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Teaching StylesBeing an English Teacher in a foreign country, there are several teaching styles that can be used. Each has its own advantages and disadvantages in its own right. A teacher needs to look at each style carefully to determine which method is the best for his/her class or if a mixture of both should be applied.
This form is similar to lecturing. Lecturing is teaching by giving speech on a specific subject in the classroom. Lecturing is the most common type of teaching method. It is usually applied when a general topic needs to be covered often in depth. The advantages to this teaching style is that a detailed and in depth lecture can explain material very specifically, but often leads the learner to become disinterested or confused. But if a teacher includes visuals in the form of overheads or slide shows, his/her lecture can have validity. Although a student might only profit substantially from one form of teaching, all students profit some from the different types of learning.
Demonstrations are done to provide an opportunity to learn new exploration and visual learning tasks from a different perspective. A teacher may use experimentation to demonstrate ideas in an ESL class. Especially when teaching students with little English knowledge, visuals are very important for a low beginner class as it will help learners absorb the knowledge easier. However, in my experience, I?ve learned korean students especially older ones with a higher English level tend to want more lecture and explanation due to their education culture based on testing and evaluation.
Having students work in groups is another way a teacher can instruct a lesson. Collaborating allows students to talk with each other and listen to all points of view in the discussion. It helps students become a think tank when trying to grasp new material. When this lesson plan is carried out, the teacher may be trying to assess the lesson by looking at the student's ability to work as a team, leadership skills, or presentation abilities while trying to make the student less nervous or apprehensive about learning English.
A different kind of group work is the discussion. After some preparation and with clearly defined roles as well as interesting topics, discussions may well take up most of the lesson, with the teacher only giving short feedback at the end or even in the following lesson. Discussions are usually used in ESL with more intermediate/advanced students as the free thinking in English is something lacking especially in korea. I really enjoy discussions due to the students having to think for themselves instead of relying on pre-given text.
Collaborating is great in that it allows students to actively participate in the learning process. These students who learn best this way by being able to relate to the lesson in that they are physically taking part of it in some way. Group projects and discussions are examples of this type of learning. Collaborating I believe is the best way to show what the students have already learned and show the teacher what areas still need to be worked on or fine tune any areas where just a tiny bit of more practice is needed.
When deciding what teaching method to use, a teacher needs to consider students' background knowledge, environment, and learning goals. A variety of strategies and methods are used to ensure that all students have equal opportunities to learn.
