Getting your students to participate more-09-wbefltasks.org/public/files/549c5c62c1b40dddc214d6174e... · 2018-01-14 · Revised from Jim Scrivener, Learning Teaching. Heinemann

Getting your students to participate more

Ideas for maximizing student interaction in class

JoAnn Miller, Editorial Macmillan

[email protected], www.efltasks.net

Which statement do you agree with?

a. It’s more important for learners to listen and speak to the teacher than for learners to listen and speak to each other.

b. Students should get most conversation practice on interacting with other learners rather than with the teacher.

Jim Scrivener, Learning Teaching. Heinemann. 1994. p. 13.

a. People usually learn best by listening to people explaining things.

b. People usually learn best by trying things out and finding out what works.




a. The teacher should speak as much as possible in classroom time.

b. The teacher should speak as little as possible in classroom time.


Teacher-Centered� Teacher is the source of all knowledge.

� The class revolves around the teacher. Students sit quietly, listen, take notes and do exercises.

� The teacher knows the correct answer. � Students might read their answers to

an exercise (always in order from left to right, front to back), but the teacher is the authority.

� The teacher always repeats the correct answer. Student often repeat it back, in choral repetition.

Teacher-Centered� The teacher decides what is going to be

taught, in what order. � The lesson plan is set and students must

adapt to the teacher’s ideas.

�All interaction is teacher- student / student-teacher. �The teacher asks the questions and the students answer. �All examples are read by the teacher.

Student Centered� The teacher is more a facilitator.

� The teacher doesn’t teach English, he/she helps students learn/acquire English.

� Students and teacher work together to simplify the learning process.

� Students work in pairs and groups. They are often quite noisy and are talking at the same time.

Student Centered� The teacher might know the correct

answer, but many students also know. � Students often help each other to correct

homework and explain structures. � Correction is often done in pairs or groups

or using the board.

� In general, the teacher decides what is going to be taught but tailors it to fit the students interests and needs. �The lesson plan is flexible and can be changed if necessary.

Student Centered� Interaction is variable: teacher-

student/student-teacher; student-student; students/teacher, etc. � Student often read examples or even give

instructions.

Observations of many different classes, both in content area subjects and in language instruction, consistently show that teachers typically do between ½ and ¾ of the talking done in class.

Dick Allwright and Kathleen M. Bailey. Focus on the Language Classroom. CUP, 1991. p. 139.

11 teachers

62.5% average

range 47%-86%

Teacher – Student Interaction

� Ask questions rather than giving explanations

� When you want students to discuss something, ask “open” questions (e.g., where, what, who, why, how, when) rather than “closed” questions (e.g., verb-subject questions).

Revised from Jim Scrivener, Learning Teaching. Heinemann. 1994. p. 21-23


� Allow time for students to listen, think, process their answer and speak. � Allow talking time without talking over it. � Allow silence.

� Really listen to what they say. Let what they say really affect what you do next.

�Work on listening to the person, and the meaning, as well as to the language and the mistakes.


Teacher – Student Interaction� Use gestures to replace unnecessary teacher talk.

� Allow students to finish their own sentences.

� If a student is speaking too quietly for you to hear, walk further away, rather than closer to them!



� Limit your talking time. � The more you talk, the less opportunity there is for

the learners. � Don’t feel the need to fill every minute in a lesson. � Explore silence or let someone else do your work for

you.

� Don’t echo students responses. Other students will learn just to listen to you, not to each other.



� Simplify instructions. � Plan them well so that you don’t confuse the

students. They probably understand what you are saying from a few key words anyway.


Student / Student Interaction

� Make use of pairs and small groups to maximize opportunities for students to speak.

� If possible, arrange seating so that students can all see each other and talk to each other (i. e., circles, squares and horseshoes rather than parallel rows.)

� Remember that the teacher doesn’t always need to be at the front of the class. �Try out seating arrangements that allow the whole class to be the focus



� Encourage interaction between students rather than only between student and teacher and teacher and student.

� Get students to ask questions, give explanations, etc. to each other rather than always to you.

� Use gestures and facial expressions to encourage them to speak and listen to each other.



� Encourage co-operation rather than competition; you may want to encourage students to copy ideas from others or “cheat”--we learn from others and from working through our own mistakes.

� Teachers can concentrate more on the process of learning than simply on a plunge towards the “right answers”. The result of a learning exercise becomes less important than the getting there.


Now you try itNow you try it……..

(Examples from (Examples from SkyhighSkyhigh))

Thank you.JoAnn Miller, Editorial Macmillan

[email protected]

Handout available at:� www.efltasks.net Presentations

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Getting your students to participate more-09-wbefltasks.org/public/files/549c5c62c1b40dddc214d6174e... · 2018-01-14 · Revised from Jim Scrivener, Learning Teaching. Heinemann