Teaching English to speakers of other language

Teaching Listening
Suggested Activities
Activities
Give as much exposure as you can
Do your classroom management in English
Use Audio and video recording
Provide a context for any recording you use
Give learners a reason for listening
Use listening for pleasure too
Show learners they don’t have to understand every word
Let learners experience a variety of accents and dialects
Find out what your learners need to listen too
Teach learners the strategies needed to control they input they get
Consider setting listening tasks for homework




Teaching Reading
Supplement the readings in your textbook
Use a good proportion of ‘authentic’ texts
Build up a context
Give a learners a reason for reading
Use questions carefully
Use reading as an input to other tasks
Talk about good reading habits
Talk about text structures
Teach dictionary skills
Encourage reading for pleasure


Teaching Speaking
Run the class in English
Use plenty of group in pair work
Make activities as spontaneous as possible
Use guided activities where necessary
Consider role plays
Use task-based activities
Try out new tasks with friends and colleagues
Make learners aware of varied speaking needs
Give some practice at long turns
Link speaking to other tasks
Correct spoken language selectively
Create an atmosphere of acceptance
Teaching Writing
Ask learners to produce a variety of text types
Analyze particularly important text types yourself
Combine writing with other tasks
Don’t always leave writing for homework
Encourage multiple drafts and revisions
Give examples of multiple drafts
Accept that there will be many mistakes in early drafts
Emphasize quality in the final product
Give feedback on content as well as on form
Be selective when correcting mistakes
Agree a key for correction
Look back during the course
Teaching Vocabulary
Distinguish receptive and productive vocabulary needs
Consider teaching new vocabulary in related sets
Vary your explanation techniques
Teach the grammar of vocabulary items
Encourage awareness of collocations
Spend some time on connotative meaning
Help learners to be aware of register
Look at word formation
Use direct translation carefully
Teach conscious vocabulary learning strategies

Teaching Pronunciation
Learn how to describe pronunciation
Record your learner’s speech
Be aware of your pronunciation
Teach pronunciation a little at a time
Teach some phonemic symbols
Work on learner’s perception of target sounds
Tell learners how target sounds are physically articulated
Work on learner’s perception of intonation
Get learners to produce whole utterances, and combinations of utterances, during pronunciation practice
Let learners listen to recording of themselves
Teaching Grammar
Expect grammatical errors
Provide learners with opportunities to use their full grammatical range
Consider explicit practical activities
Correct errors carefully
Make grammar presentations meaningful
Use discovery techniques
Give clear and simple explanations
Capitalize on learner’s existing knowledge
Balance the conditions for grammar improvement
Keep on providing rich exposure