and the activity, students might forget what to do. For example, if your students will be moving to work in groups, first ask them to move, and then give the instructions.
Finally, if you realise that the students are not on track, don’t hesitate; stop them and go over your instructions again.
1.11 How to seat students
There are various ways of seating students and each serves a different purpose: In a horseshoe or circle: this is good for whole class discussions and for creating a
cooperative environment. If the chairs have small moveable tables attached, this configuration works well as students can move around easily to form pairs or groups.
Groups of 4 or 6 around a table, a number of such groups around the room: also good for discussion but lends itself more to group work than whole class discussion. If the
classroom is small, it’s not easy for the teacher to go around and monitor. This organisation works well for small children.
In rows with desks separated: good for tests and exams. Before going into class, think about what you’ll be doing and which seating
arrangement will suit you best.
1.12 Levels
Levels can be broken up into: beginner,
false beginner a false beginner has probably studied some English previously but will need revision of the basics, including the alphabet and numbers,
elementary, pre-intermediate,
intermediate, upper-intermediate,
advanced. Course books are generally published with one book at each of the levels. Some
course book writers choose to focus on some of the levels and to omit others e.g. elementary and false beginner are often omitted. Different schools give different
names to the levels; a school might use numbers or letters rather than names.
You can generally expect an absolute beginner class to have students all at the same level. However, as you move up the levels, differences become apparent. In an
advanced class, you might have a student who has lived in the UK and who has a very good level of colloquial, spoken English alongside a university student who masters
grammar but not spoken English. In such cases, it will be necessary to provide work
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that caters to all needs; for example, sometimes focusing on language work and at other times on spoken English. It will be more important to create balance and do
activities that cater to different needs at higher levels. Generally speaking, at the lower levels, students have very similar needs.
For a new teacher, the intermediate levels are the easiest to teach. If you have a choice, request those levels when you first start teaching.
1.13 Essential elements for students to learn
