Teach English in Jingzhong Zhen - Zibo Shi

The traditional classroom arrangement of rows is counterproductive to the development of conversational fluency in language students. Pairs and small groups are certainly more effective arrangements, but in my experience students are more likely to get off topic or return to their native language when paired, especially when paired with a friend. Circle time greatly increases student talking time, requiring students to practice their conversation skills as they work together as a class on a common project. Circle time can effectively set the mood for the class when used as a “warm-up,” and can also let students leave feeling confident when it is used to close out the class. Working in large groups or a single large group also increases the general knowledge pool that students can draw from. Stronger students can help the weaker students, while weaker students can learn from how to the more experienced students converse with each other in the new language – a benefit that is very difficult to gain when students are paired in groups or working independently. Regardless of the activity or the age group that is participating, the large circle usually encourages robust conversation in the new language. Using circle time at the beginning of a class sets the tone for the day and gets the students talking with each other. General topics, like the weather, a current event, everyone’s favorite show, or a recent sports game or movie release are all excellent conversation starters. Students can chime in as they warm up and remember the mechanics of the language, remember their vocabulary, and get used to hearing the language again as they listen to their peers. Circle time also works well at the end of class, giving students a change to come together before dismissal and discuss what they have learned. It is an opportunity for them to have an open conversation about what was easy about the lesson, what was difficult, and what they will have to work on before the next meeting. This not only requires the students to remember everything that was covered in class, thereby reinforcing what they have learned. This exercise can also point out to students what in the lesson was difficult for everyone and is also helpful for the teacher to know what to review in the next class. While I am certain there are plenty of examples of circle activities available to EFL and ESL teachers, the most effective one I have found is the “one sentence” or “one word” story, depending on the class level and the topic being taught. For beginner classes, it is often easiest to have a list of sentences for students to choose from. Students have a few minutes to read through the sentences they can choose from, and then we go around the class and the students work together to get the story in order. With intermediate students, a word or phrase bank often helps to get them thinking of relevant vocabulary and basic grammatical structures, but it is up to the class to put the pieces together. This also works well for advanced students as a warm-up. For a real challenge, though, they can make a story one word at a time, going around the circle building off what the previous students’ plot-line while remaining cognizant of where their turn falls in the structure of the sentence. For each variation of the game, students are free to offer suggestions, hints, and comment on where the story is going. This type of exercise is one of the best I have tried when helping students with sentence structure and sharpening the quick thinking they need for real conversations. In most cases, students will be using their English skills to carry conversations with other English speakers. It is essential that they get enough practice conversing freely with each other and exercise their communication and comprehension skills. Working as a whole class accomplishes this, while also showing to the class what they have a firm grasp of, and what needs to be reinforced in the future.