students deciding when and where to meet. While students are speaking, the teacher might note the use of prepositions both good and poor use: on Monday, in the
afternoon, at 5pm, etc.
Depending on how well or how badly students performed, the teacher will decide whether to conduct thorough presentation and practice of the language or whether to
revise and practise it briefly. The decision is made according to performance on the task. This can then be followed up with a repetition of the original activity or one that is
similar. You and your students can compare performance on the original and final task.
I am outlining the structure of a task-based lesson but I do not advise its use if you are very new to teaching. It requires thorough knowledge of the language point and an
ability to handle unexpected questions about the language. You will need to know about it because some course books e.g. Cutting Edge follow this format. You can
experiment with this approach when you are more experienced and with a language item you know well.
2.6 ESA
ESA stands for engage – study – activate. Let’s take a look at each individual component.
Engage involves getting the students’ attention or interest, getting them involved. You could achieve this through the use of a personal story told by the teacher, a picture
that stimulates discussion or anything else that awakens students’ interest. The idea is that if students are involved or engaged, they are more open to the learning process.
Study as the name suggests involves focus on a language point. This could be grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation or how a written text is organised. The
possibilities are endless. It can involve the teacher explaining or students working out the rules for themselves using examples as a basis.
Activating involves having students use the language, preferably in a realistic context that is as close to real life as possible. Try to incorporate activities that have students
using any language they know and not just focused on one structure controlled language use.
You can use all three ESA stages in one lesson but not necessarily in that order. You could engage the students, then activate language through a speaking activity and
then study language difficulties arising from the activity. You might also have a lesson devoted wholly to the skill of speaking; in which case students would be engaged and
language activated. Language study could take place in the previous lesson.
I particularly like this method because it highlights the necessity of engaging students in what they are doing.
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2.7 Humanistic
The involvement of the whole person in the learning experience is central to the humanistic approach. A supportive atmosphere is encouraged in the classroom where
students are listened to, their comments accepted without judgement and they are encouraged to share their feelings and experiences. Activities are used that involve
students talking about their feelings and experiences. Students may be involved in fixing the aims for the course or for one lesson. A teacher may enter the classroom
with no plan and just ask students what they want to do that day and the teacher goes with the flow maybe not an approach to be adopted by a very new teacher.
Speaking as a Psychology graduate, I think care is needed in this type of approach; some people or some cultures might be uncomfortable unveiling their feelings in front
of people they might not know well. However, I fully agree with the advantages of creating a supportive, non-judgemental learning environment.
2.8 Lexical approach
