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It is very important to establish rapport with the students and set the tone for the rest of the course. When teaching a new group, the students don`t know each other and some work will be needed to establish a good rapport between class members and the teacher. If you are teaching a existing group the students already know and feel comfortable with each other and will be familiar with EFL teaching. When faced with a first lesson the teacher should not resort to the course book but use activities that will achieve the following: Establishing rapport between students and teacher. Find out about the students needs/wants with English. Find out the English level of each student. This can be done through the following activities: Questionnaire/Survey- The students can interview each other, allowing them to get to know each other. `Tell us about` which is a board game in Keep Talking. Students roll a dice and move their counter to the corresponding square and tell the class about the topic on that square. Pass the ball game- The teacher tosses a soft ball to a student and asks any question, the student answers the question and then tosses to the next student etc. `Warmers` can be used as well, for example: Hangman, Pictionary, Tongue Twisters, Memory games. Remember to make them fun and keep it short. Where a group are at varying levels the teacher can use different materials, students can be split into two groups, the stronger ones with each other and the weaker students in one group. Materials can be given to each group appropriate to their level, or the students can receive the same material and the stronger students receive longer more complicated tasks appropriate to their level. Stronger students can be paired with weaker students, but the teacher should make sure that the stronger student does not do all the work while the weaker student fall behind. When teaching large classes it is difficult to involve all students equally, but there are different techniques to create successful classes. Rather than going through activities with the whole class, hand out worksheets, this way all the students will have participated. Use pair/group work to maximise student involvement. Ensure that your voice and board work is visible/audible to the whole class. Choral repetition helps to get all students involved. Group leaders can be appointed to make classroom management easier, hand out worksheets, collecting work. Students will revert back to their native language at times, try to avoid it, but don`t ban it completely. Encourage the use of English, when students speak to you in their own language, make sure you don`t respond even if you do understand their language, answer them in English. The teacher needs to constantly remind the students, encourage and remind them to get used to English in the classroom. Encourage students who are reluctant to talk or participate in the following ways: Use plenty of pair work. Using controlled practice. Use role-play. Using a tape recorder. Students need to improve their listening skills as well. Before playing a tape to the students the teacher can pre-teach difficult vocabulary. In conclusion, keep everything fun and short, to avoid boredom.
