Teach English in Yuanzhongchang - Shiyan Shi

Unit 1 list the attributes of a good teacher. Good teachers: • Are Kind and patient • Love teaching • Are Lively and Entertaining • Motivate Learners • Have Good Subject Knowledge • Have Good rapport and interaction with class • Involve all students equally throughout lesson • Correct Students without offending or undermining motivation • Know students’ weaknesses and try to give help and individual attention when needed Unit 3 outlines the use of the Engage, Study & Activate (ESA) method of teaching. Within the attributes of good teachers and the ESA method of teaching, certain attributes, skills and learning tools are emphasized when teaching different levels of students and for teaching individuals or different special groups. Teaching beginners requires special skills and psychology, which will depend on whether you are working with individual students or in a group setting. Patience, rapport and positive reinforcement are some key attributes desirable for teaching beginners. Other key considerations include: Be aware of students’ needs – Absolute beginners, false beginners, adult beginners, young beginners and beginners without roman alphabet will have different motivations and be at different levels which must be taken into account. Have clear and realistic aims, don’t try to do too much too quickly. Don’t rush through lessons, if you can’t cover all the material as planned, leave it for next time. On the other hand, if you happen to finish your planned activities ahead of time you can fill the remaining time with games or review. Be as visible as possible, it is important to limit teacher talk time, as beginners will have limited vocabulary, so being as visual as possible is the best way to communicate. Take care with your boardwork, it needs to be simple, clear and precise. Cluttered or disorganized boardwork will be make it difficult and can be confusing for beginners Give clear and simple instructions. Again, because of limited vocabulary of beginners, it is important to communicate instructions as simply and clearly as possible. Encourage students to speak English in class as much as possible! It is important that they be praised and encouraged, and particularly in the activate stage, overcorrection should be avoided. For groups, choral repetition in the study stage is an effective way to get students to speak English. This is particularly helpful for students who may be more reticent to speak in front of a class. Use pair and group work for group in the activate stages, an effective way to limit teacher talk time and maximize student talk time. Pairing weaker students with stronger students is a useful tool to help weaker students. For individual students, pair work can still be effective with the teacher acting as the pair partner. Ask lots of questions – useful in the engage stage, asking questions is a good way to elicit English responses from students and get them thinking in English. Can also be used in the activate stage as a means to evaluate students’ comprehension and understanding of materials covered in the class. Review constantly – Repetition is important in the learning process, when working with beginners review/revise should be built into the lesson plans. Homework is important! Since classroom time is limited, progress can be enhanced by giving homework assignments. Tapes or videos can be effective is developing listening and speaking skill and course books can be used to develop reading and writing skills. While homework can be useful with groups, it is likely, even expected that some students are unlikely to complete assignments. Homework can be particularly useful for working with motivated individual students. Teaching beginners can be one of the most rewarding and enjoyable aspects of ESL teaching.