I stumbled upon this English class in Korea with an award-winning teacher.
The class seemed to be for intermediates.
A fairly large class of 20~
Here are a few things that I’ve observed:
T. used the elicitation approach often, as well as the “listen and repeat” method in her warm-up activity.
She asked ss if they knew what appetizers, entrées and desserts were, which they already knew. She asked for examples of each and they all cared to participate.
What has stricken me the most was her pace through the lesson. She was incredibly fast, but not too fast that the ss couldn’t keep up. It was just the right pace, enough to keep the ss engaged without losing them in the process.
- T. used various visuals of western food.
- They were well received by the ss.
- T. praised the ss every time they answered correctly and wrote their ideas on the board.
- Ss were eager to participate and hoped their ideas would be worthy of the board.
- T. included key words, vocabulary exercises, and encouraged ss to repeat after her.
- T. introduced role playing dialogues and the ss had so much fun with it.
Each group would come to the front of the class and role play.
- T. had bow ties for the waiter and menu props for the ss.
- Ss would get creative and improvise scenarios.
- T. encouraged peer ss to clap for each group that role played at the front of the class.
- That activity not only boosted their confidence but also increased their speaking skills, their public speaking skills, and listening skills.
- Ss raised their hands to participate as T. successfully enthused everyone.
To close the role playing activity, T. had a recap/review of the new phrases the ss had learned, making sure all ss could speak and pronounce correctly.
The last activity was an interactive game, like jeopardy. Ss were very competitive. Every student successfully answered every questions during the lesson. I didn’t feel that anyone was confused or lost. Everything had such a nice flow, a vibrant energy and tempo, it would be much harder not to get into the rhythm.
T. had one last recap/review with the students before finishing class.
“Gives yourselves a clap!” she said.
