Giving Instructions in the Second-Language Classroom

GIVING
INSTRUCTIONS
TEACHER: Caceres Veronica
STUDENT: Navarro Jemina Esther
SUBJECT: Teaching Practice III
COURSE: 3B
YEAR: 2020/2021
COLLOQUIUM: “Giving Instructions”

Introduction
Most of us can recall having had school experiences where delivered
instructions were unclear about what we were expected to do or were
misunderstood or incomprehensible. Instruction-giving is a fundamental aspect
of good classroom teaching practice. Instructions and their delivery can be the
determining factors as to whether a lesson succeeds or fails.
Base on my own experience I have decided to work on this topic because
during my practice as a Teacher I faced some challenges and could comprehend
the importance of giving clear instructions in the second-language classroom
and how important is to have needed techniques for giving effective
instructions.

Good Instruction-Giving in the
Second-Language Classroom
--- Imagine you are attending a seminar. The facilitator gives instructions, and you have a
vague notion of what you are supposed to do, but you do not want to ask the facilitator to
clarify because you are sure you are the only one who has not understood. After the
facilitator tells you to start working, you turn to the person next to you and ask, “What are
we supposed to do?” That person says, “I’m not sure. I thought you would know.” Soon
you realize that almost everyone in the room is confused, while the facilitator is standing
behind wondering why no one has started engaging in the activity S/he just explained.---
As teachers, most of us have had experiences of giving instructions that were
misunderstood or incomprehensible to our learners.
Instruction-giving has a direct effect on learning; a lesson or activity becomes
chaotic and fails when students do not understand what they are supposed to
do.
Classroom management is a stepping stone to success in the teaching process.
Classroom management covers a wide range of areas including lesson planning,
managing pair, and group work, handling transitions, giving instructions,
dealing with disruptive behavior, etc.
One of the most important things that teachers do is Giving Instructions for
example when we want to put students into groups, start an information-gap

activity or set up a debate or a team game we need to give effective
instructions.
In many a class, students get confused and do not know what to do although
their teacher has made great efforts in preparing the lesson at home.
Good Instruction-giving is an area that deserves attention and practice. It gives
learners confidence in you. It keeps the lesson running smoothly, and it
probably increases opportunities for student talking time.
Once the teacher becomes aware of the significance of analyzing the
“instructions” beforehand so as to include only the essential information in
simple, clear language and sequence it in a sensible order, misunderstanding
disappears. In this respect, Harmer (1998, p. 4) raises general rules for giving
“logical” instructions; he argues that teachers “must ask the following
questions: What is the important information I am trying to convey? What
must the students know if they are to complete this activity successfully?
Which information do they need first? Which should come next?’
Consequently, designing the lesson without knowing what instructions to give
at each step is useless because planning them in advance is the key to success
in teaching.
THE PREPARATION STAGE
Good instruction-giving begins in the preparation stage. Although we may
feel we can easily improvise, instructions are often not as clear to the students
as they are to ourselves. A good way to make sure your activity’s instructions
are clear and concise is to write them out as you develop your lesson plan,