Are you a new ESL teacher struggling to get your students to speak up? Even experienced teachers find it challenging to teach absolute beginners. But don’t worry! This post will give you immediately useful techniques to unlock your students’ desire to speak English, specifically tailored for beginner ESL teachers.
In this post, you’ll learn:
- Why your students are hesitant to speak.
- How to focus on vocabulary and quick responses for rapid progress.
- How to motivate your students to study English outside the classroom and embrace learning!
Let’s embark on a journey to create the best English lessons, where you and your students can learn and grow together!
1. Why Aren’t My Students Speaking? Understanding the Beginner’s Mindset
1. Why Aren’t My Students Speaking?
There are clear reasons why beginners are hesitant to speak. the main causes are:
- Insufficient Input (especially vocabulary).
- The belief that they must speak perfect English.
- A weak desire to speak English.
In other words, your students are not ready to speak. No matter how great your lesson is, the effect will be halved if you don’t address these underlying issues.
2. The Key to Teaching Beginners: Vocabulary, Quick Responses, and… Passion!
When teaching beginners, focus on these three key points:
- Vocabulary Reinforcement
- Emphasis on Instant Responses
- The Power to Motivate
A lack of vocabulary is the biggest reason why students can’t speak. It’s essential to have them thoroughly learn words and phrases.
Also, let them know that they don’t need to speak in perfect sentences. Focus on instant responses first. It’s important to get them speaking, even if they make mistakes.
And the most important thing is the power to motivate. As the document states, “You can’t teach English to someone who doesn’t realize the value of English.”
Enthusiastically share:
- Why you’re glad you learned a foreing language.
- What they can do once they speak English.
- What students want to achieve using English.
By understanding your student and their goals, you can strongly ignite their desire to “want to speak English!”
2. Receptive to Productive: Designing a Smooth Lesson Flow
Effective lesson planning has a basic flow:
- Receptive Activities (Listening, etc.): Input
- Drills (Repetitive Practice): Consolidation
- Dialogue (Conversation): Output
In other words, first, input by listening and reading, then consolidate with repetitive practice, and finally output through conversation.
Also, it’s important to warm up the students in order to release any inhibitions and make them more receptive to learning. And finally, closing the class allows students to review what was learned and feel a sense of accomplishment.
1. A Practical Example: A 50-Minute Lesson Plan for Beginners
Let’s consider a lesson for beginners.
| Structure | Time | Contents |
|---|---|---|
| Warm-up | 5 min | Simple greetings, self-introductions, simple games |
| Listening | 5 min | Listening to simple words and phrases. Use picture cards and gestures. |
| Drills | 15 min | Vocabulary practice using flashcards, repetition exercises. Keep it fast-paced and fun! |
| Dialogue | 15 min | Practicing simple greetings and self-introductions. Practice through role-playing. |
| Other Activities | 5 min | Easy games using learned words. Gesture games, bingo, etc. |
| Closing/Wrap-Up | 5 min | Review the lesson. Check the words and phrases that we remember from today’s lesson. Say them aloud together! |
Key Points:
- Above all, make it fun!
- Praise them a lot!
- Create an environment where students feel comfortable speaking!
3. Beyond the Classroom: Motivating Students to Learn Independently
As you know, one lesson per week is not enough to learn a foreign language, how much students are exposed to English outside of class is the key to improvement.
Recommend that they:
- Sing English songs.
- Read simple English picture books.
- Watch English videos (with subtitles).
And introduce materials that match the student’s interests.
Conclusion: Become a Passionate Teacher and Unleash Your Students’ “I Want to Speak!”
How was this post for you? I hope you found it helpful!
To get your students to “want to speak!” It’s important to:
- Understand why students can’t speak.
- Enhance vocabulary and instant response skills.
- And above all, teach with passion.
Convey your own “I love English!” feeling to your students, and create the best English lessons where you can grow together!
