One of the most engaging way of teaching English

 

Prof. Adriana COSCAI

Liceul Teoretic ”Nicolae Cartojan”

Giurgiu

 

 

One of the most engaging way of teaching English

 

 

Using realia is one of the most engaging and catchy ways of teaching English. By far it is  heuristic and well-rounded.

A teacher of English often employs realia in order to strenghten students’ associations between words for common items and the items themselves. Realia may be used to improve students’ understanding of other cultures and real-life situations. It relates classroom teaching  to the real life.

Objects and materials from everyday life may be used as teaching aids: extracts from company brochures, manuals, tickets, receipts, coins, instructional kits, household items. A teacher could describe the atmosphere of a certain city bringing an assortment of authentic city maps, brochures, restaurant menus or coupons to class. Such kind of teaching aids may be useful for a successful English class. Students are eager to connect to these genuine materials, they can touch and use the materials which enhances the overall English learning experience.

A teacher can use a real-life item in order to teach a word but also a concept. A teacher can use realia for a lesson about prepositions of place. The advantages are significant and obvious because students can create connections between those items and words or certain language concepts. Recalling information is also much easier. More than that realia is more dynamic than using flash cards or written words usually used during English classes.

Realia has a substantial advantage for those students who learn better with hands-on activities. Realia adds a kinesthetic feature to English classes. Teachers who decide to incorporate realia into their classes succeed in engaging students and making a colourful and lively English class.

As a teacher you should be sure that using realia, all the language skills are reinforced and both visual and kinesthetic learners are implied and interested in acquiring new vocabulary. Just think that you teach the name of some fruit or teach some adjectives related to fruit so the best solution is to use realia. Students can build dialogues about likes and dislikes, they learn to justify their answers and so there comes a lot of fun in their conversation. Every time students become interested and excited when the topic is original and very different from what usually happens during a class.

For young students or beginner learners realia activities are the best solutions. The teacher can ask them to find certain items in the classroom and then the teacher can easily assess the students noticing their reactions. At any age the students may be asked to bring an item which they consider important for them. Then the students present that item and explain why they picked it. Every teacher knows that students generally love sharing things about themselves and feel happy when it comes to talk about their own experiences.

No matter what concept you are about to teach, roleplaying is an attractive and relaxing way to help your students to learn the material and encourage them to speak. Using realia you will inspire your students and involve them in the roles they are playing. Students can act out situations they have read about. The teacher can guide them so that all the language skills may be used during that class.

Considering all this, visual teaching aids have been considered interesting and important components of language classes. Using realia helps teachers to build up a more creative and active learning environment for students.

 

 

Bibliography:

https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/realia-0

https://misszanderslearningenvironment.weebly.com/conclusion

https://manwrites.com/keeping-it-real-with-realia


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