Teach English in Wangguantun Zhen - Datong Shi

Teaching English as a second language for beginners is a challenging task for anyone. No matter what your background, or experience level, you will encounter constant new challenges when teaching English as a second language. In today’s globalized world, most beginner ESL students have had some contact with the English language, usually through the Internet, movies or TV. They have most likely studied English at some point in their lives and abandoned their studies – they are often referred to as false beginners. But every now and then, we come across an absolute beginner, someone who has had so little exposure to English, they can’t even handle the most basic greetings, verbs or vocabulary. Whether you are teaching a complete group of absolute beginners, or a few within a group of false beginners, here are some tips that will help your students. Like teaching other subjects, you’ll find that every student learns differently. At the same time, depending on the primary language of each student, you’ll face new challenges unique to that language. However, with some work and knowledge, you’ll be able to gain the skills you need to teach English as a second language to beginners. As all teachers of English know, one size most certainly does not fit all. Each learner has individual needs, and there are also more general factors to consider, like age. The challenges facing adult language learners can be (and often are) very different from those encountered by learners. Consequently, the challenges you face when teaching adults English will also be very different. But it’s no mystery that you can’t teach and interact with your adult students exactly the same as you would kids. So as teachers, how should we treat our adult learners? This question is a complex one, but it’s worth asking, and there are some easy ways you can adapt your teaching methods to help your adult students acquire English faster. Here we’ll look at some of the most common challenges ESL teachers face with adult students and offer some ideas on how to overcome them in your classroom. Younger children, especially those below around 7 to 8 years of age, often pick up languages with relative ease. Many attain a proficiency indistinguishable from a native speaker. However, this is not always possible for the adult learner. Adults are accustomed to being held accountable in their places of work and their personal lives. Adults will, accordingly, recognize language is all about communication, and that requires participation on the part of the learner. For some adults, whether due to personality traits or cultural reasons, this is the most difficult aspect of language learning. Get to know your students’ cultural backgrounds. Get to know your students’ personal idiosyncrasies. Make use of this knowledge to inform how you plan for groupings and activities. Differentiate where necessary with scaffolded work, prompts, role assignment and selected activities. Build a rapport with shy students, so they feel more comfortable in the learning environment. Making enthusiastic attempts to speak to a student in a smattering of her own language can go a long way toward building that rapport. Unfortunately, as we age, our brain plasticity (or the ability to form new neural pathways), does seem to decline. It appears that the challenge of language learning actually helps to keep our brains healthy, staving off dementia and prolonging our mental health. Dialogues and role-plays are great ways to practice language patterns, simulate natural conversations and keep your class entertained. When teaching adults, it’s extremely important to remember that our students are likely possessed of an array of skills and talents already, even if speaking perfect English isn’t one of them. As educators, we must be sure to treat our adult learners as respected peers. If you have an “expert” on a topic among your students, take the opportunity to ask them to speak on their knowledge. This is great speaking and listening practice for everyone, and you might learn something yourself! As is the case with any adult audience, lack of enthusiasm can be an issue. The solution is to engage the student as an individual. Employ their specific interests in your lessons where possible. If they’re not ready for this, try to make time at the end of a session (one or two minutes is enough) to have an informal chat with them. Ask them about one of their interests. Do this after every lesson a few times in a row. Their confidence will grow in speaking on this topic. Soon, they’ll be ready to speak in front of the class. Don’t be afraid to make a bit of a fool of yourself at times, too. Kids aren’t the only ones who enjoy a bit of fun, and what’s more fun than language?