Teach English in Chang'An Zhen - Zhangye Shi

The 3rd unit covers some main methods and techniques of teaching English language, like grammar-translation, audio-lingualism, Presentation, Practice and Production, task-based learning, communicative language teaching, community language learning, the silent way, suggestopaedia, the lexical approach. When choosing the best technique we need to make sure that all the important factors come into play in the classroom which are: students need to be motivated and be exposed to the language, they need to have the opportunity to use it; anxiety and stress need to be low and the students should be encouraged to discover language for themselves. In this unit it is suggested that Engage, Study and Activate is the most effective and the most logical approach for new teachers to learn and apply in the classroom, because it allows all the previously mentioned conditions to be applied. One of the most useful components of this process is elicitation which is asking thought-provoking questions. 'Engage' is a sequence in the lesson where the teacher tries to get the students involved in the lesson. Activities of this stage can include games, music, interesting pictures, stories etc. The aim is to warm up the students and get them thinking and speaking English as much as possible. The teacher should ensure that every student speaks some English. It is not essential to link 'Engage' into 'Study' phase because the aim is to have high student talk time with everyone contributing. 'Study' is the second stage it usually starts with elicitation which is the basis of the work. It is followed by the presentation of the language point and drilling exercises. The aim is to learn some new English language concepts. Before handing out the material the teacher should do an example on the board. 'Activate' is the last stage where the students are encouraged to use the language that they know. The aim is for the students to communicate as freely as possible. The focus is on fluency rather than on accuracy. Usually, this stage includes role-plays, communication games, debates, story writing. The students should be encouraged to be creative. I like that this unit contains very useful ideas for all three stages. For example, typical 'Engage' phase include discussions, prompting based around pictures, drawings, video, short reading text, real objects brought into class, etc. The 'study' phase activities include elicitation, pronunciation, spelling, meaning, word order, analysis. Students can do language drills, tongue twisters, crosswords, gap fills, matching exercises, true/false activities, analyze typical constructions in texts and dialogues. This unit also draws attention to giving feedback which has the aim of encouraging self-awareness and improvement. The students need to evaluate their success and progress. The teacher should be always on the lookout for positive points to comment upon. Praising the students is equally as important as correcting. It is important to understand that mistakes and errors are not the same. A mistake can be thought of as a slip of the tongue. An error is something that happens when it the student doesn't know the correct form or can't get it right. The teacher should bear in mind that by making errors learners experiment with language and this is part of the learning process. The teacher should avoid interrupting the flow of the activity or a dialogue. It would be appropriate for more correction during the 'Study' phase and not during 'Engage' and 'Activate' stages. Using codes is one of the most effective ways of correcting written work. I'm sure that I will use the information from this unit when preparing my lessons because it has som? very practical advice.