Teach English in XiguAnjie Jiedao - Wuwei Shi

I first learned about some of the teaching methods of the past used in teaching English, including the classical method, audio-lingualism, suggestodaedia, the lexical approach, the silent method, and others. I saw the pros and cons of each. Personally I feel that the classical or grammar method is still one of the most important methods to retain, although it wouldn't be good to rely on this method solely. At some point, understanding the intricate grammar of the language becomes necessary for advanced accuracy, although the effectiveness of word-for-word translation will vary depending on the similarity of the language. We then looked at the ESA method. This method was an attempt to gather the pros of all the preceding approaches and methods, while leaving out the cons. Essentially, ESA lessons follow a three-part structure: Engage, Study, Activate. The Engage phase is the most informal part of the lesson. Students come in speaking their own language, and they need to make that mental shift so they are thinking and speaking in English. This part of the lesson should be more fun than academic. Also, students should not have their mistakes corrected during this phase. There are many activities and games that can be used at this time, such as Buzz Fizz, the Alphabet Relay, Partner Information Gathering, and others. The Study phase is the most structured \"teaching time\" of the lesson. This is where the teacher will explain the new lesson in English to the students. However, the teacher cannot be the only person talking. They need to be eliciting the answers out of the students to see that they are catching on the the point being taught. Eventually, the students should be able to fill in blanks and form sentences of their own, showing that they have understood the lesson. This is the time for worksheets and board work, and also for correcting errors in the students' learning. The activate stage is the time when theory is put into practice. The students have just learned rules in the study phase; now they need to be able to apply those rules and use them freely and fluently in situations. Role-playing exercises seem to be the most common activity used here. However, students can do other things, such as write posters or advertisements of their own, or, in more advanced classes, topical debates can be held. One potential drawback of the ESA method is that it can eventually become predictable and therefore boring to the students. Fortunately, this can be averted by switching up the ESA order. A boomerang ESA will go EASA, while a patchwork ESA goes E[ ]A, with any order in the middle. What is important is that the lesson begins with an engage phase and ends in an activity phase. Teachers need to be aware of when and how to correct the student during the lesson. For sheetwork, a simple correction code can be used to help the student. During the Engage phase, students should not be corrected. They can be corrected during the study phase, but only in the proper way. First, the student who has made the error should be given the opportunity to recognize and address the error themselves. If not able to do so, the teacher should let other students give the right answer. If they also cannot do this, then, as the last resort, the teacher should give the correction and reexplain the rule. Lastly, I learned that there is a difference between mistakes and errors. Mistakes are when the student probably knows the correct word or tense, but due to nervousness or chance, they made a mistake in spelling or pronunciation or word order. Mistakes like this should probably not be corrected. Errors however, are incorrect spellings, pronunciations or word order that is ingrained in the student. They think that their error is correct, or simply have not learned the correct way. This should gently been corrected by the teacher. There was a lot of content in this lesson, but I found it extremely helpful and informative.