It is difficult enough to teach a classroom of new students as a substitute teacher (or relief teacher as we call them in New Zealand), but when the class contains or is composed of English Language Learners and there has been no work set, it can make a relief lesson more of a challenge.
For maximum engagement and interaction from students, games have been shown to be extremely effective (Heathfield, 2020). Games can also be a great tool for managing new students and providing differentiated tasks. Similarly, other types of TB (task-based) learning such as solving problems and completing a puzzle have been shown to both engage students and elicit maximum amounts of authentic language and interaction. These activities that are effective with English Language Learners will benefit all students.
Getting to know your learners
One of the foundation principles with any class is the importance of knowing your learners and to begin a lesson, ice breaker activities can be a wonderful opportunity for learners and teachers to interact and find out something about each other.
A teacher can elicit questions by writing a series of words or phrases on the board to represent personal information about themselves. Learners need to think of questions to ask the teacher to eliminate the words on the board; for example, “Where were you born?” in response to Auckland or more adept students may produce more advanced questions, “Have you ever been to Japan?” More commonly, students could be asked to put up their hands and ask but there are other ways to get more involvement from the wider class. Getting students to come up with a series of questions in groups or pairs, and assigning roles such as scriber or spokesperson to group members can be non-threatening ways to get more students involved.
Using images
Pictures that illustrate scenes, flashcards and blank cartoon strips are great resources.
Images are a great resource because they encourage language, even if it is just words (and for absolute beginners, it could be words in their first language). Images are also a great way to differentiate a task. Those with limited language skills may choose to brainstorm words while those more capable learners can describe pictures or develop a story. Busy pictures or cartoon strips can also be used in this way. Groups of students can help each other to think of as many sentences as they can about a picture or write the sequence of what has happened in a cartoon.
Blank cartoon strips are a great resource that can be used in a number of ways. Students can draw a story they have listened to and reconstruct a sentence to describe each scene.
Producing images
Listening and drawing work well with mixed-ability classes. Adjust the instructions according to the depth of understanding or get students to work in pairs if they are struggling to understand. Learners can be asked to draw shapes or follow directions to form a picture. This is an excellent way to consolidate further vocabulary but remember it is always important to ascertain how much connection learners have with a context and teach new vocabulary before attempting a task. Drawing can be a non-threatening way for students to develop their language skills without being called on to demonstrate in front of others. They can be encouraged to share information about themselves through art incorporating written language for those with stronger literacy skills.
Bingo
Laminated bingo cards of 9 or 16 squares are a useful resource. There are many ways the basic game of bingo can be moderated to provide interesting and different versions (Troncon, 2023). Bingo for beginners could be practising numbers or reading words, but those with more advanced skills can be required to understand definitions, word sounds or patterns and even listen for the words in a sentence (Troncon, 2023). A teacher would put up to 20 words on the board and each learner fills up their bingo card with their choices. When the teacher gives the definitions, they can cross off the matching word to complete bingo. Alternatively, when the teacher uses the target word in a sentence or a word that rhymes with a word, the learners can cross off the word.
Solving puzzles
A great task for students to complete together is a split dictation. Pairs of students work together to complete the text. Problem-solving tasks such as crossword puzzles where learners work together to solve clues are an easy resource to provide. Crossword puzzles can also easily be built from many sources on the internet.
Some final points
A task or game is not a lesson in itself (Willis, 1996). For students to develop accuracy, it can be beneficial to spend time on pre-task teaching or preparation and in addition to this, post-task reflection allows students to reflect on their performance and what changes need to be made.
Allow the use of their home language during class activities and allow the use of translative apps if students need to use them.
References
Heathfield, R. (2020). HOW EFFECTIVE ARE ESL GAMES COMPARED TO TRADITIONAL LEARNING. The EUrASEANs: Journal on Global Socio-economic Dynamics‖, Volume 6(25), 62–69.
Troncon, R. (2023). 25 Fun Classroom Activities With an Exciting Bingo Games bookwidgets.com. Retrieved April 14, 2024, access here.
Willis, J. (1996). A flexible framework for task-based learning. In Challenge and Change in Language Teaching (pp. 52–62). Heinemann.
