Gestures, Cueing and Modeling in the EFL Classroom
Basic Concepts:
It is common
sense that students in an EFL classroom may not always
understand what their instructor wants them to do when
given directions in English. Obviously, they are there
to learn English and don't and won't get every nuance of
your requests. Thus the importance of gestures and
cueing.
An
effective EFL instructor will use their body to help
give students additional information about what they
want them do. Modeling (doing what you want students to
do to show them what is wanted), gesturing to prompt
behaviors, and cueing with more subtle movements all
provide assistance to the students.
The
target language you are teaching is the most important
component of any lesson and you don't want to get stuck
in a lesson with students not knowing what to do.
Always model any activity first, gesture to show
students when you want them to respond chorally -
"listen" (put your hands behind your ears) and "repeat"
(move your hands away from your mouth), and give cues by
pointing to target language on the marker board.
Give only the amount of gestures and cueing needed and
withdraw it as soon as you can. Increase usage when
needed - and reduce it as the students seem to get what
is wanted.
Effective use of these tools will make your class go
much more smoothly. As the image of the book above
indicates - do ask and be aware of any cultural
differences in gestures. In many cultures pointing
with a finger is quite rude as is gesturing with your
palm facing up versus down.
