TIP #6: SPEAK CLEARLY.

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 416.

TIP #5: CORRECT ERRORS WITH COMPASSION.

TIP #4: MAXIMIZE INTER-STUDENT INTERACTION.

Cooperative learning is proven to be effective for ESL learners. Students see the teacher as the authority figure, and getting them to speak in front of you or in front of the whole class can be difficult, but they usually feel more comfortable interacting with their peers. Ask your students to teach one another simple playground games, like tag or four square. When planning group or pairing activities, design different groupings depending on the needs and purposes of the lesson. This interaction gives the ESL students a chance to practice English in a less threatening setting. Although they shouldn't feel threatened at all, because you should always…

Your ESL students will make mistakes, and you should let them. After all, we learn best through making mistakes. And if you're interrupting your students to correct them every five words, they're going to get frustrated, lose their train of thought, and feel attacked. Give your students time to think and respond, and let them realize they've made a mistake and try to correct it themselves. Everyone has opinions, and everyone wants the floor to speak them occasionally. Give them the space they need to formulate ideas.

It may seem obvious, but it is important to ensure your students understand what is expected of them. At the start of each activity, go over both the content and the language objectives; with both children and adults, these objectives can be simple and straightforward. At the end of the lesson, review the objectives to ensure they've understood everything. One teacher even suggests recording snippets of your class for your own review. He says, “It's amazing how many times you'll find yourself saying words that are natural to you, but might throw off the students (think about how many times you say ‘ya know,' ‘like,' ‘well, ya see,' ‘the thing is,' so kind of extra words with no meaning.” Recording yourself to make sure you're being crisp, concise, and to the point.