ACTIVITY IN TESL

OCTOBER 22, 2020

HAZEL MARIE D. ABELLA

BEED-IV

QUESTIONS:

1. Why do we need to speak in English?

- Speaking English allows you to actually broaden your world, from

job opportunities to the ability to relate to people from every country.

Knowing the language makes it much more interesting every trip.

Anywhere you want to go in the world you can find someone who
speaks English. If we account only the country where the English
language is the official language, the United Kingdom, Australia, U.S.A.,
Canada, Ireland, New Zealand and the Caribbean countries, there are
more than 400 million native English speakers.

Simply put, we must recognize that English is an international

language, the main language of this planet.

The statistics reveal that more than a quarter of the world’s

population speaks English that means that about 1.6 billion people
understand and relate with the help of the language of Shakespeare. To
not mention that most of the films are in English, the largest film industry,
Hollywood, is produced in English.
It is true that in the world are more than 3 billion people who speak
Chinese, however it is very unlikely that in addition to the mother tongue
there is someone else who wants to learn Chinese characters.
Most of the international trade agreements are concluded in English,
and is the most widely used language for international business
meetings.

Good English is not only classy but a possibility to continue studies

and specializations in the best universities in the world, which are in fact,
in countries where they speak English.
Education is very important to improve yourself but learning English
also improves the quality of life. You have access to jobs that you could
not even take into consideration, you can evaluate an international
career and you can live in many countries with the ease of being able to
go shopping or negotiate a rent for the house.
The benefits they bring in the life of a person’s knowledge of the
English language are countless. What is important to understand is that
the English language is able to knock down a lot of barriers, including
cultural ones.

Knowing the habits and customs of other countries allows us to

understand ourselves and others. By better understanding our fellow
man around the world we are always surprised at how we are different
and similar at the same time.

The English language allows us to relate and therefore to understand

each other.
2. How you will teach English as a Second Language to your
future pupils/learners?

- Below are the 12 strategies that are simple, they are not very
time consuming, and best of all, they will help everyone in the class to
learn better.

1. MAKE IT VISUAL

“Avoid giving instructions in the air,” says Melissa Eddington, an Ohio-based

ESL teacher. “ELL kids have a harder time processing spoken language.” So
instructions – even basic directions for classroom procedures – should be written
on the board whenever possible. Challenging concepts should be diagrammed
or supported with pictures. And modeling the steps of a process or showing
students what a finished product should look like can go a long way toward
helping students understand. “Sometimes showing our students what to do is all
they need in order to do it,” Eddington says. Not only will this kind of nonlinguistic
representation improve comprehension for ELL students, it will help all of your
students grasp concepts better.

2. BUILD IN MORE GROUP WORK.

“Kids aren’t just empty glasses that we pour stuff into and then at the end of the
day they dump it back onto a test,” says Kim, an ESL teacher who was the
subject of my very first podcast interview. “If you really want the kids to learn,
they’ve got to be engaged.” That means less teacher-led, whole-class
instruction, and more small groups, where students can practice language with
their peers in a more personal, lower-risk setting. And if ELL students attend
your class with a resource teacher, make use of that person: In most cases the
resource teacher doesn’t have to work exclusively with the ESL students; they
can work with smaller groups that happen to contain these students, helping to
improve the teacher-student ratio and give kids more time to practice.

3. COMMUNICATE WITH THE ESL TEACHER.

Mary Yurkosky, a former ESL teacher in Massachusetts, credits much of her

students’ success to the strong relationship she had with the regular classroom
teachers. “The classroom teachers were always talking to me about what they
were doing in their classes,” she says. “They made it so easy for me to support
them: If a teacher was going to be doing a unit on plants, I could make sure we
used some of that same vocabulary in the ESL class.”

Ideally, this could be systematized, where ESL teachers could regularly get

copies of lesson plans or collaborate with regular classroom teachers to build
solid back-and-forth support, but “it doesn’t have to be that much work,”
Yurkosky insists. “Just talk to each other. Talk about what’s going on in your
classrooms, invite each other to special presentations, share what your students
are learning, and the words will naturally find their way into the ESL class.”

4. HONOR THE “SILENT PERIOD.”

Many new language learners go through a silent period, during which they will
speak very little, if at all. “Don’t force them to talk if they don’t want to,” says
Eddington, “A lot of students who come from cultures outside of America want to
be perfect when they speak, so they will not share until they feel they are at a
point where they’re perfect.” Just knowing that this is a normal stage in second
language acquisition should help relieve any pressure you feel to move them
toward talking too quickly.

5. ALLOW SOME SCAFFOLDING WITH THE NATIVE LANGUAGE.

Although it has been a hotly debated topic in the language-learning community,

allowing students some use of their first language (L1) in second-language (L2)
classrooms is gaining acceptance. When a student is still very new to a
language, it’s okay to pair him with other students who speak his native
language. “Some students are afraid to open their mouths at all for fear of
sounding stupid or just not knowing the words to use,” Yurkosky says. “Letting
them explain things or ask questions in their first language gets them to
relax and feel like a part of the class.”

And this doesn’t only apply to spoken language. If you give students a written
assignment, but the ELL student doesn’t yet have the proficiency to handle
writing his response in English, “Don’t make them just sit there and do nothing,”
Eddington says. “Allow them to write in their first language if they’re able. This
allows them to still participate in journal writing or a math extended response,
even if you can’t read what they write.” There has even been some evidence that
allowing second-language learners to pre-write and brainstorm in L1 results in
higher-quality writing in L2 in later stages of the writing process (Yigzaw, 2012).

6. LOOK OUT FOR CULTURALLY UNIQUE VOCABULARY.

“For most of these kids, their background knowledge is lacking, especially with
things that are unique to American or westernized culture,” says Eddington. It’s
important to directly teach certain vocabulary words: “Show them videos of what
it looks like to toss pizza dough, show pictures of a juke box or a clothing rack –
things that are not common in their own language.”

One way to differentiate for ELL students is to consider the whole list of terms
you’re going to teach for a unit, and if you think an ELL student may be
overwhelmed by such a long list, omit those that are not essential to
understanding the larger topic at hand.

7. USE SENTENCE FRAMES TO GIVE STUDENTS PRACTICE WITH

ACADEMIC LANGUAGE.

All students, not just English language learners, need practice with academic
conversations. Sentence frames – partially completed sentences like “I disagree
with what _________ said because…” – show students how to structure
language in a formal way. Keep these posted in a highly visible spot in your
classroom and require students to refer to them during discussions and while
they write.

For this kind of language to really sink in, though, Kim says it has to become a
regular part of class. “They won’t do it if it’s not the norm in the class, because
they’ll be embarrassed to use it among their peers,” she says. “But if they can
put it off on the teacher and say, Oh, well, you know, Miss Kim makes me talk
like this, then they don’t look as hoity-toity as they would otherwise.”

8. PRE-TEACH WHENEVER POSSIBLE. 

If you’re going to be reading a certain article next week, give ESL students a
copy of it now. If you plan to show a YouTube video tomorrow, send a link to
your ESL students today. Any chance you can give these students to preview
material will increase the odds that they’ll understand it on the day you present it
to everyone else. “That kind of thing is wonderful,” Yurkosky says. “The kids feel
so empowered if they’ve had a chance to look at the material ahead of time.”

9. LEARN ABOUT THE CULTURAL BACKGROUND OF YOUR STUDENTS…

Our second-language populations grow more diverse every year. Taking the
time to learn the basics of where a child comes from — exactly, not ‘somewhere
in the Middle East/South America/Asia/Africa’ — tells the student that you
respect her enough to bother. Kim remembers one time when she had to set the
record straight about the diverse South American population at her school: “I
was listening to the teachers talking about the ‘Mexican’ kids in our building,” she
says, “and I was like, ‘We don’t have any Mexicans.'” Not taking the time to at
least correctly identify a child’s country of origin, much like not bothering to
pronounce their name correctly, is a kind of microaggression, a small, subtle
insult that communicates hostility toward people of color. Make a commitment to
be someone who bothers to get it right.

Once you have the country straight, take things up a notch by learning about
students’ religious and cultural practices. If he is a practicing Muslim, he should
be told if one of the pizzas you ordered for the class party has sausage on it. If
she comes from a culture where eye contact with adults is viewed as
disrespectful, you’ll know not to force her to look you in the eye when she’s
talking.

10. …BUT DON’T MAKE A CHILD SPEAK FOR HIS ENTIRE CULTURE.

In her podcast interview, Kim shared a story about watching a teacher ask a new
Iraqi student how he felt about the war in his country, right in the middle of class.
“That’s not cultural inclusiveness,” she explains. “I’ve seen teachers do this and
then pat themselves on the back.  The students’ English is limited so they can’t
express themselves very well, and they don’t want to ‘represent’; they just want
to be there.” If you anticipate a theme coming up in your class that’s going to be
relevant to one of your students, have a conversation with them in advance, or
check with your ESL teacher to see if they think it’s appropriate for in-class
discussion.

11. SHOW THEM HOW TO TAKE THEMSELVES  LESS SERIOUSLY…

By modeling the risk-taking that’s required to learn a new language, you help
students develop the courage to take their own risks, and to have a sense of
humor about it. “I tried to say the word ‘paint’ (pinta) in Portuguese and instead I
said the word for ‘penis’ (pinto). They all roared with laughter while I stood there
with a What?? look on my face,” Yurkosky says. “When they explained what I’d
said, I laughed so hard! I told them that laughing was fine because sometimes
mistakes are really funny, but ridicule is never okay.”

12. …BUT ALWAYS TAKE THEM  SERIOUSLY.

One of Kim’s pet peeves about how teachers interact with English language
learners is the way they often see students’ efforts as ‘cute,’ missing the whole
point of what the student is trying to say. “A student will be desperate to
communicate, and the teacher will get distracted by the delivery and miss the
message,” she says. “That’s painful for me to watch.” It bothers her when
teachers mistake a lack of language for a lack of intelligence or maturity. When a
child can’t express themselves as well as they would in their native language, it’s
far too easy to assume the concepts just aren’t in their heads.

“It breaks my heart when I hear teachers say (ELL kids) don’t know anything,”
says Eddington. “These are brilliant kids and they know a lot. They just can’t tell
us in English yet.” Make a conscious effort to see past the accent and the
mispronunciations and treat every interaction — every student — with the
respect they deserve.

“They’re doing twice the job of everybody else in the class,” Kim adds, “even
though the result looks like half as much.”
3. What are your tactics to encourage your learners to speak in
English?

- Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation for Learning English

Motivation can be categorized into two types: intrinsic and extrinsic.

Intrinsic motivation is a drive that comes from within a person. People are
intrinsically motivated when they enjoy doing an activity.

Extrinsic motivation is a drive that comes from outside of a person. People are
extrinsically motivated when they want to gain a reward (like a prize or a good
grade) or avoid a punishment.

Generally, when someone already has intrinsic motivation, rewarding them can
actually decrease their intrinsic motivation, making them less interested in the
activity and therefore decreasing their performance.

However, when someone isn’t interested in a subject—meaning they have no

intrinsic motivation to learn about it—giving rewards can get them to participate
in the activity, which might then spark some intrinsic motivation within them.
Extrinsic motivation can lead to intrinsic motivation.

Though this isn’t always the case, most ESL students already have intrinsic
motivation to learn English. They have a goal in mind, whether it’s related to
business, academics or something else, and English is necessary for them to
reach their goal. So they want to engage in learning the language.

With that in mind, too much praise or extrinsic motivation can actually hinder
their learning. That’s why your students will perform best when you focus on
motivating them intrinsically rather than extrinsically. In other words, encourage
their already present desire to learn rather than tempting them to learn with
external rewards.

Motivating Students to Learn English with 5 Smart Tactics

1. Make Class Communicative

One way to encourage your students’ intrinsic motivation is to make class

communicative.

Part of the joy of language is using it to communicate. Language learners get a

rush when they can successfully translate their thoughts into words and get their
points across.

Aside from the fun of communicating, it’s also what most students want to get
out of learning English. In other words, that’s where their intrinsic motivation lies
—they’re already eager to be able to communicate in English for their own
reasons.

For some students, their goal is communication in business. For others, their
goal is to communicate during their advanced studies at an English-language
university or college. Still others want to explore the world and will use English to
travel and connect with people all over the globe.
 The more we encourage our students to communicate in class, the more
motivated they’ll be. They’ll see that they’re accomplishing their goals even as
they’re learning, and the success and achievement will make them readier to
learn.

How can you make your class more communicative?

 Group activities are a great way to make class communicative. Get

students using the language that they already know to work together to
accomplish something.
 Use seating to your advantage and ditch the traditional rows and columns.
Arrange student desks to make larger tables to encourage communication
among them.
 If you haven’t tried it yet, give the discovery grammar method a shot. Give
students a grammar worksheet with the answers already in the
blanks before you teach the grammatical concept. Then challenge groups of two
or three students to examine the answers and see if they can figure out the rule
on their own. That way they’ll be communicating as they figure things out on their
own.
 A flipped classroom is another great way to give communication center
stage in your classroom. A flipped classroom turns tradition on its head by
assigning instructional material to be completed at home and then uses
classtime for extension, practice and deepening activities, in other words putting
language to use through communication.
 When all else fails, keep your class communicative by minimizing teacher
talk time (TTT). The less you talk, the more your students will be talking, and that
means they’ll be putting their language knowledge to work.
2. Make English Practical

People don’t like doing things that are pointless. They want to know that there’s
a purpose behind what they do even if the activity is as simple as digging a hole.
You can stress purpose in your activities when you keep them practical.

One way to keep things practical in class is to use realia whenever

possible. Realia is just another way to say materials that are created with native
speakers in mind.

Bringing realia into your classroom will make your students more prepared for
what they’ll find outside your classroom walls. ESL-targeted materials tend to
have simpler grammar and vocabulary, which is great when you’re just learning
English, but not great when everything encountered outside the ESL classroom
isn’t adjusted for people who are still learning.

Project-based learning is a great way to keep things focused on reality, since it

starts with a true-to-life problem and asks students to solve it. In project-based
learning, students work through a series of steps to come to a solution to that
problem. This series of steps may include: listing the information necessary for
coming to a solution, breaking down the different steps they’ll have to take to
solve the problem, gathering the necessary information, coming to a conclusion
and presenting their solution.

The process is more important than the final product, since that’s where students
are really putting their language knowledge to use. Focusing on the process also
helps to motivate students the right way because you’re not focusing on the
extrinsic motivation of a grade at the end of the project. Rather, you’re stressing
successful communication throughout the process.

Role playing is another way to stay focused on the practical. Giving students

real-life situations they’re likely to encounter in the outside world will give them a
chance to practice for the future in a safe environment.
 3. Make Class Fun

Making class fun is a surefire way to up intrinsic motivation levels.

When students are having a good time, they’ll be more engaged in learning.
Their motivation will come from them rather than from you. You just have to find
the best ways to help your students have a good time while they learn.

Here are some strategies you can try:

 Use social media in class. You can have great conversations with friends
and strangers alike when you put yourself out there on social media. By
including it in your class, you’re not only making language use practical, you’re
also bringing something students do for fun into their learning. Try having them
write short posts for Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, or start a class blog and
have students write the posts and respond to comments from their classmates
as well as the world at large.
 Invite pop culture into class. People love movies, magazines and
contemporary music. Use them in class for listening activities, reading activities
or to learn new vocabulary. Get yourselves out of the textbook and start
reading People magazine. Use a movie as the basis for event sequencing,
writing a summary or a cloze listening activity. Pay attention to the music your
students like, the types of movies they watch and what they enjoy on TV. Then
include these resources whenever possible to guarantee that they’re motivated
and engaged with the activity.
 Gamify your lessons! I’ll be honest. I love using games with my students.
They’re highly effective ways to teach vocabulary and use grammatical
structures. Some of my favorites are Scrabble, Scattergories and Charades. And
you don’t have to feel tied to the traditional rules, either. There are plenty of ways
to change up traditional games to make them even more fun for your ESL
students in class.
4. Forge Relationships

Generally speaking, people don’t care what you know until they know that you
care. That’s why forging relationships with your students is so important.
Particularly if you’re teaching international students, you may be the only English
speaker they see or speak with on a regular basis. Supporting your students is
something you need to do before you can motivate them.

You can let your students know that you care about them and where they come
from by encouraging expressions of culture in class. Be on the lookout for any
opportunities to have students share their values, beliefs and traditions.

Also, take some time every day to relate to your students on a personal level.
Ask them how their weekends went. Encourage them if they seem down. Let
them know that you’re there for them in any way.

Though it may seem like you’re “wasting” valuable classtime with chit-chat, the
bonds you form during those minutes are the foundations of successful
relationships with your students.

5. Give Feedback

Always consider feedback carefully. The right quantity and quality of feedback is

important for forging the right relationships with your students.

If you spend too much time correcting every error they make, you’ll end up
estranging your students. They may respect your knowledge, but they won’t feel
connected to you personally.
It’s important to give positive feedback, like compliments and
encouragement, as well as criticism. When you have criticism to give, it’s better
to deliver it along with some positive feedback. Something difficult is a lot easier
to hear when it’s preceded and followed by something positive. That way no
student will feel like you’re picking on them.

You don’t have to be the only source of feedback for your students, either.
Encourage peer feedback and self-evaluation, and make time for all this in
your lesson plans each day. Your students have valuable things to share with
their classmates. Be sure to make it possible.

It’s also great to celebrate achievements on a regular basis. This doesn’t mean
rewarding every action your students perform. That type of extrinsic motivation
will only serve to demotivate them, or it will feel disingenuous. No, I mean taking
time out to talk about the things your students have accomplished and giving
them the space to brag on themselves a little. Go around in a circle and have
everyone share something they believe they did well that day, that week or that
semester. Have their peers give them a round of applause, compliments or
“snaps” to celebrate!

Motivating students is a part of every teacher’s job.

And while honey and vinegar may be great in the kitchen, the best kind of
motivation comes from within your students themselves.

When we encourage intrinsic motivation in the members of our classes, we set

them up for success even after they leave our classrooms.

4. How important English language is?

- Knowing English increases your chances of getting a good job in

a multinational company within your home country or for finding work
abroad. It’s also the language of international communication, the media
and the internet, so learning English is important for socialising and
entertainment as well as work!

Let’s look at the top 4 reasons why studying English is so important:

1. English is the Language of International Communication

English may not be the most spoken language in the world, but it is the official
language of 53 countries and spoken by around 400 million people across the
globe. Being able to speak English is not just about being able to communicate
with native English speakers, it is the most common second language in the
world. If you want to speak to someone from another country then the chances
are that you will both be speaking English to do this.

The British Council projects that by 2020 two billion people in the world will be
studying English. Learning English is important as it enables you to
communicate easily with your fellow global citizens. When you study English
at ELC schools, you will be making friends with people from lots of different
countries, using English as your common language!
2. English is the Language of Business

English is the dominant business language and it has become almost a

necessity for people to speak English if they are to enter a global workforce.
Research from all over the world shows that cross-border business
communication is most often conducted in English and many international
companies expect employees to be fluent in English.

Global companies such as Airbus, Daimler-Chrysler, Fast Retailing, Nokia,

Renault, Samsung, SAP, Technicolor, and Microsoft in Beijing, have mandated
English as their official corporate language. In addition, in 2010 the company
Rakuten, a Japanese cross between Amazon and eBay, made it mandatory for
their 7,100 Japanese employees to be able to speak English.

The importance of learning English in the international marketplace cannot be

understated - learning English really can change your life.

3. Speaking English gives you Access to a World of Entertainment

Many of the world’s top films, books and music are published and produced in
English. Therefore, by learning English you will have access to a great wealth of
entertainment and will be able to have a greater cultural understanding.

If you speak English, you won't need to rely on translations and subtitles
anymore to enjoy your favourite books, songs, films and TV shows. Watching
movies and television programmes in the English language is also a great and
fun way to learn it!

At ELC we encourage students to participate in the social programme to

practice English outside a class environment. Activities include watching popular
English films, sports, art galleries, museums, trips and excursions to local and
historical areas. The programme is designed to encourage students to use and
learn English in British culture.

4. Learning English gives you Access to more of the Internet

Why is Learning English is so Important?

English is the language of science, of aviation, computers, diplomacy, and

tourism. Knowing English increases your chances of getting a good job in a
multinational company within your home country or for finding work abroad. It’s
also the language of international communication, the media and the internet, so
learning English is important for socialising and entertainment as well as work!
Let’s look at the top 4 reasons why studying English is so important:

1. English is the Language of International Communication

English may not be the most spoken language in the world, but it is the official
language of 53 countries and spoken by around 400 million people across the
globe. Being able to speak English is not just about being able to communicate
with native English speakers, it is the most common second language in the
world. If you want to speak to someone from another country then the chances
are that you will both be speaking English to do this.

The British Council projects that by 2020 two billion people in the world will be
studying English. Learning English is important as it enables you to
communicate easily with your fellow global citizens. When you study English
at ELC schools, you will be making friends with people from lots of different
countries, using English as your common language!

2. English is the Language of Business

English is the dominant business language and it has become almost a

necessity for people to speak English if they are to enter a global workforce.
Research from all over the world shows that cross-border business
communication is most often conducted in English and many international
companies expect employees to be fluent in English.

Global companies such as Airbus, Daimler-Chrysler, Fast Retailing, Nokia,

Renault, Samsung, SAP, Technicolor, and Microsoft in Beijing, have mandated
English as their official corporate language. In addition, in 2010 the company
Rakuten, a Japanese cross between Amazon and eBay, made it mandatory for
their 7,100 Japanese employees to be able to speak English.

The importance of learning English in the international marketplace cannot be

understated - learning English really can change your life.

3. Speaking English gives you Access to a World of Entertainment

Many of the world’s top films, books and music are published and produced in
English. Therefore, by learning English you will have access to a great wealth of
entertainment and will be able to have a greater cultural understanding.

If you speak English, you won't need to rely on translations and subtitles
anymore to enjoy your favourite books, songs, films and TV shows. Watching
movies and television programmes in the English language is also a great and
fun way to learn it!

At ELC we encourage students to participate in the social programme to

practice English outside a class environment. Activities include watching popular
English films, sports, art galleries, museums, trips and excursions to local and
historical areas. The programme is designed to encourage students to use and
learn English in British culture.

4. Learning English gives you Access to more of the Internet

According to a report by Education First, English is the language of the internet.

An estimated 565 million people use the internet every day, and an estimated 52
percent of the world’s most visited websites are displayed in the English
language.

Learning English is important as it gives you access to over half the content on
the internet. Knowing how to read English will allow you access to billions of
pages of information which may not be otherwise available!

5. Why is it that English is our second language?

- English is the World’s Second Language

While there are languages that are spoken by large numbers of people, such
as Mandarin, Spanish and Arabic, the most widely used second language is
English, with a total number of 1.4 billion native and non-native speakers. That
means that one in five people (20% of the world’s population) can communicate
in English. It is not only the huge number of people that is important but also
the fact that you can find people who speak English in every part of the world,
from the Americas, to Asia, to Africa and Europe. And a great deal of
communication today in English is held between people who are non-native
speakers. English is the common link between many origins and cultures.