In our education system, English is the main language used to teach, learn, and assess students. Along with using it as a language for every subject, students also study English as an academic subject. From elementary education, secondary, senior secondary to higher learning, students find English as an academic subject always.
Becoming an English teacher brings along a lot of responsibilities and duties as teaching students a language is not an easy task. Let us discuss some effective tips that teachers can follow to teach and have effective, more engaged, and valuable English classes for the students.
Teach English effectively: tips for teachers
- Have interactive literature sessions
Along with grammar and writing skills, the English subject also includes literature lessons. Only reading out the literature lessons yourself and explaining them, whereas making students sit as mere listeners is not an effective way to teach English. This will make students feel bored, less interested furthermore making them distracted from the classes.
To avoid this with your class ensure to have interactive literature lessons. Make your students read aloud one by one. This will make them properly focused and engaged in the classes. Also, you can divide the story characters to the students and make them exchange the dialogues. This will help you to teach and make students understand better.
- Use technology
Sometimes students don’t enjoy only learning from textbooks. To teach effectively and make students more interested, involved in the classes, using technology will surely help teachers. Teachers can access several audiovisual tools like PowerPoint presentations, modules, picture cards, short movies on the literature lessons, and educational videos too.
With the help of visualization, students understand the concepts better and quicker. On online teaching sites and apps, you can also access quality study material and practice exercises to make students solve problems. Also, you can have online quizzes, riddles, and interesting assessment activities for the English classes too via using technical teaching aids.
- Make students write
Along with teaching the literature lessons, making students work on their writing skills is also very important. Written communication skills in English are very important for students to score well in exams too. While teaching, ask students to make English notes in their notebooks.
Ensure to make students write in the classroom as much as possible. Give them some writing skills topics like an essay, notice, letter writing, speech, story writing, diary entry, etc. With good writing skills, students will learn to frame good answers in the exams too.
- Have more participating activities
English is not all about learning the question answers and writing. Effective English communication skills are the need of the hour. To become academically, socially, and professionally successful, students need to be good at communication.
To make students good at this, teachers must have more participatory activities for the English class. Avoid the teacher-centered approach of you speaking and making students sit as mere listeners because this is not fit to enhance their communication skills. Have participatory activities such as
- Group discussions
- Recitations
- Giving presentations
- Question answer rounds
- Doubt resolution
With all these participative activities in the class, students have the opportunity to speak, share, listen to each other, have better knowledge, and enhance communication skills. Encourage all students to come forward and participate with confidence, no hesitation, and fear.
- Have regular assessments
Many students take English lightly and leave, delaying their studies and preparation for the final exams time. But this is a wrong work process. This not only affects English scores and performance but also the overall academic results of the students. To avoid this happening with your students, have regular assessments for the students.
Regular tests will ensure students are consistent and actively involved with English learning. This will also make students come well prepared to the classes regularly and participate more too. This helps teachers check students’ understanding and make them improve and enhance their performances.
Conclusion
English is an important academic subject that students learn from elementary education to higher learning courses. It is important for teachers to teach students English effectively and ensure their academic and professional success. By following the above-mentioned tips that are using technology, having interactive literature classes, conducting regular assessments, focusing on writing skills, and having participatory classes, teachers can teach this subject effectively to the students.