Chapter 15 Teaching different classes

1 ESP and Business English

ESP stands for English for Specific Purposes. That may mean English for hotel
receptionists^ English for pharmaceutical salesmen or English for telephoning. It
may also mean the rather wide title of Business English.

2 Exam classes
Many teachers at some point need to teach a class preparing for an exam. This
may be a national or school exam or it might be one of the British- or US-based
international exams.
A popular American English exam is TOEFL, which is geared towards testing
English level prior to entering an American university. IELTS is an exam from the
UK and Australia which is widely recognized for academic and professional
purposes. Of all the exams, it is Cambridge First Certificate which seems to have
established itself as the most widely accepted basic qualification in English, and
the exam is taken by a large number of students worldwide each year. An
examination preparation course should probably include:
Language work that is likely to be relevant to that needed in the exam;
Tasks and activities to raise general language awareness, ability and skills;
Specific practice on exam techniques (e.g. multiple-choice questions, writing
essays, etc.);
Work on study skills (e.g. use of dictionaries and grammar books, ways of
working with recordings at home, etc.)

Posters
When new language is studied, the students (or you) make posters to help them
remember it. As the course progresses, these slowly take over the room, acting as
a very useful aide-memoire and a source of further work. I often find students
browsing through these before class starts or in lunch breaks. Typical posters
might be on phrasal verbs, tense problems, articles, present participle or infinitive?,
etc.

Lexi box/file

Whereas posters are a good way of recording lexis, the sheer quantity of new
words met on a course could soon fill the walls. An alternative is the 'lexis box5. At
the end of each lesson (or day), the students review what they have learned that
day, record any words worth recording on squares of paper (or card) and file them
in the box or file. This record is a good source of material for you to exploit in future
lessons (e.g. exercises and games recycling these words) and for students to look
through.

3 Teenage classes (age 13-16)

Personal choice and investment
I have a suspicion that many of the problems that teachers notice in teenage
classes - especially ones related to boredom, discipline, answering back,
rudeness, etc. - reflect issues that also exist in adult classes. It's just that the adults
are generally more restrained and do not state as openly what they think or want,
and the teacher may remain unaware of the depth of feeling, disillusionment, lack
of engagement or boredom. A lot of issues that surface as ill-discipline or rudeness
may just reflect the fact that the learner is feeling powerless and out of touch with
something that they are being required to do.
All of which suggests that key techniques for teenage classes might include:
A willingness to listen and be flexible in response;
following the class as much as leading;
Where appropriate and possible, sharing the responsibility for key decisions -
topics, work methods, work rate, homework, tests, etc.;
Ways of getting useable feedback regularly through lessons and courses.

4 Large classes

Some common resulting difficulties:

Students can't move easily.
You can't move easily.
The seating arrangement seems to prevent a number of activities.
There is limited eye contact from you to students.
There is limited or no eye contact amongst students.
You can't give attention equally to all students.
Interaction tends to be restricted to those closest to the front.
The seats at the back tend to attract people who want to do something other
than learn English.
People 'hide' away.
There is often a very wide range of abilities.
Discipline can be a problem.
Lecturing seems to be the only workable lesson type.
A lot of techniques outlined in this book seem impossible.


Chapter 16 Toolkit 3: tools, techniques, activities

1 Flashcards

Flashcards is ELT jargon for pictures (or diagrams, words, etc.) that you can show
to students, typically something you can hold up when standing in front of the
whole class. They are also useful for handing out as part of various activities.
Schools sometimes have their own library of flashcards, but many teachers build
up their own stock. They are a very useful teaching aid, especially in your earlier
years of teaching.

2 Picture stories

Pictures and picture stories can be in a book or handout, drawn on the board or
OHP, on flashcards or on posters. Traditionally they have been used a starting
point for writing exercises, but they are also very useful for focusing on specific
language points or as material for speaking and listening activities.

3 Storytelling

Many teachers use stories as an interesting route into grammar lessons, but bear
in mind that stories have a great deal of value in their own right. Just tell stories for
pleasure; not stories and then comprehension exercises; not stories and then
students retell; not stories and then write it up for homework. The aim here is the
same as that of the tribal elder round the campfire or the mother reading to her
children at bedtime or a group of friends in a bar telling anecdotes - to tell a story
for the listener's pleasure. Storytelling is a useful short activity for the end of a
lesson, perhaps, or mid-lesson to provide a change of mood.



4 Songs and music

Songs on recordings, video/DVD or perhaps played on a guitar in the classroom
are often used as a Tiller' activity to change the mood or pace of a lesson. They
sometimes tend to get relegated to the 'Friday afternoon' slot as a sort of reward
for the week's hard work. Fine, but do be aware that songs can also be usefully
integrated into the main flow of your course.


6 Fillers
Most teachers find they need a small collection of fillers'., i.e. things to do when
they've run out of other material, perhaps because the main activity went much
faster than expected and (even having stretched it) there is still a seven-minute
gap at the end of the lesson before the bell rings. Fillers are also useful at the start
of a lesson as a warmer (particularly when you are waiting for some latecomers) or
mid-lesson as a way of changing the pace, or of breaking up similar activities.
Fillers may be quite separate from the surrounding lesson or they might connect in
some way. They are often useful as a chance to recycle lexis from earlier lessons
or as an opportunity to work on activities that have a 'group-building' aim rather
than a purely language aim.

8 TV, DVD and video

This is the obvious way of using visual equipment: sit students in front ofthe TV,
Switch it on. Let them watch the programme through. This is the classic 'lazy'
teacher's lesson. It works fine, and most teachers who have access to the
equipment will have done this at some time. But there must be more to video than
this! By simply playing around with this basic scenario a little, we can create some
excellent lessons.