The 4 Skills: Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing

Listening and Speaking

Teach beginning students useful phrases to get speakers to repeat or

to slow down. You can encourage them to use those phrases by
speaking very rapidly yourself at times until someone catches on and
asks you to please slow down or please repeat.

Show the importance of intonation by saying a simple sentence like

Its raining so that it has different meanings, and have students try to
interpret the meaning. Examples: Pronounce it to mean 1. A simple
statement of fact. 2. A question. 3. Amazement that its raining and
not snowing. 4. As a statement of disbelief that it could possibly be
raining now.

Encourage students to listen to or watch English language radio and TV

for a certain amount of time (15 minutes). At first, ask them to try to
write down 3 things they understood. Gradually, challenge them to
write down more and more.

Give number or sentence dictations, where students listen to the

numbers or sentences you read and write them down, then correct
them against a list you put on the board. Start with very easy
dictations and progress to longer, harder ones. For numbers, be sure to
include years, street addresses, and birthdays all of which use
different forms than simply listing digit by digit.

Play a portion of a movie without seeing it, and have them describe
what they think is going on - Who is there? Where are they? How do
they feel?

Teach students that an effective listener doesnt have to understand

every word, but rather does a lot of predicting and educated guessing.

Suggest that when students are on public transportation or in a public

place, they try to listen in on conversations in English and try to
understand what is being said. Remind them that the context and
nonverbal clues will help them make good guesses about whats being
said.

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Use Information Gap Activities. This is when one person has certain
information that the other one needs, and vice versa. They must
communicate in order to complete the task

Borrow books on tape from the Public Library. Have students listen to
the tapes as they follow along in the book. This will enable them to
hear the rhythm, intonation, and stress of the language.

Story Re-tells: Tell students a brief story, using pictures as a guide. Have
them arrange the pictures in order as they hear it. Then have them retell the story, using the pictures as a guide.

Ask students to interview three people outside of class for homework.

Practice the questions beforehand. Questions should be at an
appropriate challenge level for the students, and should be based on
themes you are working on (for example, beginning students may ask
basic questions about peoples families, advanced students would ask
more complex, open-ended questions)

Reading and Writing

Writing Activities
Language Experience Technique
Whole books have been written on the technique, which is frequently
used with first language learners in elementary school. The basic steps
are:
1. Students share an experience such as going on a field trip,
interviewing someone you bring into class, or having a party
2. Then the class creates a story about the experience. As students
suggest sentences, you write them on the board. You can ask
questions like: Would Pablos sentence go better before this one or
at the end? and Can someone think of a final sentence?
3. Read the story together many times.
4. Ask them questions about the words in the story, such as: Which
words start with B? How many syllables are in this word? How
many times did we use the word the?
5. Students copy the group story they have created into their
notebooks.

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Card Questions
These can be used for written or oral responses. Cut the questions apart
and use the cards that are the appropriate level for your student.
How do you spell your
name?

How old are you?

Where are you from?

How many bedrooms

are there in your
house?

Who is in your family?

What is your favorite

color?

Can you describe your

teacher?

What time is it?

What are you wearing?

What are you doing

right now?

How is the weather

today?

What did you do

yesterday?

What are you going to

do this summer?

What do you do
everyday?

What do you do for

fun?

Who is your hero and

why?

What are your hopes

and dreams?

What is your pet

peeve?

What do you like best

about your class?

What is something that

you are very proud of?

What is something
embarrassing that
happened to you?

What countries have

you visited?

What were you doing

before class started?

If you had $1,000,000,

what would you do?

If you were the

president, what would
you do?

If you could plan a

perfect day, what
would you do?

Tell me about your job.

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Incorporating Language for the Hospitality Industry

One of our major goals is to provide students with the language skills
they need to work and advance in the hospitality industry. For this
reason, we ask that you supplement the textbook you are given with
vocabulary, dialogues, and discussions related to the hotel. Ideas
include:
Highlight various positions in the hotel and talk about that
persons responsibilities.
Take the student(s) to the model hotel room and identify
furniture and supplies.
When practicing various verb tenses, include actions that the
student may do at work. For example, some words to add to the
past tense lesson could be: cleaned, scrubbed, washed, etc.
Take your student on a walk to see some famous Boston tourist
destinations such as Quincy Market, the waterfront, Boston
Common, etc. Later, have the student practice giving directions
to and describing these places.
Many of the hotels are starting new green initiatives to cut
down on waste, energy, and water. Ask students what their
particular hotels are doing. Talk about recycling, and
encourage them to do it at school and at home as well.
Practice filling out job applications.
Practice interview questions.
Some good resources youll find on the bookshelf are:

At Work in the US.

Make Your Mark in the Hotel Industry
Speaking Up At Work
Basic English for Hotels

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Practice Interview Questions

Position
1. What job are you applying for?
2. Do you have experience working as a __________________ ?
3. What do you know about this position?
4. Why do you think you would be good for this job? / So, you want to
be a ___________________. Why should we hire you?
Past Experience
5. Tell me about your current position.

6. What do you like most / least about your last job?

7. What are your skills?

8. If I were to call your supervisor, what would he or she say about

you?

9. What is customer service?

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Behavioral
10. Give me an example of a time when you provided good customer
service.

11. Give me an example of a time when you were able to work well
under pressure / in a fast-paced environment.

Hypothetical
12. How would you handle a rude or difficult customer?

13. What would you do if your shift ended at 4:30 and you finished
everything at 4:00?

14. If I were to call your supervisor, what would he or she say about
you?

Personal
15. What are your strengths?

16. What are your weaknesses?

17. What are your goals for the future? Where do you see yourself in 5
years?

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Availability
18. What is your availability?
19. Can you work overtime? Can you work weekends?
20. Do you have any questions for me?

Additional Questions

Give me an example of something you have done on the job that

you are proud of.

Discuss a time when you had a misunderstanding with a co-worker

and how you resolved it.

Give me an example of how you work well on a team.

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Checklist
(Ask yourself these questions after every class!)
1. Was the atmosphere of the class friendly/did I give frequent
encouragement?
2. Did I begin by reviewing material previously covered/relate material
to what student already knows?
3. Was the class well organized with a logical flow from one activity to
the next?
4. Did I check for understanding? How?

5. Was the student doing more talking than I was?

6. Did I make corrections effectively? How?

7. Did I keep the class mostly in English?

8. Did I use real objects, pictures, or other visuals?

9. Have I used many different types of activities over the past couple
weeks? (listening, speaking, reading, writing, pronunciation,
vocabulary, grammar, etc)
10. Did I assign homework?

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Dos and Donts for teaching English Language Learners

Modeling
Do model for students what they are expected to do or produce, especially for
new skills or activities, by explaining and demonstrating the learning actions,
sharing your thinking processes aloud, and showing good teacher and student
work samples. Modeling promotes learning and motivation, as well as increasing
student self-confidence -- they will have a stronger belief that they can
accomplish the learning task if they follow steps that were demonstrated.
Don't just tell students what to do and expect them to do it.
Rate of Speech and Wait Time
Do speak slowly and clearly, and provide students with enough time to formulate
their responses, whether in speaking or in writing. Remember, they are thinking
and producing in two or more languages! After asking a question, wait for a few
seconds before calling on someone to respond. This "wait time" provides all
students with an opportunity to think and process, and especially gives ELLs a
needed period to formulate a response.
Don't speak too fast, and if a student tells you they didn't understand what you
said, never, ever repeat the same thing in a louder voice!
Use of Non-Linguistic Cues
Do use visuals, sketches, gestures, intonation, and other non-verbal cues to
make both language and content more accessible to students. Teaching with
visual representations of concepts can be hugely helpful to ELLs.
Don't stand in front of the class and lecture, or rely on a textbook as your only
"visual aid."
Giving Instructions
Do give verbal and written instructions -- this practice can help all learners,
especially ELLs. In addition, it is far easier for a teacher to point to the board in
response to the inevitable repeated question, "What are we supposed to do?"
Don't act surprised if students are lost when you haven't clearly written and
explained step-by-step directions.
Check for Understanding
Do regularly check that students are understanding the lesson. After an

explanation or lesson, a teacher could say, "Please put thumbs up, thumbs
down, or sideways to let me know if this is clear, and it's perfectly fine if you don't
understand or are unsure -- I just need to know." This last phrase is essential if
you want students to respond honestly. Teachers can also have students quickly
answer on a Post-It note that they place on their desks. The teacher can then
quickly circulate to check responses. Teachers/tutors can also check
understanding by asking students to repeat directions.
When teachers regularly check for understanding in the classroom, students
become increasingly aware of monitoring their own understanding, which serves
as a model of good study skills. It also helps ensure that students are learning,
thinking, understanding, comprehending, and processing at high levels.
Don't simply ask, "Are there any questions?" This is not an effective way to
gauge what all your students are thinking. Also, don't assume that students are
understanding because they are smiling and nodding their heads -- sometimes
they are just being polite!
Encourage Development of Home Language
Do encourage students to continue building their literacy skills in their home
language, also known as "L1." Research has found that learning to read in the
home language promotes reading achievement in the second language as
"transfer" occurs. These "transfers" may include phonological awareness,
comprehension skills, and background knowledge.
While the research on transfer of L1 skills to L2 cannot be denied, it doesn't
mean that we should not encourage the use of English in class and outside of the
classroom.
Don't "ban" students from using their native language in the classroom.
Forbidding students from using their primary languages does not promote a
positive learning environment where students feel safe to take risks and make
mistakes. This practice can be harmful to the relationships between teachers and
students, especially if teachers act more like language "police" than language
"coaches."
This is certainly not a complete guide -- they are just a few of the most basic
practices to keep in mind when teaching English Language Learners (or, for that
matter, probably any second language learner). What are more "do's and don'ts"
that you would add to the list?
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