ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

Encouraging Participation In Class

Updated on October 14, 2012
If both you and your students feel like this girl... something's gotta give.
If both you and your students feel like this girl... something's gotta give. | Source

Teaching Methods to Increase Students' Motivation

If your English language students aren’t participating, due to shyness, nerves, or just general teenage apathy, there are a few methods to get them to participate and increase student engagement in the subject.


The best way to deal with students who refuse to participate is to have a good rapport with students, and provide a safe environment where it’s alright to be wrong. In this article, I’ll outline some common mistakes and end by giving you 12 ways to motivate students and encourage class participation, even from the most quiet or apathetic kids.


I currently work with Japanese middle school students, and they are the quietest of the quiet. Some of these methods are my own, and some I must credit to my co-teachers who have worked with these students far longer than I have.

Three Reasons Students Aren't Volunteering

The single biggest mistake a language teacher can make when asking for participation is to ask something outside of the students’ range. For example, if you simply demonstrate a conversation, then ask for volunteers to make up their own conversations, you wouldn’t expect many hands to go up. Let me make clear the basic mistakes in this situation,

1. Students haven’t tried to pronounce the key words yet, and thus are unsure of their ability to even say the original conversation.

2. You’ve given them no time to think. Even if they know the words, they will likely blank when called on so abruptly. Especially in a creative exercise. Maybe if they had the conversation in front of them and 10 minutes to think of a variation, it would be okay.

3. The recitation will be in front of the whole class, with judgment raining down from all directions (especially from YOU, the native speaker or “pro” in this topic!).

So let’s boil down these points to some key words.

1. Pronunciation

2. Time

3. Judgment

If you can eliminate those concerns from an activity, it will be a success with shy students. For activity ideas, and what to do if it’s more like apathy that’s got your class down, read on.



Source

Get Students Moving

1. Movement


The first step to a successful activity is always either “Stand up please” or “Move your desks!” There is no substitute for a precedent of full cooperation. Once they are listening to you fully (because they have to actually perform some action according to what you said) you can give directions knowing that you’re being heard.


If your class is passive-aggressive, and pretends not to understand you to avoid work, movement-based activities are the way to go. Unless a student wishes to openly defy you, there is no “out” for them. Strangely, this creates a great classroom atmosphere. Once the students get over their initial annoyance at having to do anything, they will get into the activity and be much happier than if you allowed them to sit at their desks and sulk for 50 minutes.


There are a ton of great ESL activities which are made for groups, but if you are stuck with a one-person writing activity, transform it into group work by having everyone pass their papers to the person on their left, then read the new paper aloud to the group. Creating just a little peer pressure by having another student read it works wonders in most classes.

Source

Relay: A High-Movement Educational Game

Relay games are great lesson activities to build vocabulary, but aren't too heavy on the grammar. You can use set phrases such as "What sport do you play?" or "What is your favorite ________ ?" by invoking the variation in step 4. This game can make dull vocab memorization a bit more interesting.

Materials: 2 sets of flashcards per team (see links below for great flashcard resources). Either English words + Native Language words, or English words + descriptive pictures. E.G. either red + rojo (for Spanish), or red + an actual red-colored card.

Before starting: Put the English word cards in the front of the room, and the picture or native language cards in the back of the room.

Easy English Vocabulary Lesson Activity: Relay Game

  1. Everyone moves their desks to the edges of the room. (Note: see, it's the magic words: "Move your desks!")
  2. Divide your class into teams. I suggest no more than 5 or 6 per team.
  3. Each team sends one representative to the front of the room. The remaining members line up.
  4. The representative at the front picks up a flashcard and reads the English Vocab Word. (Variation: whole team prompts the representative. EX- Team: What sport do you play? *rep picks up card* Rep: I play baseball!)
  5. The first person in line runs to the back of the room and grabs the corresponding card, then runs to the front and gives it to the original representative.
  6. Original representative makes sure they match, then takes the cards and sits down at the end of the line.
  7. The original first line member is the new representative, and the game repeats until everyone is sitting down.
working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)