Teaching beginners can be daunting, especially when itās a monolingual group and you know nothing of their language, or itās a multilingual group and the only common language is the English youāve been tasked with teaching them. Nevertheless, not only is it possible to teach beginners only through English, but it can also be one of the most rewarding levels to teach. To help you succeed in setting your learners firmly on the path to increasing proficiency, here are seven tips for teaching English to beginners.
1. Keep instructions clear and simple
When addressing a class of students, especially ones youāve just met, it can be tempting to explain activities in your politest language. After all, no one likes to be rude. However, a student who has only a few words of English, if any at all, wonāt appreciate the courtesy of (or even understand), āOK, so now what Iād like you all to do, if you donāt mind, is just to stand up for a moment and come to the front of the class. Oh, and please bring your book with you. Could we all do that?ā
Instead, make instructions crystal clear by using as few words as necessary, gesturing whenever possible, and breaking down a series of instructions into smaller units. If you want to be polite, ā¼õ±ō±š²¹²õ±šā and āthank youā will do. āEverybody ā take your book, please. Stand up. Now, come here, please. Thank you.ā
2. Let them listen first
Your students will likely want to start practicing speaking from the get-go. However, it takes a while for oneās ear to acclimatize to the sounds of a new language, and not everyone will be so keen; donāt pressure students into speaking before theyāve had lots of opportunity to listen to you using it (which doesnāt mean you should just be rambling on at the front of the classroom ā with beginners more so than with other levels, you really have to consider what you say and grade your language accordingly).
3. Drill, repeat, drill, repeat, drillā¦
Beginners need lots of repetition and drilling, especially as they get to grips with the sounds of their new language. It might seem boring to go over the same sentences again and again, but it is necessary. When practicing a new sentence, try back-drilling, breaking the sentence down into manageable units and then building it back up, working backwards from the end to the beginning; this helps ensure that your intonation is natural and that you get elements of connected speech right. For example, break down āWould you like a cup of tea?ā as follows:
tea > cup of tea > like a > like a cup of tea > Would you > Would you like a cup of tea?
4. Establish classroom language early on
Classroom language ā Can you speak more slowly? What do we have to do? I donāt understand. What doesā¦ mean? How do you sayā¦ in English? ā is usually associated with , but it also helps with adult beginners. No matter how friendly and relaxed you make your classroom atmosphere, can still be daunting, especially when you feel youāre not entirely following whatās going on, or that you might be called on to say something that you donāt feel ready to say. Itās much better to equip students early on with classroom language that will help them navigate the lesson smoothly.
5. Avoid metalanguage
Thereās no point in students knowing the terms past simple, irregular verb or adverb of frequency if they canāt use the actual structures or words they refer to. Donāt tell them how to say something: show them. Give as much context as you can (visual prompts work well).
Furthermore, make sure you check they have understood by asking questions that test their comprehension ā never ask āDo you understand?ā as:
a) many people are reluctant to let on that they havenāt understood and will pretend instead that they have
b) a student may think they have understood when in fact they havenāt.
6. Donāt forget that your students are fluent in their own language(s)
This may seem trivial, but itās all too easy when listening to somebody speaking broken English to forget that behind the errors and the mispronunciation is a person with cogent thoughts, no doubt articulate in their first language, attempting to communicate their opinions or ideas.
As teachers, we not only have to be patient and proactive listeners, alert to the reasons why specific errors are being made while filling in the gaps in less-than-perfect communication, but we also have to steer clear of adopting the 'Me-Tarzan-You-Jane' approach to teaching, degenerating the very language we are aiming to teach.
Rather than degrading our language, we have to grade it carefully to keep it comprehensible while maintaining its naturalness, rhythm and spirit, ensuring all the while that, as far as possible, we actually converse with our students and listen to what they have to say. After all, even from the very first lessons, from the āAā in the alphabet and the āamā of āto beā, communication is the goal.
7. Prepare well, prepare a lot, keep them talking
Even though teaching beginners entails progressing slowly and recycling and repeating language many times, that doesnāt mean recycling the same activities, especially not during one lesson. Ensure you have a range of activities to use, and donāt go into class without having first carefully thought through how you are going to introduce a new language, how you will check that the students have understood it, how you will practice it, and how you will deal with potential misunderstandings. The possibility for confusion at this level is much greater than at higher levels, and sometimes even harder to disentangle.
Also, remember, unlike with higher levels, you canāt rely on conversations developing simply because the students donāt yet have the linguistic resources to engage in anything other than simple exchanges (though in time, they will). This means that the onus will largely be on you to keep them talking.
Finally, enjoy this level. Although in many ways the most challenging level to teach, it can also be one of the most satisfying. Seeing your learners go from knowing nothing to knowing a few words to knowing a few sentences and structures to being able to hold rudimentary conversations can be incredibly rewarding. If they enjoy their initial exposure to the language, and feel confident and inspired to continue, then you will have helped pave the way to their further success.
