| | Greetings to everyone When we want to check if our students have understood, the most straightforward thing to do is simply ask ‘Do you understand?’. If they say they did, we are generally satisfied and move on. However, quite often our students say so because they do not want to look stupid or they think they understand (but in fact, it is not so). In today’s newsletter, you will learn everything you need to know about how to check if students understand your instructions. 
‘Do you understand?’ How many times have you been asked this question? How many times did you nod even though you hadn’t really understood the explanation? Nobody wants to lose face, right? “I’ve observed many teachers and heard how they asked their students the questions ‘Is it clear?’, ‘Do you understand?’ time and time again after the teachers had given instructions or taught the language,” says Helen Taranenko, who conducts teacher training courses including CELTA, CELT-S and CAM (pre-DELTA course) at Grade Education Center. Are there any possible ways of checking understanding by instructions which we give to our students throughout the whole lesson when we set up an activity or ask students to complete a task? The teacher can ask simple questions – instruction checking questions (ICQs), and find out whether the learners know what to do and what not to. WHAT ARE ICQs? Instruction-Checking Questions are questions we frequently use to check whether students understood what they are expected to do in a certain activity or task. They might refer to the language to be used in the activity or to the procedure to use. They aim to ensure that students are on track before they begin an activity so as not to waste time or be confused (check NILE ELT Glossary). Imagine the learners need to complete the gaps in the text with the words from the box. You give them an instruction “Fill in the gaps in the text with the words from the box”. They start doing the activity. If you walk around the classroom, you will definitely see that some students still are not on the task or after a few minutes when you start checking the exercise you might notice that half of the class has not done it. Helen Taranenko suggests before they start doing the task ask them “Do you need a pen for this activity?” (Yes), “Where are the words that you need to use?” (In the box). It will help to avoid confusion. “It seems obvious, but I’ve lost count of the number of times when poor students suffered trying to find a suitable word in their memory having missed the instructions that the required words had been put right in front of their eyes,” she says. WHAT MAKES A GOOD ICQ? Of course, it becomes even more important to ask ICQs when you set up a freer practice activity or a game. This type of activities usually needs a few stages of instructions because it is very hard or almost impossible for students to memorize all the stages of the activity and the instructions for them in one go. You could consider the demonstration of the activity with a strong student to avoid confusion. After each stage of the activity or each demonstration, ask students 2-3 ICQs. For instance, “Can two people take a card at the same time?” - “No”; “Do you have to ask your partner on the left or on the right?” - “On the right”. Do you have to instruction check everything in your lesson? Not at all. Use your judgment to decide if something is likely to cause confusion. Rubens Heredia, CELTA trainer, a co-founder of the blog and social media channel ‘What is ELT?’ offers a checklist for a good ICQ: 1. Anticipate problems with the activity. Think about misunderstandings that students might have as to what to do. 2. Focus on the aspects of the activity that may cause confusion. Ask alternative questions about the part of the instruction, e.g. ‘Are you going to tick the statements or put them in order?’ 3. Make sure that your ICQs are not obvious. 4. Use simple language. These must be straightforward and easy to answer questions. Don’t use language that is too complex for your students. ICQs should be short, clear and unambiguous. 5. Don’t ask ICQs about parts of instructions you have not given yet. Remember that ICQs are not there as a guessing game. “You can get away with not checking understanding of instructions when students need to do a simple gap-filling exercise. But I guarantee some misunderstandings at the freer practice stage or a game stage if the teacher ignores ICQs. Paradoxically, many more ICQs are asked at the beginning of the lesson than at the crucial moments of setting up freer practice activities. Why? Because of the timing. ICQs should be prepared in advance and the time for asking them should be included in the estimated timing for the activities. Hence, when you decide how much time one or another activity might take, don’t forget to plan ICQs,” says Helen Taranenko. If you want to learn more about ICQs, follow the links below: Checking Understanding – Part 1, Instruction Checking Questions (ICQs) English teachers, are you asking the right questions? CELTA: Giving Instructions Using ICQs and CCQs in the online classroom new CELTA Part-time JanuaryCourse dates: January 31st, 2020 — April 25th, 2020 Course timing: 3 months = 13 weeks 150 hours = 120 contact hours* + 30 study hours** *sessions with CELTA Trainer **independent sessions Sat 09:00 — 18:00 Lunch break: 13:00 — 14:00 NB! Sunday (February 2) Input: 10:00 – 17:30 Lunch break: 13:15 – 14:15 Course Tutors: Director of teacher training
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CELTA, CELT-P / S trainer Course fee: UAH 33999 Early registration fee (before 01.12.2019): UAH 30999 *£ 128 certificate fee is applicable for all Ukrainian residents paying for the course in UAH EnrollCourse dates: March 30th, 2020 — July 3rd, 2020 Course timing: 14 weeks of online input 2 weeks of mandatory teaching practice in Kyiv June 7th — June 21st Mon — Sat 09:00 — 18:00 Lunch break: 13:00 — 14:00 Course Tutors:Director of teacher training
CELTA, Delta, CELT-P / S trainer Course fee: UAH 33999 Early registration fee (before 20.01.2020): UAH 30999 *£ 128 certificate fee is applicable for all Ukrainian residents paying for the course in UAH Enrollnew CELTA Full-time June 2020Course dates: June 1st, 2020 — June 26th, 2020 Course timing: 1 month = 4 weeks 150 hours = 120 contact hours* + 30 study hours** *sessions with CELTA Trainer **independent sessions Mon — Fri 09:00 — 18:00 Lunch break: 13:00 — 14:00 Course Tutors:Director of teacher training
CELTA, Delta, CELT-P / S trainer English Teacher
CELTA, CELT-P / S trainer Course fee: UAH 33999 Early registration fee (before 01.03.2020): UAH 30999 *£ 128 certificate fee is applicable for all Ukrainian residents paying for the course in UAH Enrollnew CELTA Full-time July 2020Course dates: June 29th, 2020 — July 24th, 2020 Course timing: 1 month = 4 weeks 150 hours = 120 contact hours* + 30 study hours** *sessions with CELTA Trainer **independent sessions Mon — Fri 09:00 — 18:00 Lunch break: 13:00 — 14:00 Course Tutors:Director of teacher training
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CELTA Trainer Course fee: UAH 33999 Early registration fee (before 01.03.2020): UAH 30999 *£ 128 certificate fee is applicable for all Ukrainian residents paying for the course in UAH Enrollnew CELTA Full-time August 2020Course dates: July 27th, 2020 — August 21st, 2020 Course timing: 1 month = 4 weeks 150 hours = 120 contact hours* + 30 study hours** *sessions with CELTA Trainer **independent sessions Mon — Fri 09:00 — 18:00 Lunch break: 13:00 — 14:00 Course Tutors:Director of teacher training
CELTA, Delta, CELT-P / S trainer Academic Director
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CELTA, CELT-P / S trainer Course fee: UAH 33999 Early registration fee (before 01.03.2020): UAH 30999 *£ 128 certificate fee is applicable for all Ukrainian residents paying for the course in UAH Enroll |
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