MODULE TEACHING ENGLISH IN THE ELEMENTARY GRADES

CHAPTER 7: TEACHING ENGLISH FOR BEGINNERS: TIPS AND TECHNIQUES

Objectives:
At the end of the lesson, the students will be able to:
a.) memorize the different activities for the beginners;
b.) summarize the tips on how to teach English for the beginners;
c.) execute one suggested activity inside the class.

HOW TO TEACH ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE TO BEGINNERS

Teaching English as a second language for beginners is a challenging task for

anyone. No matter what your background, or experience level, you will encounter
constant new challenges when teaching English as a second language. Like teaching
other subjects, you’ll find that every student learns differently. At the same time,
depending on the primary language of each student, you’ll face new challenges unique
to that language. However, with some work and knowledge, you’ll be able to gain the
skills you need to teach English as a second language to beginners.

TEACHING THE BASICS

1. Start with the alphabet and numbers.

One of the first things you should start with is to teach the alphabet and numbers.
By teaching the alphabet and numbers, you’ll create a great foundation for everything
else that your students will learn.

- Have your students learn the alphabet to a certain point.

You can start at "a" and go to "m," if you want. Have your students finish the
alphabet at a pace you are both comfortable with. The point is to push your students but
to not push them too hard.

- Ask your students to work on numbers.

As with letters, start them and stop them depending on their capabilities.
Consider creating a worksheet on which students can practice writing letters and/or
numbers.

- Use flashcards with a word that begins with each letter of the alphabet to
reinforce your lesson.
- Learning the alphabet might be easier to speakers whose native language uses
the Latin or English alphabet.

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4. Teach pronunciation, especially for difficult sounds.

Teaching pronunciation is extremely important when teaching English as a

second language. Consider focusing on sounds that are particularly hard for English as
a second language students like:

- The "TH." The "TH" (like in "theater" or "thing") does not exist in a number of
languages. As a result, it's relatively hard for some ESL students (such as those
from Romance or Slavic language backgrounds) to pronounce.
- The "R." The "R" sound is also difficult for many ESL learners for a variety of
reason including the fact that it is pronounced differently depending on regional
dialects.
- The "L." The "L" sound is another difficult one for ESL learners, especially those
from East Asia. Spend extra time on the "L."
- The "H." The "H" sound is difficult for many ESL learners, especially Spanish
speakers who are used to the letter being silent. In English, it's usually
pronounced, but it may confuse students when it appears in "gh," as in "laugh,"
or "sh," as in "fish."

5. Teach your students nouns.

After teaching the alphabet and numbers, move on to nouns. Teaching nouns will
be one of the easiest things for your students to learn. This is because your students
will be able to look at everything around them as potential things to learn.

- Start with common objects in your classroom.

- Move on to common objects in your city or town. Good examples are: car, house,
tree, road, and more.
- Continue on to objects your students will encounter in their daily lives, such as
food, electronics, and more.

4. Explain how adjectives modify nouns.

Adjectives allow you to describe nouns, so they're important for good

communication. It's helpful to teach adjectives right after you teach nouns because
adjectives are used exclusively with nouns.

- Adjectives change or describe other words. Examples of adjectives you can

teach are: wild, silly, troubled, and agreeable.

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5. Instruct your students on verbs.

Teaching verbs will be a huge step in the process in which your students will put
together full sentences (written or spoken).

- Verbs describe an action. Examples of verbs you can teach are: to speak, to talk,
and to pronounce.
- Spend extra time on irregular verbs. The word "go" is a great example of a
difficult English irregular verb. The past tense of "go" is "went." The past
participle of "go" becomes "gone."

6. Teach that adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs.

Adverbs allow you to add extra details to your sentence. Your students can use
adverbs to clarify how or to what degree they did something. They can also use adverbs
to add more detail when using adjectives to describe a noun.

- Adverbs describe or change the meaning of verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs,
adding to their meaning. Examples of adverbs include very, wearily, happily, and
easily.
- If a word ends in -ly, it's likely an adverb.

7. Explain tenses and articles.

After you’ve covered nouns, adjectives, verbs, and adverbs you need to move on
to teaching tenses and articles to your students. Without understanding how to use the
proper tense and where to use articles, your students will not be able to put whole
sentences together.

- Tenses explain when something has happened or occurred. Make sure to

explain past tense, current tense, and future tense.
- Articles are adjectives that provide extra information about a noun. Articles
include: "a," "an," and "the."
- Make sure your students master tenses and articles, as they are paramount in
their ability to construct sentences and to speak properly.

8. Practice common phrases.

One great way to teach English is to encourage your students to practice and
use common phrases. This is important, as your students won’t understand the
meaning of many common phrases just based off of the literal meaning of the words.

- You should tell your students to repeat those phrases (and use them) until they
feel comfortable using them in conversation.

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- Begin with a few common phrases like “never mind,” “no doubt,” or “make
believe.”
- Provide your students with a list of common phrases to work with and think
about.[6]

9. Teach basic sentence construction.

After you've taught the alphabet, verbs, and more, you should begin to teach
your students basic sentence construction. This is important, as it will provide a
foundation to their writing ability. It will also aid them in reading. Teach the main five
patterns that sentences in English are constructed around:

- Subject-Verb sentences. These sentences have the subject followed by a verb.

For instance, "The Dog runs."
- Subject-Verb-Object. These sentences have the subject first, followed by a verb,
which is then followed by an object. For instance, "John eats pizza."
- Subject-Verb-Adjective sentences. These sentences have the subject first, a
verb, and then an adjective. For instance, "The puppy is cute."
- Subject-Verb-Adverb sentences. These sentences have the subject, a verb, and
then an adverb. For instance, "The lion is there."
- Subject-Verb-Noun sentences. These sentences have a subject, a verb, and end
with a noun. For instance, "Emmanuel is a philosopher."

EMBRACING BEST PRACTICES

1. Encourage students to speak only English in the classroom.

One great way to facilitate learning is to encourage students to avoid speaking

languages other than English in the classroom. This necessarily forces students to use
their knowledge of English and further develop them. It also provides teaching moments
for instructors and learning opportunities for students.

- This tactic is best used when students have already learned the basics (basic
questions, greetings, the alphabet, and numbers).
- When a student uses English incorrectly, correct them in the proper way.
- Always be encouraging.
- This tactic works well with the “repeat after me” and/or “answer me” approach.
For instance, you can make a statement or ask a student a question. It will give
them the opportunity to answer in English.
- Avoid becoming a “language police.” If a student has difficulty and has to talk in
his or her native language, don’t shame them. Hear their concern.

2. Provide verbal and written instructions.

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When explaining an activity or giving directions about homework, classwork, or a

project, you should always give both verbal and written instructions. Giving both verbal
and written instructions allows your students to hear words and see them in print at the
same time. This will aid in word association and in pronunciation.

- Print off directions to an activity and distribute them to students before you
explain an activity. If you are teaching online, email directions to your students
before you explain it to them via video.

3. Monitor students’ progress constantly.

No matter what type of lesson you are teaching or what activity your students are
doing, you should monitor them constantly. Monitoring students will allow you to see
their progress and to find out if they are struggling.

- If you’re teaching in a classroom environment, walk around and talk to students

to see if they are having trouble.
- If you’re teaching online, send messages or emails to students and ask them if
they need help.
- Make yourself available as much as you can when students are doing in-class
activities or other activities.

4. Promote a diversity of modes of learning.

Teaching English as a second language to beginners is a lot more effective when

you use a variety of types of learning. Diversity in learning is important since each
student is different and learns differently.

- Use speaking.
- Employ writing.
- Encourage reading.
- Suggest listening.
- Try to promote all of the modes of learning equally.

5. Break lessons into small pieces.

When teaching beginners or very young students you can break the lesson into
several pieces of about 10 minutes. Breaking lessons up into small pieces will make
sure you don’t lose your students' attention. At the same time, it will make sure that you
don’t overwhelm your students.

- You don’t need to stay at exactly 10 minutes. Feel free to go a few minutes over
if it will aid your lesson.

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- After each mini-lesson, switch to a totally different sort of lesson. This will help
refresh students and keep their attention.
- Change your mini lessons daily. Try to incorporate as many different lessons as
possible to keep your students' attention and to challenge them. However, don't
add too much new information at once, as your students may get overwhelmed.
Instead, change your strategy often but stick to the same material until your
students understand it.

MAKING LEARNING ENGLISH FUN

1. Use games to reinforce the topic of the day.

Games will help students learn English by making it fun and by compelling them
to think in new and different ways.

- Try a Jeopardy-type game that uses a point system to get your students to
compete against each other.
- Consider a Family Feud-style game if you want your students to work together in
teams.
- Try memorizing or guessing games that rely on flash cards. For instance, display
a flash card with a hint and see if your students can guess the correct answer.

2. Use visuals to teach language.

An important way to teach language is to use visuals in order to build word

association. By using visuals to promote word association, your students will be able to
make stronger connections between ideas and new words that they are learning in your
class. Consider:

- Pictures and photographs.

- Post-cards.
- Video.
- Maps.
- Comic books. Comic books are especially good because visuals and text are
paired together.

3. Promote the use of targeted language apps on mobile devices.

One great way to teach English as a second language is to incorporate the use
of targeted language applications on smart phones. Targeted language apps are a great
way to reinforce what you have taught during instruction time, as students can use them
to practice their language skills and to learn new phrases and words.

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- Targeted language apps are available on a number of smart phone operating

systems.
- There are a wide variety of free targeted language apps, like Duolingo.
- Some apps provide the opportunity for multiple students to work together to
learn.

4. Use social media.

Social media is a great way to teach English as a second language for

beginners. Social media provides a great opportunity for you to teach colloquial phrases
and commonly used words. In addition, it provides an opportunity for students to
observe word usage and to practice what they have learned.

- Try an “idiom of the day” lesson. In this, you can pick common idioms or
colloquial phrases, and explain them to your class.
- Have your students follow popular figures on Twitter and translate their tweets.
- Start a social media group and have students share news pieces and explain or
translate them in English.

BEGINNERS ARE MORE CHALLENGING TO HANDLE

Absolute beginners are a tough nut to crack because they have no previous
knowledge of English. They’ll be coming to you raw, sometimes without knowing their
ABC’s, numbers, and common phrases like “Hello!” and “Goodbye!” They won’t know
what nouns and adjectives are or how to form a sentence or question. On the other
hand, false beginners think they know English because of past exposure. For instance,
they’ve spent countless hours studying the language but can’t hold an English
conversation with a native speaker. It’s up to you to diagnose your students’ language
proficiency levels and prepare teaching English to beginners’ material that works on the
basics before you get into anything more advanced.

SIX TIPS ON HOW TO HANDLE BEGINNERS

Still scampering around trying to plan teaching English to beginners material?

Here are 6 steps to teach English to beginners like a pro!

1. Keep it simple.

This is the one of the most important steps to teach English to beginners. Many
newbie teachers make the mistake of using too much English when giving their students
instructions, praise, or other feedback. For instance, saying, “You guys, now we’re
going to look at a new structure today so let’s get those textbooks out” in ESL beginner
lessons makes you sound like you’re from Mars.

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Instead, say something like this: “Take out your textbooks. Okay?” with an OK sign if it’s
culturally appropriate in the country you’re teaching in. Gestures are super important
and help beginners better understand even when the classroom English seems clear to
you. This tip will save your life if you’re teaching English to complete beginners.

2. Always check for understanding.

A rookie mistake many persons teaching English to complete beginners make is

assuming that the students have understood the lesson or classroom instructions. In
your first lesson for beginners, adults or kids, your students may not be accustomed to
the Western way of schooling where students raise their hands if they don’t understand.
Instead, they may be feel embarrassed to admit ignorance in front of the class and
prefer to remain silent. When teaching beginners English, you need to read your
students’ body language to gauge whether they’ve understood and keep checking
whether they've understood by asking, “Okay?” Students will let you know directly or
subtly whether they’ve got it or not.

3. Give them lots of time to practice.

In ESL beginner lessons, you cannot expect your students to get it immediately.
You need to provide lots of examples, check for understanding, and then ensure that
your class has enough time to practice what you’ve just taught them. When teaching
beginners English, this usually means drilling the students (making them listen and
repeat the language structure several times after you) and then having them practice it
individually or with other students. Make sure to let them know that it’s okay to mess up
during practice time so they don’t feel pressured to be perfect on the first try.

4. Show, don’t tell.

One of the steps to teach English to beginners is to show, not tell, in the classroom.
Students will better understand what you’re trying to say if you use visual cues rather
than spill a lot of words in their direction.

What does this mean exactly? Instead of saying, “Let’s learn the passive tense” practice
how to teach basic English by giving clear examples of the target language structure
with simple drawings, pictures, short skits, and exaggerated gestures.

5. Always use positive reinforcement.

Here’s another one of the steps to teach English to beginners. If someone gives an
incorrect answer, don’t yell, “You’re wrong!” Never, ever embarrass a student in front of
the entire classroom. You’ll scar him or her for life and he or she will hate English
forever because of you. Instead, try to create a friendly atmosphere in the classroom by
praising your students often, even when they make mistakes.

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For instance, when doing English teaching for beginners, if they get the word right but
just mispronounce it, say something like, “Okay, good!” and then repeat the word with
the correct pronunciation so that you don’t shame the student and the rest of the class
gets to hear the right way to say it.

6. Don’t be boring.

English teaching for beginners doesn’t have to feel like pulling teeth. Instead, use lots of
games to encourage your students to practice and produce the language you’ve taught.
Also incorporate your students’ interests so they want to learn! For instance, don’t use
Garfield if they love Hello Kitty!

SEVEN ESL BEGINNERS’ LESSON AND ACTIVITIES

No matter the age of your students, follow these steps to teach English to beginners.
Are you ready to get the ball rolling? Here are some awesome ideas to get you up and
running regarding how to teach English to beginners!

Lesson idea #1: Show (But Don’t Tell)

Teaching English to the beginners’ material doesn’t have to be uncool! This

game is similar to the party game, Charades. It can be used as a warm up or to practice
the target language structure (s) with any age group. It’s a gesture and speaking
activity.

“Students get into pairs. One student gets a flash card with the vocabulary word but he
or she cannot show it to the other student. This student must act out the word with
gestures and without using words. For instance, if the flash card says “ball” the student
has to act out “ball” and the other student has to guess the word before time runs out (1-
2 minutes). The students then switch roles so that the first student gets to guess and the
second student has to act.”

This activity can be graded informally regarding the number of students who guess the
right answer within the time frame.

Materials needed: timer, vocabulary flashcards

Lesson idea #2: Find someone who

Want to know how to teach English to beginners? Try this survey game that works best
with teenagers and adults. It’s a speaking, listening, reading, and writing activity.
Prepare worksheets with a grid with 6 squares. In each square, write a category with the
language structure you’d like them to practice.

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For example:

Someone who likes dogs: Someone who doesn’t like school:

Someone who likes ice cream: Someone who doesn’t like cake:

Someone who likes the color red: Someone who doesn’t like to read:

Students walk around the class and find peers who fall into each category and write
their names. How can you assess this? The first person to complete the entire activity is
the winner or the person with the most points at the end of the time period (one point for
each name) is the winner.

Materials needed: worksheets, timer

Lesson idea #3: Shiritori

Teaching beginners English? Try Shiritori, a traditional Japanese game that literally
translates “taking the butt.” The class gets into a circle and the teacher starts with a
category like animals. He or she then says two animal words like “cat dog” while
clapping to keep time. Everyone also claps to keep the rhythm.

The next person must say “dog” (the teacher’s last word) and a new animal word like
“elephant.” If someone can’t think of a new word, repeats a word that’s already said, or
doesn’t say the words in time, he or she is out. This game can work with almost any age
group and is a listening and speaking game. It’s not really great for formal assessment
but works as an awesome warm up!

Materials needed: nothing!

Lesson idea #4: Talk to Three

Confused about how to teach the basics English? This speaking activity can be used
with any age group. It can be used to practice any language structure you teach or as a
warm up. The teacher models the activity with three volunteers. He or she approaches
the first volunteer and it goes something like this:

Teacher: Hello!

Student: Hello!

Teacher: I’m sleepy. How are you?

Student: I’m happy.

Teacher: Super! Goodbye!

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Student: Goodbye.

The teacher then demonstrates the same activity with the other two volunteers and
once he’s done, he can sit down. The first students to sit down are the winners!

Materials needed: timer

Lesson idea #5: Crossfire

Doing English teaching for beginners? This will be a great warm up for younger
teenagers and kids and can be used to practice previous knowledge. All students stand
up. The teacher picks a student at random and asks him or her a question that tests the
language structure the class has already learned. If the student’s gets it right, he or she
can choose to:

1. Sit down by himself/ herself

2. Let his/her row across sit down

3. Let his/her row down sit down

The teacher continues asking questions until the entire class is seated.

Materials: none!

Lesson idea #6: Rock, paper, scissors train

This is a good listening and speaking activity for young kids and you need a lot of space
to play this game. It’s a great warm up too. All students stand up. Each student is a train
engine. Each student meets another student and says the target sentence (s).

For example:

Student 1: I like soccer.

Student 2: I like volleyball.

Then, they play rock, paper, and a pair of scissors. The loser becomes a car behind the
winner. When two trains meet, the entire train that loses goes behind the train that wins.
The class plays until there is only one train, the winner!

Materials needed: timer

Lesson #7: Simon Says

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This is for very young kids and it’s primarily a listening activity. It’s great for warm ups.
The teachers acts as Simon and the other students must do whatever Simon says, as
long as the phrase “Simon says” comes before the command.

If Simon does not say “Simon says” before the command, students are not supposed to
follow it. If a student follows a command without a “Simon Says,” he or she is out of the
game. You can add your own variations to the game. For higher grades, you can add
different actions such as “Simon says play baseball.”

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