Teaching Adults

Adults bring life experiences and a level of maturity into the classroom that children and adolescents
do not. Their expectations and motivations reflect this. Here are several keys to keep in mind when teaching adults:

Adult classrooms may present great diversity Be prepared for diversity of cultural background, age, previous formal education, previous exposure to English, life experiences, and current life situations. Adults respond well to knowledgeable, enthusiastic teachers You must be comfortable with the subject matter you are teaching and communicate enthusiasm for the subject matter and your role as a teacher. This will help you gain respect and is especially important if you are younger than your students. If you must teach material which is challenging for you, try not to communicate a negative attitude about the material to your students. If a student asks a question which you can't answer, don't be afraid to say, "I don't know, but I'll find out for you." Adults are not too old to learn a second language well Although native language learning and literacy are best accomplished in childhood, when it comes to learning a second language, research has shown that adolescents and adults outperform children. Adolescents even surpassed children in pronunciation skills. One of the reasons children appear to acquire a second language faster than adults is simply that they get a lot more practice with other children and have lower inhibitions, but many adults have attained a high level of fluency in a foreign language. Adults need a comfortable and safe learning atmosphere Trial and error should be encouraged in language learning. Adults will take more risks in an environment where it's safe to make mistakes without embarrassment. You may want to minimize public reading and writing until your learners gain confidence, especially if literacy skills are deficient. The same goes for standing in front of the group to speak. Adult learning is transformative Learning in childhood is said to be formative, when skills and concepts are developed for the first time. Adults, on the other hand, are extending and refining their knowledge based on existing knowledge and beliefs. They are changed or transformed by learning experiences. Adults need repeated practice of a concept or skill Adults generally need patience and repetition to solidify new language concepts or skills. If adults have already developed bad habits with English errors, these will take time and effort to break. Adults also tend to have a lot on their minds and limited time to practice English outside the classroom. Adults learn well with question asking and answering, and problem finding and solving These activities require mature thought processes which stimulate and motivate adult minds. Adults want practical, real-life contexts The more relevant and useful the subject matter, the more motivated your learners will be. Adults enjoy materials that relate to their personal experiences and interests, and they want to be able to apply what they're learning in the real world.

Teaching Speaking

Speaking English is the main goal of many adult learners. Their personalities play a large role in
determining how quickly and how correctly they will accomplish this goal. Those who are risk-takers unafraid of making mistakes will generally be more talkative, but with many errors that could become hard-to-break habits. Conservative, shy students may take a long time to speak confidently, but when they do, their English often contains fewer errors and they will be proud of their English ability. It's a matter of quantity vs. quality, and neither approach is wrong. However, if the aim of speaking is communication and that does not require perfect English, then it makes sense to encourage quantity in your classroom. Break the silence and get students communicating with whatever English they can use, correct or not, and selectively address errors that block communication. Speaking lessons often tie in pronunciation and grammar (discussed elsewhere in this guide), which are necessary for effective oral communication. Or a grammar or reading lesson may incorporate a speaking activity. Either way, your students will need some preparation before the speaking task. This includes introducing the topic and providing a model of the speech they are to produce. A model may not apply to discussion-type activities, in which case students will need clear and specific instructions about the task to be accomplished. Then the students will practice with the actual speaking activity. These activities may include imitating (repeating), answering verbal cues, interactive conversation, or an oral presentation. Most speaking activities inherently practice listening skills as well, such as when one student is given a simple drawing and sits behind another student, facing away. The first must give instructions to the second to reproduce the drawing. The second student asks questions to clarify unclear instructions, and neither can look at each other's page during the activity. Information gaps are also commonly used for speaking practice, as are surveys, discussions, and role-plays. Speaking activities abound; see the Activities and Further Resources sections of this guide for ideas. Here are some ideas to keep in mind as you plan your speaking activities.

Content As much as possible, the content should be practical and usable in real-life situations. Avoid too much new vocabulary or grammar, and focus on speaking with the language the students have. Correcting Errors You need to provide appropriate feedback and correction, but don't interrupt the flow of communication. Take notes while pairs or groups are talking and address problems to the class after the activity without embarrassing the student who made the error. You can write the error on the board and ask who can correct it. Quantity vs. Quality Address both interactive fluency and accuracy, striving foremost for communication. Get to know each learner's personality and encourage the quieter ones to take more risks. Conversation Strategies Encourage strategies like asking for clarification, paraphrasing, gestures, and initiating ('hey,' 'so,' 'by the way'). Teacher Intervention If a speaking activity loses steam, you may need to jump into a role-play, ask more discussion questions, clarify your instructions, or stop an activity that is too difficult or boring.

ESL Games

Some of these can be used as warm-ups. Most of them can be linked to any lesson theme or
grammatical form you're working on. These games usually require at least a small group to play, but you may be able to adapt some of them for one-on-one settings.

Find Someone Who... (literate beginner-intermediate, group) Create a list of characteristics such as "likes chocolate," "has two children," or "can swim." There should be 10-15 items, and you can relate them to your lesson if you wish. Then let the learners mingle and get signatures of other learners who fit the descriptions. Make sure they are using appropriate question forms ("likes X" becomes "Do you like X?") and aren't just pointing to the items on the page. This can be made into a Bingo activity by putting the items on a grid. Pictionary (any level, group) Divide into 2-3 teams and give each a supply of paper if you aren't using a whiteboard. It's best if each team can sit around a table or have their own whiteboard space. Tell one member from each team what item to draw, and on your signal they may begin. The first team to guess wins a point. Play a fixed number of rounds and the team with the highest score wins. Notice that in this version, all teams are working independently at the same time to guess the same word, but you could take turns with each team. You can also give stickers or wrapped candy to the person or team guessing correctly if you don't want to make it competitive with points. Scavenger Hunt (any literate level, group) Divide into teams and hand out a list of items to be collected (a penny, a stick of gum, a signature, a pine cone, a shoelace, be creative). Define the searching range (classroom, house, campus, neighborhood, building). The first team to return with all the items wins a prize. Twenty Questions (intermediate-advanced, individual or group) Select an object in your mind and let the learners ask up to twenty questions to guess what it is. Trade places with the winner and let that learner select an object for the next round. Storyline (intermediate-advanced, group) Divide into groups of 4-6 people. Give everyone a sheet of paper and ask them to write the first sentence of a story at the top of the page. It may begin "Once upon a time..." if they like. Then they pass the page along to the next person in the group. That person reads the first sentence and adds one more to it to continue the story. Then that person folds the top of the page backwards so only his or her own single sentence is visible and passes the page to the next person. That person writes one more sentence, folds the paper back to hide the previous sentence, and passes it along again. When the pages have passed through the entire group one or two rounds, everyone unfolds the pages and reads the stories. They are often hilarious, and this game usually generates contagious laughter. Telephone (any level, group) Divide the group into two teams and have them stand in single file lines. Whisper a somewhat complex sentence (according to their level) into the ear of the first person in each line. Make sure no one else hears. Give the same sentence to each line. Then each person must whisper it into the ear of the next person until the end of the line. The last person must either say the sentence or write it on a whiteboard. The team whose final sentence most resembles the original one wins. In case of a tie, the fastest team wins. Try giving an easy sentence to start with to build confidence before moving onto a difficult one. If the game is too hard in the first round, learners will decide it's no fun.

Last Letter The last letter of the word must be the first letter of the next word. You will need a ball, but a screwed up piece of paper is fine. The teacher throws the ball to one student and says a word, such as "dog". The student must reply with a word starting with "G," such as "girl". When answered, the ball is thrown back to the teacher and it is then thrown to the next student, who continues. The sequence may then be (for example): girl, look, king, go, octopus, student ... and so on. You can have the students throwing to each other. i.e., student A = "Cat," throw to student B = "Today," throw to student C = "Yes," etc. Please be warned, you may have some fastball pitchers in the class! Chinese Whispers Divide the class into even rows. The last member of each row (at the back of the class) is taken out of the classroom. A "key" letter, word or sentence (depending on level) is given. The students run back inside, and whisper the "key" to the next student in their row. It is whispered down through the row until the last member writes it on the board. The first student to write it on the board correctly wins the point for their team/row. Fast Words The class is arranged into rows. The first person in each row is given a piece of chalk. The blackboard is divided into sections. No more than six teams. The teacher calls a letter and the students must write as many words as they can beginning with that letter, in the allocated time. Their team-mates can call out hints, but be warned, this is very noisy. Next, the second member gets the chalk and goes to the board and the teacher calls out a new letter. The team with the most correct words is the winner. Word Association The teacher starts the game by saying a word, such as "Hotel". For example: Teacher: Hotel Student A: Bed Student B: Room Student C: Service Student D: Food Student E: Restaurant Student F: Chinese As you can see, any association is ok. If the student can't answer (5 second limit) he or she must stand up. The last student seated is the winner. If the association is not obvious, the student is asked to explain the association.

Songs/Music Cloze Songs are a good way to teach in an "Edutainment" way because they incorporate all the language skills: (1) Listening (to the song) (2) Reading (following the lyrics to determine the words) (3) Writing (filling in the blanks) (4) Speaking (singing the song) Lower Level: (1) The song sheet is handed out to the students. (2) The teacher reads each word (at the bottom of the page) and the students repeat. This is done twice. (3) The tape is played twice in a row, with the students trying to fill in the blanks. (4) The students are invited to discuss it with their classmates for one minute. (5) The song is played again and students complete the missing words. (6) The teacher calls out the correct words. The students mark their papers themselves with a red pen, and record their scores. (7) The students with a perfect score receive a round of applause. (8) The song is played, one last time, with everybody singing. Medium Level: The same system is used. However, for the first playing the words are folded under, as shown on the song sheets. Only at the second listening, are the words revealed. Note: You can have a lot of fun seeing what the students come up with, before they are allowed to see the correct words. Higher Level: Complete sentences are deleted (liquid paper?), so more words must be recognised. The words are folded under for the entire listening while the tape is played. Only after all the listenings are the correct words revealed. With a little experience, the teacher will easily be able to adjust to the level of difficulty required. The songs have been chosen for their pronunciation and because they are familiar to most students. Variety in the types of songs, for instance, rock, ballad and so forth, is supplied. The song sheets (lyrics) have been made for the lower levels, and need to be modified for higher levels.

Sample Song: (Name:______________________) "Bus Stop" (1) (The Hollies) Bus Stop, wet day, she's there, I say, please share my __________________(1) Bus stop, bus goes, she stays, Love grows, under my umbrella All that summer we enjoyed ______________(2) Wind and rain and shine That umbrella, we employed it By ___________________(3) she was mine ** Every morning I would see her waiting at the ______________(4) Sometimes she'd shop And she would show me what she ________________________(5) All the people stared As if we were both quite insane Someday my name and her's are going To be the ________________(6) That's the way the whole thing __________________(7) Silly, but it's _____________________(8) A thinking of a sweet romance Begin and end with you. Came the sun the ice was melting No more sheltering ___________________(9) _______________________(10) to think that that umbrella led me to a vow. (** Chorus) Your score__________/10 --------------------------- Fold here, for the first listening at higher levels ------------------------------------

now, stop, nice, August, true, bought, it, same, umbrella, started

Let It Be (Lennon, McCartney) When I ______ (1) myself in times of trouble Mother Mary ________(2) to me Speaking _________(3) of wisdom, let it be. And in my _______(4) of darkness She ____(5) _________(6) right in front of me _____________(7) words of wisdom, let it be. Let it be, let it be. ___________(8) words of wisdom, let it be And when the broken hearted ___________(9) _________(10) in the world agree, There _______(11)be an answer, let it be. For though they may be_________(12) there is Still a chance that they will _______(13) There will be an _________(14), let it be. Let it be, let it be. Yeah There will be an answer, let it be. And when the night is ___________(15), There is still a ________(16) that shines on me, Shine on until ____________(17), let it be. I wake up to the sound of __________(18) Mother Mary comes to ________(19) Speaking words of ___________(20), let it be. Let it be, let it be. There will be an answer, let it be. Let it be, let it be, Whisper words of wisdom, let it be Your score_________/20 ------------------------------------------------- fold line -------------------------------------------------------------

will, wisdom, see, Whisper, hour, light, me, parted, speaking words, tomorrow, answer, living, standing, comes, music, cloudy, people, is, find

Oral Charades Write occupations and emotions on slips of paper: one each per student. Have students draw papers from a hat (or two) and have them describe the emotion and the job on the papers WITHOUT using those words. The rest of the class must guess the emotion and the occupation, e.g. "Happy Postman," "Frustrated Teacher."etc

I like to take my ESL "Newcomer" students (middle school) on "mini-field trips". Yesterday we went on a tour of the school store. Before the trip we practiced saying, "How much is ...?" and "How much are ...?" Then each student prepared a question for our tour guides, such as "Is the store school open during lunch?" and "How much are the Snickers?". In addition to asking questions, students did a sketch of something they saw during the mini-field trip. They will turn these sketches into postcards on large index cards. Eventually they will each create a photo album of their incredible mini-field trips. Upcoming trips include, a local park, the cafeteria, the gym, the office, my car, a nearby store, a neighbor's garden, etc. Also, writing thank you letters to our tour guides is a good follow up activity.

Here's a warm-up exercise to wake up a first or second class meeting. Have the students line up by alphabetically order. DON'T help them. DON'T organize it. Have the students ask each other their names and figure it out together (In English). Then you check it. Write the names on the board. Round Two, line up by Last name, alphabetically. Then check. Other variations. Line up by Birthday, Language, Distance from School, Size of family. Avoid obvious things like physical size, weight, hair color, etc...

Divide the class up into teams. Have one student on one team come up to the front of the class and give him/her a piece of paper with about 7 words on it centered around a theme. For example, you could have 7 words that start with M, or several words that are parts of the body. In two minutes (let the other teams watch the clock for you), the student with the paper must try to get one of the students on his/her team to say as many of the words on the list without using the word itself. One point is scored for each word guessed. The challenge here with a class full of students who all speak the same language is keeping them from giving hints in their native tongue. Usually, the other teams are vigilant about policing this for you, but when they are lazy, you'll have to lay down the law on your own. I can't take credit for coming up with this idea, it came from a book called ESL Classroom Activities. They call it "Just a Minute".

Hi everyone! This is a simple first-day icebreaker that I've found works really well, with both small and large classes: The students think of three sentences, two are facts and one is a lie. One by one, students introduce themselves and say their three sentences. The rest of the class has to guess which one is a lie. It's best for the teacher to go first, not only to provide an example, but also to let the students know that the teacher is interested in interacting with them. Here is a variation on Hangman I have heard called WORD SHARK. Instead of a man being hung, you can draw a man dangling from a cliff, with the ocean, complete with one ravenous shark, underneath him. When the first incorrect letter is guessed, the man begins his descent toward the shark, who, five or six wrong guesses later, will eat him. Graphically, I find Word Shark to be more interesting than Hangman. These days, I'm doing full sentences, not just single words. It is a good way for beginning classes to Preview grammatical models, one letter at a time, while still having fun. And, it gives the teacher an incentive to challenge the students, because it's fun to draw the stick figure being eaten by the shark.

I have started something new with my class. I have the students fill out a "Learning Log" at the end of each class to help them keep track of what they've learned throughout the month. I think this is important for both teachers and students. If the student says he never learned omething in class, a quick look through the Learning Log might give different information. Also, it s something concrete that the student can take home as " proof" to themselves that they have and are) improving their English. This is always good encouragement for them.

I'm currently teaching EFL class at a bank using self-help books, and found it is very helpful and rewarding. The book I'm using is "Chicken Soup for the Soul" by Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen. I believe that students pick up the language with feelings, not grammar. Sometimes, we share ideas and have a good laugh together after reading a humourous story. Not only to learn language, but also to have a better understanding about life. It's easier to solicit shy students to talk.

Whenever you have an activity that students write, Do not correct it. Type the written assignments out WITH the errors. Photocopy. Place students into groups, and give them the papers. As a group let them correct the errors themselves. They like the interaction, and seem more interested because it is their own actual work that is being corrected.

After this group activity is finished, as a class go over the possible correct answers together. This is a great activity to do once a week to get the students able to become their own editors.

An immense help to me as a language learner has been taking fun songs (whatever kind you like and is available: classics, drinking songs, pop songs, opera, show tunes, whatever) in the language I'm learning and transcribing the Lyrics so I know them. Then I listen to those songs and sing along either aloud (assuming I'm not in a situation where there's anyone around to be disturbed by me crooning in Haitian; don't try this on the El) or silently following along and recalling the meaning of the lyrics. This won't help much if you're trying to learn Innuit, but folks learning English are lucky, in that wherever they are on Earth, there's probably tons of English-language music of every kind for them to listen to. Especially as lyric transcription is sometimes pretty hard, it's sometimes a worthwhile exercise to lead a class through the lyrics of a song. Now, Madonna's CD's might not go over great with everyone, but I'm sure everyone in a class would at least put up with, say, Tony Bennett. "I've got music, I've got rhythm", anyone? THIS BOOK IS PERFECT FOR THE ABOVE LESSON !

Want/Have/Need Tic-Tac-Toe Time Required: About 30 minutes Students' Level of English: Beginner Intermediate Advanced Materials Needed: The attached handout Objective(s): Practice using the words "want," "have," and "need" Procedure: Read through activity with students and explain that they are to fill in the answers to numbers 1 papers with a partner. Ask partner A to guess partner B's answers by using the sentence patterns on the bottom of the handout. If they guess correctly, they get to mark "X" on the answer. If they guess incorrectly, they mark a "0" on the answer. The goal is to get a line of three "X". When they are finished, then partner B tries to guess partner A's answers using the same sentence patterns.

Want/Have/Need Tic-Tac-Toe

Write your answers in any order in the boxes below: Make sure that you only write nouns. 1. Something you want (*). 2. Something you have (*). 3. Something you need (*). 4. Something that you had(*), but don't have anymore. 5. Something you have (*), but don't have anymore. 6. Something you don't have (*) and don't want. 7. Something you have (*), but don't need. 8. Something you have (*), but seldom use. 9. Something you have (*) and often use. Now exchange papers with your partner. Look at his/her sheet and guess what the objects are. Use the following: e.g. Something you have(*), but seldom use. You say: "I'll bet you have *a bicycle*, but seldom use it." e.g. Something you have (*), but don't want anymore. You say: "I'll bet you have *a toy doll*, but don't want it anymore." If you guess correctly, put a big X in the square. If you guess wrong, put a big O in the square. Try to get a line of three X's.

THE PICNIC (For Intermediate to Advanced Level Students) This is a simple game that requires students to generate vocabulary in English. The class is asked to imagine that they are going on a picnic. Their job is to suggest things to bring along. The teacher says yes or no to each suggestion. What the students do not know is that the teacher says yes when a student suggests something whose first letter is the same as the first letter of the name of the student. The teacher says no if the first letter of the suggested object and the first letter of the name of the student do not match. For example: Alicia: I want to bring apples. Teacher: You can bring apples, Alicia. Alicia can bring apples. What do you want to bring, Marco? Marco: I want to bring a radio.

Teacher: Sorry, you cannot bring a radio. If students need a hint after a while you can interject something like: Maria: I want to bring bananas. Teacher: Sorry, you cannot bring bananas. Why not ask Barbara to bring bananas? Usually someone figures out the game. Knowing the secret forces them to narrow their suggestions to words beginning with the same letter as their name. This activity is based on an activity by Annalisa Trapani.

Post-it note Game Preparation: On several Post-It notes, write in large letters a single word of recently learned vocabulary. The activity is easiest with simple nouns, though more advanced students can play it with any vocabulary. Method: Students are put into groups of 3 or 4; 1 student is the 'subject' and sits facing the others. Place a Post-It note on the forehead of the subject who then 'becomes' that item of vocabulary but, not being able to see the note, does not know what they are. To find out they must ask the other students in the group who can answer with reasonably helpful replies. The activity is best played with a class who know each other well. The teacher should be responsible for distributing the items of vocabulary as sometimes discretion should be shown in assigning vocabulary to students. It is a fun activity ideal for a few minutes at the end of a lesson.

Clothing Race Purpose: Practice the names of clothing items Materials Needed: Two sets of clothing items, a judge for each team. Students are divided into teams of 4 or 5 members. Two teams compete against each other at a time. Each team lines up by a pile of clothes. When the teachers says "Go!" the first person in line, puts on a clothing item, says what it is and then takes it off and hands it the next person. That person puts it on, says what it is and hands it the team member behind him. While this is going on, the first person grabs another item, puts it on, says what it is and takes it off, handing it to the person behind her/him. When the last person on the team has put on all the clothes, said what they are and put them back in a pile, that round is over. The team who is faster, advances to the semi-finals or final round to compete against another team in the class (if the class has more than 2 teams).

The judges can be students who are on teams not currently participating or student helpers.

CH or SH ? Follow the procedures above. 1.chair --- share 2.cheap --- sheep 3.cheat --- sheet 4.cheered --- sheered 5.shin --- chin 6.chines --- shines 7.chirt --- shirt 8.chip --- ship 9.shuck --- chuck Here are some sentence sets with the same vocabulary. Some of them test the bounds of metaphor.;-) 1.I like to chair at a meeting. --- I like to share at a meeting. 2.He thought the cheese was cheap. --- He thought the cheese was sheep. 3.The cheat failed the strength test. --- The sheet failed the strength test. 4.The crowded cheered when she began walking. --- The crowded sheered when she began walking. 5.I hurt my shin. --- I hurt my chin. 6.We are finished when the bell chines. --- We are finished when the bell shines. 7.The geologist brought a chirt. --- The geologist brought a shirt. 8.The engineers made a better chip. --- The engineers made a better ship. 9.Shuck some of the new corn. --- Chuck some of the new corn.