Application of ESA in Teaching English as Foreign Language

Abstract. According to Jeremy Harmer (2000), ESA (engage, study, activate) are three essential factors involved in TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language). In his book “How to Teach English”, Harmer put forward three different lesson patterns (straight arrows sequence, boomerang sequence, and patchwork sequence) with changing these three factors’ sequence with different teaching environment and different teaching planning and objectives. ESA theory is becoming increasingly popular in TEFL. The article makes an introduction to the theory and three different lesson patterns. In addition, the article highlights the application of the theory in teaching College English with specific examples in teaching practice.

Key words: ESA TEFL application teaching practice

1.Introduction

Teaching methodology has always been the focus of education study. In teaching practice, such teaching methods are very popular as Situational Teaching Method, Cooperative Learning Method, Communicative Approach and Task-based Learning. Year 1998, Jeremy Harmer, a prestigious international English language education expert published his book "How to Teach English". In this book, Harmer first presented ESA (Engage, Study, and Activate) theory. According to Harmer, features of natural language acquisition are equally suitable for classroom language teaching. After years of painstaking research and practice, he summed up the success of natural language acquisition extra three things in common: first of all, a continuous exposure to a language which they more or less understand; Secondly, motivation to learn the language in order to be able to communicate; the last but not the least of course, opportunities to use the language. Language learning in classroom is different from natural language acquisition. But it doesn’t mean that language learner in class cannot learn language well if the right conditions apply. Like natural acquisition, foreign language learners also need be motivated, be exposed to language, and given opportunities to use the language. That’s to say, to help students learn effectively, factors are supposed to be present in a classroom. By summarizing and adjusting these features, Harmer defined these factors or elements as Engage Study and Activate (ESA).

2.Various lesson patterns

In his book, Harmer presented various lesson patterns. The fist pattern is ESA Straight Arrows pattern, which represents lessons in the following way:

This pattern offers students in the classroom an opportunity to practice the language in a controlled way. Especially for those language beginners whose abilities are at low level, this pattern works well.

However, not all the classes go like this, for more advanced learners, they need more consideration from the teachers. Therefore, there is another lesson pattern, that’s Boomerang sequence:

In this sequence, the teacher must take the needs of the students into consideration while planning the lesson. That is to say, this pattern is much more appropriate for those whose language level is quite high, and they know what they need to learn. Therefore, such lesson pattern places a greater burden on the teacher since the teacher must be able to find more suitable teaching materials better prepared to meet the needs of the learners.

In addition to these two approaches to teaching language, Harmer also presented another patter in his book, that’s Patchwork sequence:

This pattern is very common, especially for learners who are at advanced levels. flexibility is a very apparent feature of this lesson pattern, students make progress step by step in the process of balancing between study and activation, between engaging and study, etc.

3. Application of ESA in teaching practice

3.1 Engage

Engage is the point where teachers try to arouse the students’ interest, thus involving their emotions. If students are amused, moved, stimulated or challenged, lessons are not only more fun, but also better learning. Depending on age and type of the students, teachers can apply various activities and materials which can engage students such as games, music, discussions, stories, etc. Group discussion is one of the most important activities students can be involved in. in the discussion, students can listen to each other and share each other’s good ideas and experiences. At the same time interpersonal relationship with develop during the process of working together. What’s more, working in small groups, say, between 3 and 5, students will have more opportunities to improve their listening and speaking skill than they can when the whole class works together. In addition, group work can help practice and develop four key thinking skills: problem solving, decision making, critical thing and creative thinking. It’s the teacher’s responsibility to help the students to organize the group discussion discuss with the students what they are going to talk about , keep the discussion go smoothly and efficiently. Teachers are responsible for ensuring that group discussion is well organized at a practical level. So to make students feel emotionally engaged in what is going on in stead of feeling bored or switching off.

But even where such activities are not presented, teachers have other sources to turn to. Like teacher’s physical presence, the way the teacher moves, how he or she stands, how physically demonstrative he or she is all these play a very important role in promoting the classroom effectiveness. Remember, even the least predictable things can affect the learner’s perception. The teacher needs to have dress sense―not always the same old boring suits! In addition, some teachers tend to spend most of their class time in one place. Imagine, how can the students be stimulated by the fact that the teacher who normally dresses very formally and always stays in the same class suddenly arrives in class dressed casually and moves around the room with unaccustomed ease! Therefore, teachers need to violate their own behavior patterns so that students are much more able to remain interested.

3.2 Study

On more and more college campus, self-study is a must ability learners are supposed to acquire. Therefore, teacher can offer some exercises, tapes and video records, fiction and non-fiction books, magazines, etc. Of course, besides these equipment and materials, teachers are supposed to offer help and advice. And teachers are expected to make students clear that students themselves should take responsibility for their own learning. Students who are prepared to take such responsibility for their own learning are good learners. They may study in their own time, doing homework, thinking carefully about what would be best for them. Good learners don’t just wait to be taught. Students should be aware that teachers cannot teach them English unless they themselves are prepared to take charge of their learning. In such cases, it is much better to start very gradually with a piece of homework, for example, or some work in class where individual students have to investigate a grammar issue or solve a reading puzzle on their own. As students get used to working things out for themselves and doing work at home, so they can gradually start to take their own decisions about learning.

In addition to various learning materials, learners can study in a variety of different styles: cooperative learning, communicative learning and group learning, etc. Generally, teacher plays an important role in fulfilling the task using different styles, For example, while talking about the first unit of NEC, the second edition, since the students are newcomers who just graduated from middle school not so long, so the teacher can construct the lesson in a controlled way. The topic of the unit is Personal Relationship, so the teacher can start the lesson with a video watching. In the video, four students are talking about their ideal roommates. All the freshmen are interested in the topic. While watching the video, the students pay much attention to how the speakers describe their ideal roommates. Then the teacher gives the students another chance to watch the video in detail with the teacher’s explanation now and then. Meanwhile, the students are required to repeat some of the important limes, especially some adjectives modifying a person. The teacher tries to make sure the sentences are pronounced correctly and the students use accurate grammar. After video watching, the students work in groups and describe their ideal roommates. They make a presentation to the class. The example above is a good case of straight arrows sequence in point. It works well for freshman since their language is a comparatively low level. It gives the students a chance to practice the language in a controlled way during the Study phase.

3.3 Activate

This factor describes exercises and activities which are designed to get students using language as freely as they can. The purpose of learning a language is not only to learn grammar, vocabulary patterns but also to use the language. Activate exercises offer students a chance to try out real language―a kind of rehearsal for the real world.

Teachers can offer such chances like role-play, debate and discussion in class. Role-play is one of effective ways of practicing language. For example, students can act out, as realistically as possible, an exchange between a travel agent and a client. In the process of role-play, the students practice the common expressions which are appropriate for a given situation or topic. When students are exposed to language whose meaning and construction they understand, it makes sense for them to practice it under controlled conditions. This offer them a chance to check that they have learned something.

For example, if the teacher is willing to teach the students the most standard English expression about the issues surrounding job interviews like what makes a good interviewee? What sort of things does the interviewer want to find out? And then the teacher describes an interview situation which the students are going to act out in a role-play. While they are doing this, the teacher makes a note of mistakes they make and difficulties they have. When the presentation is over, the teacher works with the students on the grammar and vocabulary which caused trouble during the role-play. The students then compare their language with more correct usage and try to work out for themselves where they went wrong. Later, students role-play another job interview applying the knowledge they learned in the study phase. This procedure is involved in engage―activate―study―activate pattern. In this sequence, the teacher answers the needs of the students. They are not taught language until they have a need.

4. Conclusions

For the learners, it is natural that they fear making mistakes, and they fear not knowing what to do possibly even more, especially when it comes to communication in classroom settings. If language learning in a classroom becomes an endless sequence of mistakes and confusion, there will be a likely drop in motivation and enthusiasm. Learners are likely to feel more comfortable and confident if they feel that have been given adequate chances to build up their language in small, manageable layers, ironing out mistakes as they go. ESA may actually feel like an appropriate way to go out of this language learning dilemma.

These three elements of ESA need to be present in all or almost all lessons. Students always need to be engaged so that they can get the maximum out of the learning experience. In addition to interest, they need to be exposed to the language they are learning quite often. Last but not least, they should be given more chances to use it in practice. How can these three elements of ESA fit together in lesson sequences? It depends on different learning materials, different learners, different learning objectives. Whatever kind of patterns a teacher may prefer, ESA model is one of the basic building blocks for successful language teaching and learning.

References

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