ESL Teaching Strategy: Information, Instruction, Inspiration, Intuition

What is the difference between a good teacher and a master teacher? We probably have all endured teachers where we felt their calling was anything other than teaching. Other teachers could at least keep our attention, and make the class exciting and fun. But on occasion, there would be that master teacher that could somehow make us feel like we were the only one in the classroom, and we felt as if our brains had been opened as he poured a cup of knowledge into our souls. It might have been an elementary teacher, a coach, or, for a lucky few, a mom or a dad. Let's look at the main ingredients of a master teacher.

1. Information. Information makes up 40% of teaching. It is the sole reason for our role as a teacher. Take away our substance, and we will also lose our occupation. Yet, the fault in many teachers is in their resistance to remain a student. It can be easy to dust off the old lesson plans from year to year, and deliver the same information that was given 10 years ago - rusted and outdated.

I don't think much of a man who is not wiser today than he was yesterday. ~Abraham Lincoln

The best remedy for an old lesson plan is a learning teacher. Let's make sure as teachers that our information - that 40% of teaching - is 100% of what it should be.

2. Instruction. Instruction makes up 30% of teaching. Imagine a road system that had no rules. Drivers could go as fast as they want, drive in any lane, never stop for a traffic light, and there were no guidelines for accidents. Yes, people could get to their destination, but it would be accompanied by chaos and confusion. As teachers, we not only need to impart information, but also give it with good instruction. As a student I enjoyed the classes where it was obvious that the teacher had good procedures in the classroom. He knew the most efficient way to pass out papers, collect papers, explain the rules of an activity, give tests, schedule a research paper with good deadlines, and keep the class as fair as possible. It was always a privilege to be in a class where I felt the teacher ensured that every little detail was accounted for.

3. Inspiration. Inspiration makes up 20% of teaching. Inspiration comes from success. The more successful a student is at something, the more they will want to excel in that area. I was watching my son play a skateboarding game on our Wii. As a six year old, he just could not figure out how to make that virtual skateboard do what he wanted it to do. However, I noticed that level 1 was super easy. It was easy enough to grant my son a small measure of success. He could not do level 2, but I simply had to encourage him to do better on level 1, and he soon was able to beat level 2. That measure of success was enough to keep him interested. In our classes, our students don't want to fail. However, if they fail many times then failure becomes the only thing they are actually successful at. Have you ever had a student that wanted to excel at failure? Instead, we need to keep our students tasting the wonderful joy of success.

4. Intuition. Intuition is that 10% of teaching that I believe separates the good teachers from the master teachers. Intuition is that ability to look into the eyes of a student and know whether or not he is learning. It's the ability to draw out of the student the knowledge that the teacher has given to him. It is that unique touch on the heart of a student that lets him know that you really care. Students have the distinctive ability to know whether or not the teacher is teaching for money or for the student. Teachers will never be able to fool a student in this area. For the master teacher, intuition goes both ways. The master teacher is able to know if the student is truly learning and what to do about it, and the student is able to sense the level of compassion that the master teacher has for the student.

What an awesome privilege to have to opportunity to help mold the early impressions of a student. Let's increase our relevant information, make clear our instructions, inspire through success, and captivate with our intuition.

For great ESL resources for both the student and the teacher go to http://www.ilesi.com/. ILESI stands for International Languages Educational Services Inc., and has established English training centers all over the world.

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ESL Teaching Tip: How to Teach a Class With a Wide Range of English Levels

With teaching English in China for many years, I often found myself in situations where I was thrust into a classroom as the new American English teacher. Before me there would be 30 - 40 grade school students with 20 - 30 parents sitting in the back. On my left there would be a couple of 2nd graders and on my right I would find a couple of 6th graders. The whole class consisted of an incredible disparity in English ability.

If I focus on the slower students, then the more advanced students would be bored. If I focus on the more advanced students then the beginners would not be able to understand. Obviously, the best solution would be to split the class, but because of student schedules, or teacher availability it would not be an option. I get one chance to make that perfect impression, or the parents in the back will pull students out of the class. How do I make the right impression, so all of the students in the class at least feel like they are learning something?

Here are five suggestions for teaching a class with a wide range of English levels.

Follow the 10% - 50% focus rule. Typically in China, I would look at my class and mentally divide it into half based on their English level. Then I would take the lower half and come up 10%. This usually was a good focus for the material. I would try to give this 40% of the students the majority of my time and effort. For the top 50% of the students I would throw out "nuggets" of harder English to keep them interested. Then whenever we had pair work or group work, I would focus in on the lower 10% and try to give them some individual help. This way everyone feels important, and I am meeting everyone's needs.
Allow the students to be successful. Students love to have the right answer, and this will build their confidence. In order to be successful, present the information using clear instructions, and practice thoroughly. If the teacher uses clear visuals, exciting games, enjoyable activities, and great body language, the students are more likely to remember what was taught and will be more successful in class.
Bring extra materials for those that will finish their assignments quickly. It is discouraging for a teacher when an assignment is passed out and 10% of the class finishes in 10 minutes and the last 10% finish in 40 minutes. To avoid this, always put a time limit on each of your assignments, and walk around to help those that are struggling. Then have an extra fun, but educational assignment to give to those that finish early.
Allow the more advanced students to do some of the teacher's job. For example, if you are playing a reading game where students have to stand when they hear a specific type of word, have a student read instead of the teacher. This will increase the amount of time that the student speaks, and decrease the amount of time the teacher speaks. Also, if a slower student asks a question, see if the more advanced student can answer it instead of the teacher answering all of the questions. Remember, the main goal of the ESL teacher is not to teach, but to motivate, guide and clarify.
Realize the entire level of the student. John might have a better speaking ability than Mary, but Mary might have a better reading ability than John. So, not only do you look for overall English level, but also specific English level. To effectively teach an ESL class, the teacher has to very alert to pick up on the various levels of each student. Never assume that because the writing skill is good that the listening skill is also good.

Teaching ESL students is a great challenge and for me it has been more artistic in nature than scientific. Yes, there are many scientific methods to use in a classroom, but when it comes down to an individual student, develop the ability to look into the eyes of the student and see where he truly is at. The master teacher will develop a level of intuition to know whether or not his students are comprehending.

For great ESL resources for both the student and the teacher go to http://www.ilesi.com/. ILESI stands for International Languages Educational Services Inc., and has established English training centers all over the world.

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Teaching ESL - The 5 Most Difficult Things About the English Language

For native English speakers, none of these are a problem but they can create havoc and apprehension with English language learners, particularly those who do not benefit from being in an English-speaking country.

Number 5 - Idioms and Expressions

Every language has its idioms and expressions and English is no exception. In fact, it sometimes seems that 50% of what we say is idiomatic with the grammatical portion of the language just acting as connectors. I term it 'the colour of the language'. Idioms are phrases that when spoken usually do not have much if anything to do with the words being used. No wonder ESL students have comprehension problems. Let's look at some animal idioms to give you some examples:

"What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?"

"Holy Cow!"

"When I tell my mother, she's going to have a cow!"

"It looks like a dog's breakfast."

"She's barking up the wrong tree."

Try explaining those to students who have never encountered these idioms and have nothing to relate them to.

Number 4 - Phrasal Verbs

Phrasal verbs are verbs containing more than one word.

'Up' is one we use all the time: bone up on, break up, bring up, burn up, butter up, call up, draw up, dress up, ease up, give up, hurry up, listen up, look up, move up, smarten up, tie up, wise up...

Off is another one: back off, beg off, face off, hold off, show off, tell off...plus several I won't mention!

Or how about 'back' as in: back down, back in, back off, back away, back up...

Speaking of 'down, we have break down, bring down, die down, dress down, lowdown, show down...

And far from the end but all I can cover here, 'in', as in, call in, figure in, give in, listen in, run in, shoe-in...

Number 3 - Homonyms

Homonyms are words that are pronounced the same but mean different things and are often spelled differently as well. For example:

1. The referee blew his blue whistle.

2. Cheryl rode her bike as we rowed our little boat in the river.

3. She had never seen such a beautiful scene.

4. The new site for our building is quite a sight.

5. It seems the seams in my pants have split again.

6. Years of rain didn't interrupt the king's reign.

7. Due to the dry weather, we do not see any dew on the grass.

8. Our zoo has a new gnu.

9. Some people know that you add to find the sum.

10. They're on their way over there.

11. I ate the eight cakes that were on my plate.

12. How many ways can I tell him that he weighs too much?

13. They banned the crude band from playing at the concert.

14. We only won one prize.

15. They had to raze the old building before the sun's rays could raise the temperature.

16.I'll walk down the aisle on the Isle of Capri.

17. The boy threw the ball through the window.

Is it any wonder, new learners get confused?

Number 2 - Tenses

Past Simple - Present Simple- Future Simple, right?

Well, it's not quite that simple, is it? We add present continuous and present perfect, past continuous, past perfect, future continuous, future perfect and then we have present to talk about the near future, present continuous for the future...

Explaining each of these different tenses to students and expecting them to understand is challenging and it doesn't happen overnight. Then, expecting students to learn when and how to use them is another facet of the task.

I don't have space to go into a full explanation of tense use here but if you want a good explanation, you might like to go to My English Pages.

Number 1 - Word and Sentence Stress

Some languages are described as musical. Well, English has quite a lilt to it when you listen to it. In words of two syllables or more, only one is stressed or spoken a little louder than the rest.

In these examples, I have shown the stressed syllable in caps: CA-na-da, a-MER-i-ca, CHIN-a, ja-PAN, pho-TOG-re-pher, con-sti-TUT-ion.

ESL learners have a tough time figuring this all out. It takes a practiced ear.

Similarly, certain words or parts of words in sentences are spoken a little louder to signify their importance in the meaning of the sentence. Sentences are usually spoken in 'thought groups' and thee is usually only one stressed point per thought group.

Here is an example of a sentence with four thought groups with the stressed point shown in caps:

I'm GOING | to the MARket | by mySELF | on SATurday.

As native speakers, we say it quickly and don't even think about it but for non native speakers, it takes a lot of practice listening to and imitating English speakers.

One of my favourite exercises is to have students pronounce this sentence in nine different ways. Each way has a different meaning.

"JOHN and Sally walked to the small restaurant yesterday evening" (Not Bill)

"John AND Sally walked to the small restaurant yesterday evening" (John was not alone)

"John and SALLY walked to the small restaurant yesterday evening" (Not Susie)

"John and Sally WALKed to the small restaurant yesterday evening" (didn't drive)

"John and Sally walked TO the small restaurant yesterday evening" (not from)

"John and Sally walked to the SMALL restaurant yesterday evening" (Not the big one)

"John and Sally walked to the small REStaurant yesterday evening" (Not the pharmacy)

"John and Sally walked to the small restaurant YESterday evening" (not today)

"John and Sally walked to the small restaurant yesterday EVening" (not the afternoon)

So there you have what I consider to be the five most difficult aspects of learning to communicate in English. If you are learning English, the best way is to be in a country where English is the main language and you have the opportunity to practice it 24/7 (an expression). If you cannot do that, join an English Club, read books, newspapers and magazines, watch English videos. Replay them a few times and listen to the stress, the idioms and the way the language is used.

Robert Taylor

Dr. Robert Taylor is a Canadian educator who lives in Thailand and specializes in teaching English. He has a teacher training school for people interested in teaching English overseas Sunbridge Institute of English and an online club for business people who need to improve their written English communications My Business English Club.

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