My teaching approach

Future of English teaching

As someone who has worked as a self-employed English teacher and having been influenced by family members who all of them work as public elementary school teachers, I have managed to use a basic system, more than an approach, created through personal experience and my passage through my TEFL course.

I consider myself a very organized professional, who requires a defined structure that can work as a backbone for anything that could be built over, using personalized treatment and improvisation.

In general, and from my point of view, any language class must have a series of characteristics indispensables for the engagement of a student. They must be intuitive, with the ability of making believe the student that he is not making huge efforts. A good class must make them think it is accessible and that they are making improvements through its syllabus. It must be as joyful and fun as possible but easy enough for the teacher to organize a class as a daily basis, trying to group as many types of people as possible but also be adaptive depending on someone´s needs.

Since I´ve worked with children from all ages as well as adults, I found myself classifying my method in two main factors; Age and Level.

In the case of Age, a teacher will realize that children and young adults will normally have the advantage to be easier for them to learn new information or will already have some academic background which they can rely on to regain the necessary instruments to improve in their, in this case, English knowledge. For these learners, the “level” classification would refer more to their willingness to work and his/her character (passive or active).

Focusing on Level regarding adults, it refers to their previous English knowledge (if any) and what they can remember.

The classification by Age that follows by no means must be interpreted as a stiff measurement between exact ages or is it written in stone. Every syllabus, with its techniques, must be adapted and graded depending on how mature is the individual. Being that said, my personal classification is as it follows;

• Children of ages 3 to 5 years old; all language classes must be vocal, since children from this group don´t know yet how to read. Phonemes are EXTREMELY important. As examples of dealing with this aspect, a teacher may use what´s called “Jolly Phonics”, which are songs giving special attention to specific phoneme sounds such as A, S, T, N, P, E. Materials used must be manipulative. Children from these ages need routines and timetables. Class techniques are given through direct commands (“Jump! Sit! Touch your nose!”), songs, repetition and time focus, which means every activity must last just a few minutes before changing them, since they don´t have too much concentration stamina. Role playing games start from this point, using costume elements that help them “believe” the role they are into. “Fast Hands” games (matching pictures with names) using technological instruments, such as tablets, can be used during the last stages of a class (last 10-15 minutes).
• Children of ages 6 to 8 years old; their skill with the mother language improves, which also means they are able to acquire simple vocal and written structure for their second language. Their Vocabulary grows, although grammatical structure is still Indicative and simple (subject + verb; “I like apples”, “I love you”…). Their reading is global and they will not analyze a word through their first language pronunciation, but as a new element they will be able to learn (for example, the pronunciation of the word “Cheese” will be learned as it sounds in English and not by its Spanish transcription). For this stage, the use of “flash cards” with pictures and the written word is obligatory (the material can be done by them to help assimilate the information) as well as the mentioned “fast hands” games. All phonemes must be worked in this stage. Finally, activities must still be short, but not as much as the previous stage (10-15 minutes per activity, depending on the child).
• Children of ages 8 to 12 years old; children from this range will learn new material exponentially. More emphasis must go to grammatical structure as well as listening activities. The Vocabulary must be wider and more complicated. Role playing continues, but now we add more realistic situations (asking food in a restaurant, asking and giving addresses and indications, etc…) without forgetting fantasizing situations. At this stage, you can start teaching simple verb tenses and you can ask them to create short complex fictional stories by their own.
• Kids of ages 13 to 16 years old; people from these ages are able to give oral presentations as well as textual structures, such as essays. Role playing is only given for realistic situations (international trips, relationships, etc…) and not imaginary. There is a development in individual work; applications such as Kahoot can be used, which enables teenagers to create and share with others interactive activities for language learning, receiving new activities in exchange. Reading, on the other hand, must have a more mature content (Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings,…) with a variable letter format (smaller) and no pictures.

It must be said, for these ages, being able to act kindly while also showing discipline when necessary is what will make a child focus, start and finish the requested tasks. Order and change of tones have to be used depending on the behavior of the child and specially for those under 13.

From the age of 16, we enter the “adult consideration”. From this stage, a teacher can concentrate mainly on oral teaching. New words and grammatical structures can be added, but focus goes to allowing students to practice what they already know. The differences in these cases, that is, from ages 16 and higher, are given by the subjects of conversations or specific topics to create them. Again, the following classification comes from my personal experience choosing topics that would interest a person depending on their moment in life, which means it is a generalization. You may discover that a 40 year old man is interested in what an 18 year old individual is interested in and vice versa. Intuitive conversation is helpful to discover a person´s interests.

• Ages 16 to 25: since many people from this stage are still studying or are about to, or wish to, travel to other countries to do so, you may want to use this topic and everything related with it to start interesting conversations (vocabulary related with their career studies, educational travel programs such as ERASMUS, etc…). Of course, staying informed about the latest popular trends, songs, shows and movies will always give you plenty of material to work with.
• Ages 25 to 45: you need to give special attention to the student´s goals. That is, the reasons he or she wants to learn English. If they want to improve their job opportunities, they may ask you to give them conversations related with interviews or using specific terminology. Also, you can add more profound or philosophical topics such as thoughts on life, personal wishes, career expectations, political issues, etc…
• Ages 45 to 55: again, you need to know the reasons the student wishes to learn another language. Topics that I found made them want to create and continue a conversation almost endlessly are memories and nostalgia. Comparing generations and eras give many stimulating conversations.
• Ages 55 to 65: observing the student´s English level is incredibly important in order to know what topics to use and how to use them.
• Ages 65 and higher: in this stage, a teacher could find himself in a methodology regression depending on the student´s level (using techniques more proper for ages 6 to 8, depending on the case).

The classification by Level should first be considered depending if the student is a child, and what type of child he/she is, or if it is an adult. If the student is a hyperactive child, with difficulties to concentrate, classes must be dynamic to draw their attention. If the student is a calm, passive child, a teacher may have more time to do analytical activities. Again, it all depends on the student.

Level classification regarding adults and how to teach them depending on that can be divided in the following ways;

• Basic: goes from adults with absolutely no knowledge of English to people who can use simple grammatical structures. Teaching focus goes to Vocabulary, repetition with attention on pronunciation, basic structures and simple verbal tenses (Present Simple and Continuous, Past Simple and Continuous).
• Intermediate: Vocabulary still needs improvement, but focus goes to structure. Special attention to grading, since it is easy to accidentally add difficulty to a class with an intermediate student.
• Advance: improvisation is a must. Structure is still corrected for major mistakes but students must work the conversation. Vocabulary goes to Phrasal Verbs and atypical expressions.
• Proficiency: conversation must be fluid. Attention goes to pronunciation and major mistakes. Students must try to identify and correct their own mistakes. In this level, a teacher could be dealing with a bilingual who asks for conversational practice.

The Oxbridge English Teaching System, throughout its TEFL course and its level rating system, has given me the chance to improve my teaching ways, given me a clear picture on how to manage adult classes, which I´ll be always grateful for. With the help of my colleagues and my students, I know my personal method of English teaching will continue to improve.