Reda RimiCasablanca, MoroccoEnglish Literature and ESL teacher
As far as my experience goes, I have taught English to various age groups from primary to post-baccalaureate professionals in different venues. I have become familiar with good practices to engage learners mainly through scaffolding them whenever they need support, encouraging them through various modes of work be it pair, group, or individual work. Also fundamental is the richness and depth of material formats to engage all learners' styles which requires visual, auditory, written, and animated materials.
The approach that I admire the most is the communicative one. As matter of fact, deep grammar and vocabulary practice is necessary, but if that is not invested heavily in speaking and writing, then it all becomes stored unpractical knowledge. As I have learnt in my experience with all age-groups and types of learners, most classes can be made communicative. To master the simple present, for instance, it is way better to engage in a dialog where people share their habits; healthy and healthy and comment on them; read, listen to or watch the daily routines of a celebrity they care about and underline where they agree and disagree, instead of sticking strictly to the rules of the simple present. Once the concept is clear, then there is room for intensive and extensive practice. Keeping a healthy balance between accuracy of language and fluency is key to success and that what I always aspire to.
