A case study

Meet Heloma.

Heloma teaches English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) at the secondary level. She is about to start a new term, but she is worried because her group last term did not work well together. Classroom management was very difficult. The students all seemed intent on their own learning aims and impatient of others’ views. This meant, for example, that the students who wanted to focus on grammar and writing were uncooperative in speaking activities. At the same time, students who were intent on improving their speaking tended to dominate discussions and were impatient listening to others.

This term she wants to start the course by raising awareness of what makes a good group and why it is important. She wants to get group consensus on aims, agree rules, and highlight why it is important for students to listen to each other and participate equally in group discussions.

Do you feel the same way as Heloma?

Think about your own classes, how well they work together, and your goals for your students. As you take some time to explore the activities in this lesson, think how they could be applied in your situation. Later you will be able to download a summary of the activities to refer to as you plan your lessons. There are also some activities designed to help you think about how you might adapt the activities for your own class.