Giving instructions in the English classroom: What could go wrong?

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In this vlog post for Pavilion ELT, Damien Herlihy continues his professional development (PD) series of How to be the English teacher you want to be in 2021. You can see the introduction to the series here.

In this episode he focuses on instructions. The giving of instructions – if you’re a practicing teacher – is something you do every day, in every lesson. The success or failure of a lesson can often depend on the instructions you give, yet it doesn’t appear so often in PD schedules around the world.

Find out in this episode why instructions can go wrong; the elements of good instruction giving; and how to develop this invaluable skill.

Please let us know how the series is making you reflect on your own teaching and/or what has worked well for you in the comments under the vlog or below our shares on the Pavilion ELT social media.

 

References

Bradshaw, C. (2005). Giving Great Instructions! English Teaching professional 38

Thornbury, S. (2017). The New A-Z of ELT: A Dictionary of Terms and Concepts. London: Macmillan Education.

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Damien Herlihy
Damien Herlihy
Damien Herlihy has been a vlogger for Pavilion ELT since December 2019. His vlog posts draw upon his experiences as a teacher, teacher trainer and school owner, and take into account what his teachers have found most useful as well as his own learning experiences. His vlog posts have been in a number of themed series including: professional development; how methodology books have influenced his teaching practices; and the internet as a virtual textbook and cater to teacher and teacher trainers working in face-to-face, classes, teaching live online or doing a mix of the two in hybrid teaching. Damien has been teaching English for a little over 20 years, with 8 years of running his own language school in Thailand. He is a former IELTS-examiner, an award-winning teacher, and following his Masters in Teaching English as a Second Language, is also an online teacher, a journal article writer and a conference presenter. Alongside all of this, he has also been working on a website for students of English called English Riot and regularly writes blog posts, makes YouTube videos and produces a podcast for the site, and has juggled a move back to his native Australia. You can find out more about Damien at his website: www.englishriot.com.