Here are 45 instructional strategies that I have used teaching students using English as an additional language. I think these instructional strategies can be useful across a wide range of disciplines for not only supporting students using English as an additional language, but all the students in a classroom.
1. Using Warmers: Make the most of the first five minutes of
class with a short activity to get students thinking about the day’s topic and to
remind them of what they already know connected to that topic. This activity will help students to activate
their background knowledge, and prepare for new learning. Examples of warmers include having students
share a personal anecdote in connection to the day’s topic, write sentences
including key concepts for the course, complete a graphic organizer such as a
Venn Diagram with their ideas for how two concepts may be similar or different,
or label a picture as best they can.
2. Avoiding
Questions to the Whole Class: Try not to ask questions to the entire class
as a whole, such as “who is the head of state in Canada,” without giving the
class time to think with their peers.
With questions given to the whole class, typically, the same people will
answer these questions over and over again.
Instead, ask students to work with a partner to answer the
questions. Once you are satisfied that
most students have answers to the question, then you can ask the class for the
answer. This will give students time to
put together a thoughtful answer to a question as well as rehearse their
answers in a group before sharing them with the class.
3. Providing clear directions and rubrics: Lower any ambiguity in assignments by
providing clear directions so students know what is expected. Provide directions both orally and in
writing. Along with the directions,
provide precise grading information so that students know how they will be
evaluated before they begin the assignment.
These rubrics will help students understand their grades. Model answers and assignments are also useful
learning tools so that students may see what is expected of them. Ask students who have done particularly well
on an assignment in past semesters or years if you may use their work as a
model for other students to look at.
4. Using cloze activities: Use close activities to review key passages
from a textbook or assigned readings.
One way to create a cloze activity is to blank out key terms from a reading
passage, and have students work to fill in the blanks with information either
from a word bank (less challenging) or from memory (more challenging). Cloze activities can also be used to check
comprehension after a lecture, reading, or video. Cloze activities have the double benefit of
getting students to think about language (how words fit into the blanks) as
well as content (which words fit into the blanks).
5. Defining
idioms and cultural references mid-speech:
Be aware of any
figurative language or cultural references you are using in class. Idiomatic language can be a real challenge
for students learning English. If you
use an idiom, provide an explanation at the same time. For example, you might say to a student: “You are on the right track. You almost have the correct answer.” or “I’m
not sure when we are going on the field trip.
Let’s play it by ear, see what happens naturally, before we decide on a
specific date.” Cultural references to
define as you go include ideas such as “big brother is watching” (I feel like
the government is spying on me) or “this is like a Blade Runner movie” (This is
a very urban and futuristic landscape).
6. Using dictogloss. In a dictogloss, a key passage from a text or
a key part of a lecture is delivered twice to the students. The first time, students listen and take
notes of the main ideas. The second
time, students listen and add in the key supporting details for each of the
main ideas. Once they have heard the
passage two times, they work in groups to try and recreate the text excerpt or
lecture as completely as possible. Dictogloss
has the double benefit of getting students to think about content (what ideas
they should include in their writing) and language (how they should put down
those ideas).
7. Embedding
definitions: Define words as you speak by explaining
academic vocabulary and key terms within the context of the sentence. This strategy is also known as impregnating
sentences because the sentences are pregnant with definitions. Example #1:
Before you begin an experiment, you should develop a hypothesis, which is an idea you have
based on what you know so far, but it hasn’t been proven yet. Example #2:
They all lived in a hut, in
other words a tiny house, beside the river.
8. Asking essential questions (e.g.
Wiggins & McTighe, 2005): Start each
day’s lesson with an essential question.
These are questions that have no specific correct answer. They elicit more than just yes or no, and they
encourage rich responses from students.
An essential question focuses attention on the day’s topic as students
look for answers, and it primes them to use their language skills to deeply
engage with course content. Essential
questions also encourage higher thinking skills and may lead to more questions,
curiosity, and lively discussion.
9. Completing
Frayer Models: A Frayer Model is a diagram with four
parts. It is used to help students
uncover the core definition of a key term.
The term is in the middle of the chart, with essential characteristics,
examples, non-examples, and the definition in the corners. Students work together to complete the chart,
and then develop a definition. They can
be great warmers, reviews for a previous lesson, or closers that demonstrate
learning.
10. Creating
graphic organizers: Use graphic organizers to support
learning. Examples of graphic organizers
include: Venn diagrams, fish bone
diagrams, t-charts, time lines, ladder charts, concept maps, starburst
diagrams, etc. Graphic organizers can be
filled in during a lecture, while watching a video, reading a textbook excerpt,
or working on a writing assignment. Graphic
organizers can also make great brainstorming tools, warmers to activate students’
background knowledge, and closers to solidify or demonstrate learning. A quick google search will reveal hundreds of
types of graphic organizers that are suitable for a variety of disciplines.
11. Using
repetition: Don’t be afraid to have the class repeat a
key term aloud in unison after you’ve carefully pronounced it for the
class. It will help to anchor the
pronunciation for students learning English as an additional language, and it
will highlight a term’s importance for other students in class. It only takes a couple of seconds to get
everyone in class to repeat a term such as “thermodynamics.” At the same time,
write the words being practiced on the board so that students can see how the
spelling relates to the pronunciation. Even
students from English speaking backgrounds will enjoy this brief activity.
12.
Instilling Confidence: Having confidence that the materials are
learnable is part of maintaining motivation.
Remind students of when they are making progress. One way to instill confidence is to have
students work in small groups to share with each other what they currently know
that they did not know before, or what they can do that they could not do
before. By keeping track of their
learning success, they can help to increase their confidence.
13. Completing
KWL Charts: KWL stands for Know, Want to Know, and
Learned. Activating students’ background
knowledge at the start of the lesson will prepare them for the material ahead
and support active learning. Have
students brainstorm with a partner everything they already know about the day’s
topic. Then have students brainstorm what
they want to know about the day’s topic.
Having students brainstorm what they want to know about the day’s topic
will help to generate curiosity and promote motivation. In addition, the questions students write
will prime their attention to look for answers in the day’s lesson
activities. After the lesson, have them
brainstorm everything that they learned.
This instructional strategy provides a nice frame for a lesson.
14. Asking lateral questions: Typically, questions and answers flow between
the instructor and a student. Encourage
students to listen to each other’s answers by asking follow up questions such
as “Do you agree with what Yuki just said?
Why or why not?” “Stanley, can
you add to Sarah’s answer?” You may also
have small groups discuss other people’s comments/answers and then respond to
them once they have formulated their ideas.
During a discussion, you can have students write down questions to ask
other students as they listen to their classmates’ ideas.
15. Writing learning blogs: Students can blog about the learning they have
achieved in class and how it relates to them.
Part of the blogging experience might also involve students being
required to read their classmates’ blogs and comment on them. Instructors may decide to comment on student
blogs, or just monitor them to ensure that everyone is blogging. This activity can reinforce learning and
inject a written component into a class that might not have a writing
requirement. In addition, having
students read one another’s blogs and comment on some of them activates the zone
of proximal development to learn from each other in collobration. Students learn not just content, but also each
other’s grammar and vocabulary.
16. Leaving the lectern: Teach from different areas in the classroom
or lecture hall. When students are
having discussion time, circulate around the class and interact one-on-one with
them. Aim to speak to almost every
student (or group of students in large classes) at least once (briefly) during
the class period. This helps students to
focus as they can anticipate that you may speak to them at least once during a
class.
17.
Making connections: During the lesson, take time to allow
students to make connections with the day’s topic and their own lived
experiences. They can connect the day’s
topic with something personal, with something they have already read or seen,
or with the wider world in general.
Making connections helps to make learning more relevant. When learning is more relevant, it is more
motivating, and this supports language learning. If students are maintaining a blog or a
journal, they can be encouraged to make these connections in there. These connections can also be made at the end
of class as a closing activity, for example on an exit slip on which students
write how the day’s topic connected to them.
18. Employing
multi-modal input: Use a variety of traditional and
non-traditional formats to convey content, such as print, audio, video,
internet, music, etc. This use of
different modes keeps the class interesting with kinaesthetic, aural, visual, and
musical input. For example, a short
video clip can help to reinforce learning and engage students. Activities in which students get up and move
around also promote active learning (for example, students who agree with one
side of an issue can stand against one wall, while students who agree with
another side of the issue can stand against another wall).
19.
Paraphrasing and repeating language: As you lecture, paraphrase key
sentences so that the information is conveyed more than once in more than one
way. For key ideas, you can aim to
paraphrase yourself around three times for the information to be grasped by the
students. It is also helpful to repeat
yourself at key points (say things two or three times) so that students are
aware of important information. During a
class discussion, be sure to repeat and rephrase student contributions so that
everyone in the class has a chance to hear and understand what is being
said.
20. Paying attention to class geography and wait
time: Divide the classroom
up into zones, and ensure that someone from each zone has contributed to class
discussions over the course of a lesson.
In particular, be sure to call on students from the back or sides of the
class. Vary which part of the class you are
eliciting answers from. Pay attention to
those quiet corners and encourage them to participate. Before eliciting answers or opinions from the
class, give them rehearsal time to think about the questions before you call on
members of the class to answer as a whole.
When asking students questions, give them time to respond. Students using English as an additional
language might need a few seconds of silence (wait time = 5 to 10 seconds) to
put together an answer. Avoid the
tendency to interrupt or move onto another student. What might feel awkward to the instruction is
helpful to the student.
21.
Previewing Important Vocabulary: Extract what you think are the
important vocabulary terms from the upcoming lesson and introduce them at the
start of the class. These can be general
academic words that cross disciplines (such as words from the Academic Word
List), or they can be discipline specific words that are key for content
understanding (such as technical terminology).
Tools such as the Classic Web VP Profiler at www.lextutor.ca can help you determine which words to focus
on. You may just show students important
vocabulary for the day (e.g. on the board or a PowerPoint). You may do a short activity such as putting
up a PowerPoint slide with 12 to 20 words, and ask students to look at the
words on the screen and work in pairs to make a list of five words they are
unfamiliar with in connection to the lesson topic. Once students have their lists, elicit about
five vocabulary terms from the class and explain them briefly before beginning
the lesson.
22.
Previewing readings in class: Have students open their
textbooks and look at the assigned reading.
Direct them to look at the illustrations and graphics as well as the
titles and subtitles. Have them
determine what the chapter will likely be about before they read it. Another strategy is to have students write
out a question that they think will be answered by the upcoming reading. They can then look for the answer in the text
while they are reading. Direct students
to the glossary (if available) to show them where to find definitions of key
terms. These pre-reading tasks will help
to activate students’ background knowledge and enable them to better engage
with the reading content.
23. Employing a process approach to assignments: Rather than one large assignment, chunk
assignments into smaller pieces. For
example, feedback could be provided on student outlines, introductions, first
drafts, peer evaluations, etc. At each
point, students can make revisions to their work so that the final draft
represents their best efforts. In the
early drafts, focus on content and organization rather than look at grammatical
issues (unless the issues interfere with conveying meaning). Once students have the appropriate content
and organization for their assignments, then they can expend the effort to work
on editing their grammar and vocabulary in later drafts.
24.
Promoting learning strategies: Have a learning strategy goal
along with content and language goals for each lesson. A wide variety of learning strategies are needed
by students to help them learn language.
They help students link new information, organize knowledge, aid
evaluation of learning, and uncover emotional and collaborative supports while
speeding up language learning. Examples
of learning strategies include trying to guess the meaning of new vocabulary
terms from context, summarizing information, using effective note taking
skills, and taking part in self-evaluation.
25. Providing
reading scaffolds: For challenging texts, provide an outline for
the assigned reading. As students read,
they can fill in the outline with the main ideas and key supporting
details. Give students time to compare
their completed outlines with one another to make sure they have not missed any
important information. In addition to
outlines, students may also be given graphic organizers, such as a concept map,
to complete while they are reading.
26. Recycling and spiralling: Intentionally repeat language, concepts, and
strategies at certain points during a course.
This naturally reintroduces grammar, concepts, strategies, functions,
and vocabulary during a series of lessons and it gives students the many times
they need to hear something in order to learn it: e.g. 8 – 10 times for a word (passive
knowledge). Recycling also helps
students make connections between previous lessons and current lessons. Spiralling increases cognitive challenge
while revisiting and reinforcing previously taught language, strategies, and
concepts from different perspectives.
27.
Reviewing the previous lesson: Take a minute or two to have an activity to
review the previous lesson. This will
help to link the topics for the students.
Activities can be as simple as having students work in pairs for a
couple of minutes to remind each other of the previous lesson’s topic. Another idea might be to have a graphic
organizer (such as a t-chart outlining the two sides of an issue discussed in a
previous class) that students complete with a partner based on the content of
the previous lesson. If you have an
essential question that guided a previous lesson topic, students can discuss
answers to that question.
28. Sharing lesson plans: Put a skeleton of the day’s lesson up on the
board, or in a conspicuous place. This outline
will be a roadmap to have students understand where they are in the lesson and
where they are going. Students who
become lost can look at the lesson plan to see where they are. It will also reinforce how the parts of the
lesson fit together for the day’s learning objectives. Go over the agenda for the day with the
students before the start of the class.
29. Speaking
naturally while enunciating: You may be tempted to artificially slow down and
simplify your speech. Avoid bullet
speech or “dumbing down” your lectures.
Instead, speak naturally, but at a slower space with normal phrasing. Rather than pausing between each word, pause
in the spots you would normally pause, but add a couple of seconds to the pause
to help students from non-English speaking backgrounds process the
information. In addition, enunciate
important terms and vocabulary clearly, with the emphasis on the stressed
syllables. While you are doing this, you
can animate your delivery with appropriate body language and hand
gestures.
30. Having students create glossaries: Have students keep their own personal
glossaries of key terms and vocabulary during the course. Students can add terms to their glossaries
during class or while they are studying.
Students become lexicographers, creating their own personal dictionaries
for later reference.
31. Providing question preparation time: Asking the class if there are any questions
typically results in no questions being asked, or the same few students asking
the questions (usually the ones who least need help). Have students first think about what questions
they might have. Then have students work
in small groups to make a list of questions they have about the topic. Finally have a spokesperson from each group
ask their question.
32. Using
the board: In addition to using a PowerPoint or other
kind of presentation, use the board as you lecture. Using the board will naturally slow down the
speed of your delivery to facilitate note taking. You can also write down key terms to
emphasize importance. Good board work
can help students to follow along in a lecture and associate spelling and
pronunciation.
33. Recording
lectures: Video record your lectures and put key parts
of the lectures up on your institution’s learning management system, such as Blackboard,
CANVAS, Moodle, or D2L. Try to limit
your video clips to a maximum of 20 minutes.
Students who need extra help can then review key parts of previous
lectures. As an alternative to video
recording, you can record a podcast or add audio to a set of PowerPoint slides.
34. Using
learning management systems: Take advantage of a learning management
system to run parallel support to your course.
Key vocabulary, PowerPoint slides, graphic organizers, outlines, and supplementary
or alternative readings, can all be posted to provide support to learners. The learning management system can also be
used to maintain discussion boards and blogs to promote interaction between
students.
35. Keeping
routines: Try to follow the same routine for each of
your classes. Begin with sharing an
outline of the day’s lesson along with the learning objectives followed by a
short warm-up activity. Lectures can be delivered in 15 to 20 minute
chunks. Between lecture chunks, the
class can engage in small interactive activities. Aim to consistently end with a concluding
activity, such as having the students write out a one minute essay in which
they record the key point(s) they learned during that class (Shapiro, Farrelly,
& Tomas, 2014).
36. Making
comprehension checks: Rather than asking students
if they understand, you can check learning by having students work in groups to
summarize a short section of the class and then share what they have learned so
far. You might also have mini-quizzes
interspersed throughout the class to check comprehension. If your institution uses clickers, you can
take advantage of those to get a quick pulse on student understanding.
37. Employing Think-Pair-Share: Rather than asking questions to the entire
class, you can provide time for students to formulate their answers for a
minute or two. They can then share their
answers with a partner. After students
have rehearsed or adjusted their answers with a partner, they can then be
called on to share their answers with the whole class. In this kind of activity, the instructor can
be confident that if he or she calls on a student, they will have an answer to
share with the class. It helps
instructors to avoid putting students on the spot.
38. Providing activities while students listen,
reading, and watch: Give students
an activity to complete during a class lecture, discussion, reading activity,
presentation, etc. For example, students
who are giving a presentation to the class can be asked to prepare a graphic
organizer or an outline for the classmates to complete while they are
presenting. The instructor can collect
these after the presentation. This will
focus the attention of the class while they are watching a presentation. For a reading assignment, students might have
a graphic organizer to complete while they read.
39. Engaging in small group discussions: When using small group discussions in class, be
aware of the group dynamics. Visit the
groups to interact with the students.
Also, have the group members assign themselves specific roles during the
discussion such as note taker, timer, task manager, researcher, reporter,
etc.
40. Considering reading loads: Be aware of the reading load assigned to the
students. Calculate the number of pages
you are assigning, and be aware of the time it might take students to complete
the readings. Taking their other classes
into consideration, ask whether the reading load is reasonable. Also, make your expectations for the readings
explicit. Indicate why you have chosen a
reading, how it contributes to students’ learning, and what they should focus
on. Finally, indicate if students should
read an assignment in-depth and take notes/make annotations, or whether they
should simply skim and scan a reading to get the gist (Shapiro, Farrelly, &
Tomas, 2014).
41. Using jig-saw activities: Jig-saw activities take a reading and break
it down into parts. For example, if
there are four parts to a text, groups of four students will each read one
section of a text. They will then work
together to solidify their knowledge of their part of the text. The groups are then broken up and reformed so
that each group contains a student who has read a different part of the
text. Students will then teach their
part of the text to their new group members.
Once students have a solid understanding of all four parts of the text,
they can go back to their original groups to compare what they have learned.
42. Breaking up large exams. Rather than having one or two large exams in a
course (such as a mid-term and a final), consider breaking up these assessments
into smaller pieces. For example, there
could be four exams spread out over a semester, with the weight of the exams
evenly distributed.
43. Using learner dictionaries. Allow students to use student-friendly
dictionaries in class and during assessments.
Examples of learner dictionaries include the Oxford Advanced Learners
Dictionary, the Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, and the Longman Dictionary
of Contemporary English. Typically,
learner dictionaries use high frequency vocabulary to define words in a way
that is comprehensible for English language learners.
44. Creating word walls. Have a wall in the classroom where key
vocabulary related to the course content is posted for all students to
see. Students can add to the wall when
they find a particularly useful term.
The instructor can also put up terms that may challenge the
students.
45. Recasting. Avoid overtly correcting students’ language
when it doesn’t interfere with understanding content or meaning. Rather, instructors can model language by
rephrasing what students say in a way that doesn’t draw attention to the
student. For example, if a student says “Canada is a democracy country.” the
instructor could acknowledge the student’s contribution by say, “Yes, Canada is
a democratic country.”
References and
Further Reading
Coelho, E. (2004). Adding English: A Guide to Teaching in
Multilingual Classrooms. Don Mills, ON: Pippin Publishing
Larsen-Freeman, D. & Anderson, M. (2011).
Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching. Oxford, UK: OUP.
Reiss, J. (2012). 120 Content Strategies for English Language Learners: Teaching for
Academic Success in Secondary School. Boston, MA: Pearson.
Shapiro, S., Farrelly, R., and Tomas, Z.
(2014). Fostering International Student Success in Higher Education.
Alexandria, VA: TESOL Press.
Wiggins, G. &
McTighe, J. (2005). Understanding by
Design, 2nd Ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Merrill Prentice Hall.
