REFLECTION | 03 Communicative context
For having a communicative context we must take into account the different ways to engage learners, all the questioning techniques and the importance of the visual aids.
WAYS TO ENGAGE LEARNERS
We have to be sure that when the children take part in a communicative interaction they see their own progress with the language (and, of course, they will enjoy that). So, if we are not able to pull them to talk, then they won’t be able to create language.
Sometimes, when teachers think about an activity in which communication has to be the main objective they commit the error of singing a song. When singing a song, the children are just repeating something, but they are not creating language. Teachers must think about activities where creativity and motivation are present, because they are crucial factors for learning English.
So… how can we engage learners?
Have an activity ready as soon as they come into the class.
Use a fun ice-breaker to create a positive learning environment.
Tell the class the objectives of the lesson so they know what to do.
Laugh with your learners: learning should be fun.
Put learners into small groups, to help them getting comfortable talking with their pairs.
QUESTIONING TECHNIQUES
We usually focus too much on the lesson, without including the learner in the process. We must change our point of views of teaching, and make the students be as important as the teachers. For making it possible, we can use:
Brain storming activities before starting the lesson. The teacher can write the topic of the lesson on the board and they do the brain storming in pairs or in little groups. In this way, you give them time to think, all the students can participate (even if their level is not the best), and the teacher can help them.
Clarifying listening tasks instructions. It is useful to repeat the instructions twice and doing gestures. We can check if they have understood everything asking them what they have to do. (IMPORTANT: do NOT translate the instructions into Spanish or Catalan!!!)
After the listening task, the teacher can ask the learners to compare their answers in pairs.
Getting feedback. The teacher sets up a short discussion of their ideas.
An extension activity. Children can create in groups a poster about what they remember of a listening task, or of what they have worked during the lesson.
VISUAL AIDS
When you prepare an activity, it’s important to use visual to help students to understand the lesson. For example, my group prepare an activity about Saint Patrick’s Day, and we decorated al the class with shamrocks, we were wearing green clothes and we gave our classmates a cookie with a shamrock shape.
