Teach English in Lancheng Zhen - Luliang Shi

When one looks up books on teaching skills for teaching English as a Second Language (ESL), many options will appear, showing the depth of research that has gone into the importance of teaching skills. In fact, more than half of the ITTT 120-hour TESOL course modules are dedicated to teaching skills such as classroom management and lesson planning rather than specific aspects of English grammar. I would like to analyse the question of why so many institutions and people around the world dedicate so much material to developing teaching skills for ESL purposes. I conclude that in order for ESL students to successfully learn English, the teacher must possess and apply soft skills in the classroom rather than merely having a good grasp of the English language. Thus, teaching skills are essential for ESL teachers. The arguments I present are mostly from my own teaching experiences. One usually realises the importance of preparation, presentation, and management skills before they teach their first lesson. As a teaching assistant for university courses for five semesters, I have had to prepare well and think of methods to engage the students. Just because I had received high marks in the courses I returned to teach, it did not mean I was a good teacher from the get-go. As a teaching assistant, I spent just a small portion of my time actually conveying material. Most of my time went to preparing lecture notes, proof-reading examples and test questions, organizing homework collection, and communicating with students about how they were doing in the course. Even when conveying material to my students, it was apparent in their attitudes that dry lecturing and board work was not sufficient to get them engaged. Eye contact, gestures, a clear voice, and asking lots of questions were usually good solutions to reluctant participation. These experiences hit home the necessity of being prepared and being able to organize classes. Although the recounted experiences are not related to teaching ESL, they are applicable to it nevertheless. Specific teaching methods such as the Engage, Study, Activate (ESA) method are grounded in the perceived importance of letting students produce English by getting them engaged. Warmers such as hangman, Pictionary (R), and tongue twisters are not only a fun way to teach language, but are also vital in getting students to think and talk in English. Study stage activities ensure proper drilling of the material, and finally, activate stage activities allow students to creatively produce and experiment with language. The production of the English language is an aspect of ESL that can easily be overlooked if a teacher is solely equipped with mastery of the English language. For one, as stated before, the presentation of material is paramount to how well the students pick up on the information. Secondly, simply being able to train receptive skills through lectures and learn theory will not allow ESL students to practically use the language outside of the classroom. This knowledge and application of ensuring ESL students practice a variety of English skills and language functions beyond grammar is also part of teaching skills. Without an ESL teacher’s development thereof, students are less likely to be engaged in the lessons and succeed outside the classroom. Finally, aside from classroom management and engaging students by creating balanced classes, establishing rapport with students is also an important teaching skill an ESL teacher should have. Establishing rapport fundamentally defines the relationship between students and teacher and can have a major impact on future interactions such as discipline and evaluation. Depending on a teacher’s behavior and attitude, students may or may not be more open to feedback, participation, evaluation, and discipline. When students’ classroom attitude is affected, so is their learning attitude. For example, if students are unsure of what to do during an activity or lesson, they may resort to speaking their native language out of confusion or boredom, which inhibits their usage of English. Thus, students may not thrive as well as they could have if they are met with an impatient, intolerant teacher that chides students rather than a patient, friendly teacher that encourages them. This skill is one that does not come with competence in the English language, nor does it come automatically. Establishing rapport and being able to maintain discipline are important teaching skills that must be developed with care in order to nurture a proper learning environment for ESL students. In conclusion, I have discussed the importance of teaching skills including classroom management, lesson planning, engaging students through balanced and varied classes, and establishing rapport with students. These soft skills are just as important as being competent in the English language, because students can learn better and gain the confidence they need in a fun, nurturing environment rather than a dry, disengaged classroom. When these skills are developed and used in practice, these students gain more chances to experiment with the language and are responsive to feedback. Additionally, they are more comfortable and confident around each other and the teacher. With the students’ successful learning in mind, ESL teachers should take care to cultivate and apply their teaching skills.