Grading Language in TEFL: A Practical Guide for New English Teachers

If you’re training to become an English teacher or thinking about taking a Trinity CertTESOL course, one of the most important classroom skills you’ll need, and something many new teachers struggle with at first, is the ability to grade your language.

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A Common Classroom Mistake New English Teachers Make

“Do you need a hand?”

This is the question I asked one of the students in my first Trinity CertTESOL teaching practice class. At the time it seemed to me a perfectly natural and reasonable question to ask a student who appeared to be struggling to get to grips with the worksheet activity I’d set. She looked first at her hands, then at me with a puzzled expression, before realizing that I was offering her help, which she gladly accepted.

At the time I was happy that I had been able to help a student with her worksheet, and didn’t see anything wrong with the question I had asked, or more specifically, how it was phrased. However, during the post class feedback session – an integral part of the Trinity CertTESOL course - it was pointed out to me by the trainer who had observed the class how the question “Do you need a hand?” could easily cause confusion to a second language learner, and my mind flashed back to the student looking at her hands, as if to check she wasn’t missing one!

What Does “Grading Your Language” Mean in TEFL?

In TEFL, grading your language is closely linked to what trainers often call “Teacher Talk”–the language teachers use to give instructions, explain activities, manage the classroom, and interact with students. Learning to control and adapt your Teacher Talk is a core skill for effective English teaching and a key focus on Trinity CertTESOL courses.

Essentially, it’s ensuring that the language you use in class is appropriate to your student’s English level.

Your student’s level of English won’t be on a par with yours, their English teacher. This might be stating the obvious, but it’s important to remember. In our day to day lives we communicate in fluent English, use longer words, and use all sorts of phrases and idioms, so it’s only natural that when we start teaching, and there are many other things to think about, we’ll revert back to some of these longer words, sentences and phrases. English students won’t have this level of fluency though.

Why Is Grading Your Language Important in the ESL Classroom?

What Happens When Teachers Don’t Grade Their Language

Picture the scene…

You arrive at the class to a group of students eager to learn. You’ve spent lots of time preparing an exciting activity with several stages that will allow the students to practice various skills, and you can’t wait for them to get into it, but… it falls flat!

Why? The language used to explain the activity was too advanced for your students. They simply didn’t understand, or misunderstood the instructions.

If the language you use in the classroom isn’t appropriate to your student’s English level, they will struggle to understand you and the instructions you give them. This can then have knock on effects. They might do the activity wrong, meaning you have to spend more time explaining it again. They might get bored and lose focus, which can lead to them misbehaving (especially with younger learners), and make classroom management harder. It all has an impact on the class and how much the students learn.

Practical Tips for Grading Your Language as a New English Teacher

Having worked in schools and ESL programs both teaching and training, since completing the Trinity CertTESOL over ten years ago, I’ve observed lots of other TEFL teachers. Many of them were at the start of their teaching careers, and grading language was something that often came up during post observation feedback sessions. So don’t worry, it’s a common mistake, but with a bit of time and practice, it’s easy to adjust.

Here’s a few tips…

Simplifying Language

1. Use Short, Simple Instructions

Avoid using long sentences and unnecessary or long words. This is especially important for younger and lower-level learners.

Look at the example instructional sentence below, and then look at how it’s been shortened and simplified, but notice how it still conveys the same message.

“For the next activity, if you could take out your English subject workbook, and then turn to page three, please.”

“Open your workbook on page three, please.”

The original instruction sentence is twenty words long, whereas the simplified version is only seven words long, yet it still gives the same instructions. The simplified instruction sentence also avoids using superfluous language such as ‘English subject’ (hopefully your students at least know what subject they’re studying) and phrasal verbs such as ‘turn to’, which may be confusing for younger and lower-level learners.

Conditionals

2.Avoid Conditionals and Complex Sentence Structures

These can make instructions confusing for second language learners.

“If you finish page three, then you can start page four.”

This could be changed to:

“When you finish page three, you can start page four.”

Teacher’s Voice

3. Develop a Clear and Consistent Teacher’s Voice

This aspect of grading your language is often referred to in TEFL training as Teacher Talk, and it covers not just what you say, but how you say it in the classroom.

Make sure your voice is loud enough and clear enough for the students at the back of the classroom to hear you, but avoid shouting.

Don’t rush. It’s very easy to slip back into speaking at a pace that comes naturally to you. This will very likely be too quick for the majority of your students though. It’s better to speak slowly at a pace your students can understand and explain something once, than rush it and have to go back and explain it again.

Emphasize key words and sounds. This will help students recognize the key information in your instructions, or the key vocabulary or sounds that you’re trying to teach them.

Preparation

4. Plan and Script Your Classroom Language

It’s not just about what you say and how you say it in the classroom, there are also things you can do to help you with grading your language before you get to the classroom.

Start thinking about how you want to give your instructions when you’re planning your lesson. When I started teaching, I found it useful to write simple key sentences and instructions as I wanted to say them to the students on the lesson plan, almost like a mini script. I could then refer to them when I got to that part of the lesson, and avoid slipping back into using long complicated sentences. It also helped keep the thought of grading my language at the forefront of mind.

Accuracy

5. Keep Your Language Simple but Accurate

You want to keep your instructions simple, but be wary of simplifying them too much, to the point where you’re no longer speaking proper English. Remember you’re there to teach English, and your students will pick up things that you say. Avoid things like…

“Open book, page 3”

Key Takeaways: How to Grade Your Language Effectively

This may seem like a lot to think about while you’re trying to keep a group of students engaged and focused as you teach them a complex grammar rule, but if I was to grade my language and put it simply, I would say…

• Use short, clear sentences

• Speak clearly and slowly

• Avoid long words and unnecessary language 

• Prepare properly and plan your classroom instructions

• Always use proper English

It doesn’t happen immediately, but if you focus on doing these things, then it won’t be long until you have your very own ‘teacher’s voice’!

On the Trinity CertTESOL course trainees receive regular feedback on their Teacher Talk during teaching practice, helping them develop clear, confident classroom language quickly. You also can see other units in our Trinity CertTESOL course here.

Want to develop your own ‘teacher’s voice’? Sign up for our Trinity CertTESOL course here, and let us at Trinity TESOL Thailand help you get started!