thoughts and feelings? Are our students and we
developing the ability to distance ourselves enough from the process to reflect on it in the general
terms of the extent we are engaged in it and how important it is to our development as human beings
and as a global society? Is our ability to think critically of the specific aspects of the process, i.e., how
well we using the skills and strategies we need? How much effort are we putting into developing our
confidence? How courageous are we becoming in validating our own experiences and using them to
build our futures on? This overview thinking and recognition of limitations and obstacles provides the
impetus for continued progress and is a necessary dimension of learning and acquisition of language
for stronger, clearer communication.
(Source: Adapted from Sue Iverson for original Facilitator Training Workshops by J.W.M. Tweedie)2
Facilitators in this programme must monitor all the factors articulated because language cannot be
acquired effectively without the management of and accomplishment in these areas. While students
are expected to achieve some of these minimum standards or learning outcomes, their efforts and
progress should be the most important factor in assessments and evaluations, not the quality or
quantity of English they have acquired. This is according to the unique nature of second
language acquisition.
2
Sue Iverson introduced the concepts of the five dimensions for the University of Texas in 1997 for general learning. I have
adapted and related them specifically to the arena of second language acquisition.
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9. PRIME© Principles in Action in the Classroom
By William M. Tweedie
Adapted From the NCBE Program Information Guide Series, Number 19
Silence is often needed
Students must be silent at times as they learn to speak a second language.
Some learners need to focus more on listening than speaking, especially during the early stages of
learning and acquiring a new language. For others, there may be a need to briefly "tune out" at points
in the course of a day to "recharge" from the constant effort of listening and speaking in a new
language.
Silence may also occur in extended pauses before a student answers a question. Allow students
additional time to collect their thoughts and structure their answer. Moving too quickly to the next
student discourages efforts to respond; in contrast, recognizing that the student needs more time to
answer lets the student know that you are interested in listening.
Errors generally indicate progress
As with first language acquisition, errors can actually have a positive meaning. They often appear
when a learner is trying out new grammatical structures. When the focus is on communicating, direct
correction of errors can hinder students' efforts and discourage further attempts to express ideas with
the language skills they have available. Rather than correct errors directly, a teacher can continue the
dialogue by restating what the student has said to model the correct form.
Valuing diversity
Valuing the diverse backgrounds and resources that EFL students bring to the classroom and being
sensitive to their unique needs can serve to build an instructional environment that can benefit all
students.
Current education research and reform focus on increasing student participation in instruction and on
basing instruction on the real-life needs of students. An active learning and acquiring instructional
model for EFL students includes elements that address the special language-related needs of
students who are learning and acquiring English.
Instructional content should utilize student diversity. Incorporating diversity into the classroom
provides EFL students with social support, offers all students opportunities to recognize and validate
different perspectives, and provides all students interesting information. Also, examples and
information relevant to EFL students' backgrounds assist them in understanding content.
Increasing comfort levels
The classroom should be predictable and accepting of all students. All students are able to focus on
and enjoy learning and acquiring more when the school and classroom make them feel safe -
comfortable with themselves and with their surroundings. Teachers can increase comfort levels
through structured classroom rules and activity patterns, explicit expectations, and genuine care and
concern for each student.
Instructional activities should maximize opportunities for communication and as much as possible,
language use. Opportunities for substantive, sustained dialogue are critical to challenging students'
abilities to communicate ideas, formulate questions, and use language for higher order thinking. Each
student, at his or her own level of proficiency, should have opportunities to communicate meaningfully
in this way.
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10. Involving students
Instructional tasks should involve students as active participants. Students contribute and learn more
effectively when they are able to play a role in structuring their own learning and acquiring, when
tasks are oriented toward discovery of concepts and answers to questions, and when the content is
both meaningful and challenging.
Instructional interactions should provide support for student understanding. Teachers should ensure
that students understand the concepts and materials being presented. For EFL students this includes
providing support for the students' understanding of instruction presented in English.
Creating an accepting and predictable environment
A supportive environment is built by the teacher on several grounds. There is acceptance, interest,
and understanding of different backgrounds, beliefs, and learning styles or Multiple Intelligences.
Explicit information on what is expected of students is provided and is reinforced through clearly
structured daily patterns and class activities. These provide important social and practical bases for
students, especially EFL students. When students are freed of the need to interpret expectations and
figure out task structures, they can concentrate on and take risks in learning and acquiring. Provide a
clear acceptance of each student.
Maximizing opportunities for language use
Communication in all its aspects, i.e., observing, listening, reading, writing, and all other means,
including oral expression, is really central to learning and acquiring for all EFL students. Through
experience in trying to express ideas, formulate questions, and explain solutions, students' use of
their native as well as English language and other communication skills, supports their development
of higher order thinking skills. The following points are important ways to maximize language use.
(i) Ask questions that require new or extended responses.
b) The teacher's questions should elicit new knowledge, new responses, and thoughtful efforts
from students. They should require answers that go beyond a single word or predictable
patterns. Students can be asked to expand on their answers by giving reasons why they
believe a particular response is correct, by explaining how they arrived at a particular
conclusion, or by expanding upon a particular response by creating a logical follow-on
statement.
(i) Create opportunities for sustained dialogue and substantive language
use.
c) It is often hard to give many students the opportunities needed for meaningful, sustained
dialogue within a teacher-centered instructional activity. To maximize opportunities for
students to use language, teachers can plan to include other ways of organizing learning and
acquiring activities. For example, in cooperative learning and acquiring groups, students use
language together to accomplish academic tasks. In reciprocal teaching models, each
student/group is responsible for completing then sharing/teaching one portion of a given task.
d) Opportunities for maximizing language use and engaging in a sustained dialogue should
occur in both written and oral English. Students can write in daily journals, seen by only
themselves and the teacher. This type of writing should be encouraged for students at all
levels. Some EFL students may be too embarrassed to write at first; they may be afraid of not
writing everything correctly. The focus in this type of writing, however, should be on
communicating. Students should be given opportunities to write about what they have
observed or learned. Less English proficient EFL students can be paired to work with other,
more proficient students or be encouraged to include illustrations, for example, when they
report their observations.
e) The teacher should also ensure that there are substantive opportunities for students to use
oral and written language to define, summarize, and report on activities. Learning and
acquiring takes place often through students' efforts to summarize what they have observed,
explain their ideas about a topic to others, and answer questions about their presentations.
EFL students' language proficiency may not be fully equal to the task; however, they should
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11. be encouraged to present their ideas using the oral, written, and non-linguistic communication
skills they do have. This can be supplemented through small group work where students learn
from each other as they record observations and prepare oral presentations.
(i) Provide opportunities for language use in multiple settings.
f) Opportunities for meaningful language use should be provided in a variety of situations: small
groups, with a variety of groupings (i.e., in terms of English proficiency); peer-peer dyads
(again, with a variety of groupings); and teacher-student dyads. Each situation will place its
own demands on students and expose them to varied types of language use.
g) The physical layout of the room should be structured to support flexible interaction among
students. There can be activity areas where students can meet in small groups or the teacher
can meet with a student, or the furniture in the room can be arranged and rearranged to
match the needs of an activity.
(i) Focus on communication.
h) When the focus is on communicating or discussing ideas, specific error correction should be
given a minor role. This does not mean that errors are never corrected; it means that this
should be done as a specific editing step, apart from the actual production of the written
piece. Similarly, in oral language use, constant, insistent correction of errors will discourage
EFL students from using language to communicate. Indirect modeling (echoing) of a
corrected form in the context of a response is preferable to direct correction.
(i) Provide for active participation in meaningful and challenging tasks.
i) Shifts in approach, that recent research and reform efforts indicate are effective for all
students, are especially necessary in EFL contexts. For example, many descriptions of
instructional innovation focus on increasing student participation in ways that result in
students asking questions and constructing knowledge, through a process of discovery to
arrive at new information that is meaningful and that expands students knowledge. An
important goal is to create or increase the level of "authentic" (Newmann and Wehlage, 1993)
instruction, i.e., instruction that results in learning and acquiring that is relevant and
meaningful beyond success in the classroom task alone.
(i) Give students responsibility for their own learning and acquiring.
j) In active participation, students assist the teacher in defining the goals of instruction and
identifying specific content to be examined or questions to be addressed. Students also play
active roles in developing the knowledge that is to be learned (e.g., students observe and
report on what they have observed, write to organizations for needed information, and assist
each other in interpreting and summarizing information). Active participation also involves
some shifting of roles and responsibilities; teachers become less directive and more
facilitative, while students assume increasing responsibility.
k) EFL students need to participate. Their participation can be at a level that is less demanding
linguistically, but still requires higher order thinking skills and allows them to demonstrate or
provide information in non-linguistic ways. For example, using limited written text, an EFL
student with very little oral or written proficiency in English can create a pictorial record of
what was observed in a science class, noting important differences from one event to the
next.
(i) Develop the use of a discovery process.
l) When students take an active role in constructing new knowledge, they use what they already
know to identify questions and seek new answers. A discovery process is one in which
students participate in defining the questions to be asked, develop hypotheses about the
answers, work together to define ways to obtain the information they need to test their
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12. hypotheses, gather information, and summarize and interpret their findings. Through these
steps, students learn new content in a way that allows them to build ownership of what they
are learning and acquiring. They are also learning and acquiring how to learn and acquire.
(i) Include the use of cooperative student efforts.
m) Recent findings about how people learn emphasize the social nature of learning and
acquiring. Many successful examples of classroom innovation with EFL students show the
value of using cooperative working groups composed of heterogeneous groups of students,
including students at different levels of ability. The composition of groups should be carefully
considered and should be flexible so that students experience working with different
individuals. Mixing less English proficient EFL and more English proficient students within
groups promotes opportunities to hear and use English within a meaningful, goal-directed
context.
n) Learning to work in cooperative groups requires practice and guidance for the students.
Formal roles should be assigned to each member of a group (e.g., note-taker, reporter, group
discussion leader), and these roles should be rotated. At older grades, as students identify
different tasks to be accomplished by a group, students might define and assign their own
responsibilities. In all cases, the use of group work requires attention to ensure that each
individual has opportunities and responsibilities in contributing to the development of the
overall product. Teachers need to be sensitive to the fact that some students prefer
independent rather than cooperative learning and acquiring structures and activities.
Teachers may want to consider adjusting the balance of learning and acquiring activities for
students to accommodate such differences and to provide more support, thereby allowing
students to gradually become more comfortable in these activities.
(i) Make learning and acquiring relevant to the students' experience.
o) Content matter is more meaningful for students when it relates to their background and
experience. Furthermore, new knowledge is best learned and retained when it can be linked
to existing "funds of knowledge" (Moll et al. 1990) so new content should be introduced
through its relationship to an already understood concept. For example, a discussion of food
cycles can begin with a discussion of foods commonly found in students' homes and
communities.
p) It is important that the learning experience regularly draws links between home, the
community, and the classroom because this serves to contextualize and make content
meaningful for students and ultimately to better acquisition of English. An active learning and
acquiring instructional approach ultimately seeks to develop in students a view of themselves
as learners in all aspects of their lives, not only in the classroom. Students should see
opportunities and resources for learning and acquiring outside of the classroom as well.
Whenever possible, the resources of the home and community should be used. For example,
when a class is learning about structure, a parent who is a carpenter can be called upon to
explain how the use of different materials can affect the design and strength of a structure
(taking into account function, strength, flexibility, and so on).
(i) Use thematic integration of content across subject areas.
q) Learning and acquiring is also made more meaningful when it is contextualized within a
broader topic. Business administration, Telecommunications, and Information Technology can
all become interrelated through their common reference to the same theme or topic of interest
just as Maintenance, Production processes, and Food Technology can (or any combination
for that matter). In this way different perspectives on the topic are developed through linkages
across different types of learning and acquiring activities.
(i) Build in-depth investigation of content.
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13. r) Instruction is more challenging and engaging when it provides in-depth examination of fewer
topics rather than more limited coverage of a broader range of topics. Furthermore, a
comprehensive exploration of one or more content areas promotes understanding and helps
students retain what they learn. Also, integrated, thematic curricula that address the same
topic across different content areas provide students opportunities to explore a given subject
in greater depth.
(i) Design activities that promote higher order thinking skills.
s) Classroom tasks should challenge students by requiring them to develop and utilize higher
order skills. Higher order thinking activities require students to use what they know to
generate new information (e.g., to solve problems, integrate information, or compare and
contrast). Higher order skills are utilized, for example, when students are asked to review a
folktale from one country that they have just read, to identify another folktale from their own
background that they think makes a similar point, and to explain the similarities and
differences. This is in contrast to lower order thinking skills such as rote repetition of
responses or memorization of facts.
(i) Provide support for understanding.
t) Students need opportunities to take responsibility for their own learning and acquiring - to
seek out information and formulate answers. This is what the active learning and acquiring
instructional model provides. However, essential to the process, is the support provided by
the teacher. As a partner in students' investigations of new content, the teacher should guide
and facilitate students' efforts.
u) The teacher's input as a facilitator and guide to students should be carried out in a variety of
ways, such as:
i) asking open-ended questions that invite comparison and contrast, and prompt students to
integrate what they have observed, draw conclusions, or state hypotheses;
ii) assisting students in identifying needed resources, including setting up linkages with
resources in the local community (e.g., local experts who could visit, field trips to
organizations, and so on);
iii) structuring learning and acquiring activities that require students to work cooperatively,
modeling the different group member roles if necessary;
iv) encouraging students to discuss concepts they are learning, to share their thoughts, and
to express further questions that they would like to tackle;
v) establishing long-term dialogues with students about the work they are doing, either in
regular teacher/student conferences or dialogue journals; and
vi) setting up opportunities for students to demonstrate or exhibit their work to other classes
in the school as a means of prompting further dialogue outside of the classroom
(i) Work together with others.
v) The attempt to restructure activities in your classroom and to deal with new forms of diversity
is a challenging one. It is not one that a teacher needs to face alone. Combine your expertise
with that of other teachers.
w) A significant body of recent research has focused on the value of teachers combining their
professional expertise and sharing their experiences with one another. Teachers can offer
important support to each other by serving as sounding boards for successes and failures, as
additional sources of suggestions for resolving problem situations, and as resources to each
other in sharing ideas, materials, and successful practices. Also, the more teachers who work
with the same students share information, the more consistent and effective their students'
overall instructional experience will be.
x) Teachers should take steps to:
i) collaborate and confer with EFL specialists;
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14. ii) collaborate with other content area teachers who work with the same EFL students to
share resources, ideas, and information about students' work;
iii) share ideas and experiences with teachers who are interested in trying out more active
instructional activities with their students;
iv) involve the program director; let him know what you are doing; explain how you are
implementing an active instructional model in your class, and the benefits for the
students. Ask for support; some of this support should come in tangible ways, such as
assistance in scheduling joint planning periods or in-class sessions in co-teaching or
straightforward observation.
YOU CAN'T DO IT ALL AT ONCE
If you are interested in moving toward an active learning and acquiring instructional model, starting
small is okay. Begin by becoming more familiar with your students. Perhaps set up a regular time with
each for discussion. Learn about models for cooperative group work and plan to try cooperative work
for one specific type of activity on a regular basis. Talk with other teachers and develop ideas
together. Step by step you will be able to build an active learning and acquiring approach that will
benefit all students in your classroom.
REFERENCES
 COLLIER, V. (1989). HOW LONG: A SYNTHESIS OF RESEARCH ON ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT IN A SECOND
LANGUAGE. TESOL QUARTERLY, 23, 509-531.
FATHMAN, A. K., QUINN, M. E., AND KESSLER. (1992). TEACHING SCIENCE TO ENGLISH LEARNERS, GRADES 4-8.
NATIONAL CLEARINGHOUSE FOR BILINGUAL EDUCATION, PROGRAM INFORMATION GUIDE SERIES, NO. 11. WASHINGTON,
D.C.: NATIONAL CLEARINGHOUSE FOR BILINGUAL EDUCATION.
 KOBER, N., EDTALK: WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT SCIENCE TEACHING AND LEARNING AND ACQUIRING. WASHINGTON,
D.C.: COUNCIL FOR EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND RESEARCH.
 MCLAUGHLIN, B. (1992). MYTHS AND MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNING AND ACQUIRING:
WHAT EVERY TEACHER NEEDS TO UNLEARN. NATIONAL CENTER FOR RESEARCH ON CULTURAL DIVERSITY AND
SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNING AND ACQUIRING. WASHINGTON, D.C.: CENTER FOR APPLIED LINGUISTICS.
 MOLL, L., VELEZ-IBANEZ, C., AND GREENBERG, J. (1990). COMMUNITY KNOWLEDGE AND CLASSROOM
PRACTICE: COMBINING RESOURCES FOR LITERACY INSTRUCTION. HANDBOOK FOR TEACHERS AND PLANNERS.
INNOVATIVE APPROACHES RESEARCH PROJECT. ARLINGTON, VA: DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATES, INC.
 NEWMANN, F. M., AND WEHLAGE, G. G. (1993). FIVE STANDARDS OF AUTHENTIC INSTRUCTION.
EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP, 50, 7, APRIL, 8-12.
 LATRHOP, L., VINCENT, C., AND ZEHLER, A. M. (1993). SPECIAL ISSUES ANALYSIS CENTER FOCUS GROUP
REPORT: ACTIVE LEARNING AND ACQUIRING INSTRUCTIONAL MODELS FOR LIMITED ENGLISH PROFICIENT STUDENTS.
REPORT TO U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, OFFICE OF BILINGUAL EDUCATION AND MINORITY LANGUAGES
AFFAIRS (OBEMLA). ARLINGTON, VA: DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATES, INC.
 Warren, B., and Rosebery, A. (1990). Cheche Konnen: Collaborative scientific inquiry in language
minority classrooms. Technical Report from the Innovative Approaches Research Project. Arlington,
VA: Development Associates, Inc.
Naturally and obviously, the suggested activities described in this resource book must be modified or
adapted for the students’ levels of ability.
14

15. PRIME Classroom Tips
©
By William M. Tweedie
1. Give regular attention to each student or group of students and to individual students with
exceptional needs. Set a timer to ring at 5 - 10 minute intervals if possible.
2. Choose students in each class for classroom management tasks every two weeks or so. For
example, cleaning the board, straightening up tables, organizing file boxes, watering plants,
caring for special projects, distributing supplies, etc. Occasionally, make this a class activity.
3. Give directions clearly, shorten and rephrase if not understood, give visual clues as often as
possible.
4. Do not ask rhetorical questions. (Can the ‘can you…’ questions.) Be declarative. Teach before
you test!
5. Praise good listening – often. Give specific, meaningful affirmations. Watch out for the slip-ups
like “Well, it’s about time!” There are at least 102 ways to say “Good job!”
6. Give a student a partner who can help them whenever possible.
7. Do not make students recopy written work. Have them read it to you (or another student) instead
and have them practice with writing worksheets at home.
8. Arrange the class to minimize distractions. Keep regularly used materials in the same location.
Use labels and signs as much as possible.
9. Encourage students to use a tape recorder for recording the teacher’s, their own or other
students’ use of English.
10. Do not call on a student who is not ready or prepared (academically, psychologically or otherwise)
to answer questions, read aloud, or otherwise respond or participate. Spread the participation
among those who are ready. Do not be afraid to ask a student “Are you ready?” They will respond
honestly if they know they will not be ridiculed or pressured – by you or by other students. Let
students know in advance that they will be called upon during class whenever possible. A
student’s readiness can be checked and encouraged this way. Write out lesson questions
beforehand, whenever possible, to allow students to better prepare their answers.
11. Post the class rules and expectations and have the class discuss them (in the first lesson ideally)
to ensure agreement and understanding. Be thorough. Cover all aspects of classroom behaviour.
Model the behaviour. (Discuss entering and leaving the class (when and how); requesting
permission to leave the class for washroom, illness or other reasons; procedural and
organizational considerations; homework and class work submissions – include name and
number in top right hand corner, for example; classroom duties; etc.)
12. If possible, videotape your class to monitor your and the students’ behaviour. Share the results
with the class or use it to help individual students with behaviour or instruction/content problems.
15

16. The Art and Craft of Motivating Students
Control, Competency, and Connection
By Diane Walker - Updated by Melissa Kelly
The educational equivalent to "location, location, location," is "motivation, motivation, motivation," for
motivation is probably the most significant factor educators can target in order to improve learning.
Teachers routinely attest to its significance, lamenting how easily students memorize un-ending rap
songs despite their needing a truckload of teaching tricks to remember directions for a simple
assignment.
Considering its importance, surprisingly little advice about how to motivate students is available on the
Internet. The most helpful site reviews motivational research. In it Barbara McCombs states that
"almost everything [teachers] do in the classroom has a motivational influence on students--either
positive or negative. This includes the way information is presented, the kinds of activities teachers’
use, the ways teachers interact with students, the amount of choice and control given to students, and
opportunities for students to work alone or in groups. Students react to who teachers are, what they
do, and how comfortable they feel in the classroom."
Based on research findings, we now know that motivation depends on the extent to which teachers
are able to satisfy students' needs:
• to feel in control of their learning
• to feel competent
• to feel connected with others
How to Give Students More Control
Being in control of their learning, means students have significant input into the selection of learning
goals and activities and of classroom policies and procedures. Knowing that students need to have
significant input into decisions about their learning situation does not, however, simplify the task of
meshing what, when, how, and where students want to learn with mandated content and objectives,
the school's schedule, and the teacher's room assignment.
Fortunately, research suggests that students feel some ownership of a decision if they agree with it,
so getting students to accept the reasons some aspects of a course are not negotiable is probably a
worthwhile endeavour. Then, whenever possible, students should be allowed to determine class rules
and procedures, set learning goals, select learning activities and assignments, and decide whether to
work in groups or independently.
In addition, while inconsistent with best practice in cooperative learning, allowing students to select
learning partners has been shown to improve their motivation to learn. With this, as with other
instructional issues, the teacher must continually weigh the benefits of making the "preferred"
instructional decision against the motivational benefits of giving students choices among appropriate
alternatives.
How to Help Students Feel Competent
Filling the need to be competent requires assignments that "cause students to challenge their beliefs,
actions, and imagination by having them investigate and respond to issues relating to
• survival,
• quality of life,
• problem solving, and/or
• real products."
The more interesting and personally relevant lessons are, the more motivating they will be. School-to-
work programs have been particularly successful in this area; however, the relevance of class work to
future employment, quality of life, and/or life skills should be shown in traditional classes as well. If we
16

17. have difficulty finding convincing examples of how class work has relevance to our students' lives,
perhaps we should consider revamping our programs.
To foster competence, "learning experiences should involve "both creative and critical
thinking”...requiring students to:
• define the task,
• set goals,
• establish criteria,
• research and gather information,
• activate prior knowledge,
• generate additional ideas and questions,
• organize,
• analyze and
• integrate all this information (Farges, l993)
Use question starters promoting critical thinking and directions for writing lesson plans that facilitate
critical thinking.
How to Help Students Feel Connected
The third factor, the need to feel connected, has been successfully addressed in advisory programs,
cooperative learning, and, on a smaller scale, peer mentoring, peer counselling, and community
service. Whether or not students participate in these programs, they need a "climate or culture of
trust, respect, caring, concern, and a sense of community with others." (Deci & Ryan, 1991) Since
student/teacher interactions play such a crucial role that even a single event can determine how the
student feels about a class and how he will perform (Caruthers) you may want to review some of the
following suggestions for creating a warm and nurturing climate:
• Greet students at the door using their first name. Make eye contact and smile.
• Listen to students and show you are listening using active listening techniques. Avoid giving
advice.
• Be genuine, be clear in approval and disapproval, and let students know you don't carry a
grudge. Avoid sarcasm.
• Talk to students about their discipline problems privately, perhaps outside the classroom door
so as not to embarrass them in front of peers.
• While using cooperative learning, walk around the room giving students an occasional pat on
the back. Catch their eyes and give an okay sign.
• Take pictures of all students putting them on the bulletin board. You may want to protect them
by putting them under Plexiglas.
• Celebrate birthdays and accomplishments during a scheduled "cultural event." One per
quarter is probably sufficient. Put birthdays on a database so you can wish students a happy
birthday on their special day.
• Occasionally bring in goodies, such as hard candy, to distribute to the whole class while
complimenting them on their progress. Be sure it is genuinely deserved and use positive
remarks such as, "You've been really working at this," and "You've been thinking and making
progress."
• Have class officers in each class such as a secretary to record assignments for absentees
and a cultural experience chairman or social chairman to plan events. Let students decide the
duration of the jobs and whether they will be filled by appointment or vote. Volunteer service
hours can be given if officers spend a lot of time on the class job.
Remember the keys to motivating students are control, competence and connection.
17

18. Liz Regan's 20 Teaching Tips
These teaching tips by Liz Regan found on the About.com website will be of general help to new
teachers or others who simply wish to brush up on their techniques.
1) Pair work / Group work 10) Monitoring
2) Reading Aloud 11) Error Correction
3) Checking Understanding 12) Eliciting
4) Pronunciation 13) Checking Together
5) Speaking to Other Students 14) Reading before Writing
in English 15) Brainstorming
6) Guessing Answers 16) Personalizing
7) Stopping an Activity 17) Translating
8) Feedback 18) Pacing
9) Dealing with Vocabulary 19) Concept Checking
Queries 20) Using Dictionaries
Teaching Tip 1: Pair work / Group work
How:
1. Make a list of pairs of names before the lesson starts or while the students are
coming in, or just tell them when the time comes: "Gianni, you work with Paola;
Chiara, you’re with Stefano this time."
2. If there is an odd number of students make a group of three but break them up later in
the lesson and put them into pairs with someone else so they get more chance to
speak.
3. You could put them in small groups to start with if the activity allows. You could even
make the activity a competition in small teams if the activity allows, seeing which
team gets the most answers right. Use the board or a piece of paper for keeping
score.
4. Change the partners quite often so that the students don’t get bored with their
partner. This is especially important if there is a student who isn’t very popular with
the others.
Why:
It’s good for the students to speak to each other in English (see TT5 for further
explanation).
It’s good for the students to work with another student sometimes rather than alone (see
TT5 and TT13) for further explanation).
Extra Info:
I don’t put my students into groups bigger than 3 because I don’t think they get enough
chance to speak in such a large group so they switch off, start fidgeting, get frustrated, let the
hard-working students do all the work, fall asleep etc. In a pair, one student is speaking and
one is listening and formulating a response, in a group of three, one is speaking, and usually
18

19. the other two are listening and formulating responses, in a group of four (or more), one is
speaking, one or two are listening and formulating responses and the other one is asleep,
aware that s/he hasn’t got much chance of getting a word in edge-ways. Or of course, in a
group of four, two speak to each other while the other two often either fall asleep or end up
speaking to each other too, in which case you might as well have put them in pairs in the first
place.
If you have an odd number of students don’t pair the extra student up with yourself - make a
group of three somewhere. I used to take on the "odd" student myself when I started in EFL
but I found that it didn’t work. The other students weren’t daft - they realised they were
missing out on the teacher’s attention and I realised they were right - I was short-changing
them by not monitoring them as I should.
If you’ve got some talkative and some quiet students, pair the quiet ones together for the
fluency activities (as opposed to the vocabulary/grammar activities) to encourage them to talk
more. I used to put one talkative student in a pair with a quiet one, thinking that the quiet one
would speak more if his/her partner was the chatty type. I was wrong - the talkative one
monopolises the conversation and the quiet one is happy to let this happen.
NB: If you only have one student, simply "pair up" with your student.
Teaching Tip 2: Reading Aloud
How:
1. Pick a student and ask him/her to read the instructions for Activity 1/2/3 or whatever.
"Marco, please read the instructions for Activity 2 for us".
2. Pick a different student each time.
Why:
1. It saves you doing it.
2. You can check pronunciation.
3. The other students may well understand the instructions better when read by another
student.
4. The students are more likely to listen to another student than to you.
5. If they all read the instructions silently they will all finish at different times. If they listen
to someone reading the instructions out loud they all finish at the same time.
Extra Info:
Getting students to read aloud used to be unpopular because the powers that be said that it
was unrealistic as we never do it in real life - you read books silently, don’t you? Things have
changed since then as it has since been argued that we indeed do it, e.g. "hey, listen to this; it
says in the paper here that Prince Charles is already, secretly, married to Camilla! Listen -
'Prince Charles allegedly married Camilla Parker Bowles in a secret ceremony at Windsor
Castle yesterday. The ceremony was attended only by the prince’s closest family and friends.
A palace spokesman denied the rumour, saying that...'"
19

20. Teaching Tip 3: Checking Understanding
How:
1. Ask your students "Is that clear?”
2. If it’s clear, fine. If anyone says "No, can you explain that? /Can you explain again?”
don’t. Ask if one of the other students can explain it.
3. If nobody understands it, go through an example step by step together. They should
get it then.
4. If they still don’t get it, go through another example together.
5. If the poor things are still lost either...
o do the whole activity together as a class, if possible, or...
o give up and go to the next activity.
o If it’s a word they are having difficulty understanding, you could set it for
homework and get the students to explain the meaning to you next lesson.
6. Another way to check understanding of instructions is to ask the students to imagine
that you are a new student who has just come in - can they explain how to do the
activity?
7. Another way to check understanding, not only of instructions, is by concept checking
(see TT19).
Why:
1. You need to check that the students have understood because they are unlikely to tell
you if they haven’t - they will simply bumble through the exercise, doing it wrong,
probably aware that they are doing it wrong, and losing confidence.
2. You need to ask "Is that clear?" rather than "Do you understand?" because the
chances of a student saying "No, I don’t understand" are very slim - they will feel very
stupid. Would you admit to not understanding something in front of others in a
classroom situation? I wouldn’t!
3. The student who doesn’t understand will be convinced s/he is the only one who
doesn’t get it and will not want to admit that in public. Questions like "Is that clear?"
shift the blame to the quality of the instructions instead. Neutral ground - much nicer.
Teaching Tip 4: Pronunciation
How:
1. Model the word yourself. (This means you say it in a normal way to the students).
Then get the students to repeat it after you, all together like in a chorus until they get
it nearly right. Don’t worry if they aren’t perfect. Who is?
2. Then model the word again and ask individual students to repeat the word after you.
3. You could put the word on the board and ask the students how many syllables it has
and then practise some stress placement. Ask them which the stressed (strong)
syllable is. For example:
before = 2 syllables be FORE = The second syllable is stressed.
after = 2 syllables AF ter = The first syllable is stressed.
computer = 3 syllables com PU ter = The second syllable is stressed.
20

21. afternoon = 3 syllables af ter NOON = The third syllable is stressed.
If you know the phonetic alphabet you could write the words in that too.
Why:
1. It helps the students to improve their pronunciation which is very important because
there’s very little point in students learning a new word, learning what it means and
how to use it in a sentence, if no one understands them when they say it because
their pronunciation is so bad.
2. Doing a little pronunciation work can fill time here and there in a lesson. It’s especially
useful as a filler (a quickie activity to fill those few minutes at the end of a lesson
when you’ve run out of material but it’s a little too early to let the students go).
Extra Info:
If you’re planning to do some syllable work or stress placement or use the phonetic alphabet
it’s a good idea to write the words, syllables, stress and phonetic spelling down before the
lesson because, I don’t know about you, but I find it hard to do it spontaneously during the
lesson! For some reason I get muddled and write the stress on the wrong syllable etc.
If you want to do some stress placement work but you don’t know which syllable is stressed,
look in a dictionary, especially one for students - it will have the stress indicated, usually by an
apostrophe thingy. The syllable after the apostrophe thingy is the stressed one, usually.
For example: be'fore 'after com'puter after'noon
If you look in the first few pages of the dictionary it will explain how it indicates stress
placement. Not all dictionaries indicate it in the same way. (For more information about
dictionaries in general see TT20).
Teaching Tip 5: Speaking to Other Students in English
How:
1. Put the students into pairs or small groups (See TT1 for further explanation).
Why:
1. Making students speak to each other instead of the teacher maximises STT (Student
Talking Time) and minimises TTT (Teacher Talking Time). This is a good thing
because the students are the ones who need to practise their English - you, hopefully,
don't!
2. A lot of students will be using their English to speak to non-mother tongue speakers
anyway so they might as well start getting used to it. For example, my students are
Italian and they often need English to speak to other European clients and
colleagues. Some of them never use English to speak to mother-tongue English
speakers at all!
Extra Info:
Students like talking to the teacher because it makes them feel important and that they are
getting value for money. While this is fine in a one-to-one lesson it is no good in a group
because while one student is monopolising the teacher/conversation everyone else is losing
out.
21

22. When I encounter students who want to talk to me all the time in a lesson (flattering though it
is) I advise them (politely) to consider having individual lessons if they want the teacher's full
attention all the time. If that doesn't work I explain like this: 60 minutes divided by 6 students =
10 minutes each; so they can each talk to me for 10 minutes and I will listen to each of them
for 10 minutes which is sad really when they've paid for a 60 minute lesson. And, let's face it,
it wouldn't really be 10 minutes because you have to take time off for taking the register at the
beginning of the lesson, giving everyone time to hang their coats up, sit down, get settled,
receive their worksheets, read the instructions, listen to the teacher presenting grammar
points or whatever, do a listening exercise or a role-play, go through homework together,
receive more homework, get ready to leave etc. 5 minutes would be more realistic. So there
you have it, pay for 60 minutes and get 5. Where's the logic? If that doesn't work I do this: Let
the student have his/her way. Yup! Smile and listen very attentively. Make sure that everyone
else is listening too. Let him/her start rambling, taking up everyone's valuable time and then
just pick him/her up on every grammar mistake and correct his/her pronunciation every
second word. I find that the student in question usually enjoys this to start with; getting so
much attention - having a one-to-one lesson in front of everybody - but the novelty soon
wears off. I either correct the student aloud, frequently, or write his/her errors up on the board
as s/he goes along ("don't mind me, do keep going, we can all learn so much from your
mistakes").
Generally speaking, correcting a student every few seconds destroys the impact of whatever
s/he was saying and makes them (and everyone else) lose the thread. Writing their mistakes
up publicly on the board tends to make students shrivel up and die (See TT11 for an
explanation about how to do error correction nicely). After this, in my experience, the student
is generally quite happy to get on with pair work. And so are all the other students!
Sometimes I have students who don't want to speak much until they can be sure of getting it
right and not making mistakes because mistakes are bad things, right? (Wrong! See TT11 for
further explanation). These students tell me that they want me to talk to them (individually)
because they will learn correct English through listening to me (By osmosis, presumably!).
They can't see the benefit of talking to each other because if they make a mistake the other
student won't be able to correct them. (Actually, the other student often can correct them, and
does correct them and that's what they don't like!). In such cases I explain like this:
Learning English is like learning to play the piano/to drive/to swim etc. When you want to
learn to play the piano/drive/swim is it enough just sit and watch other people doing it or do
you need to have a go yourself and make mistakes and practise a lot until you get it right?
Speaking together gives you that chance to have a go yourself and the time to practice.
Or like this:
If you honestly think that you will learn correct English by listening to a mother-tongue
speaker speaking correct English, why don't you just rent an English video? It's a lot cheaper
than paying lesson prices to listen to me.
Teaching Tip 6: Guessing Answers
How:
1. When there is a list of possible answers, encourage students to guess the answers
(by saying things like "There are two words to choose from and only one gap to fill so
you've got a 50% chance of being right!)
2. Encourage students to look at the words before and the words after the gap (in a gap-
fill - a.k.a. cloze - exercise) to help them decide what type of word is needed in the
gap. Will the answer be a verb? an adjective? a noun? In most exercises this will limit
their choice of answers and therefore increase their chances of guessing the right one
(see the previous point I made).
22

23. 3. If they are still looking a bit blank it's probably because they are suffering from "gap-fill
tunnel vision" which means that this is what they see:
Irrelevant gobbledegook an __________ with I needn't read this because it comes
after the gap.
Would you know what to write in the space? I wouldn't!
4. Encourage them to try to guess the meaning from the context (i.e. the sentence or
paragraph the gap is in). Let’s look at the same example again, this time with the
context: It rained yesterday when I was out but I hadn't got an __________ with me
so I got wet.
In this example the context tells us that the missing word is probably going to be
"umbrella".
5. This technique also works well when there is a word which the students don't know in
a sentence. If they have never seen the word "umbrella" before and it is in the
sentence then the sentence will look something like this to the student:
Irrelevant gobbledegook an umbskjdhfskjflla with I needn't read this because it comes
after the gap.
Some students will panic at this point and ask you what an umbskjdhfskjflla is. You
don't need to spoon-feed them the answer. If the students use the context to help
them they will probably be able to work out the meaning. (See point 4 above) and
thus gain confidence as learners.
Why:
1. The students know a lot more than they think they know - the posh term for this is
"passive knowledge". This basically means that somewhere in the past they have
seen or heard this word or phrase but they don't remember it consciously. (They don't
know they know - they think they don't know, but you know better, you think they
know - confused yet?) Anyway, if you can get them to make a guess, the chances are
that they will get it right quite a lot of the time. If you put the students into pairs or
small groups the chances are that with their combined passive knowledge they'll get
most of the answers right, though they won't know how they did it. They'll probably
think it is just luck. It isn't.
Of course, the upshot of all this is that they get most of it right and consequently they
feel very good. Their confidence is raised and that is half the battle with speaking a
foreign language.
2. In real life (outside the classroom) the students will be put in situations where they
don't know all the answers or they don't know all the words etc. If they have
developed the confidence to trust themselves to make an educated guess here and
there it'll help them survive linguistically.
3. In many English language exams it is necessary to do gap-fill/cloze exercises.
Students who leave spaces because they don't know the answer should, in my
humble opinion, be deemed "too stupid to live" and dealt with accordingly. Students
taking exam courses should be encouraged to make guesses left, right and centre in
order to avoid ever leaving a space on an exam paper. If nothing is written in the gap
the student will receive no marks. If something is written in the space there is a
chance, a fair chance, that the answer will be right.
Teaching Tip 7: Stopping an Activity
How:
1. If you have a small enough group that you can be heard by everyone, just say
something like "OK, you can stop there. Well done everyone. Thank you, you can
23

24. stop now. Yes, that includes you, Giovanni!" Then give the students a few seconds to
finish their sentences until the room falls quiet. Let them finish what they were saying.
2. If you have a big group so you won't be heard if you try talk over everyone then don't
bother to shout yourself hoarse, simply have a certain place in the classroom where
you go and stand when you want everyone's attention and go and stand in it. The
students will stop talking very soon. (I stand in front of the board, facing the class
which gets their attention because for the previous ten minutes or so I've been
cruising round the room monitoring). You can explain to students at the beginning of
the course, "When I want your attention I will stand here and you will stop what you
are doing and listen to me because I don't like shouting for your attention. Is that
clear"?
When:
1. It's not important if the students have finished the activity - it's the taking part that
counts, as they say.
2. It's a good idea to stop things while they are swinging because it means you never hit
the students' boredom threshold. Leave them wanting more and enthusiasm will
remain high. On the other hand, don't stop it too soon because not everyone will have
had a chance to speak or guess the answers yet so they'll feel cheated.
Teaching Tip 8: Feedback
How:
1. Ask one of the students what the answer to question 1 is. If s/he gets it right, fine. If
not, ask if anyone else knows the answer. (If nobody knows and nobody can guess,
you'll need to give it to them).
2. Ask one of the students what the answer to question 2 is. If s/he gets it right, fine. If
not, ask if anyone else knows the answer. (If nobody knows and nobody can guess,
you'll need to give it to them).
3. Ask one of the students what the answer to question 3 is. (Are you getting the hang of
this?)
4. In the "True or False?" activities on my worksheets, the feedback questions would be:
"How many of your guesses were right? How well do you know your partner? Which
of your partner's answers surprised you?"
Why:
1. Getting feedback from the students (i.e. information about what they've just done)
means you can check how they coped with the exercise. You don't only need to get
the answers. You can find out if they liked that type of exercise or not - if not, can they
suggest ways to improve it?
2. You can check their pronunciation. You can deal with queries. You can allow the
feedback session to develop into a class discussion, if you like. Whatever.
Extra info:
You can initiate a feedback session about the lesson as a whole as a filler (five-minute
activity) to fill the last few minutes of a lesson by asking the students to decide which of this
lesson's activities was the most enjoyable/useful and why, then compare their choices with
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25. their partner's or have an open-class discussion about it where the whole group talks to you
and airs their views.
Teaching Tip 9: Dealing with Vocabulary Queries
How to avoid doing it:
1. Get the students to read the exercise completely before starting to actually do
anything. They can underline the words they don't know, or (more positively)
underline the words they do know. 2. When a student asks you to explain the
meaning of a word, don't. Ask the other students if anyone can explain it.
2. You could put the students in pairs or small groups and get them to explain the words
they don't know to each other. This sounds daft but it's quite logical really - the words
Gianni is having difficulty with won't necessarily be the same ones that Marco is
struggling with. (Beware of the students' tendency to translate the words. See TT17
for info on Translating).
3. It's a good idea to get the students to try to guess the meaning of the word from the
context it's in. (See TT6 for further information on "deducing meaning from context").
4. Get the students to look the word up in a (preferably English to English a.k.a.
monolingual) dictionary, should such a thing be available (see TT20 for further
information about dictionaries).
Why to avoid doing it:
1. You are not a dictionary. You don't even look like one, do you?
2. There's a world of difference between telling someone something (spoon-feeding
students who soon get into the habit of switching off, being passive, letting the
teacher do all the work for them and not bothering to try to remember a single thing)
and teaching someone something (creating an environment and a set of
circumstances in which someone can actively learn, practise new skills, and develop
confidence in his/her own abilities).
3. One day, out there in the big wide world, the students will be faced with situations in
which they will not know all the words and you won't be there to help them. Then what
will they do? (With any luck they will be able to fall back on all the useful skills you've
taught them in class.)
Explaining new vocabulary
As a last resort, give the students an explanation of the new word or phrase in English. It's a
good idea to give them an example sentence or two containing the word or phrase so that
they can see how to use it. You may find it useful to demonstrate or mime the word to convey
it's meaning quickly. Or maybe a quick line-drawing (of the "stick-man" type) would convey
the meaning more quickly? Sometimes a synonym (similar word) is useful (e.g. wealthy =
rich) or an opposite (e.g. wealthy = the opposite of poor).
Extra info:
If a student still thinks I should explain all the new words to him I refuse and explain like this: If
you give a starving man a fish, you feed him for a day. If you teach him how to fish he can
feed himself for life. (I explain "starving" as "very, very, very hungry").
In this case the "fish" is the explanation of a word, given by you. The "how to fish" is the ability
to guess words from context, the confidence to ask a peer (a classmate, a colleague etc.) if
they know the meaning, and the ability to use a dictionary.
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26. Teaching Tip 10: Monitoring
How:
1. While the students are doing an activity you walk slowly round the classroom and
listen to their conversations.
2. You can sit down too, if there are enough chairs, but try to sit in the background a bit
or the students will direct their conversation to you.
3. Look at one pair whilst actually listening to a different pair nearby. Correct the pair
nearby (which will probably make them jump because they thought you were listening
to the pair you were looking at) just to keep everyone on their toes - they never know
when you're listening to them so they can't ever switch off or revert to their mother-
tongue.
4. Be ready to massage any flagging conversations back into life, to stop students
monopolising conversations, to stop students falling out with each other and to offer
encouragement and praise where appropriate. Listen and supervise.
5. Take a piece of paper and a pen with you on your travels round the classroom so that
you can jot down any howlers (which can then be dealt with at the end - see TT11 for
further explanation).
Why:
1. If you spend your life in the classroom sitting down, this is your chance to stop numb-
bum syndrome - get up and wander round. If you spend your life in the classroom on
your feet, this is your chance to put your feet up (not literally, maybe, though I did
when I was pregnant!) - sit down to listen to the students.
2. Monitoring gives you the opportunity to hear how the students are coping with the
activity and to make notes about pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar points that
are causing difficulty. I see the role as one of listener/supervisor/facilitator/encourager
- not as one of error corrector.
Extra Info:
Although it's a good idea to indicate that you're actually listening to the students (even to the
point of feigning interest in what they are saying) I wouldn't suggest crouching down to table
height in order to listen to the students - it looks silly.
Apparently, (according to books on body language) tipping your head to one side gives the
impression that you are listening avidly to someone so if you were thinking of switching off
and not listening to your students at all (...me??...never!!), tip your head to one side first and
they'll be none the wiser!
I generally don't correct mistakes very much when I'm monitoring - I jot them down and do a
bit of error correction later because if I get caught up correcting one student's mistakes during
the activity I can't monitor the other students properly and by the time I get back to monitoring
I find that everyone has reverted happily to their mother tongue.
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27. Teaching Tip 11: Error Correction
How:
1. Let the students make mistakes. They need to. We all learn best through making
mistakes. Trial and error is the name of the game.
2. Give the students time to realise they've made a mistake and try to correct it
themselves. If they can't, maybe someone else can help them. If nobody can help
then you can either step in and give the correct form or make a note of it for later.
3. As far as possible, correct mistakes anonymously. Do this by making notes of
students' mistakes as you monitor (see TT10 for further explanation) then putting
them on the board later and give the students themselves the opportunity to correct
them, in pairs or small groups. If no one knows the right answer, give it to them, but
only as a last resort. Anonymous error correction is a kind way to deal with mistakes.
It isn't important who made the mistake originally - the point is: can the students all
correct it? I tend to doctor the mistakes so that even the perpetrators don’t recognise
them as theirs. For example:
Original error: "I have been to Paris last year." = On the board: "I have been to
London last week."
Extra Info:
Mistakes are good things and students need to know that they are. I explain like this: "Please
make lots and lots of mistakes in my lessons - new mistakes, mind you, not the same old
ones over and over. I like mistakes because we can all learn from them and because if you
don't make any I won't have a job. If I find a student who doesn't make any mistakes in my
lesson I will move that student to a higher level class because s/he obviously isn't learning
anything at this level."
Learning English is like learning to ride a bike - you fall off a lot, but you get the hang of it in
the end. You will make a lot of mistakes but you will be able to communicate effectively in the
end. Very few people become successful international cyclists and the chances are that even
though you can ride a bike you are not a professional cyclist. Very few students reach mother-
tongue (supposedly error-free) level but many students learn to communicate very well in
English in spite of this. You will probably never have error-free English so accept that you will
always make some mistakes - just try to learn from them and learn to live with your linguistic
imperfections.
When a student makes a mistake it is usually counter-productive to say "No!"/"That's
wrong!"/"Are you serious?"/"How long did you say you've been studying English?" etc. It's
often kinder to say "Not bad"/"Nearly"/"Good try"/"That's an interesting mistake" etc.
Some say that you shouldn't laugh at students' mistakes but I often do. They're often very
funny so why shouldn't I? I find it breaks the "mistakes taboo" and makes linguistic risks and
disasters an acceptable part of the classroom culture. Students catch on very quickly and we
have a good giggle together when someone messes up.
The ability to self correct when they make a mistake is an important one for students to
develop. Encourage it and give them time to correct themselves - don't jump in immediately to
correct them, keen though you are to prove that you are doing your job. Most students (and
indeed some teachers) seem to think that it is the teacher's job to correct students mistakes
but this is not necessarily so. Yes, teachers can correct their students endlessly but how will
that help the students' when they go out into the big wide world. Who will be there to correct
them then?
27

28. It's much better for the students if they get into the habit of listening to themselves when they
are speaking and correct themselves as they go along. Obviously they won't be able to
correct all the mistakes they make but they will be able to correct a lot of them.
Teaching Tip 12: Eliciting
How:
1. Instead of giving information, ask if anyone in the class can provide it. When a
student asks "What does this mean?" or "What's the past of this verb?" etc. say
something like "That's a good question - what do you think?" Can you guess? Can
anyone help Maria here?"
2. If you want to teach some vocabulary, for instance, then rather than giving it to the
students, try to get them to give it to you. For example: I want to teach the word
"cow". I could draw a little picture on the board. I could explain what a cow is. Or I
could elicit the word from the students along these lines: "What do we call…what's
the word for an animal which makes milk and goes "mooo"?! With any luck the
students will say "cow". There you go - I've elicited the word "cow" from the students.
I didn't say it to them - they said it to me; that's eliciting.
Why:
1. 1. If you don't elicit you run the risk of telling the students everything they want to
know and ending up spoon-feeding them (see TT9 - the "Why to avoid doing it" part
for further explanation).
2. 2. Eliciting means getting information from people as opposed to giving it to them -
asking, throwing questions back at the students, in a nutshell.
Extra Info:
When I take the register, I always elicit today's date from the students ("What's the date
today?") because I find that even at high levels students are shockingly bad on dates.
Sometimes students don't understand the value of eliciting. They think that you're not doing
your job if you don't answer their questions. If I have a student like that I tend to explain like
this: "I know I know the answer but I'm not the one learning English here. What is important is,
do any of you know the answer?" or "Why should I explain again? We did this last week!"
If you try to elicit something and obviously no one knows what you are getting at or they've all
forgotten it or they haven't done their homework, then don't keep on trying to get it out of
them. Flogging a dead horse will get you nowhere and it just embarrasses/irritates the
students and wastes valuable lesson time.
Teaching Tip 13: Checking Together
How:
1. When the students have finished doing an activity on their own, put them in pairs or
small groups and tell them to check their answers together.
2. Tell the students that if the answers are the same, they are probably correct but if
they are different they need to explain/justify their choice of answer to their partner -
in English! They can change their answers if they like.
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29. Why:
1. It's a good idea to let the students check their answers together before feeding back
to the teacher because it gives them the chance to rub out/cross out any glaring
errors before the teacher sees and thus avoid looking stupid in front of the class.
2. If a student hasn't a clue about some of the answers it's reassuring to find out that
their partner hasn't the foggiest either. The students realise they are not alone. They
can also copy their partner’s answers (if their partner has some that they don't) but
their partner might not be right!
3. Peer teaching is considered a good thing in the world of EFL. Peers are equals. So in
this case a student’s peers are a student's fellow classmates. Working together and
checking work together is a form of peer teaching. This means that instead of the
know-it-all (and/or) mother-tongue teacher always teaching them, the students can
teach each other (by explaining grammar points, correcting pronunciation, explaining
new words and phrases etc). The beauty of it is that the students are all equal to each
other and are in the same boat, linguistically speaking.
Teaching Tip 14: Reading before Writing
How:
1. Tell the students to read the whole exercise first before writing anything. (This will be
unbelievably hard for some students to do).
2. Once they've read it all, let them begin doing the exercise.
Why:
1. It's a good idea to read the whole exercise before starting to write anything because
sometimes more than one answer is possible but, in the exercise the students are
doing, only one answer is the right one.
For example: (a gap fill with these possible answers: take photos buy souvenirs):
I always _______________ when I am on holiday because they help me to remember
it.
(Could be either answer! But not if you've read the whole exercise first because you
know that one of the later sentences is:
I _____ a lot of _____ on my last holiday because I had a new camera.
This is true not only for my worksheets but also for the Cambridge exams such as
First Certificate and as a useful strategy in exams in general.
2. Another reason is that the students can answer the questions they know the answer
to and guess the rest (from a smaller selection because they've used some of the
answers already and so have a higher percentage chance of guessing the right
answer). A process of elimination.
Extra Info:
Exam students are strongly advised to read everything before putting pen to paper for the
reasons stated above. Apart from anything else it gives them more context to help.
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30. Teaching Tip 15: Brainstorming
How:
1. Ask the students to think of all the words they know connected with the topic.
2. Tell the students to write them on a piece of paper.
3. Give them a couple of minutes to do so.
4. Put them in pairs or small groups to compare their vocabulary and transfer words they
hadn't thought of from their partner's list to their own.
5. Feedback (see TT8) on to the board.
6. Or you could do it all on the board in the first place - just ask the class to give you
words to write on the board. (Or give board pens to one or more students and get
them to do the writing!)
Why:
1. If students have already activated their vocabulary related to the topic they will not be
searching for words so much when they start the speaking activities. This should
enable them to be more fluent.
Extra Info:
Brainstorming can be used as a warmer (a five minute activity at the start of the lesson) just to
get them in the mood and to start them thinking about the topic or as a filler (a five minute
activity at the end of the lesson) to see how many words they remember from the lesson. It
can also be used as revision - "Write down all the words you can remember about X (which
we studied last month)"! (The students will love you for that - not!)
Teaching Tip 16: Personalising
How:
1. It's been done for you on the worksheets. All the gap-fill exercises, question-forming
exercises and even the majority of the grammar analysis exercises have been made
to include that ever-important word "I". The discussion questions are mostly aimed at
encouraging the students to give their personal opinion on aspects of the topic.
Why:
1. In my experience, students like talking about themselves. And why not? Who
doesn't?
2. They will remember new words etc. better if they have had the opportunity to use
them in exercises, both written and spoken, that are relevant to their own experience
in some way.
3. Apparently, when mother-tongue speakers talk, some of the most frequently used
words are I, me, and you.
30

31. Extra Info:
A lot of course books seem to try to make things look "realistic" for the students in this way.
They show a photo of a man and a woman and say something like "This is Bob and Pam".
Then they provide some sort of exercise which features "Bob" and "Pam" which may go
something like this:
Write the following verbs in the sentences below: get up go
1. Bob and Pam ____________ very early every morning.
2. Bob and Pam ____________ to work by bus.
In my view, the chances of the students being really interested in "Bob" and "Pam" are slim
and so are the chances of them remembering the target language (target language is the
words and/or grammar structure you are trying to teach them).
There may well be nice colour photos of people supposedly called "Bob" and "Pam" but,
please do correct me if I'm wrong, it's hardly realistic. The students know full well that the
people in the photos are called just about anything except "Bob" and "Pam" because they are
models or actors or whatever. They certainly don't care what time they get up and how they
get to work; that’s where personalising comes in. Sentences like: "My partner ______ very
early every morning" can be turned into questions (Do you get up very early every morning?)
which will begin a real, personally relevant conversation between two students in which they
can talk to each other about themselves. (Yes, I do, I have to be at work by 8.15 every day
including Saturday...Really? What do you do? …etc.)
Teaching Tip 17: Translating
How to avoid doing it:
1. Refuse to give translations for new vocabulary yourself. Pretend/admit you don't
speak the student's language.
2. Encourage the students to guess the meaning of words they don't know or to ask
each other for help or to look it up in a monolingual dictionary instead. (See TT6, TT9
and TT20 for further explanation).
3. Explain that you are a teacher, not an interpreter.
4. Remind students that you are a teacher, not a dictionary.
Why to avoid doing it:
1. If students translate words and you don't speak their language you won't know if
they've really understood or if they've translated it correctly.
2. There often isn't a direct translation for a word or phrase; there is only an
"equivalent", sometimes not even that. Try translating a couple of modal verbs (like
"must" or "would" and you'll see what I mean) and I doubt very much that there is a
translation for "Yorkshire Pudding" in any language (because it's something solely
British so other countries will presumably never have needed a word for it). "get" is
hard to translate, as are phrasal verbs.
3. Translating some things word for word doesn't help. For example: My mother -in-law
once told me that my husband is a "pezzo di pane" which translates as "a piece of
31