Information collection & exchange

 CONSTRAINTS AND SOLUTIONS IN THE CLASSROOM 
The major constraints facing TEFL Volunteers are: 
• large multilevel classes 
• insufficient numbers of textbooks 
• strict adherence to a rigid curriculum 
• limited hours and low motivation for English instruction 
• special needs of students 
vocabulary is extensive
Reading and Writing 
Please read the following and decide which paragraphs best describe your ability to read English and your 
ability to write English. 
Reading 
1. I really cannot read any
2. I can recognize the letters of the alphabet. I can read some personal and place names, street signs, 
shop names, numbers and s
W
F
C
c
te

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Large multilevel classes 
Teaching a class of fifty or more students requires considerable organization. In many cases students will be 
used to teachers who use drills, choral repetitions and rote learning as a means of teaching large classes. 
These techniques may achieve their purpose of keeping students busy, but their effectiveness as a learning 
tool is limited. However, there are other options at hand, all of which will require organization and planning in 
the initial stages but will offer more satisfactory results in the long run. These options fall into two main 
categories: group work and peer coaching. Both of these options require a sense of cooperation among your 
students. Your task will be to foster this sense of cooperation. 
Cooperation in Group Work 
Group work should be introduced gradually and used for teaching all of the language skills-listening, 
speaking, reading and writing. 

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Large group work: Use your first sessions as a way of acclimatizing your classes to group work. For a 
beginners' level, include exercises such as What Time Is It? For this exercise you divide the class into two 
large groups and ask group A to draw a series of clocks on the board and then, as a group, ask group B 
"What time is it?" Group B members answer together. The two groups then switch roles. 

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Exercises from Ja
ham can also be used very effectively to build up a sense of 
energy in your classroom. In working on a jazz 
hant, Graham suggests that the following steps be taken: 
sure that your students understand the context of the chant. This may entail explaining 
ch line of the chant once or twice as needed. Ask your students to repeat in unison. 
3.
Establish a rhythm by clapping. Repeat step 2 with a firm heat. 
o large groups. Using the beat you have established give the lines. The two
ents alternately repeat the lines as they are given. 
5.
Take the first part in the chant dialogue; ask the whole class to take the second part. 
two groups again and give the first part of the chant to group A and the
group B. 
g
nts seem to he comfortable working in large groups, you will be able to 
introduce more sophisticated group language tasks. For this level of group work choose a task that allows 
diff
es not have a single right answer, that does not 
vo
A good 
re You Si
ecipes for Tired Teachers edited by 
Christopher Sion. (See Figure 1.3.) 
Project work: P
hese projects can include a 
lassroom newsp
ol sports teams, or the 
ctivities of extra
hese projects in with 
ther subjects. F
r geography classes 
nd keeping trac
in your English class. In this way 
eer coaching: P
your class to 
elp other studen
rsion of this approach, called "each one teach one," was advocated by Dr. Frank 
aubach, who us
mote literacy in the Philippines. To be successful your advanced students need 
to be prepared. Their coaching task must be clearly defined and they should resist the temptation to do the 
work for their "students." Both students in a pair should be given credit for successes and care should be 
t 
d student. 
zz Chants by Carolyn Gra
dialogue and cooperation as well as to generate fun and 
c
1.
Make
necessary vocabulary items and cultural items. 
2.
Give ea
4.
Divide the class into tw
groups of stud
6.
Divide your class into
second part to
A
ood beginning jazz chant is "Do You Know Mary?" (See Figure 1.2.) 
Small-group work: Once your stude
erent students to make different contributions, that do
lve rote learning, and that cannot be done more efficiently by one person than by a group. 
in
example of this kind of task is "A
tting Comfortably?" from R
roject work can stimulate your students with its variety. T
c
a
aper posted on the wall, with reports on the school farm, the scho
curricular clubs. You may also want to explore the possibility of tying t
or example, if your students are studying precipitation patterns in thei
o
a
k of local precipitation, you could cover the same topic
your students have the 
classes. 
advantage of transferring the concepts they learn in geography to their English 
P
eer coaching means using the strengths of the more advanced students in 
h
L
ts. One ve
ed it to pro
taken to preven
the weaker student from falling into the trap of dependence on the more advance

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