TESOL for Absolute Beginners

Teaching Neophytes Is Different!

Definition: An absolute beginner is any student or person who knows practically no words of expressions in a target language – in our case, English. Presentation and modeling has to be done at the most basic level.

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Methods for teaching to classes of multiple levels of learners simultaneously must be adapted to provide for the needs and success of 3 levels of teachers..

For public schools TESOL …

13 Fundamentals to guide your approach to success (Chris Westergaard from The Language House, Teaching Beginners, video 1).

    1. Know your language goals – know what you want the students to be able to do at the close of each lesson period. e.g., Know the exact words, the exact phrases, the exact tenses (3-5 questions with open communication).

    2. Charisma is a must at all levels, but Beginners require a lot more (e.g., big smiles, friendly gestures, encouraging responses to ease the anxiety and apprehension that newcomers will likely have.) Use body language and interaction to show that you are friendly, caring, and nonjudgmental.

    3. Assume that Beginners know NOTHING. Don’t assume that Beginners know enough to piece together content; don’t use extra words. Avoid going over the Beginner’s head, as it will likely lead to unproductive engagement. Elicit, pre-teach, and go over every word before going any further.

    4. Hardly ever speak. Beginners don’t understand anything. Only use the words that are showing up in the lesson. Even limit using words that were presented in previous lessons.

    5. Build up language statements slowly .. words first, then phrases, sentences, questions, negatives, and tenses .. all very deliberately and slowly.

    6. Use a lot of visual aids, e.g., realia, drawings, photos, miming. Avoid contextual explanations and using language to make clarifications.

    7. Elicit everything for Beginners (vocabulary, grammar, everything).

    8. Slow down your voice .. pronunciation and speech. Speak slowly, but in a natural way. Remember that the students could infer the wrong emphasis in pronunciation or context.

    9. Teach less content per class period to Beginners. Remember that your goals will fail or succeed based on the 3 to 5 questions and answers on the test at the end of the period.

    10. Teach language “chunks”.

e.g., “I will _____ tomorrow.”

“Will you _____ tomorrow?”

“No, I won’t.” or “Yes, I will.”

    11. Error correct a lot! (Treat the content of the lessons as though you were teaching the lyrics to a song.) Develop the base .. get the students to use the right structures, pronunciation, etc. When the students know that are speaking correctly, the develop the confidence to speak more. Also, they learn to self evaluate.

    12. Teach contractions on Day 1. Contractions are natural parts of normal speech. Say, “I am going to the beach.” then repeat and say “I’m going to the beach.” “I am .. I’m going to the beach.”

“ Are you going to the beach?” “Yes, I’m going to the beach.”

    13. Drill and practice to excess. Teachers need to lead the students and spend enough time practicing it. Practice, Practice, Practice.

Next: The 5 Points Method (Chris from The Language House, video 2).