Practical Methods for Classroom Management

Posted By: Carol Kfouri (168.188.120.120) Date: Thursday, 19 January 2006, at 12:56 a.m.

The use of English as a teaching language is increasing rapidly all over the world. Many developing countries see English as an asset that must be offered to their students. One such country is Lebanon. There are several schools that teach children Arabic, French, and English simultaneously. In these primary and secondary schools, math and science are also frequently taught in English. Many times, the teachers in such schools do not hold teaching certificates; they have degrees in math, English, or chemistry. Although the teachers are well informed in their fields and are enthusiastic, many could benefit from a brief overview of simple, practical, classroom management techniques.

In this article, I will review tried and true methods for harmonious class organization and discipline that I have acquired through many years of teaching and through observing other teachers I have worked with in Canada, France, and Lebanon.

Smooth classroom organization

With sometimes as many as 30-45 students in a class, the teacher cannot do everything. You have to delegate tasks. Post a big, colorful chart on the wall; it can serve as a sign-up sheet every Friday afternoon for those children who wish to take responsibility for routine tasks such as distributing books, serving as messenger to other classes, and writing homework assignments on the board. I always add a news report to the list as well. The child in charge highlights major happenings in the world, the community, and his/her own family. By Thursday most children have become real pros and thoroughly enjoy the three minutes in front of the class. Make sure all the children in the class are encouraged to sign up for some sort of responsibility during the term.

Successful, happy classrooms I have seen are those in which orders are not always being given. At the beginning of the

school term, take 15 minutes and make the ground rules clear. Some of the most frequently used are:

1. We always raise our hand and wait to be called on before speaking. 2. We never interrupt a classmate while he or she is speaking. 3. We always ask for permission before leaving the room. 4. We remain seated while others are speaking. 5. We respect our classmates?property.

Most primary and intermediate teachers post a copy of these rules somewhere in the classroom for easy access if necessary.

Establish a routine in your classroom as soon as possible. Children like to know what is expected of them. Every morning after the bell, I put five new words on the board. The children copy them in a special notebook and we briefly discuss their usage and use them in sentences. At the end of each month, I hold a class Spelling Bee with these words.

After lunch recess when children are excited, set aside 10 minutes during which the students write in their journals. In these notebooks the students write their experiences of the day-in English, of course. Some days, some children prefer to draw their experiences rather than write, but most often the children tell about what is happening in their lives. Besides adding to the feeling of organization in the classroom, this activity enables the teacher to create a separate relationship with each child. I try to collect, read through, and comment upon each journal every 10 days or so. The students always remind me to collect the journals and to “write back.?/p>

Finally, don’t wait till the bell rings to have the students put away their belongings. Make sure to leave two to three minutes so that everyone can collect their thoughts.

Student management

Teachers without formal teacher training tend to imitate management techniques used when they were in school. But writing out endless pages, or shouting, or humiliating the student are just not effective nor acceptable. Respect for the

child is uppermost. Ask yourself the following questions concerning your classroom situation:

1. Are you asking the students to concentrate for long periods of time? If so, remember that young children-and the not so young-can concentrate only for short periods. Change activities every 20-25 minutes.

2. Are the children passive receivers of information or active participants? Call on many children to answer or to ask questions. Involved children have less time to “fool around?and bother others.

3. Is the subject matter relevant to the age level? Use visual aids in your teaching. Flash cards for practice with irregular verbs are appreciated by students of all ages.

4. Are you always behind your desk or in front of the board? If so, walk around when children are doing seat work. Encourage them; spot check some assignments that you have not been able to check.

If your answers to the above questions are positive, you are already on the right track. Remember to keep your voice at a normal level. Do not shout to be heard. Most classes respond well when they realize they will have to stop talking in order to hear the teacher. If there is noise in one corner of the room during the lesson, stop and wait. The guilty parties will usually stop.

Realize, too, that a classroom does not always have to be silent. There is “good?noise when children are working together, solving problems, and of course, talking in discussion groups.

Allow children to express themselves. If a child wants to share an event with the class and work is moving along smoothly, take the time to listen. When words from the native tongue slip in during these exchanges, as they will, have another child tell the class what the word means in English.

Dealing with disruptive students

In all the classrooms I have observed and taught in, the large majority of the students have been polite, normal children or young adults. In a class of 30, three students will have slightly to highly disruptive behavior. The following simple methods prove successful in most cases.

Be firm. Explain to the child that excessive talking is not helping him/her to learn. Change the child’s seat. Make sure the child is not bored. Give him/her extra responsibility, such as to prepare a special oral report. Be sure to compliment the child on any positive behavior he/she exhibits. For example, “I really appreciated how you helped Mary collect all the notebooks today.?If disturbing behavior continues, withdraw privileges that are especially dear, such as participation in extracurricular activities, and explain why. Remember, also, to explain to the child how he/she can earn back the privileges. One especially effective method is for the child to spend recess time with you in the classroom with a task to carry out; I often use this time to talk with the child and reach a solution to the problem. Sometimes the child needs to work alone. If the administration has a room in which the child can do his/her work without attention from others, he/she will very often calm down.

I observed one primary teacher who, while speaking, just walked over to a child who was not paying attention and gently took him by the hand and brought him to the front of the class with her; the teacher’s reaction was so natural that the child responded positively. Most children do react positively to the above measures. However, if they don’t, I have seen the following system work with several disruptive children. Put up a chart with 10 stickers on it, e.g., colorful stars, footballs, etc. Explain to the child that for 10 school days you and he/she will evaluate his/her behavior at the end of each day. You will both decide if he/she deserves to keep the sticker or have it removed. If the number of stickers falls to, say, four, privileges will be withheld, or the child’s parents will be consulted, or he/she will not be allowed to accompany the rest of the class on an outing.

If nothing works, as it sometimes doesn’t, ask for help. With the school administrator, look into the family and health background of the child. Frequently, disruptive children have

health problems such as hyperactivity or hearing, sight, or even psychological problems because of their home situation. Just helping to find such a problem is a step in the right direction.

A good classroom

In conclusion, then, a classroom where learning takes place is a pleasant environment; the teacher is enthusiastic and active and encourages student participation. The teacher is firm but not unbending. Finally, one can see a smile on the faces of both teacher and students and even, at times, an outburst of laughter.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Benedict, Ruth. 1980. Bringing up children. In Writing prose techniques and purposes, 5th ed., ed. Thomas Kane and Leonard J. Peters. New York: Oxford University Press.

Galloway, Charles. 1976. Psychology for learning and teaching. New York: McGraw Hill.

Tarpy, Roger M. and Richard E. Mayer. 1978. Foundations of learning and memory. Glenview: Scott Foresman.

Some Thoughts on Achieving Breakthroughs with Boys in Today’s Classroom by Charlene Davis

“Boys have a lot of Huck Finn in them—they don’t, on average, learn as well as girls by sitting still, concentrating, multi-tasking, listening to words.” What is your thinking about this Michael Gurian quote, included in the book, Boy Writers, by Ralph Fletcher (p. 21)? If you narrowed matters to gender, from which would you say more of your undesirable displays of behavior come from? If it is in fact from boys—and I am smugly assuming your classroom does have some behavior issues by virtue of your reading this article—have you explored strategies specifically targeted to boys? This article intends to venture into that realm. I certainly have noticed an added “busyness” among more boys; I, too, have noticed a “disconnectedness” from them in certain parts of the English Language Arts workshop. It troubles me—bugs me—perturbs me because I do love the unique energy that boys bring to the classroom. I will admit there can be a vulgarity—an intensity of emotion that I have seen boys express that often confounds me; however, my maternal nature keeps me pulling for this group of boys, and prodding them, nevertheless.

There are authors who have been paying attention to this very important subject; two of whom have been mentioned already. Following are some suggestions gleaned from the writings of various authors, as well as from me.

Go out of your way to seek out literature and topics that will interest your boys!  I am going to guess that you’ve heard this one before, but I’m discovering that there is so much undiscovered territory in the world of boy-appealing literature! 

I recently learned of Jacqueline Woodson’s, Miracle’s Boys, which focuses on the lives of three, inner-city orphans—the eldest of whom takes the weighty responsibility for the younger two. For any boys feeling trapped, or who are angered by heavy issues, this book can provide an outlet for discussion, or writing!

Another new discovery for me is Stanford Wong Flunks Big Time, by Lisa Yee. Appropriate for grades 6-7. I began reading this book aloud to students because of the

academic apathy toward school that I was witnessing as I went from classroom to classroom. This book focuses on the life of a middle-class boy grappling with many issues, the most important of which is his poor academic performance. This poor performance ends up hampering his participation in athletic activities, much to his horror.

I highly recommend, We Beat the Streets, by Doctors Davis, Hunt, Jenkins with Sharon Draper. This was a book club choice for our middle school. It takes the reader inside the lives of these three men, from their boyhoods to medical school. It is rich with reflective thinking about the wrong choices they often made and about the grace that saved them. As I began to move around and read early parts of this book aloud, it ignited a desire among the fifth-graders to read it, too.

These powerful books are a good start, but I encourage you to begin talking to colleagues, librarians, and book store professionals to uncover the jewels out there that await your boys!  Also, you can inquire at Bank Street Bookstore which promises “the latest and best of all you can find” www.bankstreetbooks.com.

Seek out tools to help you to better understand your boys!  I began by mentioning both Michael Gurian’s and Ralph Fletcher’s books, which were written to open up the teacher’s understanding, and to help inoculate us against undue frustration!  Fletcher mentions many more authors, and shares many samples of boys’ writing. I would like to add two more authors to the list.

Mychal Wynn’s book, Follow Your Dreams: Lessons I Learned in School was sent to me by a beloved relative who teaches. Wynn had come to his school to speak. In this book, he shares his personal account of challenges he suffered with remaining motivated. He reveals how it was that he got turned around; then he offers original motivational poetry he’s written, as well as strategies teachers can use to help boys set goals to succeed. I consider this text to be a great tool for facilitating the paradigm-shifting efforts that boys need to take to remain focused. He has also published a teacher-parent workbook, specifically targeted for African-American males.

You may be familiar with actor Hill Harper’s Letters to a Young Brother: MANifest Your Destiny. This book is an American Library Association winner, and is intended to focus males’ thinking toward higher aspirations in life. It is targeted for teens and young adults. I especially like the adages he includes throughout the book. He also uses quotes, as well as e-mail queries he received from young men across America.

Lastly, Fletcher mentions interviewing boys to find out their interests, likes and dislikes. Surveys are something I firmly believe in for all students at the beginning of the year and I encourage the use of meaningful reflective thinking and writing throughout the year. I can see the power of having students look back at their survey at year’s end; I can also see the power of an actual one-on-one interview with each boy since we often find them to be reluctant writers. Some questions could be: How often would you require movement in a classroom? How would you make it happen? What topics are of major, of medium, and of little importance to you? Who would you love to meet, this school year, from any walk of life? Why? What was your most thrilling experience in life, so far? Why? What things matter most to you in this life? What projects are you interested in taking part in (go as small, or as large as you’d like in your thinking)? What things would you like to do differently, this year?

Boys will become men, and men are expected to lead in major ways. They are expected to lead families, to lead in the workplace, and to lead in their communities. My thinking then is that we certainly owe it to boys, during their formative years, to keep them passionate about learning, and to keep them intent on doing their very best!  We can guide them accordingly, while celebrating—and teaching them to celebrate-- their uniqueness.

Some Classroom Management Tips Judi Fenton

New teachers often think that there is only one way to handle discipline in the classroom. The reality is that each group of kids is different and will respond to your classroom management efforts in different ways. I have taught classes where clapping my hands would produce immediate silence. I

have also taught classes where I had to go around the room and ask each child individually to pay attention in order to hear the next instruction. That method took a lot more time!

Experienced teachers aren’t magically “better” at management. They have learned to read each group of students and they have acquired a variety of strategies to address the needs of that particular group. It’s similar to differentiating instruction. Assessing your students individually and as a group is the key to figuring out what works.

Here are a few management tips that have served me well over the years. They take into account ways you can treat individual students and groups differently, so that the conditions for a productive classroom environment can be achieved.

Create class norms (or rules) with students. You’ve probably heard conflicting advice. You should create rules with your students. You should create the rules yourself, without student input. I have found that it is most useful to include students in setting norms about how we all wish to be treated in the class. (See my article Setting Norms with Your Students.)

Go over the class norms and expectations often. Within the context of the day, point out to students how they are living up to the norms (for example, being kind to one other, respecting one another’s opinions, listening carefully to each other, etc.) This reinforces how you and the class want to be treated and helps students internalize the norms.

Measure the behavior against the norms. Don’t make yourself into the bad guy enforcer by saying that the behavior must stop because you won’t allow it, but refer to the norms. “Look at our class norms. How does your behavior fit into the way we all decided we want to be treated?” It’s hard to argue with rules or norms that one has had a hand in crafting. Using this method also helps because it identifies the specific behavior as a problem without labeling the student as a problem.

Don’t confront or embarrass the student. When a student is disruptive during class, yelling at that student to stop

disrupts the whole class and embarrasses the student. I know that when someone embarrasses me, the last thing I want to do is what they want me to do! Instead, try one of these approaches:

o walk quietly to the student and touch him or her on the shoulder

o speak quietly to the studento simply stand next to the student.

Some teachers I know communicate in writing with their students. An index card placed on the student’s desk with a written request to stop the behavior can be very effective. The same teachers also use this method to reinforce positive behavior. Students seem to love this index card method.

If you have a child who consistently disrupts or breaks rules, you can create a system of nonverbal communication with that student. The student can signal to you (with a tug on the ear, for example) that he/she feels out of control and needs your attention or needs to leave the room for a moment to settle down. You can have a secret signal to tell him that his behavior has to stop. Students feel special having a secret communication method with their teacher—it makes them feel as though you understand them.

Remember that you are the adult in the situation and you are ultimately responsible for your students’ well-being. I understand that as a beginning teacher we are often not much older than our students. But we are not their friend, even though we sometimes act as a friend. It is our responsibility to ensure that our students are safe and feel safe in our classroom. If they feel that you are unable to handle any disruption or incident, they will not trust you with their physical well-being, or with their learning. So it is important for you to project a feeling of calm confidence, even if you don’t feel calm or confident inside.

A   Apply accountability standards for students, teachers, administrators, support staff, and parents.

B  Be consistent and firm in making decisions.

C Create an attractive, organized, and orderly environment conducive to uninterrupted teaching and learning.

D Design innovative lesson plans that engage and challenge students

E Evidence your experience, professionalism, and credentials.

F Foster the needs of students at-risk with built-in incentives and genuine praise for positive behaviors.

G Greet parents with honesty, compassion, and a concerted plan of action.

H Hold regular conferences with students, parents, colleagues and administration; update each with progress reports.

I Identify students who compromise the learning experience (Individual Educational Plans should be used to drive managements techniques for special needs students).

J Justify your recommendations orally and in writing, particularly when addressing disciplinary actions and consequences.

K Keep daily anecdotal records of case study students.

L Lift your call to excellence in a climate that nurtures kindness, fairness and a respect for diversity.

M Maintain a sense of humor and optimistic attitude, highlighting student strengths while working on their challenges.

N Nonverbal communication – use it as an effective and powerful tool in redirecting negative student behaviors.

O Obtain current resources on enhancing management skills.

P Pursue professional development opportunities.

Q Quest to develop a learning laboratory, where students take ownership in maintaining and monitoring their own behavior.

R Revisit challenges yet to be resolved; never give up on your goals and objectives.

S Share effective classroom management and problem-solving strategies with colleagues.

T Take responsibility for ensuring safety in your classroom.

U Unite with union leadership and community-based advocacy organizations for school betterment.

V Vigorously implement student character-building initiatives into the curriculum.

W Work with or write to professional organizations and legislators that address class size and inequities of resources.

X X-mark techniques and strategies that do not fit into your teaching style.

Y Yearn for successful outcomes. 

Z Zone out negative thinking and replace it with a clear determination to tap into the highest level of service to your students.

Facilitating Adult Learner Interactions to Build Listening and Speaking Skills

Sharon McKay and Kirsten Schaetzel Center for Applied LinguisticsJuly 2008

(This brief is also available in PDF format.)

Background on Adult Learners

Adult education programs serve both native English speakers and learners whose first, or native, language is not English.

Native English speakers attend adult basic education (ABE) classes to learn basic skills needed to improve their literacy levels; they attend adult secondary education (ASE) classes to earn high school equivalency certificates. Both ABE and ASE instruction help learners achieve other goals related to job, family, or further education. English language learners attend English as a second language (ESL), ABE, or workforce preparation classes to improve their oral and literacy skills in English and to achieve goals similar to those of native English speakers.

Audience for This Brief

This brief is written for teachers, program administrators, education researchers, and policy makers to ensure that those who work with adult English language learners understand the value of classroom interaction and know how to include appropriate interaction activities in ESL classes. It will be especially useful for teachers who want to incorporate more interactive activities in their classes.

Introduction

The development of oral interaction skills is paramount for adult English language learners. Speaking and listening skills are essential to their ability to participate effectively in the workplace and community: for example, talking with their co-workers and employers, discussing their children’s education with teachers and school officials, or negotiating a lease for an apartment or a loan for a house or car. Oral interaction skills are also important for literacy and beginning-level learners, because they form the basis for English literacy development.

This brief begins by examining the research on learner interaction and summarizing the positive effects of classroom interaction on language learning. It then describes three areas of focus for teachers who want to promote successful language learning interactions in the adult education classroom. Next, it provides examples of activities that can be used throughout a language lesson to structure and enhance classroom interactions. Finally, it discusses special considerations for

using learner interaction activities in classes with beginning-level learners.

Research on Learner Interaction

Interaction is face-to-face communication with particular “prosody, facial expression, silence, and rhythmical patterns of behaviour between the participants” (Crystal, 2003). Research on interaction in second language learning has its roots in Long’s interaction hypothesis, which states that learners receive comprehensible input (language at a level they understand) when they interact with speakers of the language they are learning and that comprehensible input aids language learning (Long, 1985, 1996). Proficient speakers tend to modify their speech in various ways to make themselves understandable to language learners. They may speak more slowly, enunciate more clearly, or use grammatical constructions or vocabulary words different from those they used earlier that did not appear to have been understood. Through these natural interactions, researchers have seen language learners grow in their linguistic ability (Gass & Mackey, 2006; Long, 1985, 1996; Mackey, 2002; Pica, 2008).

Much of the research on interaction and second language acquisition has examined teacher-learner interactions; however, in recent studies, peer interactions also have been examined. This brief encompasses both teacher-learner and peer interactions. The research suggests that both types of classroom interaction offer benefits to second language learners as described below.

Opportunities to Receive Comprehensible Input and Feedback Classroom interaction provides learners with opportunities to receive comprehensible input and feedback from their interaction partners (Ellis, 2005; Gass, 1997; Hellermann, 2007; Long, 1996; Pica, 1994; Reigel, 2008) and to focus on their own linguistic output (Swain, 1995). This occurs in a collaborative environment in which learners attempt to communicate clearly, understand, and be understood (Lantoff, 2000).

During interaction, the learner and the teacher, or two peer learners, work together to achieve a common understanding.

As they negotiate meaning, learners have the opportunity to “notice the gap” (Schmidt & Frota, 1986) between the language they are using and the correct, or target-like, language used by their interaction partners. When they notice the gap and realize that their message was not understood as intended, or that their partner is saying the same thing in a different way, they can modify their message accordingly (Philip, 2003; Pica, 2008; Schmidt & Frota, 1986).

Language Output as a Source of Language LearningAs learners negotiate meaning with a teacher or with each other, they begin to produce new grammatical forms, words, and word combinations, thus expanding their language ability (Izumi, 2002). They can test their hypotheses about language forms and receive immediate feedback on whether or not their hypotheses are correct (Izumi, 2002; McDonough, 2005; Skehan, 1998).

Feedback Through Recasts Recasts—that is, when teachers or conversation partners respond to incorrect forms by using correct forms in their responses—have been the subject of much linguistic research. McDonough and Mackey (2006) for example, studied whether recasts contributed to the learning of question formation. They found that recasts were a significant predictor of the ability of English language learners to form questions correctly. When listeners recast an incorrect form into the correct form in their responses, their conversation partners tended to then use the correct form in their subsequent utterances. However, research conducted with Somali adult learners with limited literacy showed that recasts may not always contribute to the language development of beginning and literacy-level learners. This study found that literate, educated learners were able to use the information provided in recasts to modify their speech more often and more correctly than learners with lower levels of literacy (Bigelow, Delmas, Hansin, & Tarone, 2006).

Learning Gains A small number of studies have found that opportunities to interact can result in learning gains. Mackey (1999) found that task-based interaction during class can increase the pace of language acquisition; in particular, the results of her study support a link between interaction and grammatical

development. In a recent study, Reigel (2008) examined about 28 hours of digital recordings of adult learner interactions from classrooms at the Portland State University Laboratory School. He coded over 1,500 of these recordings that contained tokens of positive feedback and found that when learners received positive feedback (e.g., expressions such as “good,” “nice,” “okay”), they tended to use the correct form in their subsequent utterances. Through multivariate analysis, Reigel was able to demonstrate that positive feedback rate can be an effective predictor of course-level promotion: The more positive feedback the learners received, the more likely they were to be promoted to the next level course.

In another study, learners were given tasks to do outside the classroom that included interacting with native speakers: for example, ordering food at a fast food restaurant. The researchers found that these students learned more as measured in movement on standardized tests than those students who were not given such tasks (Condelli, Wrigley, & Yoon, in press).

Promoting interaction both within and outside the language classroom can have a positive impact on language learning. It gives learners opportunities to receive comprehensible input and feedback, try new hypotheses about how English works, and listen to and incorporate feedback in the form of recasts. As a result of interactions, learners may increase the pace of their acquisition of English, leading to improvement in performance on standardized tests and increasing the probability that they will move to a higher course level in their language program.

Preparing for Classroom Interactions

The literature on classroom interaction points to three important areas for teachers to consider when using interactive activities in their classrooms: carefully selecting topics for interactions, helping learners understand diverse communication styles, and giving students specific tools for interacting successfully (Ellis, 2005; Schaetzel & Shen, 2002). Teachers’ attention to these three areas will help learners unfamiliar with interaction in American classrooms, work

settings, and social situations to develop their interaction skills and increase their English proficiency.

Selecting Topics for InteractionIt is important that learners have specific topics about which to converse. This helps to provide focus for their interactions and introduces specific vocabulary and grammatical structures associated with the topic. With adult English language learners, these topics are best taken from real-life situations in which learners need to communicate, such as comparing sale items at a grocery store, asking for assistance with a task at work, or discussing work with a supervisor or co-worker (Sharan & Sharan, 1992; Weddel & Van Duzer, 1997). Topics of high interest to many adult learners include those related to work, health, music, sports, and community services. As part of a needs assessment, learners can be asked what topics they want to talk about (Ellis, 1991), and a list of topics can be developed. Topics that are difficult to discuss in some cultures, such as gender roles, and those that may create division in the class, such as political or religious topics, may best be avoided. As a teacher comes to know the students and their interests, topics that learners want to discuss can be selected more easily. Learners at the intermediate level or above might discuss topics chosen from short stories or other texts that they have read or listened to. Some students may feel more at ease discussing characters in a story than talking about themselves or people they know (Garvin, 1991; Schaetzel & Shen, 2002).

Discussing Diverse Communication StylesTeachers may find it useful to raise the issue of cultural differences in communication styles and preferences. Different cultural groups have different ways of interacting (Mahbubani, 2002). For example, Jin and Cortazzi (1998, 2006) describe cultural differences in classroom interactions. They examine interaction styles of Chinese learners and British teachers in mainland China and the United Kingdom. Chinese learners are accustomed to teacher-directed lectures and do not see classroom discussion or dialogue as part of language learning. When British teachers use dialogue, discussion, and small-group work for language learning, Chinese learners think that the teachers are being lazy and that the activities are a waste of time.

Teachers need to explain the rationale for the different types of activities they assign (e.g., discussion, dialogue, small-group work) and the ways that these activities can build language skills. They may also want to

Discuss how learners should address their teachers, employers, colleagues, and classmates, because terms of address are culturally specific and learners will feel more comfortable with interaction if they know the culturally appropriate ways to address people

Create guidelines for classroom communication that facilitate comfortable personal space, speech volume and intonation, and body language

Be cautious about introducing personal ideas and opinions, because students accustomed to a teacher-controlled classroom may feel ill at ease disagreeing with a teacher (Christensen, 1991; Schaetzel, 2004)

Teaching Specific Communication SkillsBecause communication styles vary from culture to culture, learners who are not familiar with the communication styles found in American classrooms and workplaces need information and specific tools to help them interact successfully (Schaetzel, 2004; Schaetzel & Shen, 2002). For example, teachers may need to teach learners how to agree and disagree with each other and how to ask for elaboration and clarification. This instruction might include a focus on how to speak politely, for example, using phrases such as “I don’t agree with that; I think . . .” or “That’s an interesting point; my experience is different because . . .” (Ellis, 1996; Myles, 2004; Schaetzel & Shen, 2002).

Activities to Increase Peer Interaction and Feedback

Opportunities to interact can be included in all phases of a language lesson—preview, presentation, practice, and evaluation. Table 1 provides examples of activities that can be used during each phase of a lesson. The activities are described in more detail following the table.

Table 1: Activities to Increase Peer Interaction

LESSON STAGES TYPE OF ACTIVITIES

Preview Activate prior knowledge

Discussion questions

Conversation grids

Peer interviews

   

Presentation Introduce new content

Jigsaw reading/writing

WebQuests (directed online research with associated tasks)

Focused listening tasks and dictogloss

   

Practice Use new content and skills

Problem-based learning

Task-based learning

Structured discussion

   

Evaluation Determine effectiveness of learning and determine next steps

Note cards and forms for formative evaluation

Reflection activities

 

 

Preview ActivitiesDuring the preview stage of the lesson, teachers prepare learners for the new content and skills to be learned. This might be done through the following types of activities: .

Discussion questions are prepared by the teacher or the students in line with learners’ levels of English language proficiency. For example, an intermediate class preparing for a lesson on comparative and superlative forms might discuss the question, “What do you think about the proposed increase in bus fare?” A literacy-level class preparing for the same topic might answer the question, “What do you like about the transportation in our city?”

Conversation grids have the learners’ names vertically down the side of the grid with questions they can ask one another listed horizontally across the top. Conversation grids promote learner interaction with everyone in the class or within a small group. For example, in the intermediate class described above, learners might ask their classmates what kind of transportation they take to work and to class and how much it costs. (For more examples, see www.seniorserviceamerica.org/pdf/CALGuide-CommunicationsSkills.pdf.)

Peer interviews allow learners to engage in interaction to get information from a classmate. Learners develop or are given a set of questions to ask a partner. For example, in preparation for learning comparative forms to discuss different modes of transportation and their costs, an intermediate class might be given the questions, “How do you go to work? How much does it cost? How do you come to class? How much does it cost?” Learners then summarize their partner’s responses and report back to the class.

Presentation ActivitiesPresentation of new content or skills may be done interactively through jigsaw readings, WebQuests, and various kinds of focused listening tasks.

Jigsaw activities provide students with the opportunity to work together on content comprehension and to teach content to other students (Buehl, 2001; Center for Adult

English Language Acquisition, 2007). Students are divided into groups, and each group is given a section of a reading and a few questions about key points in their section. Each group reads their section, discusses its content, and answers the questions. Then new groups are formed so that each group has one person from each of the previous groups. Each learner teaches the content learned in their previous group to the members of their new group. These interactions provide all learners with instruction in the content of every section of the reading. For the intermediate class described earlier, an editorial from a community newspaper about the increase in bus fare might be divided into sections and used for a jigsaw reading. For a high intermediate or advanced class, each group might read a different editorial and in this way learn several opinions about the increase in bus fare.

WebQuests, which involve guided online research,can be done in learner pairs to provide another interactive means of learning new content and skills. WebQuests guide learners to information as they follow the Quest. In some WebQuests, the new content is also applied to the learner and his or her life. For many examples of WebQuests, see www.nelliemuller.com/WebQuests_for_Adult_Learners.htm.

Focused listening tasks can include interactive components that are used to discuss, summarize, and integrate content material. Podcasts and online sound and video clips about a specific topic can be used in focused listening activities. They can provide a springboard for interaction in pair and group work, as well as offering listening repetition as needed. For examples, see http://iteslj.org/links/ESL/Listening/Podcasts/. Focused listening tasks are especially helpful in presenting new content to a multilevel class. For example, a multilevel class with beginning and intermediate students can listen to the same radio clip about the increase in bus fare, with each group listening for different pieces of information based on their language level. Beginning students might listen for the name of the bus company and the amount that the bus fare will increase, while intermediate students might listen for the reasons for the fare increase and people’s opinions regarding it.

One specific focused listening technique, a dictogloss, is reviewed by Jacobs and Small (2003). During a dictogloss, the teacher reads a text twice at normal reading speed. The first time, the learners just listen; the second time, each learner takes notes. Learners then work together in pairs or small groups to reconstruct the text in complete (but not exact) sentences. Finally, they check their work against the text script.

Practice ActivitiesPractice is a critical factor in second language acquisition, and interactive practice of new content and skills can help learners incorporate skills and knowledge from their first language into their learning of English. Practice can include focused learning tasks such as problem-based learning, task-based learning, and structured discussions.

Problem-based learning allows learners to interact in a pair or small group to solve a problem. First they are introduced to the problem. Then they explore what they do and do not know about the problem, generate possible solutions, consider the consequences of each solution, and together choose the most viable (Mathews-Aydinli, 2007). For example, in an intermediate class, learners might work in groups to figure out the cheapest transportation to use to come to class, considering an impending increase in bus fare.

Task-based learning has the teacher assign a specific task (e.g., comparing two pictures or texts to find the differences, finding out how to lease a car, learning what houses cost or rent for in a specific area of their city), and learners work together in pairs or small groups to find the information they need and present it to other groups (Ellis, 2003; Willis, 1998). Topics and tasks should reflect learner interests and language proficiency levels, curriculum requirements, and time available. Teachers should provide clear step-by-step directions with examples, including products to be developed (e.g., a chart comparing two pictures or texts, a list of steps for leasing a car, a brochure for an apartment or house for rent or sale), evaluation criteria, and deadlines.

Structured discussions involve helping learners lead and participate in discussions of topics of interest to them.

Current events, both local and global, can provide immediate opportunities for structured discussions. For example, learners can discuss arguments for and against the proposed bus fare increase. A teacher might draw a chart with arguments for the increase in one column and arguments against the increase in another column; learners can write the ideas raised in their discussion in the appropriate column. Structured discussions can allow learners to discuss a problem orally in a less extended assignment than in a problem-based learning activity. In a multilevel class, for example, advanced-level learners might identify and discuss a problem (e.g., what to do when teenagers follow their peers’ wishes rather than their parents’ wishes) and consider possible solutions and possible consequences of these solutions; beginning-level learners might be given a problem (e.g., a teenage son who stayed out all night with his friends) and asked to identify one possible solution.

Evaluation/Feedback ActivitiesInteraction activities can also be used to evaluate learner progress. Teachers can evaluate learner interactions by using note cards, and learners can reflecton their interactions to see when they were successful in communicating their message and when they were not. In all feedback and evaluation activities, clear criteria are needed so learners know what their teacher will be listening for and what they themselves should examine when they reflect on their interactions.

Using note cards helps teachers give learners immediate feedback. When learners interact in groups or pairs, teachers can listen to their discussions, make notes on note cards about an individual’s strengths and weaknesses (e.g., pronunciation, grammar, use of formulaic phrases for agreeing and disagreeing, interrupting). At the end of the interaction, teachers can discuss what they have observed with learners and give them these note cards as immediate, formative feedback (Schaetzel, 2004). Teachers can also use a grid or form to give more formal feedback to learners about their class interaction and participation (Barnett, 1999).

Reflecting on interaction facilitates learners’ knowledge and acquisition of new forms. Learners can reflect

individually on their interactions and think about when they were understood and when they were not understood; they can then share their perceptions with a partner and receive their partner’s feedback. Teachers can help learners to focus their reflections by using a grid or feedback form and asking learners to think about when they were comfortable and when they were uncomfortable during the interaction. Learners can also be videotaped when they are interacting with each other. They can then watch themselves and each other and analyze their strengths and weaknesses (Schaetzel & Shen, 2002).

Interaction Activities With Beginning and Literacy-Level Students

Beginning and literacy-level learners will benefit from opportunities to interact orally. When literacy-level learners begin to develop their literacy skills, the activities described below, which focus on oral interaction rather than use of print materials, can be used to scaffold their interactions. .

Structured dialogues can lead into more open-ended dialogues as learners’ vocabulary and grammar knowledge expand. Learners might listen to a dialogue about a picture as the teacher writes the main questions from the dialogue on the board. Learners can build their own dialogues and perform them for a group or for the class. For example, the teacher might use a picture from the front page of the newspaper and write on the board, “What happened?” or use an advertisement and write the question, “Will you buy this?” The teacher can help learners answer the questions and then ask them to use the same questions to talk in pairs about another picture from the newspaper or another advertisement.

Conversation grids include a few spaces for peer interaction and previously learned vocabulary. For example, the grid may have pictures of different kinds of food on it. Learners can discuss whether or not they like this food, whether this food is available in their country, and how they might cook this food. The grid may be used over a period of time for review.

Games, pictures, and short videos also work well to help begin conversations at this level. For example, the teacher may show a video of a boss and an employee greeting each other in the morning. Learners can role-play how they greet their bosses or how they greet their friends and begin to learn culturally appropriate terms of address.

Conclusion

Interaction activities can be incorporated into classrooms at any language level and at any point in a lesson. With careful planning and support, opportunities for interaction can make classroom learning more meaningful. Seeing the benefits that learners reap from interaction activities—in increased proficiency and confidence and ability to move to higher levels of classes—teachers may want to examine their current classroom practice and incorporate more opportunities for interaction.

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