ESL/EFL Teaching Practice and Methodology: 20 Years of Experience Teaching English in a Single Book!

About the Author: Jackie Bolen

I taught English in South Korea for a decade to every level and type of student, including every age from kindergarten kids to adults. These days, I'm living in Vancouver and teaching English to a variety of students. In my spare time, you can usually find me outside surfing, biking, hiking or on the hunt for the most delicious kimchi I can find.

In case you were wondering what my academic qualifications are, I hold a Master of Arts in Psychology. During my time in Korea, I completed the CELTA and DELTA certification programs. With the combination of 20 years teaching ESL/EFL learners of all ages and levels, and the more formal teaching qualifications I've obtained, I have a solid foundation on which to offer teaching advice. I hope that you find this book useful and please send me an email with any questions or feedback ([email protected]).

If you want more ideas, games, tips and tricks for teaching English, be sure to join my email list: www.eslspeaking.org/subscribe. You might also love these resources. You can buy them wherever you like to buy books:

−  39 No-Prep/Low-Prep ESL Speaking Activities

−  67 ESL Conversation Topics with Questions, Vocabulary & Writing Prompts

−  39 Task-Based Language Teaching and Learning Activities

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Introduction to the Book

If you've ever been to a conference, taken a TESOL course of some kind, or read a book on how to teach English, then you may have had a similar experience to me. While I have found some useful things at conferences as well as in courses or books, there was also a lot of fluff. By fluff, I mean things that were pretty far removed from what happens in a language-learning classroom. It was either too theoretical, not used by teachers today, or it was just obvious that the person talking about the stuff hadn't taught a class in a while!

In this book, I aim for just the practical things that work. By work, I mean the things that help students with language acquisition. You'll find more than 150 ideas, ranging from how to build relationships with students, to game and activity ideas, to how to monitor and provide feedback to students. In short, a little bit of everything related to teaching English effectively! These ideas are tried and true—I've spent more than 20 years in a variety of ESL/EFL classrooms. I hope you'll appreciate this practical guide and would love to hear from you with any questions or comments that you might have.

Building Relationships

Teaching is all about relationships. The ones between students and their teacher as well as amongst the students themselves. The teacher-student relationship is of the greatest importance. After all, think about your own experience. Have you ever taken a class or tried to learn something from someone that you didn't like? How did that go? Probably not great, if I had to venture a guess.

What are some ways to encourage and foster good relationships? Things like names, giving feedback, positive reinforcement, classroom management, and creating a positive learning environment can go a long way toward building them. I'll go into each of them in more detail.

Names

Everyone likes other people to remember their names! This is a universal truth and our students are no different. If you only have a few students in each class and not that many classes, it's easy enough to remember them after a couple of weeks.

However, this isn't the case for many teachers. In South Korea, I often had 6 or 7 classes with 30+ students that I only saw for 2 hours a week. It was very difficult to remember names, especially considering that I don't speak Korean as my first language. There are a couple of ways around this.

One thing to consider doing in a situation like this is to use name tags. I get students to fold up a piece of standard paper into a triangle, write their name on it and put it on their desk each class. It's easy to call on someone or do attendance with a glance.

Another option is to have a seating chart. A lot of teachers use this method but I don't love it because it locks students into a certain seat the entire semester and what if they don't like the person they're sitting next to? I like to give my students a larger degree of freedom than that.

What about giving students English names? This is something that some foreign teachers do and it can certainly be easier for a native English speaker to remember Bob, Amy, Kat, and Chris than Min-Gyu, Dong-Hee, Sun-Ah, and Tae-Myun. I have never done this because names are associated with identity and I don't want students to have to give up theirs in my class!

Instead, I give students a choice of what to put on their name tags. They can use their actual name, a nickname, or an English name. Just be sure to associate a nickname or an English name with what you have on your attendance sheet for easier administration.

Giving Feedback

Whenever I ask students what they want from me in class, a large number of them say feedback about their speaking or writing. I certainly think this is true, however, it should look different than what many students expect.

Students sometimes think that the teacher should correct every single error that they make. However, this can be extremely demoralizing, especially for beginners who make a mistake or multiple mistakes in almost every single sentence that they speak. Or, a paragraph or essay that is covered with a million little red marks. This can lead to some negative energy between the teacher and student!

Instead, I focus my feedback on a few things.

Things that impede understanding of what the student is trying to say or write.

Things that a student at their level should be able to execute perfectly. For example, no higher-level student should make mistakes with a negative simple past sentence.

Things that are directly related to the topic of the day. For example, if I'm teaching the first conditional, I'll correct every single first conditional mistake.

Things that multiple students are doing. This is often related to my teaching being less clear than I thought it was!

Things from previous classes. I'll just do a quick reminder in this case.

It's absolutely vital, whatever the feedback, to communicate in a respectful and kind manner in order to develop and support a positive teacher-student relationship.

Positive Reinforcement

To build and maintain a good relationship with students, focus on the positive, not the negative. Think about these statements. Which do you think will get the better result in the long run?

Be quiet. / Thanks for listening so well everybody.

Clean up. / Thanks for being so helpful with cleaning up Tim.

Don't use your phone. / You're working hard on making good sentences. Well done.

Whenever possible, try to point out the instances of good behavior or habits, instead of focusing on the negative things. Make sure to use polite and respectful language like, Thank you for _____ (behavior), and clearly identify what you want to reinforce.

Classroom Management

If you want to have good relationships with students, classroom management is important. This is because effective learning doesn't happen that well in chaos and most people find chaotic environments quite stressful. Compare that to a calm, relaxed, and focused class. Learning will happen more effectively here.

Many TEFL training books and courses say things like, Maintain control in class, or, Be sure to manage your class effectively. Those things are important but they don't give a lot of practical tips for how to get there, to their detriment.

Here are a few quick classroom management tips and tricks:

Use a variety of topics and engaging activities. If students are interested in what you're teaching them, they don't do things you don't want them to be doing!

Use routines. When people know what to expect for things like handing out papers, doing partner activities, going to the bathroom (children!), doing an entire class activity, etc., the less room there is for behavior that you don't want.

If you have a co-teacher, don't rely on them! This can lead to frustration, particularly if they are a little bit lax with discipline. Instead, rely on yourself to manage the class using a method that you find effective.

Use patience and humor in large doses.

Never, ever lose your cool. NEVER! If you must, step outside the class for a minute. Say that you forgot something in the office or whatever excuse you need to make. Or, tell students to talk with a partner about ABC for 2 minutes. And use that time to collect yourself.

A word about expectations. I find that spelling these out explicitly makes the rest of the course go more smoothly. I plainly state when students can use their cell phones (to look up a word in a dictionary, do a bit of research for something in class, or to see the PowerPoint slides online if they forget their glasses that day) and when they can't (to text their boyfriend, chat with a friend, look on Facebook, etc.).

Technology: Does it Help or Hinder?

Teaching is all about a relationship. Except that it's difficult to build or maintain a relationship when standing behind a podium, going through PowerPoint slide after PowerPoint slide. I'm neither a technophobe nor a technophile but I do like to consider whether or not it's vital to the lesson I'm teaching.

Using a Computer and Projector

In reality, I usually settle on very simple PowerPoint slides just to keep things moving along in class. They can prevent a lot of downtime that results from having to write all the things on the board. Furthermore, many students’ strongest language skill is reading—having a slide with key points on it will facilitate learning for those with weaker listening skills.

That said, I really do keep the slides very simple with easy-to-read text on a white background. I strive to put only a sentence or two on each slide to prevent information overload.

Consider Avoiding the Microphone

Whenever I go into classrooms that only have 20 or 30 desks filling up the entire space, there is always a microphone that has been put to obvious use in the immediate class before me. It's sitting on the podium, turned on, and I always wonder why.

Who has such a small voice that they can't project it enough for a class of 20 or 30 people? Does anyone just stand at the podium and lecture the entire time? Do people like holding a microphone in their hand for 75 minutes?

Unfortunately, in some countries the common teaching practice is to lecture while reading a ‘teacher script’ and students are expected to be information-absorbing automatons who silently write down every word and memorize each fact; the reality is often that some or many students are chatting and ignoring the teacher, sleeping, playing games/using their phones, etc., and the teacher ignores this while using the microphone and speakers set to high volume so that the few students actually paying attention can hear the lecture . . . avoiding use of a microphone sends a strong signal to students that you are ACTIVELY ENGAGING with them when teaching—and that you expect them to actively engage in learning too.

What about Phones in Class?

Call me old school, but I don't love having my students using phones all the time in class. I think the temptation to start using phones for things other than studying English is all too real. In general, I ask that students have their phones on silent, in their bags or at minimum, face down on their desks. When students can use their phones to do something in class, I explicitly state this so there's no confusion about it.

Here are some situations in which I might get students to use their phones in class:

I put all of my PowerPoint slides and other class materials in a shared Google Drive folder. If the school Internet is down or the computer and projector aren't working for some reason, I ask students to follow along with the lecture on their phones.

Students might have to do a bit of research for an activity in class.

To look up a word in a dictionary.

For something like a picture question scavenger hunt.

That's about it! Other teachers will certainly make better use of smartphones, but I don't think it's necessary, and it can sometimes even inhibit language learning.

What About Language Learning Apps?

There are certainly some excellent language learning apps, websites, and other programs available online. I encourage students to make use of them if they want to study on their own. I generally don't make use of them in class because I want to encourage communication, in English and that usually doesn't happen if everyone is doing something on their phone.

Student Motivation

Motivation is key to learning anything! As the old saying goes, You can lead a horse to water but you cannot make him drink. This goes for learning English too. Of course, some students are just good students and will learn anything eagerly. And some people just don't like school and will be reluctant to take part in most classes. It’s nearly impossible to know what is going on in a student’s personal life at home with family, their economic situation, etc.—basically, the human conditions a student is juggling while also trying to learn. Keep this in mind and realize that you're not a miracle worker.

However, there are certainly some strategies that can increase student motivation including: finding out why students are studying English, using a reward system and icebreakers, encouraging study at home, having some routines but mixing it up a bit, and using authentic materials or teaching content, if possible.

Figure Out the Why

There are a whole variety of reasons why people are studying English. If you can tap into this, you'll set yourself up for a great class! Here are some possibilities:

To get a higher score on an English proficiency exam like the IELTS or TOEFL.

To make English-speaking friends or communicate with a romantic partner.

For immigration purposes.

To study at a college or university in another country.

For their work.

To watch English movies or TV.

For travel.

For a job interview in English.

Because their parents or school are making them (this one is a bit tricky!).

If you can tap into student's personal motivations and design lessons to meet these needs, you've already done most of the hard work!  Ask students why they are studying English. Make a short online survey, or do a paper and pencil one, and make it a requirement as part of their participation score. Have a quick discussion about it. They'll usually willingly tell you.

What about those students who hate English and are being forced to take it? I try not to take it personally. It has very little to do with me. Instead, I try to make the course as painless as possible for them and don't let it get me down. I do try to engage with that person in a friendly, kind, encouraging, and helpful way and this can often make a big difference for that person. They've maybe never had this in a language class before.

Do Reward Systems Work?

I waver back and forth when it comes to reward systems for a couple of reasons. The first reason is that the good students will generally be the good students, no matter what you do. And the bad students will be the bad students, no matter what you do! A reward system may influence a few people in the middle but not the majority of students in the class.

The second reason is that it can detract from natural motivation. After all, why should people learn anything? To gain knowledge or meet an external goal like being able to study at a university in Canada or get a great job, or to get a sticker or whatever from a teacher. Obviously, the first option is better!

That said, I do sometimes use reward systems when students are being forced to take the class. This is often true with children and it was also true when I taught freshman English in Korean universities. I'd use reward systems to encourage things like bringing books and name tags, showing up on time, doing optional homework, and actively participating in class or putting in extra effort with something.

Have Some Routines, but Mix It Up

Doing the same things in class can be comforting in some ways because people know what to expect. However, it can be boring and demotivating to do the same old, same old, every single class.

I try to strike a balance between having some routines and then mixing it up with a variety of topics, games, and activities. I also like to celebrate some popular holidays with special lessons and perhaps even have a class party. When students are enjoying class and don't quite know what to expect each day, it will increase motivation.

10 Tips for Making English Class Interesting

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