Tips and Techniques for Communicating Instructions

When you explain an activity to your EFL students, do they just look at you blankly? Or perhaps they nod their understanding and then immediately turn to ask each other, “What did she say?” As English teachers in Korea, we have all been in this kind of situation, and we have all had activities fail because of an inability to communicate what we wanted students to do. Fortunately, with some careful planning and practicing, these kinds of communication failures can be minimized. Below are five techniques that I have found useful over the years to communicate even the most complicated instructions.

1. Model, model, model.

Many new teachers overlook the power of this simple technique. Instead of explaining what you want students to do, show them! Model the activity yourself, or walk some student volunteers through the activity, while the other students observe. You can draw students’ attention to salient details by asking questions (“What is this?” “What is next?” “Is it right?”)and by encouraging predictions about what the next step is. After students get started on the activity, you can reinforce what you are looking for by pointing out students who are doing it correctly: “Like this!”

2. Remember to KISS.

Keep It Short and Simple (KISS)! Use simple, grammatically correct directions. Honestly, I have encountered very few activities that could not be explained in 15 words or fewer, not counting the modeling of the target language. Sometimes it helps, when preparing your instructions, to try teaching the activity in silence, paying careful attention to your gestures and facial expressions. Then start adding words—especially if they are simple directions you intend to use repeatedly in the future.

3. Focus on the present.

Instead of telling students what you are “going to” do, just do it. For example, instead of announcing, “I am going to give you some cards, and then you are going to take turns…,” just give out the cards. Then model or explain the remaining processes step by step: tell them one step, and then give them time to do it. Then move onto the next step. This step-by-step process gives you a chance to visually confirm that students are on track and address any problems or misunderstandings. Here, too, it is useful to point out students who are doing it properly, so others can follow their example.

4. Check for understanding.

“Do you understand?” is rarely a productive question; instead, try to figure out the key points in your instructions where misunderstandings might occur and ask about these points, specifically. You can conduct a visual check (e.g., ask students to point to where they are going next, or ask each character in a role play to raise his or her hand, You can also model doing the activity the wrong way and then ask, “Is it OK?”, or you can ask questions designed to pinpoint where confusion might be lurking (e.g., “So, will you speak loudly or quietly?” “Can you look at your partner’s paper?” “Just do one and then… are you finished?”).

5. Choose appropriate activities.

Remember, what is clear to you might be completely unfamiliar to your students. For example, I have had young students who were completely baffled by the concept of a survey, and one of my American acquaintances had difficulty teaching Battleship, a common American children’s game, to her students. When planning a lesson, keep these potential problems in mind. This applies, too, to the contents of the activity. For example, if you are teaching ordinal numbers (i.e., first, second, third) and using the context of the Olympics, it might be better to stick with familiar country names instead of unfamiliar country names, so students can easily focus on the target language instead of becoming bogged down in tangential details.

Some teachers have asked me, “What do you think about translating instructions into Korean?” This is a little controversial. On the one hand, if English instructions are consistently translated into Korean, the students have little incentive to listen to the English—and the instructor has little motivation to improve her instruction techniques. On the other hand, if you are introducing a complex activity that you are going to use repeatedly in the future; if giving instructions in English is going to require more time than the activity, itself; or if, despite your best efforts, students just are not getting it, L1 translation can be very useful. Try to plan for its use, though, so it does not become a mere crutch to fall back on!

Finally, when you think about your instructions, consider this: are you sure you need to explain the activity at all? Sometimes it is possible to just do it, without preamble, and let students figure out the details as they go, particularly with whole-class activities where you can give immediate cues and feedback about what they are doing. It is OK for students to be a little confused at first—but it should be the kind of struggling that happens in a video game, where the struggle does not prompt students to disconnect and give up, but instead to have fun figuring out how to do something.

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Monthly Chapter Meeting

Date & Time:December 6 (Saturday), 1:45 p.m.

Place: Chosun University, Main Building, Left Wing, Rm 4211

1. Presentation: Getting the Most Out of Your Coursebook Activities

Jessica Ives (Dongshin University)

2. Collaborative Workshop: What Makes a Classroom Language-Learning Activity Good (and how to make ’em even better)

Dr. David Shaffer (Chosun University)

6p.m.: Annual Year-End Holiday Dinner.

Location: GIC (Gwangju International Center) 1F.

Afternoon Meeting Admission:  No Charge

For more details:

Facebook: Gwangju-Jeonnam KOTESOL

Website:    http://koreatesol.org/gwangju

Email:        gwangju@koreatesol.org

Twitter:      @GwangjuKOTESOL