Chapter I questioning strategies

Who is this best for?

This method works best for situations where the instructor does not speak the native language of the students they’re instructing. (Of course, this would make the optional question answer sessions an impossibility.) It is also an ideal method for situations where there is a diverse set of students who don’t share the same native language, all trying to learn English. This way, the barriers and constraints brought in by an inability to communicate natively can be dismissed, and a stronger focus on the language at hand can be made. Looking to teach a course with this method? Check out this intermediate English language course and make sure you’re prepared to represent the language with fluency and accuracy. t is also known as Aural-oral Approach. Each language has its own pattern of structure. The structural approach is an outcome of the experiments carried out in language teaching in the army campus during World War II. Meaningful words are used in particular order. Every structure embodies an important grammatical point. A sentence needs a grammatical background. The different arrangements or patterns of words are called structures. Here words are used in particular order to convey their sense and meaning. In this way structures are the tools of language and should not be confused with sentences. According to Brewington "Structural approach is a scientific study of the fundamental structures of the English language, their analysis and logical arrangement". The structural approach to English is teaching the learner certain selected structures in a certain order. The different arrangement or patterns of words are called structures. Structure may be complete patterns or they may form a part of a large pattern. Language is viewed as structurally related elements for the encoding of meaningthe elements being phonemes, morphemes, words, structures and sentence types. It can be diagrammatically represented.

Conculision.

The layout and physical resourcing of the classroom environment can significantly affect how students and teachers work within it. The following features are important to consider when setting up a classroom environment that promotes mathematical thinking and supports student learning.Children need to be able to easily move to and from work areas. The teacher needs to be able to move around the classroom to conference with individual students and offer assistance as needed. These practices are easier if an open layout of furniture is used. Desks or tables arranged in clusters allow children to easily work together in pairs or small groups with someone sitting across from them and also next to them..A comfortable meeting area is essential for  mini-lessons and whole class discussions. This may be a mat or rug located either in a corner or the center of the room with resources used by the teacher for demonstration purposes, such as an easel whiteboard or chart paper and markers and enlarged manipulatives that can be seen by all students. Some teachers also like to designate a chair as the “mathematician’s chair” for students to use when presenting their work.

A clearly designated Math Center should be used to store math manipulatives, math games, and tubs of math literature. Math manipulatives can be stored in plastic tubs or baskets that are clearly labeled so that students can use these words in their writing. It is important that all materials are readily accessible so that students can collect and return them as needed. Students at all levels need to be able to use whatever tools they choose to solve problems, and they should make their own decisions about which material might help them solve a problem. Different strategies necessitate different materials. Once students are familiar with how and where materials are stored, they should be expected to take responsibility not only for the daily cleanup, but also for ensuring that items such as recording paper are restocked at the end of each week. By assigning rotating pairs of students to this classroom job students can take responsibility for keeping the math center a well organized part of the classroom environment.  Providing students (or partnerships) with their own math tool kit is another way of ensuring that students have the tools they need on hand at all times.  Assigning each tool kit a number and labeling the back of the tools stored in the tool kit with this number ensures that any tools found on the floor can be quickly returned to its assigned tool kit. The visual impact of the classroom environment is important. When we walk into any room, the first pieces of information we get about the environment are visual. Similarly, what is displayed on bulletin boards and on the walls of classrooms tell a great deal about the learning that is occurring in the classroom environment.  The walls and bulletin boards of a classroom are like a museum. They offer a history of the students’ work and thinking and a source of information for students, teachers, administrators, and parents. These displays need to convey to students that their work is valued while enabling them to broaden their own ideas as they view the work of their peers. Displays of students’ work should feature strongly in the classroom environment and be changed regularly throughout the year. Teachers may display work samples showing different ways that children recorded their mathematical thinking for a particular problem, or select a variety of pieces to show the different tasks completed during a particular unit. In order to ensure that all students have their work displayed during the year teachers can keep a record of whose work has been displayed, or set up a bulletin board with a distinct space for each child in the class. Making students responsible for choosing a piece of work to be displayed in their individual space on the bulletin board encourages students to reflect on their work. Everyone and their mother has an opinion about teaching students English properly. Are you about to start your career as an ESL teacher? Have you just begun working as an educator? Or are you an experienced teacher looking to reevaluate your teaching strategies? Any one of these situations can feel pretty daunting. Well, don’t feel discouraged by what other colleagues might have told you about the problems that arise while teaching difficult classes. Yes, they’ve probably got a point about the difficulties that you’ll undoubtedly face during your career, but this doesn’t mean you can’t overcome them. You just need to be creative, well-prepared and resourceful. Twenty or thirty years ago, ESL teachers didn’t have the multitude and range of resources and materials that we have today. Technology has undeniably assisted us in this area. At the click of a button or the tap of a touchscreen, we can explore thousands of textbooks, worksheets, lesson plans, games, activities and PowerPoint presentations. We can share our most successful materials with one another, expanding the reach of our knowledge and building upon each other’s experiences. However, the great number of available resources and material can confuse and disorient us. What should we choose and how do we know when the given material or resource is appropriate for our learners? Do your research, visit trusted sites, talk to other colleagues and come up with the best material and resources that you feel will fit your learners in the best possible way. Oh, and you can always check out what we post here at FluentU. Our blogs are filled with hand-picked resource recommendations from across the internet. Don’t forget that you’re teaching a foreign language that, in most cases, isn’t spoken as a first language in your learners’ communities or households. As a result, you’ll need to include authentic material that will familiarize your students with the language they are taught.