Teaching low-level learners is quite challenging. So, we’ve prepared questions that you can use to encourage beginner students to speak in English.
Teaching is truly a remarkable duty. As an EFL teacher, you take part in fulfilling your students' aspiration of learning the English language. However, oftentimes, your students will be young children or teens who don’t understand a word of English.
In these cases, how do you engage with them and make them understand your lessons? How do you establish a connection and get them to speak or participate? To help you out, we’ve prepared a list of conversation questions and topics for you to keep beginner students engaged throughout your lessons.
Ask them about themselves.
Keep in mind that most students, especially children, will be very shy at first. To make them comfortable, reach out by asking these questions:
What is your name?
How old are you?
When is your birthday?
What do you like to eat?
Where do you live?
These questions are easy to understand and answer. Asking your students basic questions will help them understand, remember, and speak the English language step by step. Moreover, asking these questions will help you get to know your students and get them to warm up to you.
Find out about their hobbies and interests.
Once your student becomes more comfortable with you, try to ask more about what things they like to do. You can put a notebook beside you and write down the activities that your student usually participates in, so you can keep them in mind.
Consider asking them these questions:
Do you like to read?
Do you play sports?
Do you play video games?
Do you like listening to music?
Do you love to draw or paint?
Do you play any musical instruments?
Surely your students like doing at least one of these activities. When they do, ask them more about what they like about it and let them talk more about their hobby. In addition, when you find out about their hobbies, try to incorporate those into your lessons to get their attention and encourage them to participate.
Check how they are doing in their English lessons.
When you have had lessons with your students at least 3-5 times, ask them about what they think of or how they feel about your sessions. Consider asking them the following:
Do you like our lessons? Why or why not?
What activity do you like the most?
Do you like the music we play?
What is your favorite lesson?
What activity do you want to do next time?
Ultimately, doing this gives you an idea of how you can improve your lessons and help your student understand and participate during the sessions. Try using methods that they liked the most, and see if they engage and learn more in the future. Ideally, you want to keep their focus and interest during lessons to help them learn better and faster.
Focus on the basics of using English.
Keep in mind that your students are beginners, so allow your students to perceive the basics first by asking them basic but interesting questions. Get them to introduce themselves in English, or let them talk about simple and relatable topics such as their everyday routine, country, colors, and favorite things.
After the basics, slowly move forward and incorporate the proper use of grammar and vocabulary as well as good sentence construction. In time, your students will develop their confidence to speak the English language.
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