Ideas and Techniques for Teaching English Language Learners
Ideas and Techniques for Teaching English Language Learners
1. Repeat and Re-phrase:
- The repeat and re-phrase technique is effective in classrooms
because a student may know various vocabulary words and now know the
ones that the teacher is using. By using this technique the teacher
exposes the student to new vocabulary that can be associated with the
old to acquire a meaning. The student benefit by both the repetition, as
the source of learning new vocabulary, and the use of old vocabulary to
form a re-phrased question in order to acquire a new and better
understanding of the English language.
- This techniques can be used during oral instruction given to the class or an individual student. It can also be applied during question and answer time in class, and is optimal for such a use as it provides students with an opportunity to better understand the question and answer it without help. This promotes a higher level learning, understanding, and self-confidence in students.
- The repeat and re-phrase strategy is used in the classroom to promote, achieve, or ensure, understanding of a given topic, standard, or question. For example: if a student doesn't understand the question "what is the meaning of an adjective?" Then the teacher can respond by either repeating, and/or if understanding is still not reached, re-phrasing the question to promote the student's application of knowledge. The question could be re-phrased as: "What does an adjective do?" This also helps with future questions as the student will better understand the meaning of the posed question.
Additionally, the repeat and re-phrase can be used to question for understanding by re-phrasing a sentence to check if the student properly understood the meaning of a particular word or concept. For example: "The girl avoided the water." Used to teach the vocabulary term "avoid."
Questioning for understanding could be phrased as: "If she avoided the water, then she isn't wet." The teacher can ask whether this is correct or not and the students can better understand what the term means and its uses.
2. Music and jazz chant activities:
- Music and
jazz chant activities are effective in the classroom because it is easy
for music to get stuck in ones head. Think of the things you learned as
a child just through song. Additionally, it gives the class a fun way
to remember or recall sometimes tedious information, creating a more
engaging and fun environment for learning topics and concepts that are
generally hard.
- The music and jazz chant activities can be used during memorization activities. As a means of participation to learn new words or short concepts. Remembering lists, rules, and the like. This is a fantastic way to memorize the alphabet, periodic table, states, countries, etc.
- The expected outcome is that students will more easily remember large amounts of important information. Students will be involved in the introduction of new material in a fun and interesting way. This is especially beneficial for younger students.
3. Visual aides, realia, maps, pictures, multimedia:
- Visual aides and the like are effective in that they can provide
students with a better grasp of the concept than any other word. "This
is the object that matches the word." No matter what level the student
is, they can understand the relationship between the two and easily
grasp the new word or concept. In addition, these sorts of techniques
spice up the classroom and keep things interesting. It is easy for a
language class to become dull with repetition and writing. But, by
implementing the use of various visual and audio aides the class can
remain focused, but also entertained.
- These strategic examples can be used as an introduction to vocabulary terms, concepts, teaching places (names/locations), teaching specific behaviors (cultural). Additionally, teaching parts of speech can be done using these media as visual aides for actions, colors, etc. Multimedia can also be used to show language in practical use, dialog, or visual or audio to materials read. Audio samples can also be used in teaching sounds of letters or words.
- The learning outcome of this is that students will gain a better understanding of materials presented, and it can provide a second way of learning (visually). Students also have examples of the materials presented and a visual to put to the word.
4. Cooperative Groups, Peer Coaching:
- This technique optimizes personalized student learning time as each
student can get personalized attention even if it is not given by the
teacher. This is also helpful when the teacher is not suppose to be the
focus of activities and instead can move from table to table and help as
needed. It creates a community setting and gets students into helping
each other and learning from each other. Cooperative groups work because
there are many ways to break students into groups that allow them
personally catered lessons on their level.
- Placing students in cooperative groups or using peer coaching is especially helpful in an ELL classroom where students are or can be at mixed levels of learning English. When this is the case it is best to place them in groups that are chosen by the teacher in a manner that places higher level students with lower level ones. In this way the higher level student is learning, practicing, and perfecting techniques through teaching; and the lower level student is acquiring new knowledge and receiving help from a peer. This can also be used to place higher level students together to work on an assignment while the lower level students stay with the teacher to learn new information. In this way the teacher is able is optimize learning by provide new information to both levels without actually having to make one or the other sit through information that is either below or above their learning level.
- The learning outcome of this strategy is that students are able to take in more information at one time while developing relationships and community amongst themselves. Additionally, by using this technique students will learn from each other. Many times, youths are more prone to hear out their peers over adults. Naturally, this caters to those thoughts and allows students to take in the needed knowledge, but in a way that is more entertaining. Working in groups also provides the teacher with many new lesson options to keep the classroom engaging and motivating.
5. Pre-instruction activities (semantic webbing, graphic organizers, KWL charts):
- Pre-instruction activities are generally effective because they
provide an easy break-in to new information. Additionally, they provide
the students with notes, or something to look back on to relate the new
information with the old so that the concept is easier to grasp. For
instance, a chart may compare new materials with old thus drawing a line
between to the two that the student can follow. These activities also
draw the student into the new concept to keep them motivated and
interested in what is being taught.
- The pre-instruction technique could be applied in the introduction of a new concept or idea; or it can be applied to the planning of a project or paper that will be written by the student. Additionally, the teacher can use this technique to give instructions or notes on a topic that the student will later research and/or develop alone.
- From this technique, the learning outcome is that the students will acquire important information that will help during the new unit of study or planning of a project that will require a lot of independent work. This is optimal to create a means of providing information that the students can later apply to other work in that lesson or unit.
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