Photo: mappling.com
The difficulties faced by ESL primary school teachers are often exacerbated by their students' young age (and the subsequent limited attention span), inability to read and write, disparate English levels, infrequent lessons, and their accumulated excitement upon seeing a foreigner enter the classroom. Although there's an abundance of websites offering guidance to ESL teachers around the world, I've often found myself trawling through scores of wonderfully imaginative and fun sounding games, only to discover that most are completely unsuitable for my large classes of primary school students. Here are some top tips and great games for teaching English in a typical Chinese classroom.
General tips
• Don't speak Chinese to the kids, at least until you can confidently instil your words with authority. Children can be unforgiving with your attempts and may use your understanding of their mother tongue as an excuse not to learn English.
• Make or buy a set of flashcards. A colourful set of laminated flashcards is invaluable: they can be used again and again, with a large number of ESL games and activities and will be well worth any expended effort or money spent. You can download and print fantastic free flashcards from http://www.eslflashcards.com and http://www.mes-english.com/flashcards.php.
• Establish a routine early on. Obviously you can mix it up occasionally to stave off boredom, but having a routine makes young learners much more comfortable and willing to contribute in class.
• Finally, gauge the students' level as quickly as possible. Don't expect to teach them too much new vocabulary each lesson. Instead, encourage them to use vocabulary they already know with a few new words added in.
Best activities for large classes of young learners
1) Action games
- Introducing vocabulary with feeling
Introducing new vocabulary can become a little dry, so mix it up a bit by using simple adjectives and adverbs to make the process a bit more varied and dramatic. For example: "Show me a sleepy elephant" "Say …slowly".
- Charades
As a class or in smaller groups, charades work particularly well with emotions, musical instruments, actions, daily routines and Halloween characters. Initiate a teams and point systems to encourage participation.
- Dress up
Introduce the topic of clothes using realia from your own wardrobe. The more eccentric the clothes, the better! As you introduce each new article, put the item on over your own clothing. It's guaranteed to have your students in fits of laughter. Gradually ask the students to recall the vocab on their own, rewarding correct answers by launching the clothes at them and inviting them to try it on. You can extend this by organising a fashion runway of sorts for the kids to strut their stuff.
2) Card Games
- Rock Paper Scissors (Shitou Jiandao Bu)
Using a selection of game-cards (small flashcards), instigate a game of Rock Paper Scissors in pairs or small groups. The winner of each round can ask other players for a game-card of their choice. "Do you have …?" The aim of the game is to win all of the cards.
- Slap!
In pairs, the students lay out a set of game-cards on their desks. The teacher calls out individual words; the first player in each pair to slap the right card wins a point.
3) Drawing / Writing
- Beat the Clock
Students, in teams, race to beat the clock. They may have to arrange sequential flashcards into order as quickly as possible (eg. Days of the Week, Months of the Year, The ABC). They could have one or two minutes to say as many words in a category as possible, or name as many flashcards as possible. Given the competitive nature of most young learners, beating the clock, beating previous scores, beating other teams is great incentive to improve.
- Run and Touch / Write / Ring
All three variations of this game involve splitting the students into teams at the back of the classroom. The teacher calls out vocabulary, after which students from each team run to the blackboard to touch the relevant picture, draw a ring around or write the relevant word. First one there wins a point for their team.
- Drawing Games
One thing that unites nearly all children is a love of drawing. Whether you hand out individual sheets of paper, work in teams, or work as a whole class, everyone quickly becomes involved. You can dictate instructions like "Draw an orange rabbit", or describe a drawing for the kids to approximate themselves like "Draw a tree. Next to the tree is a cat." Invite questions like "What colour is the cat?", "Is it left or right?" for higher level learners. One of the most successful drawing activities I've used was for a lesson on body parts. I invited the students to give me drawing commands like "Draw 16 blue eyes", "Draw a big yellow toe" etc. The resulting blackboard drawing was both ridiculous and hilarious to the students, and they'd used English to create it!
4) Questionnaires
Class Questionnaires are great for getting everyone talking. Higher level students can come up with questions on their own, while younger students can ask variations on one question (eg. "What's your favourite ......?"). Introduce the task by asking the students a stream of questions, brainstorm question words on the board, then invite them to ask you some questions. They're often keen to find out about you, or at least concoct some imaginative and unusual questions to make you laugh. Follow up with a class questionnaire where each student must ask five of their classmates five questions, recording their answers in a table. If they can't write, they can always record the responses in pictorial form.
5) Other
- Bingo
Oft repeated and easily manipulated to fit any vocabulary. Prepare blank bingo sheets with four to six blank squares. A great game for the end of a lesson, using numbers, letters, words or pictures within a topic. Be wary of cheating though!
- Guessing Game
Using the powers vested in you by powerpoint, create a simple guessing game. Arrange a selection of numbered pictures within a topic on screen. Announce one word from the selection; the students have to shout out which picture it is. Too easy? Point to a picture and invite the students to say the correct word. Still too easy? Provide a description of the picture or vocabulary for the students to guess which picture you're talking about.
Related Links
The Sinister Side of the English Teaching Industry in China
A Tried Method: Using Psychology to Get to Students
Insider's Guide to Teaching English in China
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Keywords: Teaching in China primary school teachers China teaching young kids China games and activities teaching large classroom activities
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Maybe we should refer to the country and say politics. i.e American Politics, British Politics etc. That makes me wonder does anyone here think about any other country than America? when they make a comment?
Apr 29, 2012 02:47 Report Abuse
I enjoyed the article. It was insightful. For laowai who says" I very like my mother". I do not believe a foreigner taught this student this. I work at a training school and I have had to correct the students grammar. They are taught by Chinese teachers that do not know how to use proper grammar. I have had to correct a student that told me her Chinese teacher said it was ok to say un instead of an. I had to correct a student who was pronouncing marvelous as muvalous. She said her Chinese teacher taught her this. If the parents and the schools want the students taught correctly, they need to start with the Chinese teachers. Before everybody gets upset, I know there are many great Chinese teachers just as there are great foreign teachers. The system needs to look at both sides of the coin for anything to get any better. I could continue but I think I have made my point.
Apr 25, 2012 05:38 Report Abuse
Thank you for the advice.How can you help students who really don't want anything related to English.I quote what the students told me 1."I don't like English but I like you" 2."We are Chinese,speak Chinese"
I find they like me but most of them are not ready to study English.They say English is difficult.They come to me during break time.When we have conversation in Mandarin,they like it.When I try to use English,I see them move away.What's actually wrong?I'm worried about my students.What should I do?
Apr 25, 2012 04:33 Report Abuse
What age do you teach? Most of my young students don't have much interest in English. However they do have a VERY strong interest in is themselves, and I can use this fact in my classes.
They love the attention that comes with answering a question correctly, they love the constant positive reinforcement that myself and my co-teachers give. They love playing games (i.e. being the centre of attention) and they like competition, especially when they win.
Learn all about intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and apply as much of that as you can in the classroom....
Apr 26, 2012 00:46 Report Abuse
I would like to thank the author for the great ideas in the article. So good to have an article which is helpful and not harmful to the profession. The only thing I would caution is large groups of students standing up all at once, which can really turn into a gong-show to say the least. That being said...
I'm pretty disappointed with the comments being made by some of the posters. Most of you who have qualifications can work in legit schools and find an amazing salary, but that doesn't make YOUR intentions any better than the regular ESL teaching in a Chinese government school. Some people came here because of the recession or various other reasons and actually enjoy and love their job which is why they have stayed. They don't get classes of less than 40 kids, a nice apartment (school provided ones are almost always awful), etc. I, myself, have worked these jobs first coming to China and eventually worked my way up to a decent, lovely, school and a decent job title (not just ESL teacher). But the point is, people had to start somewhere.. At least give them that respect.
Apr 25, 2012 02:05 Report Abuse
Good article with some good ideas. The conversation that has stemmed from it is interesting. I don't think it's a question of teaching skills though. You can have none and be efficient as long as you take things seriously. A lot of teaching positions for foreigners are 'Mickey Mouse' jobs designed to simply encourage & engage the children. Having said that, the sooner China is rid of these positions the better. It is attracting unreliable strays from the west who have little self respect and even less respect for others. Personally, I love the place, the people, & my job. Kids are fun. A far cry from the boring meetings & mundane 9-5 I once knew.
Apr 25, 2012 00:25 Report Abuse
Great article.Laoshi and Bart,you guys are right to start asking for accountability.The foreigners who really want to teach your children don't get jobs from you.Many foreign teachers are aware that you people are carried away with looks,body colour,and country name,so they have been exploiting this to good effect.How come there are so many "Americans" teaching your kids for so long yet we keep hearing:"I very like my mother"?It almost a scandal! Yet,when something comes up here about women,the same teachers try as much as possible to show their dexterity in this field.Somebody wrote here few days ago: "Teachers wanted! Only people from The US,UK,Australia and Newzealand".If you people have started asking for accountability from teachers,you must be responsible yourselves,and stop promoting racist tendencies,with statements like those above.Give the jobs to those who can teach,and not because they are green or because they come from Jupiter!
Apr 24, 2012 23:51 Report Abuse
you mean the places that give you 4 unrelated flash cards and tell these terrible teachers to teach for 2 hours. Good luck with that.
Apr 25, 2012 03:25 Report Abuse
A very good article. You're right about trying to keep the attention of the students, particularly the very young. I use many of the basics of the games you have suggested but I thank you for some nice variations.
Apr 24, 2012 15:24 Report Abuse
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