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In English as a Foreign Language teaching, there are many different methodologies that can be used by teachers in a classroom. One of the most effective methods is called the Engage, Study, Activate approach. In this approach, the lesson begins with a “warmer,” or engagement, which consists of the teacher asking thought-provoking questions to get students thinking and speaking in English. The lesson then continues on to the Study phase. In the Study phase, the teacher begins to instruct on correct use of language, including areas of grammar, spelling, pronunciation, and vocabulary. Finally, the teacher will move on to the activation part of the lesson. In this portion of the lesson, students are encouraged to participate in a “free” dialogue to practice all language that they know. In order to further demonstrate the concepts of Engage, Study, and Activate (ESA), the following section is a sample of a lesson that could be done in the classroom. The topic of this lesson will be focused on phone conversations. The classroom make-up consists of twenty college students who are at a beginner level. The goal of the lesson will be to teach the students how to have a basic, casual conversation with a friend on the phone. This will also be a “Straight Arrow” ESA plan, meaning that the activities will follow a typical E-S-A sequence. Engage: The teacher will play a song by Jessica Hernandez & the Deltas, “Telephone.” The teacher will then ask students what kind of vocabulary they heard regarding phone conversations, as well as typical questions and answers used during phone calls. The teacher will write all the words mentioned on one side of the board. The teacher will ask follow-up questions as needed to elicit more speaking from students. The teacher will have copies of the lyrics on-hand to use as needed. Study 1: On the other side of the board, the teacher will have a series of “Ask for the Question” and gap-fill exercises to complete. For the “Ask the Question” activities, the teacher may have a blank line with a question mark and an answer below stating: “I could not answer the phone because I was working.” For the gap-fill, the written statements will likewise be related to the topic of phone conversations; for example, “I _________ with her every day.” During this portion of the lesson, the teacher will begin to correct any grammar mistakes. Study 2: The teacher will review construction of present tense verbs and common vocabulary used when talking on the phone. The teacher will then pass out a worksheet and/or select a book exercise for students to complete in pairs. The exercises will again be related to the theme of the lesson and will involve constructing sentences to answer questions commonly asked when talking on the phone. Students will need to use the vocabulary and present tense verbs previously reviewed to complete the exercise. Activate: In the last portion of the lesson, the teacher will use the Activate phase to allow students to engage in free conversation. Students will be split up into groups of three to complete role-plays. In the role-play, two of the students will pretend they are friends who are talking on the phone with each other. The third student in the group will provide prompting as needed to assist with the conversation flow. The third student will also be responsible for reminding their classmates to continue using English and not return to their native language.
