Effective Primary English Teaching: Strategies & Resources

Posted on Feb 18, 2025 in Early Childhood and Primary Education

1. The Role of the Teacher

Two of the most important reasons for pupils liking English are teachers and teaching methods (Moon).

  • Personal qualities a teacher should have: enthusiastic, warm, friendly…
  • 3 different roles can be demanded: Needs analyst, Counsellor, Group process manager.
  • Principles in the job of a good FL teacher:
    • a) Developing a sense of security in students.
    • b) Encouraging a sense of belonging and caring.
    • c) Being fair and consistent.
    • d) Providing positive feedback.
    • e) Knowing students.
    • f) Listening and taking students’ opinions into account.
    • g) Promoting the students’ self-esteem and confidence.
    • h) Motivating pupils.

2. Groupings and Space Allocation

  • Good or bad groupings do not exist.
  • Classroom furniture and seating arrangement is one of the factors affecting the learning atmosphere.
  • Spaces in this sense should be flexible enough to accommodate different types of teaching approaches.
  • Common seating arrangements in a primary FL classroom: rows, pairs, horseshoe, circle, groups of 4 or 6…
  • Groupings and differentiation.
  • Space and decoration.

3. Time Distribution

  • The organisation of time in the area of languages is usually the root of difficulties.
  • We need to create realistic programmes.
  • It’s necessary to establish constants and routines.
  • At the time of programming we should remember that it is necessary to dedicate time to: different groupings, active, reflective and relaxing activities, controlled situations and freer situations.

4. Control of the Group-Class

  • On a great number of occasions specialist teachers have to confront a discipline problem.
  • Some of the factors that affect the control of the group that we can improve on or control are: Classroom space, Unit content, Content variety, Lesson structure, Pace of work, Class motivation, Rules of behaviour…
  • Factors out of our control exist: Atmosphere, Natural abilities or disabilities, Size of the class and classroom furniture, External noise, The student’s environment, Imposed textbook…
  • Solutions to problems: Grasping the students’ attention, Maintaining a level of acceptable noise, Maintaining a relaxed atmosphere in the class, Development of responsible attitudes. It is a process!

5. Didactic Resources

  • As much as possible, students should work with all kinds of resources.
  • Nowadays materials and resources can be divided into three different sections: the old, the new and the newest.
  • The textbook keeps on as a “star” resource… Advantages vs. Disadvantages.
  • Criteria to keep in mind for the selection of our text.

6. Methodology

  • Language as a vehicle of communication.
  • General methodological guidelines:
    • Put the student in contact with communicative, meaningful and comprehensible data, close to their interests…
    • Linguistic and non-linguistic experiences.
    • Activities or tasks that must be carried out make up the main point of didactic planning.
    • The activities and tasks are generated from topics or points of interest.
    • The four skills work integrally.
    • The oral and receptive skills are very important in the early days.
    • It is important to develop communication strategies.
    • Co-operative learning and interactive language among friends favours the amplification of communication situations.
    • The teacher will organise the work in conjunction with the rest of the teachers…
  • General principles of effective language learning
    • Focus on Meaning
    • Focus on Interaction
    • Focus on Strategies
    • Building on Prior Knowledge
    • Transfer Language Learning and Culture