ESL1

Effective language instruction often adheres to set of basic principles, some of which are discussed in this course. As an educator, you have accumulated a few valid principles of your own. You will be invited to share your list with your colleagues. Following is a list of generally accepted principles that are likely to apply to your students. If you don't like them, argue with your colleagues about them!

Principle Number UNO - Language ability is a skill! OR Students learn from what they do, not from what the teacher does.

Language skills are no different from other skills - they are learned through practiceover a period of time. A student will not learn English by reading about it, or by understanding how it works (grammar!), or by observing what a teacher does. A student learns by using the language. If you want a student to listen, she must practice listening. If you want a student to understand, he must practice understanding. If you want a student to speak, she must practice speaking. So simple, but so ignored!

If you want to hit a tennis ball, a book won't help you. Watching a game won't help you. Understanding the game of tennis won't help you. Swinging at the ball until you hit it will help you! All of these might help you appreciate the game more, but they won't improve your strokes unless you actually hit balls! Do you want to play the piano? Reading about Mozart's life might entertain or inspire you, but it won't help you play a note.

Students must understand that language ability is a skill, and skills require practice.

Along this line, it is worth mentioning that students who want to learn to speak English will learn by speaking English, not their own language. If an instructor knows the student's native language it is often tempting to use it to explain how things work instead of simply having the student work it. Understandably, there are good reasons to use the student's native language. For example, if you want to date her brother/father or get his aunt involved in your multi-level business, it might help to know the student's language. Otherwise, model what you teach and speak English during class time.

How do you get busy adults to practice? Adults rarely like the idea of being asked for homework (practice) when a class begins unless the student is well prepared. Who fails to remember school days and the fear of being asked! However, teachers often need to know if the student did anything between classes because homework is often a measure of motivation, and it often launches class activities; it's a way of gauging where to start. So homework can be a good way to start if students come prepared. If your students do not bring homework regularly, you need to go to Plan B, which is not to ask her for homework right away (remove the fear) and think of another way to start the class. Following are a few tips to have your student practice even if he didn't do his homework.

Start the class session with an easy, entertaining activity that incorporates homework skills and invites lots of practice. Games are a great way to start, and a game can always be invented to reinforce a language skill. (Of course, all good instructors know that the best way to start any class is through review. If homework does not do it, other review techniques need to come in).

Vocabulary building/review	I'm going to Mexico/the store/my interview/etc... and I'm taking....; Concentration; picture/name match
Pronunciation/ Listening	Students circle what they hear on a recorder/www/another student; students write what they hear.
Writing	Write the names of people/tools/actions/places; complete the sentences; cloze exercises
Reading	Ask questions about the passage; finish the sentences.
Conversation	Answer/ask three questions; fill in the dialogue.

Learning English is not among the biblical Ten Commandments (Thou shalt learn English!), and even if it were, a large number of English learners would ignore it. There is enough evidence to show that people can get along quite well in the United States without learning English. Adults who want to learn English have their own reasons for doing so. If you want a student to learn from your instruction, you must either convince him that your materials and methods are in his interest, or you must adapt your instruction and materials to his motivation.

A potential student comes to you and claims, "I really want to/need to learn English." What does that mean? Where do you take the dialogue/activity from there?

Once you get to know what the students like/want to do through pictures, other student comments, and just simply intuition or magic, insert their interests everywhere you can. It doesn't mean that you have to do everything around their interests, but it helps to remember that that's the "well with the most water."

Lesson Plans	Start off with relevant lessons from the CA or other sources. Every second language student needs both life skills and the English to function in them. CA provides great themes from which to build lesson plans, but other materials can take you step by step through the lesson.
Extra Vocabulary	Accumulate relevant vocabulary list (Click here for contents of The ESL Teacher's Book of Lists - Great resource! ). Crossword puzzles are great, and you can get cheap software to create your own using any vocabulary you want. Get students to match pictures with relevant vocabulary in picture dictionaries (The Longman Picture Dictionary is a great resource!)
Reading	Create or find short, easy and relevant passages that students can read alone or with the help of more advanced peers. Don't underestimate the power of good humor in reading materials! The funnier, the better, most of the time. If the reading material is too difficult, have a more advanced peer practice Duet Reading/Neurological Impress Method with the student.
Writing	Dictate vocabulary to students or have them dictate to each other (have peers correct each other). Have students write short sentences about their area of interest. Correct the sentences and dictate them back to them, perhaps after they bring them to you as homework.
Conversation	Have students develop relevant dialogues around the topic or create short exchanges for them to memorize.

Adults have been taught to think a certain way. They relate new information/experience to what they already think they know. Laubach literacy instructors have successfully applied this principle with thousands of people: "Go from what the student knows to what you want her to learn."

When a student begins to learn with an instructor, the two may share very little in common. Therefore, aside from getting to know the student personally, it is important to establish some common ground from which to begin to communicate. That common ground can often be marked through pictures, sounds, and gestures. Good intent, a smile, silence, listening, even when words are foreign, can also establish common ground.

Beginning students will not have a lot of language skills to serve as a foundation for associating new information. Therefore, instructors need to build new vocabulary and activities in English that "make sense" to the adult learner based on his experience. Phonics can be taught through association (A good Laubach technique) if the student has been taught some basic vocabulary to serve as a reference point. For example, if a student knows what the word "cat" and can pronounce it correctly, you can use that word to help the student read and pronounce other words that have the unvoiced "c" sound in them. But if a student knows what "child" means, but can't pronounce it correctly, you will need another point of reference to associate new "ch" sounds to. It won't do any good to keep repeating the word "child" if the student can't associate the initial sound correctly. The value of parables and other such wonderful teaching devices is the value of reaching an adult with association. Analogies, parables, rhymes, relevant stories, all help a student associate new information with something he already knows.

Principle Number Quatro (Portuguese for 4) - Adults Learning a New Skill Appreciate Structure in the Lesson, Flexibility in the Topic

Adults are terrified of failure and will sacrifice a lot to avoid the shame of falling short of expectations. Failing to learn a second language is less shameful to most than failing to know your own language, but the fear is still there. Structured learning segments are helpful in providing security to students as they try new things because they can predict outcomes and "look good" by following a pattern. Vary the topic but establish a predictable framework (an expected order of business, so to speak) in you class presentations.

Even when a framework is established, one of the greatest "tricks" facing good instructors is knowing when to challenge the student and when to prompt her, when to have a student repeat and when to have him initiate a sentence. Following is a good four-step model for presenting new information to students at any level, in any field. In fact, this model is ideal and highly recommended for use with students with learning disabilities. Some lessons and topics may require some modification, but, essentially, the steps begin with the most passive activity and evolve into the most active - from the least threatening to the most demanding.

1. Teach meaning and vocabulary by using pictures, gestures or other means.	Avoid translation.
2. Model the dialogue several times until you sense that students are hearing the sounds. Keep students from repeating.	Avoid exaggerated or artificial pronunciation.
3. Have students repeat short segments, as appropriate/natural to the dialogue. Use the word "repeat" as you first get them to follow your invitation through gestures.	Have individuals and groups repeat the dialogue. Avoid going beyond the repetition.
4. Gesture for students to stay silent as you say the first line of the dialogue. Then gesture for students to take a role by following with the second dialogue statement.	Avoid the word "no."
5. Gesture for students to begin the dialogue while you take the response role	At first, students need to be prompted to start a dialogue, but avoid doing more than prompting with the first word or two. This is not the repetition phase. Student are asked to take initiative.
6. Have groups begin and respond to the dialogue (divide class in two).	Take the role of an orchestra leader and let two groups have some fun. Avoid repeating with each group. It's their turn to perform.
7. Call on individuals to respond and initiate the dialogue.	If students are embarrassed, go easy. Start the dialogue and prompt them with the response until they are comfortable.
8. Have pairs memorize and perform the entire dialogue.	This is a good time to get more advanced students working with beginners. They can help the beginner learn and avoid getting bored. Advanced students can often help beginners by adding lines and words that are often very funny!

Next Session: Practical Applications of Techniques and Topics for Beginning ESL Students.

FIELD PRACTICE I - TO BE COMPLETED BEFORE CLASS - PLEASE!!! Pretty Please???

Definitely read and digest the content of this section. Come prepared to add one additional item to the discussion above: an effective technique, a good example, an additional principle, something that will contribute to your colleague's implementation of the suggestions discussed.