By Jenny Zimianitou, Academic Assistant, Teacher Education Center, HAEC
From "Open your books to page five" to "Find out what kind of food your classmates like", instructions are a large part of classroom talk. Giving instructions in English presents an excellent opportunity for real communication in the classroom.
When you give instructions, students respond by doing what you ask them to do. It also exposes students to the target language (L2), in this case English, and helps establish a situation where L2 is used between the students and you.
Unclear or confusing instructions can prevent students from starting, let alone successfully completing, a task. At beginner levels, classroom instructions may prove difficult for the learners to understand because of their limited language abilities. For young learners, the challenge may also be a lack of know-how due to their limited classroom (and/or world) experience. Students won't be able to decipher the meaning of "solve the horizontal and vertical clues to complete the crossword puzzle" if they don't understand most of the words you said, but also if they've never solved or seen a crossword puzzle before.
Here are a few things to keep in mind when giving your beginner-level students instructions:
1. Keep it simple
Even if the language required to do the task is well within your learners' abilities, they won't be able to do it successfully unless they understand clearly the steps it involves. Therefore, grade the language you use in instructions, i.e., use grammar and vocabulary appropriate for your students' level, use language your students are familiar with. Teach your students the language you'll be using repeatedly in instructions, and try to use the same phrase(s) for the same kind of task.
2. Keep it short and sweet
Beginner-level students may not be able to follow instructions if they are said too quickly. What is more, if teachers sound as if they are making a speech that seems to go on forever, young learners may switch off because of information overload. Therefore, use short sentences, pause between sentences to allow students enough time to process what you're saying and explain each step of the instructions separately and wait for students to complete it before moving on.
3. Provide support
Learners rely on visual cues, facial expressions and body language in order to interpret the teacher's message. To ensure your instructions are crystal clear, provide visual support and demonstrate what the activity involves. Use gestures and miming when giving instructions so that the students can see what you want them to do. For instance, draw a circle in the air as you're saying the word "circle". Use classroom posters with the language you use in instructions and point to them to reinforce students' understanding. Provide examples, and model what you're asking students to do.
4. Check that the students know what to do
Asking students "Do you understand?" is not enough, as they may say "yes" to please you, yet still have questions about the task. Ensure that your students know what to do before allowing them time to work on the task. Elicit examples from the students. In the case of pair work, ask two students to demonstrate the task. Explicitly ask students "What do we have to do?" and have students repeat the instructions in English or explain in the first language (L1).
5. Exploit the learners' first language (L1) where appropriate
If you speak the learners' L1, use it judiciously to clarify the instructions you give in English. If giving instructions takes longer than the time needed to do the activity, then using the learners' L1 may save time best spent on the activity itself. Use the L2-L1-L2 'sandwich' technique: give instructions in English, translate into L1 and then repeat the instructions in English. The goal is for the students to learn to follow instructions in English and not to depend on the L1 translation. As the school year progresses, allow time for students to respond before providing an L1 translation. Use the 'code-switching' technique: Insert a word in L1 in an L2 utterance if you think that your students will have trouble with that particular word.
Photo: "students-in-class-with-teacher-reading" by Ilmicrofono Oggiono used under CC BY 2.0
