Title 94 - How to Teach Adult Learners like a Pro.pdf ✅

CONTENTS HOW TO TEACH ADULTS 3 HOW-TO: Speak Up! Sure-fire Ways to Help Teens and Adults Overcome Shyness 4-5 TIPS & TRICKS: 15 Tricks to Get Your Adult Learners Talking 6 MUST READ: Adults And Children: The Differences Every Teacher Should Know 7 WHY: Why Adults Are Learning English (and How You Can Help Them) 8 HOMEWORK: Adult ESL Learners: Homework Assignments That Work 9-10 MUST READ: Classroom Management for the Adult (and Not So Adult) ESL Student 11 SEASONAL: How to Teach a Christmas Lesson Adult Learners Will Never Forget 12 ATTENDANCE: Teaching Adult Learners: How To Handle Attendance Problems 13-14 HOW-TO: Teaching Adults How-To: Advantages and Challenges 15 WHAT THEY KNOW: Teaching Adults: They Know More Than They Tell 16 WHAT THEY WANT: What Adult Learners Want: Know Them To Teach Them Better 17 HOW-TO: How to Teach English to Beginners 18-19 MUST READ: 15 Secrets to Teaching Adults 20 STRATEGIES: 5 Strategies for Teaching the Beginning ESL Student 21 MUST READ: Top 8 Tips on Teaching Absolute Beginners 22 HOW-TO: How to Teach the Verb “To Be” to Beginners 23-24 HOW-TO: How to Teach Present Simple to Complete Beginners 25 ERROR CORRECTION: 5 Non-Verbal Ways to Do Error Correction 26 MUST READ: 7 Best Ways to End a Lesson 27 MUST READ: 9 Five- Minute Activities That Will Save Your Lesson One Day (And Maybe Your Reputation, Too) 28 HOW-TO: How to Teach Using Gestures and Mime 29 LEARNING STYLES: See it, Hear it, Do it: ESL Activities to Teach to the Seven Different Learning Styles 30 OLDER LEARNERS: What Every Teacher Should Know about Reaching Older Learners 31 WHAT THEY KNOW: Expert Sharing: Making the Most of Your Students’ Knowledge 32 HOW-TO: How to Teach Current Events to ESL Students 33 MUST READ: 7 Terrific Telephone English Activities for Adult ESL Learners 34 HOW-TO: Getting to First Base: Teaching Resumes and Cover Letters 35 MUST READ: From ESL Zero to Hero: How to Teach Absolute Beginners 36 CULTURES: Addressing Cultural Conflict in the ESL Classroom 37-38 ETHICS: The 10 Commandments of the Ethical ESL Teacher

4 15 Tricks to Get Your Adult Learners Talking AT THE VERY BASE OF IT, THE WHOLE POINT OF KNOWING A LANGUAGE IS TO SPEAK IT, READ IT AND BE ABLE TO WRITE IT. BUT SPEAKING IS THE MOST IMPORTANT FORM. When language first evolved, people originally spoke. The written word is, in historical terms, only a very recent invention and there have been thou- sands of languages before which were never written down. Knowing the correct grammar forms, how to read it and theoretically how to form sentenc- es is all well and good, but the Eng- lish language is no use to someone if they are unable to speak it. It is important, therefore, to get one’s students talking in every possible situation. Some teaching methods have two things which are known as Teacher Talking Time and Student Talking Time (TTT and STT). When one sets out to teach a class, the ultimate goal is to help them speak English better than they have before. Theoretically it should work out thus: the teacher does most of the talking in the beginning, but this quickly ceases to the point of where the students are speaking at the end. One knows that the class is a definite success when students are chatting amongst them- selves in English. Below is a list of interesting tips and tricks which will help one to encour- age their adult learners to speak more during class. HOW TO Get Your Adult Learners Talking: 15 Tricks You Should Try 1 DISTRIBUTE QUESTIONS This is a very simple method. After a reading exercise, one will gen- erally ask students about the text at hand. Sometimes it can be tempting to ask everyone generally, but a great way to get specific people to speak (particularly those who are quite shy) is to single them out and ask the ques- tion. This might seem simple, but it is something many teachers forget. 2 ROLE PLAYS It cannot be stated enough how important a role play is within the world of language teaching. Practical language use is practised within these exercises, and therefore it will allow the students to use what they know in a more creative manner. These can generally be quite a lot of fun. 3FIND AN INTERESTING TOPIC Getting a topic which is somewhat controversial might do well to stimu- late debate in the classroom. An ex- ample would be if one were speaking about, say, immigration, some people might be interested in speaking their mind about this particular topic. Be careful, however, as sometimes one might touch on a sore or sensitive point, so monitor what kind of materi- als are used in class. 4 ASK THEM ABOUT THEMSELVES Everybody enjoys speaking about themselves. If one is teaching a busi- ness class, then this will undoubtedly be a great opportunity to inquire as to what job everybody does. Maybe you could go around the room and ques- tion everybody in turn about their role and responsibilities. Since people enjoy speaking about themselves in general, you will get a lot more con- versation from them this way. 5ENCOURAGE THEM TO ASK QUESTIONS Try and encourage students to ask questions about various topics them- selves. For example, one might say, “And why do you think Sonia did this..?” Usually directing it at a person will help. Ask them why they think a par- ticular verb form is correct, and instil in the students that asking questions will lead to better proficiency within the language. 6 TEACHING PRONUNCIATION Sometimes, depending on where you are teaching, students may not be pronouncing certain words in a correct manner. Different languages have dif- ferent phonetics, therefore one needs to be sure that the students can speak in a way that is as close as possible to that of a native speaker. Pronuncia- tion classes can also be a lot of fun. 7 DEBATES Holding a debate in class is a great way of getting the students to talk a bit more. Sometimes the topics can become somewhat heated, and this will encourage them to use their newly acquired skills more creatively. 8 NEWS STORY Similar in the way to a debate, discussion over a particular topic of current news will allow students to ex- press their views. This may not work for all students, of course, so it is im- portant to ask them. 9 TURN TO YOUR NEIGHBOUR Probably one of the oldest methods. Students who split up into pairs find that they are obliged to talk. In order to ensure this, keep walking around the class until the end of the exercise and make sure that everyone is speaking. 10 TAKE A CLASS POLL Ask a question about a particular topic and take a poll. An example could be, “Should the government fund stu- dent tuition?” Students can then air their views and discuss them.