ESL Teaching Strategies - Absolute Beginners
Creative Techniques to Accelerate ESL Learning for Beginners
Nov 6, 2009
Teaching a foreign language to an absolute beginner of English is a daunting task since learning a new language is one of the most difficult skills to attain for most people. The majority of the difficulty, though, lies in the dedication and time required to learn the new language. Learning a new language can be even more difficult for adults who have well-developed native language muscles.
Instructors will find that most of their absolute beginners may be reluctant at first. This poses a challenge for many ESL teachers. Absolute beginners frequently come from developing countries and may not have had enough education in their own language let alone another. They may have had very nominal exposure to English and may pose a significant challenge. There are several tricks to deal with the absolute beginner or reluctant learner of English.
Make Learning English Fun
This goes without saying. As most educators have learned, they have to provide a fun learning environment for students to thrive in the classroom. This will eliminate much of the reluctance associated with learning English.
Play games, hold debates and engage in stimulating conversations. Make classrooms feel comfortable, alive and intimate. Classrooms should become a place of refuge for the students who may be experiencing the stresses of living in a new country. This place of freedom will allow students to relax and open up in class. As the saying goes, “ An open mind is like a fortress with its gates unbarred and unguarded."
Use The Body
Do not assume that students understand grammar concepts. Often times instructors will be faced with students, who have never had any training in grammar, so it is advisable to use other ways to teach them.
Using the body and making large gestures is a great way to convey meaning.
When teaching introductions, don’t use a chart of the forms of the verb to be. Make gestures with the body. The instructor should point to his or herself and say, “Hi, My name is____”. Then point to the students in the class and have them repeat the phrase aloud. Instructors should do this several times and not worry about the students not understanding.
Ninety-nine percent of people understand this type of exchange and gesturing for introductions, and they will pick it up easily. Even most absolute beginners know how to say basic introductions.
The instruction should continue with the same process for teaching age and country of birth. By the end of class, students will be able to introduce themselves and tell instructors where they’re from. Carry on by pointing to objects in the class to teach students new vocabulary and the names of small objects around the classroom. This will prove useful during the course of a class.
Instructors may view this as a pointless exercise as students may need more important vocabulary, but many parents enjoy this exchange because it helps them communicate with their children’s teachers and administrators as well as English speaking co-workers. Additionally, it also aids in making them feel comfortable in the sanctuary the instructor has created for them in the classroom.
Connect With Students
Instructors should try to finding things they have in common with their students early in the course. They may even want to learn how to say things in the student’s native languages. Subtly, this will create mutual affinity between an instructor and students. When the students see the instructor taking risks to learn their language, students will go the extra mile to learn English. It will also make it easier to develop topics for enjoyable conversations.
These initial steps will create the environment and security needed to foster learning in an ESL classroom. Initially, these methods may feel uncomfortable, but the results achieved from using these techniques are immeasurable.
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