TeachingEnglish
How to teach beginners?
Submitted by martina kliem on 9 October, 2009 - 15:09
Teaching beginners requires special skills and psychology
They're very satisfying to teach because enthusiasm and motivation is usually high (especially with real beginners), and progress rapid and measurable. But some beginners may lack confidence after several failed attempts to learn (false beginners) and may be easily discouraged. Others may have dogmatic ideas about how they want to learn. Older learners often think they can't learn as well as younger ones, which isn't true.
What can we do?
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Hi,
I totally agree with you that at one hand teaching beginners may be great cause they are motivated and their progress can be easily visable, but on the other, it may be challenging cause we have to deal with students who lack confidence, or have misrepresented ideas about what it is like to learn a language. Well, right now, I ´m teaching just real adult beginners. What I´ve been trying to do to keep them motivated and to avoid too much frustration is to activate their world previous knowledge. I also try to make their learning experience something meaningful to them! I uusually start by talking about personal issues and just when they have some confidence I start introducing other global issues. I also avoid teaching grammar and encourage them to learn chunks of language, whole phrases rather than individual words, I help them find the equivalent of these phrases in their own language. I tend to revisit the language presented in class in different format of activities, but I´m constantly bringing back previous knowledge. And I also talk to them in Portuguese about the learning process always leaving room for a chat about their anxieties and difficulties. I remind them that any type of learning is a cyclic process that involves ups and downs, moments of visiable progress, moments of confusion, moments of joy, moments of frustration, but what is important is that together as a learning community we can go forward. I also try to make them develop their autonomy.
As you can see there isn´t just one criteria to be used but a bunch of them. Well, teaching is a continuous learning process and your students usually are your greatest source of learning! So talking to them and hearing them can be a quite powerful tool. Well, I hope I have helped you in anyway.
Love,
Monica
Hi,
I´ve been in my school in Spain now for 2 weeks and one of the teachers wants me to work one-on-one with an 8 year old boy who can´t speak any English. My level of Spanish isn´t good enought to communicate properly with him and we both end up getting bored and frustrated. He is a clever boy but the language barrier is very difficult to overcome. Does anyone have any suggestions about material I could use and things that could make it more fun for him?
I feel your pain Sian! I'm currently working with a 10yr old boy who speaks very little English in Spain.
What I've found that helps is making up a few lesson plans, but preparing it in Spanish also so that if he doesn't understand a concept or word, I can say it in Spanish and have him repeat it back in English, then keep a note of the new vocab.
Another thing that has been good for me is to 'act out' or draw what I mean. For example, my student didn't understand the word 'skateboard'. So first, I tried to mimic the action of skateboarding. When he didn't understand, I used the reference of Bart Simpson, as he has one and this little boy then understood. To reinforce it, I had him draw me a skateboard.
First I gave him some vocabulary with the Spanish meaning next to it, like 'I don't understand' and 'Can you repeat please?'. Now, we're doing very simple things like months of the year, animals, family etc.
Hope this helps a little!
Hello, Martina Kliem, Monicabb Sian Gourlay, Katie-Leck,
I have read your comments. They hit on so a frequent problem... or challenge. Thank you.
I'll briefly tell about my experience.
I also teach in Spain. I'm Spanish myself. Although my students can be beginners, I "only" understand and speak English. They do know it. They are also inside the dough. English, all the class-period round.
My students are false-beginners.
First premise: it's sound for them to hear stuff in English, so as to touch the texture of the language.
Also: I add loads of gesturing, face expressions, acting out, smiling, speed-changing, intonation. You, teacher, must enjoy classes.
(Don't get me wrong. I'm not showing off, by boasting big).
Currently, a significant part of the class-period is games. So, the process: presentation by me, examples, repeating, smiling, trying get empathy with each kid, leaning on veteran students to explain to the lost classmate about the game - with a load of enthusiasm by his or her veteran classmate, etc.
With the passing days, more and more they grasp the stuff I tell them.
I pretend trying to understand their broken and inaccurate English, very attentively, making faces myself.
I could tell you further, but just get this picture.
I have learned a lot from an expert at teaching languages, Emeritus professor H. D. Brown, San Francisco State University. Plus colleagues of ours, maybe from you all, on this website.
I wish you the best to you all.
Fernando Diez Gallego
Granada, Spain
10/18/09
Hello everybody!
I'm a Bulgarian who teaches English as a foreign language in my own country and Bulgarian to foreigners that live in Bulgaria. I have recently started speaking only in the language that is being taught during my classes. Beginners find it really difficult and tiring. With children it is easier. You can draw it or act it out and they are more trustful. But with adults and teenagers who are beginners is really difficult. They loose their concentration very easily or get tired when they cannot understand, especially in small two or three people groups. Could you give me an advice Fernando in this case? Is it OK to switch to their mother tongue for a sentence or two because otherwise they just switch off being tired and bored. Believe me I take the Mickey out of me to make it interesting enough for them.
Or sometimes no matter how hard I try to explain a word or act it out or draw it , if it is something a bit more abstract, they cannot get it. Is it OK to translate then or not?
Thanks ,
Steliyana
Dear Sian,
If I were you, I would almost certainly try to use a textbook. There are many English textbooks on the market and from my experience, children enjoy working with them. But not only that, it will give you a structure and you will find different activities to practise reading, writing, listening and speaking skills. However, using a textbook does not mean that you can not use some other material too.
Hope you find my advice helpful.
Regards,
Renata
in fact i m about to start my first experience as a teacher of english for beginners of course and i may say that i really need such adviec, i ll be greatfull to all of you, and especially i m too young and my student are much older than me so how can i gain their faith and love and how can i motivate them?
thanks a lot.
Hi all,
Im teaching a beginners class to students who have just arrived to the country. The majority have barely any education in their native language. The class is 2hrs long twice a week and im struggling to find the right balance. Im thinking about introductions, personal information (address, telephone etc) and numbers because its something that they will need and use immediately and should be a little easier for them to get somthing like that, but i worry that it will be overwhelming for them.
Any suggestions/advice?
Liz