Teaching

Different Classes
Chapter 15

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 English for Specific Purposes (ESP)
• ESP caters for students’ specific purposes:
English for hotel receptionists, English for
pharmaceutical salesmen, etc.
• “The learners can speak and write about their
field of work and do appropriate tasks that they
need to perform in English.” (Scrivener, 2011)

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 English for Specific Purposes (ESP)
• A needs analysis is a good (almost
essential) starting point for ESP teaching.
We can’t really address a student’s
specific needs unless we are absolutely
clear about what they are.
• A typical ESP needs analysis might
include an analysis of what the client uses
English for, what their expectations are ,
what they need, what they want and what
they don’t have.

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 Business English
Pre-experience courses:
• These courses are often
based around generic
business skills for anyone
entering any kind of
business.
• Some skills include: writing
letters and emails, writing
reports, negotiating,
telephoning, etc.
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In-service courses:
• These lesson are taken when
participants are already in
work.
• Skills and specific
requirements can be
identified through a Needs
Analysis.
 Business English
In-company courses:
These courses are held within the workplace.

• One point to bear in mind is that in-company

courses are sometimes booked and paid for by
people other than those that actually do them.
• Sometimes the needs/expectations of the two
may be very different, and you may find it hard
act to balance.

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 Business English
One-to-one business lessons:
These lessons are given to one participant only.

• The teacher should pay

attention to: the rapport, the
learner’s needs, the level of
challenge, the content being
covered, correction
strategies, and the use of
tools (board, audio
recording, internet, etc.)

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 English for Academic Purposes (EAP)
EAP courses focus on the language and skills that
students will need on a course of study. They aim
to help learners become capable of getting the
most out of their university classes.

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 English for Academic Purposes (EAP)
These courses include work on:

• Listening • Making presentations

• Note-taking • Taking part in
• Effective reading and discussions
researching • Academic stylistic
• Using references conventions
• Awareness of formal • Learning to learn, etc.
styles of language
• Essay writing

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 English for Academic Purposes (EAP)

The course has to be focused on the context where

Context
the student will be studying, especially if this means
and culture
moving from one learning culture to another.

Plagiarism Students should be trained on keeping detailes

and notes of sources and referencing accurately to avoid
cheating being punished.

Marking may be more demanding in the new

Attitudes to
context, so students need to be aware of what the
marking
new expectations are to be prepared.

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 Exam Classes
An examination preparation course should probably
include:
• Language work that is likely to be relevant to that
needed in the exam.
• Tasks and activities to raise general language
awareness, ability and skills.
• Specific practice on exam techniques (multiple-
choice questions, writing essays, etc.).
• Work on study skills (e.g. use of dictionaries and
grammar books, ways of working with recordings
at home, etc.)

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 Exam Classes
On exam courses, the following ideas may work:

Posters: They are used to help SS remember

new language.

Lexis box/file: At the end of each lesson, the

SS review what they have learned that day,
record any words worth recording on squares
of paper (or card) and file them in the box or
file.

Both ideas are applicable to any kind of

courses.

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 Exams

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 Young Learners

Pre-school Learning English will resemble the work being done

and lower in the rest of students’ school day. At this age, text-
primary based work may not be suitable.

You can:
• tell stories
• sing songs
• do practical tasks (painting,
making things, etc.)
• run simple games, etc.

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 Young Learners

Learners in this stage are to be taught explicit

Middle and
grammar and vocabulary focus. They are also
higher
expected to pass tests that check their ability to use
primary
the language.

You can:
• find motivating tasks and activities
• use pictures, models, short videos,
etc.
• aim for listening and understanding
• keep activities short and focused on
the children’s life

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 Popular ideas for young learner classes
Teach around a
Carousel
topic

Teach around a TPR fairy

book stories

Total Physical
Show and tell
Response (TPR)

Community
Circle time Language
Learning (CLL)

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 Teenage Classes (age 13-16)
• SS discover the impact they can
have on the world and be very
motivated.
• They can bring a strong
enthusiasm for topics they are
interested in, and they can get
very focused on specific things
relevant to themselves.
• They often respond well to work
that is clearly organized and takes
their interest into account.
• Teenage classes have a
reputation for being demanding on
the teacher.

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 Why might teenage classes seem demanding
on the teachers?
• It’s a difficult period of life.
• Strong emotions of various kinds may be
rising and falling. They may alter the
workings of some techniques and activities.
• Teenagers have changing interests.
• The learners may feel silly, embarrassed or
demotivated when doing some activities.
• Teenagers are more willing to state clearly
what they think.
• Discipline can be a problem.

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 Teenage Classes (age 13-16)

The more that a learner feels they have chosen

what to do and how to do it and feels in control
while working, the more they will be in likely to
feel engaged and to achieve something
worthwhile from it.

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 Some specific ideas for teenage classes

• Avoid anything that might be seen as childish to SS.

• If whole-class work doesn’t seem to be working, try avoiding it
where possible.
• Experiment with a mixture of quiet, working-alone activities
and activities that require active participation.
• Avoid too many activities that put embarrassed SS on the
spot.
• Select reading and listening materials from up-to-date sources
that are relevant for learners.
• Ask learners to bring in materials they want to work there.
• Consider project work on topics entirely selected by the
learners and involving research methods that they will find
both interesting and challenging.

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 Content and Language
Integrated Learning (CLIL)
• It refers to teaching content through a target
language different from students’ mother tongue.
• “There are two aims in CLIL: the learning of both
the subject and the language. The language is
the means to the end of learning subject
content.” (Scrivener, 2011)

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 General English compared with CLIL

Category CLIL General English

Topics are directly relevant to
Subject Wider range of appealing
students (subject areas in
content general-interest topics
school)
GE classroom tasks seem
English is acquired by
artificial; a Task-based
understanding meanings that
Methodology learning approach (TBL)
are directly useful and
could be used since it is
relevant to the task
based on CLIL principles
Language It works with language you It works with language you
focus need as you need it may need in the future

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 CLIL approaches
Small
segments of Only a part of some subjects is taught in English.
some lessons

Integrating
A topic is chosen that can be addressed from different
themes across
angles in different lessons.
school subjects

Separate
Subject and language teachers share lesson-planning
language
time together.
support

There are no separate English lessons. Both subject

Fully integrated
and language teachers work together in the same
classrooms
classroom.

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 Important points about CLIL
• It’s more about different ways of working than about
specific techniques.
• It’s not just subject vocabulary.
• Students may have BICS (Basic Interpersonal
Communication Skills)
• Much more challenging is CALP (Cognitive Academic
Language Proficiency)
• Translation has a place –but on its own is not sufficient
• It’s crucial to help students better understand subject
texts.

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 Large Classes
Some common resulting difficulties:

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 Large classes

• Students can’t move easily.

• The seating arrangement seems to prevent a number of
activities.
• There is limited eye contact.
• You can’t give attention equally to all SS.
• Interaction tends to be restricted to those closest to the
front. The seats at the back tend to attract people who
want to do something else.
• There is often a wide range of abilities.
• Discipline can be a problem.
• Lecturing seems to be the only workable lesson type.

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