Pedagogy/Practical Application

Pedagogy/Practical
Application

Resources
----Annotated Bibliography
----Webliography

Every ESL teacher must come up with his or her own way or style of teaching that is most effective for the students they are teaching. This page offers one person's individual style of teaching and provides some ideas for teaching in the Middle School ESL classroom.

Learning is a process that occurs in everyday situations. Teaching should be done in a way where the things being taught can be applied to everyday life. In order to be an effective teacher, one should provide his or her students with learning experiences that are relevant and applicable to their lives. This idea of teaching by applying content to everyday life is a relatively new concept in ESL called situated cognition. Situated cognition is explained in this quote, from an article entitled Situated Cognition and the Culture of Learning (see reference note below), "knowledge is situated, being in part a product of the activity, context, and culture in which it is developed and used."

It is important for students to have some investment in the class and, also, in the things that are being taught. If you just present the material to them and then just give them a test on it later in the semester, they are not likely to retain the information. The classroom experience should be a memorable experience. Incorporating games and various group activities involves the students in what they are learning so they are not only observing, but also actively participating. A variety of activities should be used when teaching. A teacher must realize that there are a variety of different types of learners in the classroom and so activities that can reach all types of learners should be used as often as possible. When teaching ESL a teacher must be flexible. If one way of teaching is not effective then the teacher must be able to change his or her method of teaching to one that is effective.

As a teacher it is important that you are invested in what you are doing. If an ESL student feels like you are just teaching because you have to and not because you are enjoying what you are doing, they will be less likely to invest in your class. It is also very important when teaching ESL not to present English as a superior language to the students' L1s. You should present the language is the most objective way possible so as not to show any opinion you have on the English language or your students' L1s.

Now that I have discussed some things a teacher should remember while teaching here are some ideas of activities to try in the classroom.

Learning Vocabulary
When you give students a vocabulary list to learn you have them look up the definition of the word and then test them on it and they quickly forget the meaning of the words. In order to help them remember the words one activity you could have them do is bring in their own words. Have the students write down unfamiliar words they come across during the week as they talk to their parents, watch t.v., listen to teachers, and interact with friends. When they bring the words to class have the class as a whole come up with the words for the vocabulary list from the words they ran across in their everyday lives. Then you can have them look up the definitions of these words. In order to have them apply these words even more to their lives have them make up a skit using the words or write a story using the words and then they can present to the class.

Conversation Starters
A good conversation starter is a picture or an article from a newspaper. If you want your students to practice their English you could have them bring in interesting pictures or newspaper articles they find. Have the students discuss the picture or article or have them give their opinion on the picture or the idea presented in the article.
Another activity the students I have taught enjoy is story telling. You can have them look at a picture and tell a story about the picture or you could have one person start a story and each person can then add a little to the story and create a whole story. They enjoy this activity and it helps them practice their communication skills.

Writing
I have found when teaching writing it is important to have the students write about things they know about. You could allow the students to choose a topic they are interested in or give them a topic that you think is relevant to their lives. For example, you could have them write an article for the school newspaper about something they would like to change about the school.
Another writing activity is to have them keep a journal of their experience in the classroom and in learning English.

These are just a few ideas I have tried in my past teaching experiences. For more ideas on practical application we have provided various websites on teaching ESL in our webliography.

The article quoted above came from:
Brown, John Seely, Collins, Allan, & Duguid, Paul (1989). Situated Cognition and the Culture of Learning. Educational Researcher,32-42.