Active Learning Strategies for EFL Learners

Active Learning Strategies for EFL Learners

• Reciprocal Questioning: This strategy encourages open dialogue. Students take on the role of the teacher and create their own questions about a topic, reading section, or lesson. The class is divided into pairs or small groups and students create questions for discussion amongst the group and the rest of the class. Question stems can be provided to students, for example, comprehension stems like "Describe x in your own words," etc. Connector stems can also be included.

• Three-Step Interviews: This method enhances active listening skills. Students are divided into groups of three, with assigned roles (interviewer, interviewee, note-taker). Students quiz each other, share thoughts, and take notes. After each interview, roles are rotated. The duration of each interview can be adjusted based on student grade level and experience with the strategy.

• The Pause Procedure: Strategy for enhancing student understanding of teaching materials during lectures. Strategic pauses are interspersed into lessons, typically two to three minutes between every 10-15 minutes of lecture which students use to discuss, clarify, or address problems posed by the instructor. Students can discuss notes in pairs.

• The Muddiest Point Technique: Learners write notes on the most unclear or confusing element of any homework, lecture, or class discussion for one minute. This is used to help them reflect upon their learning. The facilitator reviews the learners' submissions to provide feedback and clarification. Often, common areas of confusion are identified to address them within the class.

• Think-Pair-Share: This activity involves independent thinking, followed by paired discussion in pairs and sharing with the entire class. After independent thinking time, students are paired for discussion and finally, each pair shares with the class. This activity helps in understanding and knowledge development.

• One-Sentence Summary: High-order thinking skills are used. Students condense learning into one sentence. This is done at the end of a lesson to summarise and improve memory. This sentence can be a headline, a 140-character tweet, or a hashtag summary for a newspaper article, etc.

• Role Play: This collaborative strategy involves students adopting the role of a character in a particular scenario to enhance confidence and encourage collaborative learning. Learners enact or role-play to improve understanding and to solve problems, using relevant approaches and skills.

• Just-in-Time Teaching: This out-of-class preparation strategy involves students doing assigned reading or a set of activities. They then respond to questions online or via a worksheet. Later, group exercises are conducted in the classroom to allow participation and cooperation.

• Mind Mapping: Learners use visual tools to record their learning and create connections between key points.

• Game-Based Learning: Utilizing digital games in the lesson to enhance digital skills for students who are growing up in fast-paced digital age. Teaching software for lessons can encourage engagement and incorporate these digital resources to create a more interactive environment for the students' learning experience.

• Rotating Chair: This strategy encourages active listening and guiding class discussions. The teacher or a student introduces the topic. Students raise their hands to talk, and the current speaker selects the next. The previous speaker summarizes the previous speaker's comments before adding their own opinions, creating a dialogue between the students.

• Sequencing: Rearrange sentences or images to understand a story or topic. This technique is used in re-telling stories or arranging events.

• Spot the Deliberate Mistake: Purposefully making mistakes in lectures or activities to identify and evaluate learners’ knowledge. Extra points awarded to those who correctly identify mistakes in teaching activities, creating a fun and engaging experience for learners.