How to
become a good English teacher to non-native speakers of English
Joseph
Jin Jung
There are many ways to teach English, but it is cumbersome to find a perfect
way to teach. Maybe it is impossible to find the perfect and easy way to
teach. However, as we would consider(?) ourselves as decent educators, we
just have to find effective ways to teach English well. It will be
ludicrous to say that native speakers of English are the best English teachers.
Just because one can speak English well does not mean that he/she is an
excellent English teacher.
To become a good English teacher, one must educate oneself to become one. In
fact, a person has to have a desire to become a good teacher. Of course
you can not deny that there are some gifted people who may not need any
education or enthusiasm to become a good teacher. More power to those God
gifted people. Well, I am sorry that I am not one of those people.
I'll be afraid to use the word "gifted people". But, I
can say with my heart that I have a sincere desire of wanting to become a good
English teacher and I trained myself to become a good English teacher.
Students can see if you are a good teacher. They will have a respect
for you.
It took me over five years to grasp what is needed to become a good English
teacher. What I have learned may not be the best way to teach and may not
bring a huge interest to many, but it sure worked for me and many students whom
I had a pleasure of teaching.
Now, I'd like to share my teaching methods and strategies with you.
The methods and strategies that I'm about to introduce maybe very basic
and simple. It may bore you to death, but please bear with me.
Suppose if I were to teach English to a 20 year old native Korean, what
advise should I give him? Let's first examine a 20 year old native
English Speaker and look into the fact of how he can speak English well.
It is obvious that the native English speaker had been exposed to, spoken
to and listened English for 20 years. It does not take a miracle for any
person to speak English well if he/she has spoken to and in English for 20
years. Can you imagine how many times he said 'Good morning' or 'how are
you' in 20 years. Probably many, many, many times. So, if a 20 year
old non-native speaker of English wants to speak English well, all he has to do
is do the same thing that the native speaker of English did for 20 years. Did
it bore you?
The moral of the story is that in order to learn another language
Learning Style
Types of learners (learning styles)
There are basically three types of learners.
1. Visual
2. Auditory
3. Kinesthetic, tactile
There are other facilitators that assist learning such as:
1. Activity
2. Investigation
3. Experimentation and discovery
4. Imagination
5. Asking questions and searching for answers
6. Using all of senses when possible
7. Repetition and drill
8. Sorting and combining objects
9. Learning step-by-step and in sequence
10. Modeling
To help students to learn, you need to be aware of these classroom learning
facilitators.
1. Class structure - Learning is best in a structured
environment.
It lessens student anxiety.
2. Sequence - Learning takes place if in sequence.
You cannot learn to write a paragraph until you've learned how to write a
sentence. Ask yourself if you've taught all the parts to the new learning.
3. Pacing - Ask yourself three questions: a) How long
(time) should be spent on the new or old learning. b) How often should they
practice the new learning. Students will forget if practice sessions are
too far apart. If they studied it in October, does this mean they will
remember it in May? c) How much of the new learning do they study at a
time. If they have 20 spelling words to learn, you might consider having them
study five at a time.
4. Closure - In humans there is a powerful drive
towards closure. You shouldn't leave too many things open.
Incomplete work and work never getting done lessens self-esteem.
You need a beginning and an end.
5. Opportunity to gain competence - Students should
learn and practice a new learning until they are competent with the new
learning.
6. Concrete - abstract - Many learnings need to be
made concrete for better understanding. The term furniture is abstract.
To make concrete you must father chairs, tables, etc.
7. Self-concept - Self-concept is very important to
learning. Students need to feel
self-worth. Build success
into your program. What we are successful at we like to do. What we
are not successful at we don't like to do. If we think we can't do it, we
usually don't. Assist students in feeling good about themselves.
8. Guidance - Guide a student to correct answers.
The student should hold the pencil and be doing the work, not the
instructor. If you always tell the student how to spell dog, he doesn't
need to learn it for himself. Provide ways of assisting them to find the
answers.
9. Practice - Practice small parts. Make them
meaningful and add more only after those have been learned. Make practice
periods short enough to meet student's attention span requirements. Do a
great deal of practice at the beginning. Once the material is learned
then review practice to retain material.
10. Motivation - Whenever a student finds his work too
difficult or too easy or boring, he becomes passive. Once the material is
learned then review practice to retain material.
11. Knowledge of results - Students are move sensitive to
doing their work if they
get immediate feedback of test and
work results. The more immediate the feedback, the easier it is for the
students to improve his/her performance or correct errors.
12. Length of study - It is better for students to study
with sessions spaced with rest periods.
13. Retention - Maintaining what has been learned.
Retention factors:
a. Meaning - Give
learning as much meaning as possible.
b. Original learning -
Make sure the learning has taken place.
Test
for knowledge.
c. Make learning
pleasant, stimulating, and exciting.
We
remember pleasant things.
What is Motivation?
Motivation is helping students find the desire or need to learn a task.
It engages his interest, it does not just insist that the student try
harder.
Suggestions to help you motivate students:
1. Tone of voice - The intonation of your voice can help. Small
amounts of pleasant or unpleasant tone will increase motivation. Too much tone,
or toneless monotone help decrease motivation.
2. Tension - Tension in small doses will help motivate a student. Too
much tension may cause the student to think only of the tension and how to deal
with it. Be careful using tension and treat each student individually.
3. Interest - The more interest that is caused the more likely the student
will learn. Let students invent and create. Use their interests.
4. Success - If a task is too difficult or a student is unsuccessful, it
hinders motivation. Make sure a task has the correct amount of
difficulty.
5. Feedback - Feedback needs to be immediate (if possible) and the student
needs to know the results of his efforts.
6. Reward - When a task is rewarding itself, motivation is intrinsic or from
within the student.
Motivation from a student's point of view
Suggestions from a student's view
1. The instructor gives me a chance to answer as many questions as she
does the other students.
2. The instructor tells me when I'm right and corrects me when I'm
wrong.
3. The instructor spends time sitting or standing near me.
4. The instructor gives me individual help when I need it.
5. The instructor gives me praise when I've earned it.
6. The instructor is courteous with me.
7. The instructor waits long enough for me to think and then answer
the question.
8. The instructor listens to me when I talk to her.
9. The instructor gives me clues and tries to help me get the right
answer but, she doesn't do the problem for me.
10. The instructor tells me what I've done correctly when she praises me.
11. The instructor expects me to do well. She/he gives me as many jobs
as the other students have.
12. The instructor ignores or discourages poor behavior and corrects me
without embarrassing me.
13. The instructor asks me questions that make me think things out.
14. The instructor likes and encourages my ideas and helps me add on to
them.
Working with bilingual students.
1. Always speak in a conversational voice at a normal speed.
2. Don't exaggerate intonation patterns.
3. Students need to practice producing sentences in English, therefore the
instructor
shouldn't talk too much.
4. Use gesture, movements, facial expressions, objects, pictures, ect., to
help interpret the situation.
5. When talking to the students, stay reasonably within the vocabulary and
sentence patterns they have learned.
6. Be sure all pupils have a chance to participate; don't allow the
aggressive ones to monopolize class time.
7. Don't be tightly bound by the answers in the text. If a student
gives a correct, plausible answer, accept it.
8. If you are instructing English, speak English. If you speak the
student's native language, use it as little as possible.
9. Learning a language is difficult
a. need continual repetition
b. it takes time
c. make it meaningful
d. make it useful
e. give them time to answer
f. make it a good experience
10. Don't worry that they don't understand you. They pick up a great
deal. Give them opportunity to converse back with you with no threats.
Use anything in their environment to help them to talk. The
more you get them talking the faster they will learn.
11. If a sound is not in their language, they will have difficulty hearing
it in English. Practice the sounds that are difficult for them.
12. Before starting a lesson, have a warm-up lesson. Loosen up their
speaking mechanism and remember drill and repetitive learning.
13. Give students time to answer. They hear it in English, translate
it to native language, organize thoughts into native language, think up a
response in the native language, and then translate to English.
14. Learn about your students' cultural backgrounds. This will help you
understand their needs, their responses, and how to respond to them.
Teaching English as a Second Language
1. Students need to: hear it, say it, read it, write it.
2. We normally do the least with hearing it. We mishear a great deal,
even if we speak English. (i.e. milk of amnesia, social plunders, I found
it excellerating, Pullet, Surprise).
3. Do whatever it is you want them to do (model).
4. Commands are a good way to begin. "Mrs. Forgey puts on the green
sweater"; "Mrs. Forgey takes off the green sweater". Now
have the students do it. Do not ask anyone to speak unless ready to do
so. Students can act out until they're ready to speak.
5. Work on prepositions. They are one of the hardest things to learn.
Act them out while you are saying them. do them several
times. Then have the students act them out while you say them. Then have
the students say them as you act them out and say them and so on. It is
good to do a ten-minute exercise each day.
6. Students have problems in hearing vowel sounds. We have five vowels
that have approximately eleven sounds. Give them many experiences in
hearing vowel sounds.
7. Bring as many real things to class as possible (or use pictures).
8. Students need rhyming activities.
9. Before students should learn to read and write they need a good oral
base.
10. Even as students become more advanced, if it's new, model it outloud.
11. When helping students read a sentence you might try starting with the
end of the sentence. This usually helps keep intonation patterns correct
plus gives them many times to say it. Start with the ending word then add
next word, etc.
12. Writing comes last. Students can comprehend written words and
sentences before
they can write their own.
13. In writing start with printing (that is what they read) then cursive
writing. Many students do not know where and how to join letters.
14. Give exercises in writing where you leave out one word for them to fill
in and then progress to leaving out every seventh word in a paragraph.
15. Have students (mo matter what age) dictate a paragraph to you.
Assist them in more correct ways to say it.
16. Give them experiences (as they become more advanced) in writing
paragraphs with set vocabulary words. Tell them when (today, yesterday, etc.)
and singular or plural.
17. Strive for at least an 80 percent accuracy before going on to the next
step.
18. Keep a record of what you have covered and how they have done.
File cards for this purpose.
19. Give useful pronunciation guidance; isolate the syllable where the error
occurs, pronounce it correctly, and then model the entire sentence for the
student to repeat.
20. Drill each sentence pattern (listening and orally) until students can
automatically
(without thinking) use it.
Strategies for better classroom discipline
1. Set your standards early.
2. Learn students' names immediately.
3. Be consistent.
4. Follow through.
5. Be fair - but ever firm.
6. Go over class rules and reasons for them.
7. Stress positive approaches.
8. If a problem continues to occur, talk with the student alone. Share
your concerns.
Ask the student how he feels and talk together about possible
solution.
9. Don't talk at, talk with him. Let students know you like them.
10. Trust and respect students as unique individuals.
11. Please do not hold grudges. Treat each day as a new start.
12. When a student misbehaves, there is a reason. Try, if possible, to
find the cause.
13. When disciplining, let the student know you are disappointed with his
behavior, not with him as a person.
14. Watch your temper - You might say something you might regret.
15. Treat students with respect. Remember that you are an instructor
and they are learning from you.
16. Look directly at the students to whom you are speaking.
17. Speak in a moderate or low voice. Let your voice be pleasant and
controlled, not angry and harsh.
18. Do not tolerate "begging" or "teasing" for special
privileges.
19. Smile often, but genuinely - you won't get away with syrupy, sweet,
habit smiles.
20. Watch your health. It is not fair to snap at students and punish them
when you are the one who needs attention.
21. Keep yourself neat and attractive. The students have to look at
you for an hour or two, so make it as pleasant for them as possible. Use
deodorant and ladies need a light perfume, and dress in as good tasted and as
attractively as you know how.
22. Watch yourself for mannerism. Frowning, squinting, pacing the
floor, twitching your nose, using a slang expression repeatedly, may incite the
students to pay attention to the mannerism, rather than to the classwork.
23. Develop a sense of humor, and laugh with, not at, the students.
24. Stop unwanted noise as soon as it starts. Don't make the mistake
of thinking the students will get quiet later.
25. If the entire group seems "to squirm", stop and play a simple
action game; or have a stretching, jumping or bending exercise for a few
minutes.
26. Give every students an equal chance. Some instructors favor the
smart ones. The other students notice these things.
27. Don't punish the group for the actions of a few.
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