Teach English in Guguantun Zhen - Liaocheng Shi

One of the most popular methods for ESL lesson planning is the “ESA” method, or Engage, Study, and Activate. The ESA method was coined by Jeremy Harmer as a simple and flexible structure to apply to each lesson. Because of its inherent flexibility and proven effectiveness, it is highly recommended for new and trainee teachers, and therefore I will do my best to employ the ESA method in my first year of teaching English in China. But what makes this system effective? This essay will examine each stage and how it relates to the students’ language development to build knowledge and continually reinforce it. The first phase, engage, starts the class on the right foot by getting students to think in English casually, with the primary goal for the teacher to elicit as much language from the students as possible. Elicitation occurs when the teacher can successfully get students to respond to questions or prompts with their own knowledge. A student answering yes or no to a question is less about elicitation than understanding, a more appropriate prompt would be open-ended – such as, “What sports can you play with a ball? Which sports do you like to play most?” These questions will give the teacher information about what the students already know, as well as what their specific interests are. With this information, the teacher can then use the next phases of the lesson to teach new language and reinforce existing knowledge; while tailoring the exercises to address topics the students are interested in. The engage phase of the lesson should essentially maximize student talking time over teacher talking time. One of the best ways to achieve this is by showing rather than telling; teachers can show the students a short video, colorful pictures, or have a casual conversation with open-ended questions. The study phase is what people traditionally associate with language classes: lecturing from the teacher, worksheets, grammar drills, etc. This is the stage where students directly focus on the English language and one of its specific mechanics. The study phase usually has three sections. First, like the engage phase, the teacher elicits as much language from the students as possible. The language elicited from the students should be put on the board to form the foundation of the grammar or language point. This will get students talking and thinking in the language during the phase they otherwise speak the least. Next, the teacher uses the elicited language to transition into the fundamental language point being covered that day, presenting it to the whole class. Finally, the students drill the new point learned through a variety of exercises, like individual worksheets or pair/small group activities. The study phase is undeniably important – it directly teaches the students the language. But because it can be lecture and work heavy, keeping a strong variety of activities for the different sections of the study phase is essential to keeping students engaged. If both the engage phase and the study phase go successfully, students will be set up for success in the activate phase. Activation targets the ultimate goal of ESL class, fluency. During the activate phase, students use the language they know to speak freely and communicate as much as possible. The goal here is to practice actual fluency, through conversations, debates, or large activities that keep the students speaking as much as possible. Because the activate phase is used to stimulate fluency, teachers should refrain from correcting mistakes and instead encourage the students to express themselves in different ways if they get stuck while speaking. During the activate phase simple activities like “Find someone who…” work well because they get the students up and moving around the room, speaking with classmates they might not always sit next to, and constantly using English. With each phase explained above, the question of why this method is so effective resurfaces. Simply put, ESA incorporates all the elements necessary for a successful lesson: elicitation, focused learning, and fluency. A good ESA lesson does not necessarily follow the direct order of engaging> study > activate however, in fact, this structure is referred to as a “straight arrow” ESA lesson. There are several other popular structures, namely the boomerang and patchwork styles. The only real requirements for an ESA lesson are that they include some form of each phase, and the lesson begins with an engage phase and ends in an activate phase. This is critical because the lesson begins and ends with eliciting English directly from the students. The engage phase is very low stress and open-ended to allow the students to comfortably transition back into an English-speaking state of mind. The activate phase requires more from the students and leaves them with a sense of accomplishment or an idea of what to work on as they leave class for the day. With these two bookends to the lesson, there is plenty of flexibility in the middle to adapt to the different needs of students and to cover topics that keep them engaged and learning.