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This unit covered some of the most well-known methods and techniques for teaching a foreign language. It then went in to great detail on the Engage-Study-Activate methodology and gave many examples of games and exercises that would be appropriate for each stage. Seeing these example lesson plans makes me realize that I need to spend a lot more time on the Engage and Activation phases. I have a tendency to want to focus on the study phase, which can make students bored and frustrated. It is good to know that teaching and correcting is not required in the engage phase, and that the goal is to get every student warmed up and speaking some English. This stage should be engaging and fun, and varied so that no one gets bored. In the Study phase, I realize that I don?t often do exercises specifically geared towards pronunciation or spelling. I would also like to know how exactly to go about analyzing a text, especially for lower levels. It can be challenging to teach all the grammatical terms if a student doesn?t even know them in his or her own language. I had never thought about the difference between a mistake and an error, but now I realize that a good portion of the incorrect speech I hear is probably mistakes. People often ask, ?what did I say? after I correct them, and then they are surprised to find out. They often know that what they said was wrong, but it slipped out anyway. The text states that correction by the teacher should be the last resort, and that self correction should be encouraged, even with speaking errors. I?m not sure how to communicate that someone has made a mistake without telling them what it is. The suggestion was to say ?again? with a questioning tone. I?ll be sure to try that. I was surprised to read that it?s always a bad idea to correct while a student is speaking. I have had some people tell me they prefer it, and some people tell me that it distracts them. I can see now that I?ve been correcting too much in general, especially in the Engage and Activate stages.
