Teaching adult beginners can be a real challenge. After all, ‘beginner’ is a loose term. Students who are placed in A1 level could be ‘true’ beginners, with little knowledge of English beyond ‘hello’, or they could be ‘false’ beginners, with some passive knowledge of the language, perhaps having studied English at a young age.
The objective for the teacher, then, is to get a good idea of the range of aptitudes in their class as soon as possible. A useful way to do this is by using images or video to elicit language, particularly those that show a lot of objects or actions. The image above, for example, could be used to elicit weather vocab, furniture, family, colours and numbers.
Using lots of different visual media is also great for student motivation. Adults at low-levels have often had varying experiences of English at school, and may have already decided that they are ‘no good at languages’. For some students, this can lead them to be easily disheartened.
One simple way to motivate students is to cover topics and situations that feel authentic and that students can see will be useful in their daily lives. Teaching language, including grammar, in a realistic context is vital. Listening, reading or acting out realistic scenarios in English, is useful for this, from going shopping, to eating in a restaurant.
In the video below, simple functional language (“saying where places are”) is put into a realistic setting.
This type of video can be exploited in many ways, from teaching functional ‘chunks’ of language or phrases for communication strategies (showing interest, checking understanding, etc.), to practising various aspects of pronunciation. It also serves as a good lead-in for a roleplay.
Goal setting and regular assessment is central to showing students that they are making progress. Begin each class by setting clear learning objectives, and revisit them to acknowledge their achievement at the end of the class. Regular testing may elicit a groan from younger students, but adult learners frequently state that they would prefer more, rather than fewer tests, and tests can play a key part in the learning cycle.
Assessment can be both informal (observation of a speaking activity), relatively formal (mid and end-level exams), and various things in between (for example progress tests). The key is to ensure that learners receive constructive feedback afterwards, acknowledging their achievements and giving areas to work on, and then another opportunity to try the same thing again and achieve better performance or results.