application of esa in teaching english as foreign language

1、<p>　　Application of ESA in Teaching English as Foreign Language</p><p>　　Abstract. According to Jeremy Harmer (2000), ESA (engage, study, activate) are three essential factors involved in TEFL (Teachin

2、g 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 fa

3、ctors’ sequence with different teaching environment and different teaching planning and objectives. ESA theory is becoming increasingly popular in TEFL.</p><p>　　Key words: ESA TEFL application teaching prac

4、tice </p><p>　　1.Introduction </p><p>　　Teaching methodology has always been the focus of education study. In teaching practice, such teaching methods are very popular as Situational Teaching Me

5、thod, 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&quo

6、t;. In this book, Harmer first presented ESA (Engage, Study, and Activate) theory. According to Harmer, features of natural language acq</p><p>　　2.Various lesson patterns </p><p>　　In his book,

7、 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 l

8、anguage in a controlled way. Especially for those language beginners whose abilities are at low level, this pattern works well. </p><p>　　However, not all the classes go like this, for more advanced learners

9、, they need more consideration from the teachers. Therefore, there is another lesson pattern, that’s Boomerang sequence: </p><p>　　In this sequence, the teacher must take the needs of the students into consi

10、deration 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 great

11、er 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. </p><p>　　In addition to these two approaches to teaching l

12、anguage, Harmer also presented another patter in his book, that’s Patchwork sequence: </p><p>　　This pattern is very common, especially for learners who are at advanced levels. flexibility is a very apparent

13、 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. </p><p>　　3. Application of ESA in teaching pra

14、ctice </p><p>　　3.1 Engage </p><p>　　Engage is the point where teachers try to arouse the students’ interest, thus involving their emotions. If students are amused, moved, stimulated or challeng

15、ed, 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, sto

16、ries, etc. Group discussion is one of the most important activities students can be involved in. in the discussion, student</p><p>　　3.2 Study </p><p>　　On more and more college campus, self-stu

17、dy 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

18、, 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 respon

19、sibility for their </p><p>　　In addition to various learning materials, learners can study in a variety of different styles: cooperative learning, communicative learning and group learning, etc. Generally, t

20、eacher 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 sc

21、hool not so long, so the teacher can construct the lesson in a controlled way. The topic of the unit i</p><p>　　This factor describes exercises and activities which are designed to get students using languag

22、e 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 re

23、hearsal for the real world. </p><p>　　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

24、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 stu

25、dents are exposed to language whose meaning and construction they understand, it makes sense for them to practi</p><p>　　For example, if the teacher is willing to teach the students the most standard English

26、 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 stude

27、nts 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 wi</p><p>　　4.

28、Conclusions </p><p>　　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.

29、 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 fee

30、l that have been given adequate chances to build up their language in small, manageable layers,</p><p>　　References </p><p>　　1.Ellis, G, and Sinclair B Learning to Learn English [M] Cambridge U

31、niversity press 1989 </p><p>　　2.Jeremy Harmer The practice of English Language Teaching [M] Longman 1991 </p><p>　　3.Jeremy Harmer How to Teach English [M] Foreign Language Teaching and Researc

32、h Press 2000 </p><p>　　4.Ren Yu-ping ESA Model Applied in English Extentive Reading [J] Journal of Qiqihar University (Philosophy & Social Science Editition) 2006 </p><p>　　5.Song Wei ESA Mo

33、del in Teaching This is English in TV Universities [J] Journal of Ningbo Radio and Tv University 2008 </p><p>　　6.Wen Ying-xi The Practice and Application of Patchwork Sequence in College English Teaching [J

34、] Higher Education Forum 2005 </p><p>　　7.William Littlewood Communicative Language Teaching [M] London: Cambridge University Press 1981 </p><p>　　8.Xiong Wen Discussing the usage of ESA Patchwo

35、rk Sequence in English Teaching[J] The Science Education Article Collects 2011 </p><p>　　9.Zhang Yuan-yuan Application of ESA Theory to College English Reading Class [J] Journal of Changzhou Vocational Colle