Beginner Level

When teaching absolute beginners it is crucial to ‘grade’ your language as much as possible because even
some of the simplest sentences may confuse your students. At this level you really need to be animated and
reduce the complexity of anything you say.

If, for example, you start your lesson with, “Okay guys, today we’re going to cover subject pronouns” you will
probably be greeted by a sea of blank stares. Instead, it is essential to use visuals, for example, “Look (point to
eyes) at the board (point to board)” before clearly writing the title ‘subject pronouns’.

This is a technique called ‘modelling’ and is really necessary at this level.

Basically, it means demonstrating exactly what you’re talking about by pointing and using visuals. In case
you’re unsure, subject pronouns are used to replace the noun which is the subject of the sentence.

If we take the sentence “Mary is American”, we can replace the noun (Mary) with ‘she’, a subject pronoun.
The subject pronouns in English are:

 I – 1st person singular

 you – 2nd person singular
 he/she/it – 3rd person singular
 we – 1st person plural
 you – 2nd person plural
 they – 3rd person plural

Rather than simply writing this list on the board and getting your students to copy it, you first need to
demonstrate. Look at the example below of how to present a lesson on subject pronouns…

 “I (point to yourself) am a teacher”. Write the word ‘I’ on the board, then repeat the sentence, again
pointing at yourself as you emphasis the word ‘I’.
 “you (point to an individual student) have a red bag (e.g.)”. Write ‘you’ on the board underneath ‘I’
and repeat.
 Say both sentences together, always demonstrating as you speak, “I am a teacher. You have a red bag”
 “he (point to a male student) is tall (indicate height with your hand)”.
 Continue with this pattern until you have demonstrated all the subject pronouns.
 Get the students to repeat after you and drill pronunciation.
 At this point there are a variety of activities you could do from matching activities to sentence
completion but remember not to ignore the visual aspect: any handout should include clear pictures
that the students can relate the pronouns to.
Match the following pronouns to the pictures.
you (plural)
they
I
you (singular)
she
we
he
Check answer

More about teaching absolute beginners

You’ll notice that we have introduced the word ‘absolute’. This is to differentiate ‘true’ beginners (absolute
beginners) from ‘false’ beginners, which we’ll come to in a moment.

An absolute beginner has no knowledge of English.

Here is some further sound and practical advice for teaching absolute beginners:

1. Keep it simple

Work hard at grading your language to these groups. Keep it simple and try not to use complex structures or
complex vocabulary, e.g. Most definitely, if I were you….

You’ll need to speak slower but not too slow and deliberate such that it sounds like you are talking to a baby,
otherwise the learners may feel patronised.

But don’t miss out simple but important words and structures. Don’t say Ah, you to go to party tonight.
Learners need to hear certain structures even if you haven’t reached that learning point with them. Otherwise,
they may think that’s how English really is spoken.
And, if you are teaching adults at these levels, it’s important to utilise or create material that is relevant to an
adult. Avoid using books or materials that are too childish.

2. Use the right approach

You’ll need to be ready to use a wider variety of materials and shorter activities that involve them in
communication – more drawing on the board, more pictures and diagrams, more role plays, more ways for
getting the message across. Also, make good use of gestures and mime to help get the message across.

3. Encourage interaction

Use pair or group activities that encourage interaction by providing learners with situations in which they
must negotiate language with partners or group members to complete a task.

4. Make a personal connection

Ensure you know the students’ names. If you have any difficulty with this, draw up a seating plan with their
names on it. When you’re away from your desk, you can use some tricks of the trade:

1. You: Well done, Maria (whose name you have remembered). Who will I ask now? You tell me,
Maria. You can point to the person.
Maria: Juan (pointing to Juan)
You: Thank you, Maria. Juan (whose name you had forgotten), what is the dog’s name?
2. You: The next student I will ask is a boy, he has a red shirt and he sits near the window. Who is it?
They: Alejandro!(pointing to him)
You: That’s right. Well done! Alejandro (whose name you had forgotten), what is the dog’s name?

5. Minimise your students’ cognitive burden

Cognitive, as you will know, is the fancy word for the mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and
understanding through thought, experience, and the senses.

When teaching these groups of beginner students, it’s best not to write a lot of information on the board and
have students copy it down while you continue to explain concepts. We can easily forget these students cannot
multi-task with their current language proficiency level and it is important to break down tasks into smaller
components.

Do one thing at a time.

6. Can they see and hear?

Make sure students can see and hear you. Some students may never have had their eyesight or hearing
checked. A student who appears resistant to learning may simply have needs that have not been expressed.

7. Learn a bit of their language

Make an effort to learn some words or phrases in the students’ L1. They will appreciate your effort to learn
their language, and they will see you more as a partner in the learning process rather than someone who has all
the answers.
The students will enjoy helping you learn a few new words each day; by learning bits of a totally new language
you will have more empathy for your students’ struggles to learn English.

8. Review constantly

Remember that with beginners you are your students’ textbook and study guide as well as their teacher.
Provide review sessions at the beginning of every class so students will practise what they’ve learned and
acquire the language.

9. Be animated

Don’t be afraid to make sound effects, play music, do mimes and take walks around the school neighbourhood
to reinforce concepts. Sometimes the best learning doesn’t even take place in the classroom, and it doesn’t
have to be serious to be effective.

We mentioned ‘false’ beginners above. Let’s explore what these are.

False beginners

It’s important that we make you aware of the phenomenon of false beginners.

By the time you are in action, you will have picked up this Very Important Point from this course – beware of
false beginners.

Note that at the beginner level, CEFR A1 Level, a distinction is often made between teaching false beginners
and absolute beginners.

False beginners are those students who have perhaps had a little English learning, or who have picked up
English more informally and inconsistently, perhaps through travelling or from bi-lingual parents/carers.

False beginners may give the appearance of knowing some English, which initially makes them easier to teach.
However, their superficial knowledge can present some teaching challenges, as these learners may have
developed early bad errors/habits.

Their classroom motivation may also be affected, as they may think that they already know the material just
because they recognise it. Look out for false beginners.

Note that absolute beginners have a high intrinsic motivation from day 1, and will catch up to the false
beginner learner very quickly.