How to teach language:

- What does language study consist of?

There are four things that students need to do with new language:
1. Be exposed to it
2. Understand its meaning
3. Understand its form
4. Practise it
- How should we expose students to language?
In a classroom,a major part of the teachers job is to expose students to language so
that they can use it later. Here are some examples of how we can do this.
Exmple 1: Its a pen (complete beginners)
The teacher is with a group of complete beginners. She wants them to be able to say
what objects are called.
Example 2: invitation (elementary)
The teacher wants her elementary students to be able to invite each other and respond
to invitations.
Example 3: comparatives (lower intermediate)
The teacher is going to get students to use comparative adjectives. Before she does
this, however, she ha them read the text opposite. The text give students many
examples of compaative adjectives used in a fairly realistic way.
Example 4 : protection (upper intermediate)
The teacher wants the students to be able to use the word protection correctly. She
shows them the following printout from a computer.

- How can we help students to understand meaning?

- Some of the ways we can help students to understand the meaning of new language
are illustrated in the following examples.
Example 1: Its a pen (complete beginners)
This is perhaps the easiest level at which to explain meaning. Some of the ways of
helping students to understand, then- especially when dealing with fairly simple
concepts-are: objects, pictures, drawings, gesture and expression.
Example 2: invitation (elementary)
In tis example, the teacher starts by showing the students a pitcure of invitation. She
gets the students to asks their names and tells them what the names are and with
another question about this invitation.
After she has played the tape of the invitation dialogue she can ask them questions to
check they have understood the situation.
Example 3: comparatives (lower intermediate)
The teacher can start by asking about the text, then explain the meaning of individual
adjectives, could show a pitcure, could check question to see if the students have
understood the other comparative concepts, e.g.
Anything which help students understand meaning is worth trying.
Example 4 : protection (upper intermediate)
The teacher may not need to explain the meaning of protection to the students since
they can either work it out for themselves ( by looking at the computer printout) or
check in a dictionary.
Explaining the meaning of abstract concepts is often difficult ame consuming but it
may need to be done. One way of doing is to show them enough examples of the
word being used so that its meaning emerges naturally. Another possibility is to ask
students to write their own dictionary definitions and then check them with a good
learners dictionary. The teacher could ask them to explain what the word means or-
in the case of protection-she can simply explain that the word means safety from
danger/discomfort etc.
- How can we help students to understand language forms?
Aswell as hearing/seeing language-and understanding what it means-students need to
know how it is constructed, how the bits fit together. Whether the teacher gives them
this imformation or whether they work it out for themselves, they need to
comprehend the continuent sounds, syllables, words and phrases of the new language
as the following examples show.
Exmple 1: Its a pen (complete beginners)
When the teacher first says pen she can then show what the sounds in the wod are
by saying them one by one. By picking out the bits in this way, she clearly explins the
sound construction of the word. The exaggrated use of voice and gesure are also
important for demonstrating intonation. A particular feature of spoken and informal
written english is the way in which we contract auxiliary verb forms. A similiar
technique which has been very popular is to use fingers. The teacher points to each of
her fingers in turn, giving each finger aword.
Some teachers use small wooden blocks of different lenghts and colours to show wod
and sentence stress and construction and there are other visual pissibilites too: cards,
drawings, getting students to physically stand in line as if they were word and
sentence elements.
The point of all these techniques is to demonstrate to students how the elements of
language add up. So the trick, for the teacher, is to work out what the important
features of a word, phrase or grammatical structure are and how the bits fit together.
Example 2: invitation (elementary)
With language like invitations, it may be helpful to treat some consecutive words of
the invitations as a single unit. In other words, we can take more than one word and
treat them as one chunk of meaning, e.g.
Example 3: comparatives (lower intermediate)
Teachers can always ask students to work things out by usig their own questions and
procedures. What is important is that the teacher should be there to tell them if they
have worked out the rules correctly
The teacher will want to make sure that the students know what a comparative
sentences sounds like. She can say Trains are cheaper than planes showing through
voice and gesture how the rhythm and stress of the sentence works.
Example 4 : protection (upper intermediate)
Students clearly need to know how protection is spelt and what it sounds like-it
stressed on the second syllable etc. But the computer printout tell us more than that,
and the teacher can help students to see what is there.
Protection-offer/provide/give protection againts/from/for
Information is available in good dictionaries, but it is not so memorable, perhaps,
when referred to there. Because the students have studied the computer printout
themselves- and worked out and discovered facts about the word protection on their
own-their understanding of the construction of the word and its grammatical
surroundings is likely to be much greater and more profound.

- How should students practice language?

If and when students have been exposed to language whose meaning and construction
they understand, it makes sense for them to practice it under controlled conditions.
This will allow them to check that they have got it right.
Practice should not go on for too long, however. There are many other things that
teachers and students want to do in classrooms and too much practice will take time
away from them.
Exmple 1: Its a pen (complete beginners)
 Repetition can be very useful for students especially at beginner level. It gives them a
chance to see if theyve understood whats happened so far and if they have, it gives
them the confidence to try and use the language themselves.
Practice session at this level are likely to be a combination of repetition and simple
sentence-making of the kind the teacher is using in this example. With different
words and constructions, she may not be able to hold up objects or point of them;
instead she can use pitcures, drawings, mime, gesture, words, etc.
Example 2: invitation (elementary)
As with the previous example, he teacher can get choral and individual repetition of
the key phrases. When she has done that, she can get one student to ask the question
and another student to answer..
Now she can ask students to make different invitations. She can try and elicit
alternatives.
If she thinks students need more oppurtunity to practice this question and answer
exchange, she can put them in pairs to make as many invitations and replies as they
can. While they are doing this, she can go round listening and helping where
neccesary-or she can stand at the front of the class getting an idea of how is going
before stopping the pairs and hearing one or two of them with the whole class.
Example 3: comparatives (lower intermediate)
Once again, the teacher may want to have students repeat a sentence or two to give
them a chance to try out the new language. She may also fell that the students need
practice of the individual word forms- the new comparatives.
To check that students have understood the meaning and the constru of comparative
adjectives, she can ask them to make sentences comparing other things such as
bicycle and cars using the adjectives from the lesson.
However, it is important to stress that with comparatives-as with any other language
point-the amount of repetition (choral or individual) depends on how useful,
enjoyable or comforting the students find it. The teacher could, for example, ask
students to produce their own sentences straightway and correct them appropriately
so that they learn as they try the new language out.
Example 4 : protection (upper intermediate)
In the case of protection (upper intermediate), it doesnt seem sensible to have
students repeating sentence individually or in chorus. In the first place, the sentence is
likely to be very long and long choruses are notoriously difficult to get right. In the
the second place, students at this level should know basic sentence construction and
pronunciation anyway, so they are unlikely to need it. Lastly, students at this level
may feel that repeating sentences in chorus (for example) is too unsophisticated for
them.
A much better kind of practice is to ask them to make their own sentences using the
word correctly. This often works best if they write sentences, since in this way they
ae given time to work things out. When they read back what they have written, the
teacher can tell them if they are using the word correctly and appropriately.
Repetition does still have a use at this level despite what we have said. Students may
still have problems pronouncing words-or working out how words should be
pronounced just by looking at them. A quick chorus of environtmental or effective
can sometimes help to ensure that the students start using these new words
correctly.

- Why do students make mistakes?

- How should teachers correct students?
- Where do language study activities fit in teaching sequence?