Key factors in Teaching
In teaching there are strategies that will lead the students in the learning process. Educators often ask themselves which method, which technique, which exercise and which lesson format would be the most appropriate for different group of students.
On a positive note, key factor number one:
1. Know Your Learners
The nitial test does not always provide teachers with the full picture. This is because an exam is a snapshot in time that shows performance, not subject knowledge, nor language knowledge. By assessing multiple examples of a student's written work or sitting down with them for a brief one-on-one session or for a chat, teachers will have a better understanding of language ability, strengths and deficits in reading, writing, speaking and listening. The students' interests, hobbies, home activities, familial environment will provide the teacher with precious information that could be further used to plan. Informal, cross-curicular and extra curricular activities are also a reliable source of information about the student. Teachers observe the students all the time, intentional monitoring is just one method for doing this. Knowing the students thorouhly would inform the teacher in planning, in adapting lessons, questions and exercises to the student's individual capabilities.
2. Give Written and Spoken Instructions
For students whose first language alphabet is different from English, their trajectory through dense English text may be considered a discouraging activity. This is the reason why teachers should include images when possible and go over an activity verbally beforehand, in order to highlight the key information it contains. It is best to have a written copy of classroom notes or task instructions for the students who would find listening quite intimidating, who have not adjusted to the local accent or are still struggling to hear phonemes that distinguish certain words. Teaching language in both written and spoken forms is also useful for students with learning difficulties, such as dyspraxia or dyslexia.
3. Introduce Vocabulary in Context
Direct learning may work for some students, such as handing them a list of words and asking them to learn the term in advance of a lesson. What the research says is that vocabulary acquisition is more likely if a new word is encountered multiple times in the context of the lesson. Context also provides hints about form, meaning and use that are not available in an isolated list. The lesson itself will help the learner to take a guess at the meaning, thus spending that extra bit of cognitive energy thinking about a term and thus, cementing it in memory.
4. Offer an Extended Glossary
This will save time, will reinforce meaning for native-speakers and will help the EAL students with the comprehension.
5. Teach Sight Words
Research shows that 50-75% of all the words in elementary school materials come from the Dolch list. These tend to be function words including prepositions, articles and verbs. Learning to recognize these words without having to decode them is advantageous for all learners, regardless of language background.
6. Be Patient
People say children are sponges when it comes to language, but this is not exactly the case. Native speakers' children are exposed to thousands of examples of English vocabulary before they begin speaking, and on top of that, they have one or two personal tutors to teach them - their parents! EAL pupils may only spend a few hours in your class a week and they may get varying amounts of English outside of the classroom and at home. It may take some time for words to show up in their written work. Receptive knowledge is gained though repeat exposure to words in context and ususally it precedes productive knowledge.