The reality is thatalmost
anyone on this planet can become a
teacher. In other words, they can obtain
the necessary credentials that will land them a job teaching a
subject of some capacity in a public or private school or
institute. Whether it is ESL, foreign languages, computers or
teaching kids in a public school system, there has always
been and will always be a high demand for teachers. While
there are thousands out there that call themselves a ‘teacher’
as designated by their job title, only a minority of these so-
called instructors are actually any good. No matter what the
subject, teaching is a craft and not everyone excels at it.
However, most individuals can eventually become good
teachers over time and the majority of quality teachers start
off poorly.
I’ve been teaching in some capacity for over eight years. While
I’ve mostly taught ESL, I’ve also spent a fair amount of time
instructing political science at the university level along with
stints as a substitute teacher in American public school
systems, a teaching assistant as a graduate student and even
a few TESOL courses. I still remember my first couple of
years. I was awful to say the least, but I worked at it, matured
as a person and I consider myself now to be quite good. This
blog is about teaching ESL. So the rest of this article is going
to focus on how to be a superb ESL instructor. However, my
recommendations can in reality be applied to most levels of
teaching, age groups and demographics. Whether you are
teaching English, computers or basket weaving, teaching is
ultimately about making connections with others in a
classroom setting. Is less about disciplining and more about
inspiring, engaging and getting results. If you find yourself
teaching English as a second language to a group of adults,
here are ten tips that you should keep in mind that will surely
make you a better instructor.
1. Don’t be a dictator when teaching ESL
As a teacher, the classroom is never about you, but only the
students. This is not to imply that you should let students
walk over you or that they shouldn’t conduct themselves in a
respectful manner. What it means is that you should create a
classroom environment where the students feel comfortable to
speak, ask questions, be creative and engage not only with
you, but with their fellow classmates. It is not your job to get
up there and lecture and talk down to the students. If you are
a person with control issues, then you ought not to be
teaching ESL or any subject for that matter. If you are
teaching adults, remember that your students are adults and
never treat them like children. Just because they speak
English at a low-level doesn’t mean they aren’t well-educated
and dignified in their own language. If you are teaching adults
at a private language school, the reality is that if they can
afford to take your course, then they are probably a hell of a
lot more successful in life then you are, so give them their
respect.
2. Teaching ESL is all about maximizing
student talk time
This one is somewhat related to the first tip. If you are a
dictator in the classroom, then your students aren’t talking
enough. If the students aren’t talking, then they should
demand a full refund or complain to management. Whether it’s
English, Spanish, Chinese or any language, class time is for
the students to talk as much as possible and not for you to
carry on about some nonsense. Remember that if you are
teaching at a private institute, the students are also paying
customers who are eager to practice the language. I’ve walked
by many classrooms where the students sat in complete
boredom as the teacher kept droning on about some minute
grammar point. In an ESL class or any langauge class for that
matter, the students should be talking at least 60% of the time
and the best teachers get their students to speak 75% of the
time. If you are teaching grammar, show them a few examples
on the board, check their understanding and then have them
engage with each other in pairs or find other activities. Every
opportunity to speak in the classroom should be afforded to
the students. If someone asks a question about vocabulary,
ask a more advanced student to explain the answer. Don’t read
directions of an assignment, but have a student do it. In other
words, make the students do as much work as possible,which
ultimately will make your job easier and provide them with
more opportunities to speak.
3. Learn to be a coach
Teaching English as a second language or any language is not
really about being an instructor in the traditional sense. You
should never be lecturing or have a regimented structure to
your class. Instead, your class should be fluid, creative,
innovative and open. While doing do, you have to learn to be a
coach. Each student and class has different needs, strong
points and weak points. It is up to you to identify needs and
proceed from there. The mentality in your classroom should
not be that they will master English in 60 minutes, but rather
that you as the teacher-coach introduce a grammar point,
vocabulary or pronunciation patterns and it is up to the
students to practice outside of the classroom. As a coach, you
should provide feedback on a weekly or biweekly basis. Point
out positive things that they are doing and remind your
students of their weak points. While reminding them of their
weak points, do so in a constructive way and offer advice on
how to rectify them. Finally, as a coach it your job to motivate
the students and give them a reason for being there.
4. Look presentable when you are
working as an ESL teacher
This might seem like a no-brainer, but you would be amazed
by some of the things I’ve seen over the years. How you look
in the eyes of the student has a significant impact on how
they perform in the classroom. If you make an effort to look
presentable, the students will be more inclined to work hard.
Think about it. Would you want to take a language class from
an instructor with wrinkled clothes, messy hair, who is
unshaven and wearing tennis shoes? I am not saying that you
have to dress in business attire. In fact, I am quite opposed to
wearing a suit while teaching a language since language
teaching requires a fair amount of movement and activity on
the part of the teacher. I actually wear jeans on some days.
This is partly because I prefer to work in more casual
institutes. However, while I may wear jeans, I wear a nice shirt
or sweater and attempt to dress at least with some sense of
fashion. In the morning, I am clean shaven, fresh, showered
and smelling good. Yes, this is another issue with many
teachers. That being hygiene. If you were going out on a date,
you would certainly be expected by the other person to arrive
smelling good and looking sharp. There is no exception to this
when teaching. Don’t enter the class with messy hair, sand
under your eyes as if you haven’t showered or even washed
your face and smelling of mildew or alcohol. I’ve caught both
male and female teachers that have been guilty of this. In fact,
take a page out of your students’ book as people from non-
Western countries tend to make more of an effort in looking
presentable for work or school.
5. Don’t be sensitive and uptight if you
want to be a good ESL teacher
One of the
great
contradictions of the English-speaking West is that although
we champion our individualism, we tend to be quite uptight,
bound by political correctness and entirely too sensitive about
what others say. The reality is that Western individualism is
often pretentious and most of us are terrified sheep that are
desperate to fit in with the crowd. If you going to teach ESL
either abroad or in your home country, then you need to
develop thick skin and realize that political correctness is not
widely accepted in other countries. There also isn’t this
underlying friction between the sexes in other cultures as there
is in say the United States or the UK. For the most part, people
throughout Latin America and Asia are quite flirtatious, playful
and enjoy teasing each other. Nobody wants some uptight
Westerner telling them how to think and behave. Although we
think we are saving the world via our crusade of political
correctness, aren’t we in reality merely espousing our
ethnocentric views? My point is that people of Asia, Latin
America, Africa and even parts of Europe simply do not think
like us and we shouldn’t want them to change. They are
wonderful the way they are. They often say what is on their
minds and you have to respect them for that. Remember that
the ESL classroom is not a platform for you to get on your
high horse and preach your world view. Of course you can
share your opinions and your students will value your views,
but you need to accept their perspectives as well.
6. Don’t talk too much about your
personal life
Remember that classroom time is for your students and not
for you to go and on about your personal life. Of course it is
great to share stories with your students. This is particularly
true if you have traveled as they will always appreciate hearing
about your adventures. However, keep your personal issues
and problems to yourself. Maintain a positive classroom that
encourages learning, engaging and having fun. More
importantly, never let your personal problems show in the
classroom. This can be quite difficult at times since teaching
does not afford the opportunity to zone out like you can
working in an office. There are days when you don’t want to
speak to anyone, yet it is your job to be active and to engage
with your students for hours at a time. It is difficult to keep a
smile on your face and to be cheerful when dealing with a
personal issue. However, you will lose credibility quickly with
your students if you appear to be irritable, upset or aloof.
Sometimes you just need to power through.
7. Use humor in the classroom when
teaching ESL
I feel that this is one key component to teaching English that
is ignored too often. There are some Westerners who feel that
they must be uptight and on some kind of power trip when
instructing a class. But being too serious in the classroom is
the worst thing you can do when teaching ESL and such an
attitude will antagonize a great deal of students. In reality,
teaching ESL is half teaching and half entertaining. This is not
to say that you have to be a clown and you should never be a
clown. There is a qualitative difference between being a clown
and being humorous and funny. As mentioned before, people
from other countries aren’t as uptight and pretentious as we
are in the English-speaking West. They are serious about
studying, but they want to be entertained and laugh
consistently throughout the class. It’s perfectly fine to make
jokes, tease students and allow the students to act in a
humorous way with each other. One way of creating a class
full of humor is to use a lot of activities. If you are teaching
adults, have some interesting, yet funny discussion questions
and implement some creative group exercises into the mix. If
you are teaching kids, make sure to have plenty of fun games
and never be too serious with them. From my experience, the
most successful ESL teachers have always been the ones that
are good at injecting tasteful humor into the class. Most
importantly, a good laugh here and there will allow your
students to relax, stimulate the creative parts of their brains
and feel more comfortable speaking up in front of the class.
8. Be creative as an ESL teacher
Think back to a few boring classes you had in high school or
university. Can you remember a class or two where the
instructor was painstakingly dry, mundane and seemed to
drone on and on for eternity? Better yet, can you remember a
class when the instructor just lectured the entire time like a
dictator with little feedback from the students? Your ESL
classroom should never resemble this scenario in no shape or
form. As stated before, you should never be lecturing up there
even when teaching grammar. The ESL classroom has to be
fluid, fast-paced, engaging and active. In my opinion, this
should apply to all language courses. I’ve taken a few Spanish
and Japanese courses in which I felt I was being held hostage
for 60 minutes. Never let your students feel in this way.
Traditional teaching methods do not work when it comes to
language instruction. It is your job as the ESL/language
instructor to construct a classroom setting around creative
activities, exercises and discussion questions. Teaching
grammar is no exception. It’s ok to show them a few
examples on the board and explain it, but do it quickly and
efficiently. Find creative ways to allow them to practice the
language during class time, so they can effectively use it
outside of school. As stated in point number 2, student talk
time should always be maximized in the ESL classroom and
being creative is the only way to hit that 70% mark.
9. Don’t be a racist
This one might seem obvious, but I’ve come across quite a
few teachers both in the United States and abroad that
seemed a bit racist and xenophobic. If you are going to spend
a significant portion of your day around people of other
cultures and colors, then you need to be open-minded and
receptive to these differences. If your only interest to teach
abroad is to save money, then you should reconsider. Sure,
saving money is a worthwhile goal, but teaching abroad is
also about the experience of living in another country. It’s
2015 and the world has changed drastically during the past
twenty of thirty years. If you think that because you are white,
people will love you everywhere you go, think again. The world
has become hip to reality and knowledgeable on matters of
race and culture compared to even twenty years ago. This rule
also applies to how you treat other teachers. If you are
planning on teaching in Asia. you are going to be working with
teachers of other colors as the demographics these days of
who actually teaches abroad is changing rapidly. When living
abroad, you will be in the same boat as every other foreigner,
so learn to get along and put preconceptions about people on
the back-burner.
10. Be knowledgeable of other cultures
and countries
This one goes a long way when teaching ESL and it will gain
the respect of your students. Whether you are teaching
domestically or in a particular country, be knowledgeable your
students’ countries and cultures. I am not saying that you
need a master’s degree in East Asian studies or Latin
American politics, but having a general grasp of the history
and cultural nuances will make your life a lot easier. Being well
versed in geography, historical cities, ancient capitals and so
on will also draw the admiration of your students. Basically,
you don’t want to be the socially awkward, red-faced English
teacher, but rather the open-minded one that can have fluid
discussions with his or her students about such matters. Don’t
be afraid to use class time as an opportunity to learn about
the culture of your students as most students will be eager to
share during periods of classroom discussion. Personally, I
encourage all of my adult students to bring in food to the
classroom. A potluck is a great way to get to know another
culture. I also to do this because I love to eat and have fun
during my classes.
Teaching can often be a rewarding experience and a chance to
make genuine connections with others. However, different
approaches in the classroom are needed according to the
subject that is being taught. Instructing a class in English as a
second language or any language needs to be taught in a
certain way since the way in which we learn a language may
be quite different than other applications. In my opinion, being
creative, engaging, open, active and encouraging students to
speak as much as possible is the best way to teach another
language.
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