Unit 1: Getting to know your students
Finding the balance between teacher talk and student talk
Tutors should aim for supporting the students in speaking more.
STT (student-talking time) should be prioritised over TTT (teacher talking
time).
There are two ways you can ensure a healthy balance of STT vs TTT:
by being intentional about your TTT and by encouraging more STT
Use the 'SUCCEED' technique to help you students understand you better
Imagine a foreigner asks you for directions in your hometown. They don’t understand your reply.
What would you do?
Speak slower
Use synonyms
Change the words you used
Cut sentences shorter
Emphasize the most important words
Exclude colloquial expressions
Demonstrate (use gestures, images, realia, etc.)
These are all ways in which you can help your students understand you because they all help you
adjust
your own language use to your student's level.
This is called grading your language to the student's level.
Just remember: in order to grade your language, you need to 'SUCCEED'.
Keep it Simple: Use simple language and short sentences. Avoid complex vocabulary and
structures. Speak slowly and clearly. It's a good idea to have a set of standard phrases for common
instructions.
🪜 Scaffold understanding: Highlight the key words in your instructions. If needed, incorporate
gestures, pictures, or written instructions.
⏰ Pacing: Don’t give too much information at once. In case of a complex task, break down your
instructions into smaller parts. Allow time for students to process the instructions.
🪄 Demonstrate: A good demonstration can be much more effective than any explanation! Show
students what you expect them to do instead of explaining it! Provide clear examples to illustrate
your instructions.
❓ Check understanding: Ask ICQs (instruction checking questions) to ensure students have
understood.
Here's an example:
Tutors's instructions:
I will tell you a story, [open whiteboard - show paragraph] and you will listen and fill these gaps,
like this [demonstrate an example]. First, read the story quickly [student reads the story]. Now
listen and fill in the gaps. I'll read it twice.
Instruction checking questions:
- Do you have to write down the missing words only or the whole paragraph?
- Where will you write the words?
- What should you do if you miss one?
Have you ever taken language lessons for a long time, felt very good in class but then failed to
understand people around you when you visited the country?
This is the effect of a teacher always grading their language perfectly. It’s important to sometimes
add moments of natural language, even with low-level students:
Clearly explain to the student what is happening so they don’t feel lost
Say two or three sentences and ask the student to write down the words they
understand
Grade the task, not the text (i.e. make the question easier, not the listening text itself)
If you want to learn more about giving instructions and grading your language, check out the
following sources:
Here's a really useful article about getting instructions right by Jonny Ingham:
[Link]
And another interesting one about task checking:
[Link]
checking/
Also, you can check out this short webinar about giving instructions by International
House:
[Link]
Let's look at an example with our working professional student Tasnim from the previous
chapter. She would like to practice phrases to agree and disagree politely in business meetings.
Student Level Lesson Topic
length
Tamsin B1 intermediate Agreeing and disagreeing
50 mins politely
What do I Tamsin learns some phrases to interrupt politely and feels confident uses them in a
want to simulated role play of a work situation
achieve in
this
lesson?
Materials Video clips of people disagreeing in professional context
:
Lesson procedure
Activity / Task Timing Tutor notes
(Consider the aim of the activity) (e.g. any anticipated learner
difficulties, links to materials,
reflections about what worked
well, adaptations for next time)
Lead-in: 8 mins
Discuss importance of polite disagreeing
in professional settings.
Brainstorm situations when this is
relevant for Tamsin.
Elicit any useful phrases
Video: 10 mins Speakers talk fast in the video -
could pause and check
Lead in: Explain what we’ll watch people
comprehension on 2nd watch.
disagreeing in work contexts
Task 1: Watch and see if any situations similar to Link to video clip ▶️
those brainstormed
Link to matching activity ✍️
Task 2: Watch again and match key expressions to
speakers in the video
Scaffolding Speaking: 7 mins Link to key phrases 💬
Look at key expressions: formality / when to use /
using modals to soften what we are saying
Pronunciation focus: intonation in key
expressions, model and practice
Role play: 20 mins
Lead-in: present context
Speaking practice 1: role-play and use phrases to
try to use 5 key phrases
Feedback and error correction
Speaking practice 2: change context and repeat
role--play again, trying to use different key
phrases.
Feedback
Set homework and do an example: 5 mins Link to podcas
1. Listen to podcast connected to work field,
observe and note down how speakers
politely interrupt each other. Do they use
any similar key phrases?
2. Tasnim to try to use expressions when
appropriate, and observe if colleagues
use these expressions
Si desea obtener más información sobre cómo enseñar a leer y escuchar, consulte las siguientes
fuentes:
Mira esta serie de videos sobre cómo enseñar habilidades receptivas:
Parte 1: [Link]
Parte 2: [Link]
Parte 3: [Link]
Parte 4: [Link]
Parte 5: [Link]
Más información sobre la lectura :)
[Link]
Este vídeo explica cómo funciona una lección de lectura. Es de un curso CELTA, que es un
curso inicial para profesores de inglés, pero los consejos son aplicables a todos los idiomas:
[Link]
Y aquí hay uno de la misma persona (Fergus Fadden) sobre la enseñanza de la escucha:
[Link]
Algunos consejos excelentes de Marek Kiczkowiak para planificar clases de comprensión
auditiva:
[Link]
En este artículo, Martin Sketchley te da algunos consejos para lidiar con problemas
técnicos:
[Link]
