Teaching ESL (or any other language) has much in common with any other teaching, but also has its own unique challenges. Among other things, it needs some understanding of how language works, quite a bit of patience, and considerable showmanship, as non-verbal techniques, gesture, facial expressions, are needed to scaffold the weaker linguistic understanding of the learner.
Teaching English as a second language is significantly different than teaching English literature and composition to a high school class of (mostly) native speakers, though of course there is some overlap as well. For one thing, even intelligent adult second language learners make grammar and pronunciation errors on things any four-year-old native speaker knows; an ESL teacher has to teach and correct those. Also, you have to monitor and adjust your own English, speaking slowly and clearly, avoiding slang, sometimes explaining terms, and so on.
At any level, the teaching needs to be highly interactive. Too much talk by the teacher is fatal; you cannot teach language-using skills either by lecturing or (except in tiny groups) with a series of one-on-one interactions between the teacher and different students. You must set up situations for students to actually use the language. Often this means introducing some vocabulary and/or grammatical structures on the board or in a listening or reading exercise, then setting up some sort of pairs or group task where students can try it out. Various sorts of discussion, role-playing or game activities are often used.
A whole range of props are often used ? maps to practice giving directions, newspaper clippings for reading comprehension or summary-writing practice, menus for a restaurant role-play, pictures for parts-of-the-body or parts-of-a-car, cartoons to provoke discussion, and so on. Sometimes the teacher must find or invent these; sometimes the school has a stock, as in the picture, or they can be borrowed from other teachers. It is fairly common for teachers working overseas to ask friends at home to mail them posters and other props, or to collect props themselves on visits home. If you are going abroad to teach, bring props or mail yourself a batch before leaving home.
Getting beginners started speaking English is difficult. Techniques include translation, mime, pictures, and a lot of repetition. With young learners, you may be able to make a game of it.
With intermediate students, you get questions that strain your knowledge of your own language. If "He doesn't have much money" is OK, what is wrong with "He has much money"? Which is better: "a big red balloon" or "a red big balloon"? Why? Is the other incorrect or just unusual? Training and grammar reference books can help here, but sometimes the answer is just "That is the way we do it."
For advanced students, especially in ESP settings, you may need considerable knowledge beyond the language itself. For example, to teach business English above a certain level, you must know quite a bit about business.
A major part of the ESP approach is needs analysis, figuring out how your students will use the language.
In some situations, needs analysis is a formal process and courses are written to order for specific groups. Often, however, the teacher just does an informal analysis and finds or invents exercises to suit a class.
Consider a company somewhere that exports products to English-speaking countries. The engineers might just need to read manuals and product specifications in English; they might never hear, speak or write it. Marketers might need to read the quite different language of orders and contracts, and to both read and write emails in much less formal language. Some of them might also need to talk with customers. Executives might need to handle complex negotiations in English ? a task that requires not only excellent spoken English but also business skills and an awareness of cultural differences. Ideally, each of these groups would get a different English course.
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Teaching English
Where To Stay & Best Hotels in Teaching English - updated May 2024
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