Teaching Grammar for ESL

When I started teaching ESL (English as a Second Language) I was told to incorporate grammar into my lessons, rather than teach it separately.  However, after teaching for a while, I realized that adult ESL students come from school systems that tend to teach grammar separately. Having always learned this way, ESL students expect to study grammar in isolation from other aspects of the language. They are used to such an approach, and it gives them a feeling of accomplishment.
Now, in my lesson plans, I teach grammar as a separate topic. I begin by presenting a specific grammar topic – for example, irregular past tense verbs – and then use these verbs in context, in games, in conversational activities and so on. Teaching this way is important, because grammar lessons tend to be very dry otherwise.
These introductions last no more than 30 minutes. Any more than that, and people begin to lose interest. Then, I embed this grammar lesson into a broader class lesson.
After finishing with my grammar lesson (in this case, irregular past tense verbs), I move on to cover the four general skills: reading, writing, speaking and listening. While teaching these, I integrate the grammar lesson that the class has just learned.
So, for a reading passage, I will choose a story told in the past tense – or a story told in the present tense, which I will then ask the students to change to past tense. I will assign a writing exercise like: ‘What did you do last weekend’? For speaking, I will ask students what they did in their home country. And for a listening exercise, I will ask them to interview another student, and then report it to the class.
Another way to do this is to choose a single topic for the entire lesson, both grammar and the four skills. For example, a topic could be something like jobs or job interviews. If the grammar lesson of the day is irregular past tense verbs, we can discuss the students’ past job experience, their past job responsibilities and so on. They can conduct mock job interviews with each other (exercising their speaking and listening skills), fill out a job application (writing) and go over wanted ads in the newspaper (reading).
In this way, they will practice the grammar point, learn the relevant and get plenty of practice in the grammar and related vocabulary to the topic. If I were to teach English online, the steps would be very similar.
 

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Posted in English as a second language  |  Tagged English as a Second Language, ESL, Grammar

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ESL – English as a Second Language

ESL, or English second language, refers to people, using or learning English, whose native tongue is different. Teaching English as a second language -  ESL, is something that requires a lot of patience and knowledge. The tasks facing the ESL teacher are many. English second language students need to practice both writing and speaking skills and the ESL teacher is required to find ways in which students can practice and polish their English. But as some classes will have as many as twenty or even thirty ESL students, teaching English as a second language while paying attention to the specific needs of each student is not always simple.
If you think of thirty English second language students sitting in the same class, each one with specific learning needs, you may reach the conclusion that assisting each and every one of them is virtually impossible. Some ESL students may have more difficulties with grammar while others may have severe spelling mistakes. Some ESL students may find it very difficult to express themselves coherently while speaking, others will have pronunciation problems.
In order to find ways to assist each and every one of your ESL students, sometimes during a short period of time, you need the right assistive technology tools.
Assistive technology can help you to pay close attention to the specific learning process of each and every one of your English second language students. While teaching English as a second language, you can have your students work with an automatic grammar and spelling correction tool. The grammar and spelling correction tool will also monitor all the errors each one of your students is making. Then, it will present you with personal reports, detailing the strengths and weaknesses of each one of your students.
It would take the English as a second language teacher many hours to go over a written assignment and analyze her student’s mistakes. By receiving computerized reports that present frequent errors and analyze them, the ESL teacher can determine immediately what to recommend her students in order to further advance their learning process. The students may also use the online correction grammar and spelling tool outside of the classroom and install it on their home computer. That way, they can practice and self improve out of the classroom to make sure the English language becomes a part of their day to day lives.
 

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Posted in English as a second language  |  Tagged English as a Second Language, ESL

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