Analysing the effectiveness of engagement-promoting techniques in the EFL classroom

Abstract

As teachers, we all hope to keep our lessons interesting and our learners engaged. We also know that no two classes are alike. This is mostly due to learners’ individual backgrounds, which teachers commonly keep in mind when they plan and deliver their lessons. Knowledge of what works best to engage a particular group of learners can enable teachers to tailor lessons that focus on their learners’ most prominent characteristics while placing less focus on aspects that are not strongly preferred among the class. In my current teaching situation, it is especially important that the teacher possesses an ability to be spontaneous and improvise; being able to make informed decisions throughout the lesson plays an important role in the choice and implementation of appropriate stimuli. To address these two particularities of my environment (i.e. the lack of formal guidance for peer-based development, and the importance of informed decision-making to generate stimuli in class) I chose to design a method that will allow teachers to conduct observations and collect data on a variety of teacher-generated stimuli in the language classroom. It also should allow the observer to analyse the different stimuli and to enable both teacher and observer to reflect on these stimuli and analyses, and ideally, this new information will help teachers to raise their awareness about different ways to stimulate learning, as well as expand their repertoire of techniques that work in their particular settings.