Marmara Elt Resources

Giving and Checking Instructions

Some of the activities that we use in the classroom are fairly complex in terms of the way they’re organised, and I doubt if there are many teachers who can honestly claim that they’ve never got a class totally confused by the way they’ve given instructions. How can you make sure that your instructions are as clear and comprehensible as possible? Here are some guidelines :

* Plan how you’re going to give the instructions before you go into the classroom, and make sure that you can explain them within the limits of the language which the students can understand. For example, the following instruction would be fine for an intermediate class, but would lose a group of beginners : You’re going to hear a description of a famous person and you have to guess who it is. For beginners, Listen to my description of a famous person. Who is it? would be far more comprehensible. Think too about the speed of your speech - slow down slightly if necessary - and insert pauses to allow students to take in each piece of information before you go on to the next.

* Make sure that your instructions are fully explicit – don’t take anything for granted. Because we are so familiar with the activity types, we often assume that certain things are obvious. How often have you explained an activity but forgotten to say explicitly Don’t show your information to your partner - only to find students happily doing just that. Read the rest of this entry »

Using the L1 in the EFL Classroom

Should you or shouldn’t you use the students’ first language (L1) in the classroom? This is one of the questions which most divides EFL/ESL teachers – whether they are for it or against it, there are few who don’t have a strong opinion about it.

The main argument against the use of the L1 in language teaching is that students will become dependent on it, and not even try to understand meaning from context and explanation, or express what they want to say within their limited command of the target language (L2) – both of which are important skills which they will need to use when communicating in the real situation.

But there are other, historical reasons why the use of the students’ mother tongue went out of favour. Initially it was part of a reaction against the Grammar-Translation method, which had dominated late 19th and early 20th century teaching, and which saw language learning as a means towards intellectual development rather than as being for utilitarian, communicative purposes. The Direct Method of the early 20th century reacted against this – it aimed at oral/aural competence and believed languages were best learnt in a way that emulated the “natural” language learning of the child – ie with no analysis or translation. The move away from L1 use was later reinforced by Audiolingualism (1940s-1960s) which saw language as a matter of habit formation. The L1 was seen as a collection of already established linguistic habits which would “interfere” with the establishment of the new set of linguistic habits that constituted the target language, and was thus to be avoided at all costs.
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Teaching Tips for Teachers-Controlling Time
It can feel unsatisfactory to suddenly rush an activity at the end of a lesson, cramming stuff in, leaving out important stages or even letting the whole lesson overrun (with restless students trying to secretly pack their bags). Following last month’s ideas for extending short stages, here are some strategies for taking control of time and shortening over-long stages.
Be pre-emptive
Try to spot timing problems early on. This allows you to make realistic decisions early on in a task rather then suddenly being forced to make drastic alterations at the last minute.
Extend old tasks rather than start new ones
Think very carefully before starting a new activity, especially if it is late in the lesson. Isn’t it better to extend the previous activity till the end of the lesson rather than doing a ludicrously rushed version of the next activity?
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5 Classroom Management Tips To Silence A Noisy Class
(By Rob Johnson)

1. The first thing to remember is that you are the boss.

Self belief is incredibly important in this job. You can’t expect pupils to respond positively to you unless you believe, really believe, that you fully deserve their respect and compliance. The thought that you are the leader in the classroom must be at the forefront of your mind.

If you give any sign at all that you are NOT in FULL CONTROL, children will sense this and exploit your weaknesses. You MUST project strength and the impression that you will not tolerate any disobedience.

All too often a teacher will enter a lesson filled with dread and give out the signal that they are beaten before the lesson even starts. Pupils sense this. If you’ve been having a hard time with a particular group they will come to expect that you will be a walk-over and get into the habit of talking freely with total disregard for your threats.
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