You never thought that teaching your own language would be very difficult - and in a lot of ways it's not. Yet, as I set down to plan a lesson or talk to a classroom of anxious, shy students afraid to speak louder than a tiny whisper, I wonder how to transfer what I intuitively know and understand into their little minds.
It can be so hard to know how much they understand because, on the one hand, they follow my English directions for activities (if not by understanding my words, at least by mimicking me or following my body language), but they often don't answer questions and give me blank stares when I talk or ask them questions.
And so begins the challenge, faced by so many English teachers I'm sure, how do I get these kids to talk? A few points are obvious and some I have realized over time:
- Make class interesting
- Get the kids physically involved in the lesson
- Find ways to involve humor
- Create some competition where kids have to talk in order to win
I think I also need to help them digest the information they will need to use in order to interact - even though they are getting it in previous lessons. I need to reinforce what they are taught in the lessons when I'm not in class in order for them to be able to use the vocabulary, etc.
I also realize I need to have some questions available for them to use in order to help me reinforce their own understanding when they aren't understanding. For example, "What does ___ mean?" "Can you say it again?" "Can you say it slower?" "How do you say ___ in English?"
For some reason this process is much easier with babies than with elementary students.
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