Planning

Planning

Simply telling students about the language is not usually enough to help them to learn it. In order for students to be able
to develop their use of English, they need to be given the chance to produce it. In an Activate stage the students are given
tasks, normally writing and or speaking activities which require students to use not only the language they are studying that
day, but also other language that they have learnt.
Here are some reasons why it’s important to let students have this kind of practice:
• It gives students the chance to rehearse English, as if they were doing it in the real world but in the safe
environment of the classroom.
• Some theories of language learning suggest that by giving students this kind of practice, it helps them to
‘switch’ language they have been studying, into language which they can use instinctively without having to
think about it.
• These kind of activities are often fun for the students. As we have mentioned before, providing an
enjoyable classroom experience for students helps the learning process.
• This kind of activity, because it does not restrict the students to using only a particular area of language, is
an effective way for both students and the teacher to assess how well the class is progressing.
• Providing suitable tasks which the students can achieve using lots of different language has a positive
motivational effect on students. Motivated students tend to learn better.
Engage, Study and Activate - three important considerations for any lesson. Every activity, every exercise, every part of a
lesson should fit into one of these categories. Although ESA is a guide to what should go into a lesson, it is not necessarily
a guide as to what order activities should come in a lesson. For example, it is possible to have an Activate stage before a
Study stage. In this order the teacher can monitor the activity to find out what it is that the students need to know. In other
words, the Activate stage helps the teacher to decide the content of the Study stage.