Instructional Strategies

No instructional strategy will work for the same individual or group of people. There will always be some slight tweaks here and there. I’ve continuously modified worksheets and tasks according to the learners’ skills and interest. Consider the vocabulary, instructional language, grammar, time, and purpose.

How much vocabulary should students remember?

I’ve found that one has to meet in the middle group. There is the target vocabulary relevant to the topic and there are others that can be substituted by synonyms. Below is a suggested quantity only:

How should you speak? I found that sometimes speaking too much, too quickly, and using too much academic vocabulary will hinder comprehension. So just beware of what words you’re using in the classroom!

Should I teach grammar? I always find grammar important because it helps with fluency and supports building confidence. Some students may be afraid of speaking not only because of pronunciation but rather of making mistakes. Hence, if the grammar is coupled with a purposeful activity/goal, students are more likely to engage. For beginners, I tend to keep my grammar instruction brief and purposeful towards the task as these language points can be used sooner. For intermediate and advanced, that’s when I go into more detailed grammar points (e.g. subordination, tenses).

What is the goal of this lesson? Some teachers will present the goal at the beginning and have students copy this down from the board. It’s a good learning strategy for students to keep in mind as the lesson moves forward. If there are worksheets, the goal can be at the top of the page as well.

In a critical analysis of gamification, Hung (2017) explains the idea of gamification as thus:

“Gamification overlaps with other game-related educational interventions, including game-based learning, serious games, and learning by design, each of which values different aspects of games and tends to approach games and learning from different points of departure. Game-based learning involves learning by playing games, either ones developed specifically for education or commercial games seen to have educational value (Squire, 2005, 2011). Serious games tend to focus on raising awareness on social issues (Sanford, Starr, Merkel, & Kurki, 2015) or improving lifestyles, for example, by teaching players how to improve health, control addiction, and boost nutrition. Learning by design involves having students design games in order to learn about complex issues and to promote systems thinking (Kafai, 1995, 2006).” (p. 57)

In my classroom, I will sometimes utilize game-based learning to promote vocabulary memorization and conversation practice.

Role play: one of the idea of promoting real-world tasks is through role play. For instance, the goal for the lesson may be talking with the doctor. After vocabulary building, I will have a listening activity for students to complete (i.e. see cloze exercise) and students with practice with a partner. I might also have different scenarios for students to practice before creating their own conversation with a partner.

• One of the metacognitive strategies that encourages reflection is journaling. In my M.Ed course at OISE, I had the opportunity to collaborate with colleagues in creating a website specifically targeting how to improve learners metacognitivity. Here is the link.
• In my class, I give half a booklet to each student and have them complete the question on the board. Depending on the level, I will limit the number of sentences they needed to write and if needed, I usually write an example of my own. This way, I give them another opportunity to read or review a sentence structure.

• Portfolio (PBLA): The benefits of recording a portfolio of artefacts serves as an evidence of learning for students. Instructors and students are able to see the progress of students and the areas in which students need more assistance with. For adult ESL, please see https://www.language.ca/resourcesexpertise/on-pbla/
• Reflection: Activities such as journals, feedback surveys, or exit cards are opportunities for students to assess their own learning. Through this metcognitive process, students continuously reflect on what they can do and what they need to work on. Some students may be resistant to this process. One of the reasons may be because they do not have an idea of what to write. For this reason, I have created a checklist for students to see whether they can accomplish the task or not. They can also use the items on the checklist as what they wanted to do better on.
• Assessment rubric/checklist/success criteria: It is important for students to understand the purpose of the task they are participating in. Often times, students don’t feel motivated because they thought the task is not being assessed. Hence, there are criteria. For higher level of students, co-creating the criteria is possible but make sure to utilize the words in students’ language.