ESL articles: Giving and Checking Instructions

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Giving and Checking Instructions

Some of the activities that we use in the classroom are fairly complex in terms of the way they're organised, and I doubt if there are many teachers who can honestly claim that they've never got a class totally confused by the way they've given instructions. How can you make sure that your instructions are as clear and comprehensible as possible? Sue Swift offers some guidelines...

1. Plan how you're going to give the instructions before you go into the classroom, and make sure that you can explain them within the limits of the language which the students can understand. For example, the following instruction would be fine for an intermediate class, but would lose a group of beginners: "You're going to hear a description of a famous person and you have to guess who it is." For beginners, "Listen to my description of a famous person. Who is it?" would be far more comprehensible.

2. Think too about the speed of your speech - slow down slightly if necessary - and insert pauses to allow students to take in each piece of information before you go on to the next.

3. Make sure that your instructions are fully explicit – don’t take anything for granted. Because we are so familiar with the activity types, we often assume that certain things are obvious. How often have you explained an activity but forgotten to say explicitly "Don't show your information to your partner" - only to find students happily doing just that.

4. Also think about how much you're going to explain at a time. If you have a long, complicated, or two part activity, don't explain everything at once. Explain the first stage, and check that students have understood before you go on to the explanation of the next part. In some cases it is not necessary for the students to have an overview of the whole activity before they start. In this case, explain the first part, do the first part and then go on to the explanation of the second part.

5. Don't start the explanation until you have the students' full attention. Make sure they have stopped whatever they are doing, are turned towards you and are listening.

6. Even in the first lesson, use English wherever possible. "Get into pairs" won't be understood, but "You two, you two and you two" plus a gesture pushing the students together will be.

7. However, if you speak the students' language, for very complex activities it may be more efficient to use the L1 for explanations. This can be gradually phased out as the students become more proficient:

a) at the beginning of the course, give the instructions in the L1, and then repeat them immediately, as simply as possible, in English.

b) later on reverse the order: give the instructions in English first, and in the L1 second.

c) as soon as possible, give the instructions in English only, but check comprehension by asking the students to repeat them back in their L1.

8. Avoid using the imperative in your instructions. In most situations that the students will find themselves, it will not be an appropriate form to use. In the classroom it may be, but if they have constantly heard the teacher saying "Repeat!" there's a good chance they'll use it themselves:

Native speaker: And so I was dropped right in it. Student: Repeat!

Instead, use request forms - for example "Can you repeat that?" - which provide a good model for the students' own use of the language. This is especially important if the imperative is more socially acceptable in the students' own language (for example Italian) so that they are liable to transfer the use into English.

9. Always check that students have understood your instructions before starting the activity. The question "Do you understand?" is as good as useless. Students may be too shy to admit that they don't understand, or may think they understand when they actually don't. Make sure they demonstrate their understanding. This can be done by:

a) asking them check questions - for example, for a roleplay : "OK, if you're student A put your hands up... Right... who are you? And what's your problem? And who is student B?"

b) asking them to repeat back to you the instructions. Don't choose the strongest person in the group to do this. S/he is the one most likely to have understood and your check needs to be directed to the students who probably haven't.

c) asking two students to demonstrate the activity in front of the class, or for a written exercise by eliciting the answers to the first two examples.

d) not giving instructions at all but asking students to look at the activity and tell you what they think they have to do. This can be useful for activity types which are already known the students.



10. As soon as the students start the activity, go around quickly to each pair or group just to check they are on task. Don't stop to help or monitor one group until you have checked them all. If only one group has not understood, then go back and help. If several groups are off track, then stop the activity and explain again, using the students who have understood to demonstrate to the others.

Sue Swift has worked in the area of ELT for nearly 30 years as a teacher, teacher trainer and materials writer. She writes on EFL methodology and other issues connected with language teaching, and runs a site for EFL teachers - An ELT Notebook - eltnotebook.blogspot.com She also runs Business Talk, a company specialising in English language and communications skills training www.business-talk.it

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Lessons from Nothing: Activities for Language Teaching with Limited Time and Resources
An invaluable resource for busy teachers everywhere who are looking for easy-to-use activities which do not require extensive facilities or preparation. It is a practical source of around 70 language teaching activities which encourage interaction and co-operation in the classroom.

comments

Maria said...
"I think it is very important to have articles like this one as I find it difficult to deal with instructions.

Leena said...
"very practical, hands on, very usable."

David said...
"I like to save articles like this one for future reference."

Anonymous said...
"This article gives a lot of practical and useful suggestions for a very common problem. Thanks!."

Bob said...
"Very useful article that most teachers should read and reread from time to time to make sure they don't forget. I still have problems with this!!!."

Annette said...
"This is a useful article in that it combines quite a variety of techniques that can ensure success with different types of activities. The problem is equally prevalent in written instructions for activities or tests. Students often barely glance at the instructions because they feel ready to tackle the activity, until they get stuck, and need to ask for help."

Sahar said...
"Thanks very much for this useful information. It's a really good article about an important topic."

Mike said...
"Why miss the opportunity to use instructions as one of the only 'real' occasions to communicate in English in the classroom, by speaking in L1 ? Use your knowledge of the students' language, if you have any, to monitor understanding of instructions rather than deny students the opportunity of exposure to genuine communication."

Vahap said...
"I have always had trouble with giving insructions. Nothing is more annoying than having eyes just looking into your eyes "I DO UNDERSTOOD NOTHING". Thank you Sue."

Mark said...
"In the book, The Elements of Style (Strunk and White), E.B. White notes that Professor Strunk, due to his concise nature, always repeated his instructions three times and this is with native speakers. Why don't we do the same for second language learners?"

Karina said...
"Very useful and Interesting! Thanks a lot!"

Sevilay said...
"I have always doubted whether to use L1 when students do not understand my instructions or not. This article gave me the idea to repeat my instructions in English immediately I use my students L1. Actually it was easy but sometimes you just cannot think, Thank you."

Malvina said...
"Great article!!! Very useful and clear, Thank you very much!!!"

Marcia said...
"Articles like this help us teachers to elicit how to deal with an everyday situation and sometimes we teachers, are careless in terms of instructions and wait for immediate answers from our students, but how can they do that if they could not even understand what is expected as a feedback?"

Yamani said...
"Thank you. I was looking for ideas and useful comments to explain to my 'young colleagues' - I also train teachers - how things work inside a classroom. Most of the time we forget that our pupils are young learners of English and need 'plain' and clear instructions all the time. I saved this article and recommended its reading and talking about. I use L1 to explain grammar rules and to make sure - at the end of the lesson - that the learning objectives were understood by the majority of the pupils. (Let's recap) I'm still looking for ideas about managing school discipline - violent, anti-social behaviour - in high schools, especially among low-achievers. Halima"

Becky said...
"Very useful, constructive and brillant"

Mostafa said...
"My pupils are young learners. Their ages are between 8 to 10. Their number inside the class is 25. They study English as second language. They are a mixed ability class. I teach three classes daily. Each class has one period which continue for 45 minutes. When I try these methods, I am very tried. The time is not enough. So I give them the instructions in their mother language."

Erinc said...
"I've learnt all of these while I was taking the celta. I wish I had read these before I had taken the course:) However, I havent recognized the importance of using L1 after I've explained them in English. The suggestions are really useful. Thank you!"

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