ESL Teaching Strategies
In every classroom, fruitful learning and teaching process is determined by the effectiveness of lesson plans used by teachers. Teachers who desire to be effective in their lessons in an ESL environment ought to develop clear strategies to use in the process of teaching. In the case of the "Multicultural Holidays through Student Artwork" lesson plan, there are various strategies that the teacher has used. Some of them include the setting of goals, identification of appropriate resources, preparation of an outline, and use of homework.
To begin with, one of the strategies used in the preparation of this lesson plan is the setting of both the long-term and short-term goals. This is vital in that it guides instructors on their expectations on the students at the end of their lesson. For example, in the above lesson plan, some of the goals include the helping the learners to write a clear description of the aspect of holiday from their countries; to help students in the development of orals skills; achievement of a positive self-esteem; choosing and drawing pictures of a holiday aspect in the cultures, learning, and taking part in the academic and social life in their classes. The unit is also meant to help students learn ways of giving and receiving compliments.
Just like in any lesson plan, this one has goals that focus on enabling the learners freely learn in another environment other than their native countries. For instance, there is a goal about the development of oral skills. This is beneficial in that the ESL students are able to develop communication skills at the end of the lesson. Also, the fact that they will write a description of a holiday experience from their mother countries is instrumental in incorporating multicultural aspects in their teaching and learning processes. As a result, the ESL students are able to achieve all the set goals successfully.
Moreover, an outline is another effective strategy used in the above lesson plan. The developers of the lesson plan about the "Multiculturalism Holiday through Artwork" have used an outline of all the learning activities in the lesson. One of the activities in the outline is asking each student to volunteer some information on holidaying in their native countries. Additionally, the teacher should ask the students make a list of possible holidays in various countries. This helps them in learning about other societies in class. Another activity in the outline is to ask the learners to formulate possible questions on the holidays. In addition, for students who are in higher grades, searching on the Internet is essential in their development of research skills.
In addition, in order to help them develop writing and organizational skills, it is essential that they practice writing down these aspects in a paragraph. Drawing skills can also be developed among the ESL students through the drawing and writing short essays on whatever is discussed in class. Another effective way of learning the English language by beginners is through the presentation of short talks by the learners on the aspects of a holiday in class. This is beneficial in that it enables them to develop speaking skills; hence improving the use of English language. It is also notable to let the students present their work to their classmates and teachers so as to have it corrected so as to achieve proficiency in the language. Additionally, in order to enhance the learners' memory, it is crucial to let them display their work in a visible section of the classroom.
In addition to the strategies in the lesson plan above, there are other essential ways that should be incorporated in it in order to make worthwhile. One of these strategies is the identification of appropriate materials to use in the lesson. Resources are essential because they help students get more information and refer to them in the course of learning. One of the materials in this lesson is the use of textbooks on multiculturalism so that students can refer to them. For beginners, it is appropriate to use textbooks on how to writing, drawing and oral skills so as to make the lesson effective. Use of the Internet resources is another effective strategy that is appropriate in the teaching of the upper-grade ESL students.
Homework is another key strategy in the teaching and learning of an ESL class. This is because they are instrumental in the improvement of the learners' learning capacities and performance. Assignments also help students develop interpersonal skills and have their parents participate in their teaching and teaching process. It also enables students to learn in the different environment instead of the school setting only. In turn, children learn a great deal on various cultures other than their respective ones.
The use of the comprehensible input and scaffolding is critical in this lesson because it will enhance the performance of the ESL students. In case of the comprehensive unit, the learners are able to understand the lesson through the use of pictures, visual aids, drawings, cognates, bilingual peers, provision of vocabulary definitions, and gestures. The narrative input chart, pictorial chart among other strategies are essential in enhancing the second language learners comprehensibility in class. These strategies are helpful in the enhancing the comprehension of the English for Second Language learners. Therefore, the ESL students will have an easy time in their classroom activities because they will have all their needs catered for.
On the other hand, scaffolding is another strategy that has facilitates excellent performance of the ESL students in the class. This involves the teacher modeling the desired learning activity or strategy in order, and giving the students the responsibility after some time. In scaffolding, a teacher can enhance the students' literacy development by working on new information and accepting the learner's partially right answers. For example, an ESL student is asked a question but does not have a clue on the topic. Here, the teacher chips in and provide ideas basing on other topics that are well known to the learner. A teacher can also use the learners' right answers but probes them further so as to have possible active consideration. This way, the ESL students' teaching and learning process become easy and fruitful.
This lesson plan is appropriate for the ESL students' learning because it supports the present theory and research in the textbook. This lesson plan "Multicultural Holidays through Student Artwork" focuses on the need for the putting in place certain strategies in order to make teaching and learning effectively. This is because it has incorporated various strategies in the teaching and learning of the ESL students. The use of scaffolding, comprehensible input, resources or materials, an outline of learning activities, and short and long-term goals are some of the strategies pinpointed by the theory and research. Therefore, this is a suitable lesson for any successful learning of any ESL student because it provides a chance to learn a great deal through the enhanced comprehensibility.
In conclusion, ESL learners meet many challenges in their teaching and learning process. In order to achieve successful learning among these students, all the instructors should develop effective strategies of teaching and learning. This will also help students learn a lot of multiculturalism aspects of various countries. It also gives a sense of belonging because their needs are met by the teachers. Some of these strategies include the setting of both short-term and long-term goals; an outline, appropriate materials and resources, use of scaffolding, comprehensible inputs, and assignments. These are instrumental in improving the ESL learners' performance in class. Therefore, all the instructors are required to employ these strategies in order to make teaching and learning effectively.
