Immersion technique
When taught at a
language school English needs to be used
throughout the lesson to ensure students are kept on
their toes, getting used to the sounds of the
language and how it is used in day-to-day
situations.
Teachers can take different approaches to
creating scenarios within the classroom to help
vocabulary remain in the students’ minds.
Creativity with classroom materials can assist
with this. Children, especially, may not want to
study from a dry textbook all day. Using props and
role plays, or encouraging children to make posters
and their own teaching aids, will help them remember
and understand more easily. Which, of course, leads
to…
Interactivity and practicality
Linked to the points above, planning lessons to
give students a big dose of interactivity will
ensure students have as much chance as possible to
speak – the best way to improve their pronunciation.
It will also mean the words they know are usable in
everyday situations, which, for many, is paramount
Cultural understanding
There’s more to learning a
language than just knowing the past
and future tenses. With
English courses London schools
offer, students will be surrounded
by certain behaviours and usages
that other English-speaking nations
would not use, and this should be
explained.
It’s essential that learners gain
an understanding of how to approach
social situations in
English-speaking countries; it could
even be useful to explore the,
sometimes substantial, differences
between these nations. Impressed by
the window display in a New York
boutique clothes store? Exclaiming ‘Crikey,
what a cracking load of outfits – do
you do them off-the-peg?’ will
probably leave the sales assistant
staring blankly. On the other hand,
forgetting to
tip at a
restaurant will be
greeted with a more frosty reaction,
while
tipping would be highly unusual
in a London pub.
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.English language entertainment
Vogue, Shakespeare, The Matrix, Bill
Bailey, Eastenders – what do they have in
common? They are all in the English
language, and though they each cater to
different tastes, interests and age groups,
they could all be useful while teaching
English as a foreign language.
Everyone knows teaching has moved on
since the Victorian times. Students,
irrespective of age, will only be able to
take a certain amount of dull repetition of
verbs in parrot fashion. Although having
grammatical skills is vital, for many
learners, taking on something that really
interests them will motivate swift learning.
It may even encourage them to continue the
process outside the classroom.
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