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)oralyn Bradshaw Tleachers often think thar they
reminds us that telling I cant give young learners
II English
instructions for activities in
because they are too
children what to do long and complicated for them to
follow. However, learning to give
needs careful thought effective instructions in the target
language is well worth the effort. lt
and planning. provides an opportuniry for children
to acquire language naturally in an
authentic, purposeful context, and at
the same time it gives them the
satisfaction of being able to show
understanding through their responses.
What sort of
instructions?
There are two types of instructions
which a teacher needs in the young
learner classroom:
* lnstructions between activities
* lnstructions to organise an activity
The first type basically forms part of
everyday teacher classroom language.
Here are some examples: Ioke out your
books! Write it in your notebooks. 6ive this
out Stop tolking now, pleosel Nearly all
teachers use this type of instruction
from the very first English class. ln this
way, they gradually build up quite a large
bank of instrüctions in English, which are
easily understood through the context
in which they are given.This type of
instruction rarely causes problems.
The second type is used to set up
and prepare children to carry out a
specific activity, such as pair- or
' www.etprofessionar.com . ENGLTSH
groupwork, a team game, a board or
card game, or perhaps aTotal Physical
Response (TPR) activiry. (A q/picalTpR
activity would be when the teacher gives
a command, egTouch your noselThe
children carry out the instruction,
showing that they have understood the
language.) With this rype of instruction,
teachers may encounter some difüculties.
Avoiding confusion
o Look at the following instructions.
How successful do you think this
teacher will be in setting up the
activityl
How successful do you think the
children will be in carrying out
these instructionsl
'Oldchildren,we're going to do on
adiviry to proctise preposiüons. Morio,
sit down and look ot mg pleose! Now,
I'm giving you oll o piece of poper ond
I want you to keep it secreLActuolly,
some papers ore lobelled with üe
letter A; itt ot the top. And sorne ore
tobetled with the lener B. Old now look
ot your poper.You hove to describe
where the things ore in youi piaure to
your portner. No,Ano, don't show your
porner! Now sit opposite your
partner. Loo,N move your choirs now
thot\ right Now, describe where the
üings ore in your picture, so that.your
portner con see whot's different in his
or her picture.When you find
soniething different, drow it in your
picture. Oh ond by the woy,you must
agree with your portner abo'ut whot's
differenLLoter;we con disploy your
pictures on the woll. Old now does
everyone understond?'
These instructions are a good example
of what can happen when instructions
are not carefully planned and delivered.
The teacher ends up feeling frustrated
and the children confused.Why?
Täachers need to preplon instructions
like the ones above, until they get used
to delivering effective instructions.They
also need to think about how they are
going to de/iver the instrLtctions. .*.. lrs Pr,.
rcecunj- professional . rssue 38 May 2oo5 . 23

Gilinggreat
instruciions!
Planning
All successful teachers of young
learners have gone through trial and
error when learning holv to give
effective instructions. Listed below are
some tips on planning, which you might
find helpful:
E Onry include essential
information that the children
need to carry out the activity.
Children already have a lot of
information to process when listening
to this type of instruction.Therefore it's
important to make sure that the
instructions contain only the essential
information required for them to be
able to do the task.Telling children the
linguistic aim of the activity or what they
will do after it has finished, for example,
will only serve to distract them.
El Use simple vocabulary and
structures that the children
will be familiar with.
Your aim is to give simple instructions
which the children can carry out.
Therefore the level of the language in
which the instructions are given should
match that which-they have already
been exposed to. Using complicated
structures will confuse the children and
you will lose their attention.
E Break the instructions into
short sentences, each
containing a key step.
As children mature, they are developing
their attention span so that they can
concentrate for increasingly longer
periods of time. lt is important to keeP
se_ntences short.The instructiõns
should be broken down into.easily
manageable steps, and each sentence
should contain a'bite-sized' step for the
; children to work with.
E Vake sure that the steps are in
a logical order, and that no
steps are missing.
Perhaps one of the mošt essential
aspects of planning is to list the
instructions in a logical order for the
children to carry out.Think about when
you want them to move their chairs,
get into groups or teams, etc.When do
you want them to look at their
worksheets? Remember that once the
children are asked to move places or
look at materials, their aftention will no
longer be on you!
As a rule of thumb, organise the
children into the seating or grouping
positions you require eody in the
instructions.
Only hand out materials at the
moment you want the children to look
at them. lf you forget one step in the
instructions and have to go back, they
will get confused.
Make a note of the steps to refer to
until you get used to instruction giving.
El Don't include information
about what you are doing.
,
It's important to control your
classroom language. For example, if you
are handing out materials, it isnt
necessary to tell the children what you
are doing - it will be clear from your
actions.While it's good to have natural
exposure to English, when giving a
series of instructions, teachers should
keep to the essentials of what the
"
children need to do.This helps to focus
their attention.
El Plan which gestures you can
use to accompany the steps.
Teachers of young learners are used to
being good actors! The art of giving
effective instructions relies heavily on
the use of clear gestures to.accompany
the steps. Language is always more
easily understood in context. Holding
up and showing children the materials
with which they will work, or
demonstrating how they must do
somethingr will always produce good
results. Make sure that you always
exaSSerate your gestures and make
them larger than life!
Dont assume everyone has understood!
Questions such as 'Do you understond?'
or 'Hos everyone understood?'are not
sufficient. Children who have not
understood are unlikely to let you
know for fear of appearing foolish. Get
concrete evidence from the children
that they know what to do. One way of
doing this is to ask one or two of them
to tell you quickly, in their mother
tongue, what they are going to do.
***
E Plan the actions you want the
children to perform.
'One of the problems with delivering a
series of instructions is maintaining the
attention span of the children.The age
of the children will determine how
many steps of the instructions they will
be able to hold in their memory.The
best solution is to organise the steps as
far as possible in lock-step so that you
can demonstrate and the children can
carry out that part of the instruction.
Now look at the instructions at
@ the beginning of this article again
and see if you can improve them!
Delivering
Once you have carefully planned the
instructions, it's worth giving some
thought to how you are going to
deliver them. Here are some guidelines:
E When you are ready to begin
the activity, make it obvious
that you are about to give
instructions..
You need to make sure that the children
are listening before you start. Establish
silence, make eye contact with as many
children as possible and speak loudly
and clearly. t
El Remember to use silent pauses
and gestures to punctuate anr"
clarity the meaning.
As you deliver the steps, look around at
the children to see how they are doing.
Repeat the instruction, if necessary, until
you see that everyone is following you.
E Always use a demonstration
wherever possible.
The following options are available:
* The teacher demonstrates with a child
* The teacher uses a pair/group of
children to demonstrate
* The teacher demonstrates alone (in
lock-step with the class if possible)
!l Don't forget to check that the
children have understood the
instructions.
Giving great instructions takes practice.
Why not video yourself or record
yourself when you next set up an
activltyl Maybe you could invite a
colleague to watch you and give you
some feedback.
lf you gradually work on your
instruction-giving techniques, I can
guarantee you will have a more dynamic
classroom where the children are iust
dying to see what the next activity is
that you have up your sleeve! @