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According to Unit 19 of the ITTT course, the EFL industry has seen a big increase in demand for one-to-one lessons in recent years. Whether that be with beginner children or adults concerned about Business English, teaching one-to-one is somewhat different than teaching in a group setting. Before one starts teaching at an individual level, it is essential to learn how to do so. In order to teach one-to-one, 3 main points will help one prepare: perform a needs analysis, lesson plan ahead of time, and check for understanding. Once these 3 points are learned and understood, you as a teacher are prepared to teach individuals. Firstly, performing a needs analysis with your student is essential to being effective. Start with a short conversation to allow the student to become comfortable and get a basic idea for their level. Next, whether it be a simple, informal conversation about interests and objectives or a formal, written questionnaire going into detail about past experience and identifying specific goals, the type of needs analysis is up to you. Remember to keep their level and age in mind as you make a decision with your best judgement of what type of needs analysis you would like to execute. It is important to find out the students’ specific language problems and interests as well. Learning these aspects will help you and your student use time effectively during the private lesson, accomplish their goals, and have fun. Next, planning one-to-one lessons before the next lesson with the information received from the needs analysis will provide structure to the lesson. Once you decide what specific outcome you would like the student to achieve that lesson, it is helpful to remember the elements of ESA: engage, study, and activate. These elements are very useful in planning lessons and the straight arrow, boomerang, or patchwork technique can be tailor made of your students’ needs. Also, by using a variety of activities and techniques, you as the teacher can maximize the students’ interests and experience. From music to pronunciation games, videos to recipes, using interesting and a wide variety of material will allow the student to not only want to learn, but help them accomplish goals they need to accomplish. When planning how many and what types of exercises to complete in a lesson, it is always helpful to over plan. Make sure to give the student ample amount of time to complete each exercise without feeling rushed. Some activities might be easier than others, which is why it is important to plan more than you think they can complete. Give them enough time to practice what is being taught and review the material in the next lesson. Therefore, lesson planning is essential to learn how to effectively teach one-to-one. Lastly, checking for understanding throughout the one-to-one lesson will be helpful for you as the teacher and for the student. It is an easy assumption to make that your student understands all the words you say and your directions clearly. However, that is not always the case. Specifically in the first few lessons, your new student may not feel comfortable asking you to clarify your directions or repeat instructions. Be sensitive to their body language and facial ques after instruction, while also asking “Okay?” and “Do you understand?”. Once material has been taught, you can check for retention by using the ‘activate’ element of ESA. Whether it be role-play, story writing, or a communication game, this stage can help encourage the student to use the language they know and what they have learned. It is important for you as a teacher to check for understanding periodically and is also important for the student so they know how to accomplish their goals in a one-to-one lesson. Overall, learning how to teach one-to-one is as easy as being able to complete a needs analysis, plan a lesson, and check for understanding. Even though teaching an individual is different than teaching in a group setting, similar techniques can be applied. Teaching one-to-one is flexible, allows you to understand how to tailor a lesson for individual needs, and teaches you to learn what learning style best fits for your students’ needs. Once you feel comfortable with these tasks, the next step is finding the individual students to teach!
