As an online ESL teacher, it is your duty to maximize the talking time of the students to ensure learning. Reassess how you are impacting the learning environment by observing the behavior of the student. Often you will encounter students who will not speak at all because they are embarrassed about their inability to speak the language or perhaps they are being shy. With this, here are some effective ways and strategies you can try to increase the student’s talking time and enhance their learning experience.
Begin the Class with Opening Remarks
To get your students comfortable inside the online classroom, begin by making friendly opening remarks. By providing them information about yourself, you are showing that the students that they can trust you. In addition to that, asking them how they are doing should make them feel at ease. Regardless if there is a possibility that you may never encounter the student again, gaining their trust during the first class can turn them into regular students. Once students begin to like your style of teaching and the learning environment you provide them, expect to be regularly booked. With this, you must always keep notes of every student that you encounter.
Get Students to Read the Instructions Alone
One way to get the students involved is to guide them in reading the instructions. By letting your student read the instructions, you are establishing purpose and creating a clear context for the activity. In addition to that, allowing students to read the instructions will make them ask questions regarding words that they do not understand. Otherwise, it will be easier for you to observe which words you have to explain further because often students show confusion or difficulty through body language and facial expressions.
After allowing the students to read the instructions, you may proceed to reiterate it again by explaining it using different words. When you do this, make sure to use simple English words. If need be, use the chatbox that translates the English language to the students’ dialect. On a final note, never proceed to the lesson if the instructions are unclear to the students. Assist the students to ensure that they are on the same page as you are.
Have Students Share Their Learnings
By the end of the lesson, ask the students to recap the words or phrases they have learned. Often, lesson plans include mini evaluation tests at the end of the presentation that should serve as a guide. The test allows you to recognize whether the students need to repeat the lesson or proceed to the next. Having students summarize their learnings is an effective comprehension and fluency practice. Take note, students take a final examination by the end of each chapter before they are allowed to move up to a higher level.
Insist on Complete Sentences Every Time
While it is normal for a native English speaker to answer directly without using the proper sentence construction, requiring your students to do so should enhance their talking time. Associate a gesture to remind students to speak in complete sentences. It could be the motion of spreading your left and right hands apart. Gesturing the reminder is better than cutting the student by talking as this can make them forget about the next words they are about to say.
Ask Open-ended Questions
Open-ended questions increase the students’ talking time because they are forced to explain themselves. Ask them basic questions that begin with how, why, where, when, and how often, to make sure the students will try to talk and have a conversation with you apart from the actual lesson. Take note, never stop with one question once you have the student talking about their activities and passion. Here is a sample conversation to give you an idea of how to extend the student’s talking time.
Elicit Responses from Students
When you directly tell the student the answer to their question, they will just receive it passively. Instead of telling the student, elicit from them and provide some clues. For instance, explain the purpose of a certain object in the presentation before saying what it is called in English. Take the example of a water bottle. Instead of just saying it is a water bottle, you can explain it with “this object where you can put water and bring it with you anywhere you go? It is called a water bottle”. The simple explanation should enhance the learning of the student as it is easier for them to remember the English name for objects if there is a meaning associated with it.
Key Takeaway
The more you speak, the less the students speak. Increase the student’s talking time by making the class more interesting and allowing them to be comfortable inside the online classroom. Give your students enough time to speak to enhance their fluency and increase the chances of retention.
