Joan Saslow
Allen Ascher
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About the Series
This series of short articles by Teen2Teen Contents
authors Joan Saslow and Allen Ascher
will address three challenges of teaching
teens in the English as a Foreign 3 About the Authors
Language (“EFL”) setting: the lack of
English in the environment outside of
class, the social nature of teens, and the 4 Teaching Vocabulary
limited number of class hours per week. Address and overcome the challenges your teenagers
face when learning vocabulary.
Each article will focus on one aspect
of language teaching and learning and
examine and suggest practical techniques 12 Teaching Grammar
to maximize success. Make grammar appealing to teens and help them
understand and use it effectively.
21 Teaching Listening
Build teens’ listening comprehension skills and enable
them to listen to natural spoken language with success.
30 Further information
About the Teen2Teen Authors
Joan Saslow is the author of numerous widely used multi-
level courses for teens, young adults, and adults. She
has taught English and foreign languages at all levels of
instruction in both South America and the U.S.
Ms. Saslow has also conducted teacher training workshops
in foreign language teaching methods for over thirty years.
Allen Ascher taught English in both the U.S. and China
and has been a teacher trainer, academic director, and
consultant. As a publisher, Mr. Ascher was responsible
for the creation of ELT materials for all age groups. As an
author, he has written course books as well as an online
training course for teachers.
Ms. Saslow and Mr. Ascher have coauthored materials
together since 2002, including the new Oxford University
Press course Teen2Teen.
3
Teaching Teens in the EFL Setting
Vocabulary
Teaching Teens in the EFL Setting
Vocabulary
The EFL Setting
We often fail to appreciate the profound difference between teaching and learning new vocabulary inside
of the English-speaking world (“the ESL setting”) and outside of it (“the EFL setting”). In the ESL setting, the
classroom is merely a support to learning new words and expressions, much of which takes place outside of
class. In the latter, the teacher, the classroom, and learning materials must make up for the lack of exposure
to English outside of class. Let’s examine the teaching and learning of vocabulary in the EFL setting.
A purposeful methodology
In the EFL setting, the teenaged learner—highly social yet somewhat distractible—must acquire a large
volume of vocabulary in very little time and with little opportunity to practice. A purposeful methodology is
crucial to success. We know that students need repeated exposure and abundant practice of vocabulary in
order to “learn” it. And recycling of that vocabulary is essential to prevent forgetting. Lessons that provide
enough exposure, practice, and recycling are hard to create, and time is never adequate. A middle school
schedule of two class hours per week yields 72 class hours spread over a year. While a year of instruction
may sound substantial, 72 hours only add up to 3 days! What methodology, then, can increase exposure,
practice, and memorability of vocabulary?
5
Teaching Teens in the EFL Setting
Vocabulary
1. Explicit presentation.
In the EFL setting, we should assume that new
vocabulary is unknown, so presentation should
be explicit. The first step in learning a new word is
understanding what it means. Though an occasional
quick translation into students’ first language is
convenient and harmless, using translation as the
principal method of teaching vocabulary can lead to
students’ paying more attention to the translation
than to the actual English word being learned!
A captioned picture dictionary, on the other hand,
can clearly show the meaning of a word. Captioned
illustrations remain on the page of the student’s book
for later reference and review. When accompanied
by audio, captioned vocabulary illustrations afford
students a chance to read, listen to, and remember
new words.
2. Repetition.
Hearing and repeating each new word is essential in the EFL setting because students are unlikely to hear
the words outside of class or to have an opportunity to use them there. Imitating the speaker on the audio
builds auditory memory of the words and ensures accurate pronunciation.
6
Teaching Teens in the EFL Setting
Vocabulary
3. Immediate practice.
Although exercises are important in
any setting, they are crucial in the EFL
setting because there students lack
opportunities to practice the vocabulary
outside of class. Exercises provide
repeated exposure and intensive practice
that replace the lack of practice in the
world outside of class.
Vocabulary exercises ideally move from
controlled practice, as in Exercise 3, to
more productive and freer practice, as
in About You. In Exercise 3, students
complete meaningful sentences based
on visual cues. As in the presentation of
vocabulary, exercises with visual cues
involve the sense of seeing, which greatly
enhances memorability.
In the exercise that follows, About You, students personalize the vocabulary freely, using it to express their
own ideas. Note how this productive exercise enables students to use the models they observed and worked
with in Exercise 3.
7
Teaching Teens in the EFL Setting
Vocabulary
4. Integration and recycling.
How can we maximize recycling of new vocabulary,
to ensure that students get enough practice? One way
is to use the new vocabulary when practicing other
target language, such as grammar.
In Exercise 3, a grammar exercise about questions
with Can for Permission is an opportunity to re-
use and recycle the electronic devices vocabulary
at the same time. This integration of vocabulary
and grammar greatly increases exposure and
memorability of the vocabulary that is so important
in the EFL setting. In the ESL setting, where students
have an opportunity to use the new vocabulary
outside of class, one or two vocabulary exercises
might be enough. That is not so, however, for
distractible teens in the EFL setting.
In similar manner, exercises in reading, listening comprehension, and writing can use the vocabulary
intensively to provide even more exposure, practice, and recycling of grammar.
8
Teaching Teens in the EFL Setting
Vocabulary
5. Social application.
Because teens are very social, model conversations
that contain social language in familiar situations are
appealing to them and ensure enthusiastic practice.
Model conversations should, of course, practice the
target vocabulary, but even more importantly, the
conversations should bring natural, authentic social
language into class.
The conversation in Exercise 1 contains the
electronic devices vocabulary students are learning
(laptop, downloading photos). But it contains more
than that. Notice the social language: “Hi,” “Sure.
What’s up?” “Actually, ...” “Of course” “No problem”
“Thanks!”
In working with model conversations, it’s useful for students to listen and read them to further reinforce the
use of the vocabulary in context. If you have audio, listening and reading at the same time can increase the
impact of the integration of vocabulary and social language. As a second step, repeating the conversation
after you or the audio increases memorability and ensures natural intonation of social language.
When teens practice something meaningful and relevant to their own lives it ensures focus and greatly aids
in the memorability of new vocabulary.
9
Teaching Teens in the EFL Setting
Vocabulary
6. Personalization.
But it’s important not to stop with mere practice of
model conversations from a book. Guided conversation
practice offers learners an essential opportunity to use
the new words in their own conversations, bridging the
gap between controlled practice and productive use.
After students have an opportunity to repeat a model
conversation, it’s important to offer them an
opportunity to change it or to personalize it in some way.
The model conversation is just that: a model. It contains
language that can be used in other similar situations.
In Exercise 3, students modify the conversation
changing the electronic device and the activity--which
are all from the vocabulary in this study unit. Visual
cues can support students and help them remember
words that could be used in the activity.
To ensure rich practice, students can be given an
opportunity to plan their changes to the conversation by
writing them on a notepad, ensuring yet more practice.
Notepads and visual cues increase each student’s involvement, motivation, and success.
10
Teaching Teens in the EFL Setting
Vocabulary
Summary
In the reality of the EFL setting, with very few class hours, teen learners need many opportunities to
observe and practice new vocabulary. And because they are teens, integrating vocabulary in relevant
social conversations ensures the memorability and mastery of new words.
Text and illustration examples in this article are from Teen2Teen Two by Joan Saslow and Allen Ascher.
11
Teaching Teens in the EFL Setting
Grammar
Teaching Teens in the EFL Setting
Grammar
A purposeful methodology
As with the teaching of vocabulary, we often fail to appreciate the profound challenge of teaching and
learning grammar in the EFL setting. In the EFL setting, where comprehensible observable English is largely
missing in the world outside of class, the teacher, the classroom, and the learning materials must make up
for that and greatly enrich exposure and practice opportunities inside of class.
There’s no escaping the importance of grammar. It has to be taught. It has to be learned. But, as with
all language learning, motivation is key, and for the teenager—who enjoys English as a medium of
communication, grammar is not at the outset the most motivating part of English study. While adult
learners—and teachers—understand the importance of grammar for communication, teenagers don’t
readily see the connection. Let’s examine some ways to keep teen learners interested and focused long
enough to master the essential grammar points we have to teach.
13
Teaching Teens in the EFL Setting
Grammar
1. Show grammar in its social use.
Since teens’ social life is paramount, connecting
grammar to its social use makes grammar feel useful
and valuable to them. Whenever possible, grammar
should be contextualized in social interactions.
In Exercise 1, we see a natural interaction on social
media between friends telling each other about their
activities. This context serves as a natural vehicle for
the target grammar students are learning: the present
continuous for activities that continue in the present.
Although students require formal explicit
presentation of the form, meaning, and use of
the present continuous, showing it in social use
showcases its value in communication.
14
Teaching Teens in the EFL Setting
Grammar
2. Clearly illustrate form, meaning, and use of
grammar.
The adult learner can see a grammar chart and make
immediate sense of it. Teens, on the other hand,
usually can’t make the cognitive jump from seeing
a grammar chart to understanding the grammar
point’s form, meaning, or communicative use. But
if we illustrate the grammar form in actual use,
students see its value, increasing their motivation to
learn it.
Explaining grammar rules simply and explicitly is
helpful for teens too.
Students benefit from both explanations of the
grammar and clear examples. When presenting
grammar on a board, always circle or underline the
example of the grammar as you see in the presentation to the right so students focus on the form.
In the example to the right, we see a photograph of a teen actually using the grammar. Such models always
help students capture the point of the presentation.
15
Teaching Teens in the EFL Setting
Grammar
3. Include pronunciation practice.
Traditionally, textbooks present grammar forms in
charts which students read and study. Though such
charts are necessary, in the EFL setting, where
students don’t have opportunities to hear and
practice grammar outside of class, including
pronunciation practice in grammar presentations
increases their impact and helps students use the
grammar naturally and with meaningful intonation.
Two important benefits of listening to and repeating grammar examples follow:
• First: repetition increases the memorability of the grammar because it involves two more skills:
listening and speaking.
• Second: paying attention to the sound, rhythm, and stress of the grammar leads to clear,
comprehensible pronunciation.
Traditional textbook grammar presentations based solely on reading a chart can’t provide these
two benefits.
16
Teaching Teens in the EFL Setting
Grammar
4. Vary practice exercises.
Traditional grammar exercise types—gap fills,
multiple choice, and completion—all help students
focus on, practice, and master grammar. But
increasing the variety of grammar exercises in a
lesson boosts the speed and depth of learning. For
example: adding listening comprehension to the mix
of grammar exercises broadens the contexts in which
the grammar is used, making it more memorable.
Furthermore, including listening-based grammar
exercises increases the amount of listening practice
in class, an key ancillary benefit in the EFL setting.
With teens especially, another exercise type is
especially motivating: one that provides learners with
an opportunity to use the grammar to talk about
themselves.
In the exercises to the side, Exercise 3 is a traditional grammar exercise. Exercise 4 is a listening
comprehension exercise in which students listen twice and perform two grammar tasks. The third
exercise, About You, is a freer and more productive exercise in which students use the present
continuous to talk about themselves.
17
Teaching Teens in the EFL Setting
Grammar
5. Continually integrate and recycle the grammar.
Along the same lines, integrating and recycling
the grammar into teen-relevant reading texts
further extends exposure to and reinforces newly
learned grammar.
In the Reading text to the side, you can see an
intensive integration of the present continuous, the
target grammar students are learning. In the EFL
setting it’s very helpful for students to have multiple
exposures to the grammar to make it memorable.
18
Teaching Teens in the EFL Setting
Grammar
6. Provide social practice of the grammar.
Natural, informal social language has compelling
appeal to teenagers. Model conversations that
integrate the grammar with this type of language
motivate teens to practice. And practice ensures
memorability and mastery.
In the model conversation to the side, you can see
the target grammar twice: once in line 2 and again
in line 5. But the conversation also includes social
language with teen appeal, increasing enthusiasm
for language practice: “Hey,” “Long time no see”
“What are you up to?” “What about you?” “Me?”
“No kidding” “Hey, …” “Great idea.” This language
can be used in many situations and its social nature
as well as its inclusion in a situation familiar to all
teens ensures that at the same time students will be
practicing the target grammar.
19
Teaching Teens in the EFL Setting
Grammar
7. Personalize the grammar.
But it’s important not to stop with mere practice
of model conversations from a book. Guided
conversation practice offers learners an essential
opportunity to use the new grammar in their own
social conversations, bridging the gap between
controlled practice and productive use. Notepads
and visual cues increase each student’s involvement,
motivation, and success.
Summary
In the reality of the EFL setting, with very few class
hours, teen learners need many opportunities to
observe and practice new grammar. And because
they are teens, integrating the grammar in
relevant social conversations ensures motivation,
memorability, and mastery of new grammar.
Text and illustration examples in this article are from
Teen2Teen Two by Joan Saslow and Allen Ascher.
20
Teaching Teens in the EFL Setting
Listening Comprehension
Teaching Teens in the EFL Setting
Listening Comprehension
In the EFL setting, listening comprehension is perhaps the most challenging of the skills to learn. Students hear
English from only a limited number of speakers--generally their teachers. But when confronted with natural spoken
English by unfamiliar speakers, students are often at a loss. Teachers frequently worry that their students will be
overwhelmed and frustrated by being asked to understand spoken English. In this short article, Teen2Teen authors
Joan Saslow and Allen Ascher will:
1. Suggest strategies for the classroom use of natural spoken models and
2. Provide a framework for building the listening comprehension skill by challenging, but not frustrating, students.
A purposeful methodology
1. Maximize exposure to spoken English and use audio in every class.
Because in the EFL setting, students are deprived of opportunities to hear English, the classroom must attempt to
repair that deficit. The classroom is a place for students to accustom their ears to the cadence, rhythm, and intonation
of real spoken language. Comprehension begins with routine and intense exposure to spoken models of the language.
As the teacher, don’t underestimate your value as a model of spoken English, even if you are not a native speaker. More
than 80% of the people in the world who speak English speak with a non-native accent, so you are in the mainstream!
22
Teaching Teens in the EFL Setting
Listening Comprehension
When using your textbook, make a habit of always
reading the directions to exercises aloud. In the
example to the right, the directions to Exercise 3
Look at the pictures. Complete the statements are
simple and comprehensible.
Avoid translating the directions into students’ first
language. Ask yourself, Can my students understand
this direction to look at the pictures and complete
the statements? If you have any doubt, demonstrate
the first answer for them, as you see in item 1 to
the right. Keeping translation as a last resort is
highly desirable in the EFL environment and aids in
building comprehension.
When presenting new vocabulary, be sure students
hear each new word or expression pronounced. In
the example to the right you can see that the new
vocabulary is included on the audio. Play the audio
(or read the words aloud yourself) as students look
at the pictures and read the words. In this way they
won’t be confused by English spelling while they are
learning the new words.
23
Teaching Teens in the EFL Setting
Listening Comprehension
Every English class devotes time to the teaching of
grammar. Traditionally, grammar is seen in grammar
charts, which contain explanations and examples. If
students encounter grammar solely from a printed
presentation in their book they have no way to know
how it would sound in actual communication. But all
grammar has a natural intonation in spoken language.
The example to the right displays a presentation
of questions in the simple past tense. Below the
presentation, in Exercise 2, students have an
opportunity to hear the examples on the audio. Why
is this important? Yes / no questions are usually
spoken with an upward intonation and information
questions with a downward intonation. Hearing
these ensures that students will understand them
when spoken by an English speaker. For this reason,
having students listen to the grammar in addition to
reading it and practicing it in written exercises, has
value in increasing their listening comprehension of
natural spoken English.
24
Teaching Teens in the EFL Setting
Listening Comprehension
2. Educate students about the purpose of listening comprehension
exercises and tasks.
Language learners instinctively try to translate what they hear in
English into their own language. But no one can listen fast enough to
translate it simultaneously.
Resist the temptation to translate or ask students to translate what they
hear. Instead explain to them that listening comprehension is the ability
to understand even when what they hear contains some “unknown”
words or when it is spoken at a natural pace.
In building students’ confidence, include exercises that expect students
to understand main ideas. In Exercise 3 to the right, students listen to
conversations about movies and demonstrate that they understood
what kind of movie the speakers are discussing: the main idea. This
exercise reinforces students’ understanding that understanding every
single word is unnecessary.
More difficult and inferential tasks can follow, as you see in Exercise 4.
25
Teaching Teens in the EFL Setting
Listening Comprehension
3. Remember that exercises are designed for building the skill,
not testing it.
Listening comprehension practice should be challenging, but not
frustrating. Help students improve their listening skills by telling
them to listen first just to get the main idea; e.g., Who are the
speakers and what are they talking about? Then move toward
understanding more detail; e.g. What are the facts? Finally, move
towards more inferential understanding; e.g., What can you guess
from what you hear? Provide positive reinforcement. Tell students
you don’t expect them to understand everything.
Your encouragement will reduce their anxiety and permit them to
listen actively and with a positive attitude.
26
Teaching Teens in the EFL Setting
Listening Comprehension
Always give students the opportunity to listen to each passage more than once. If time permits, let students
listen first without doing anything. Don’t be concerned if students need multiple attempts in order to
understand. With each listening, students’ fear diminishes and their ability to understand grows.
In both sets of exercises below, students listen several times: first with no task; second with a receptive
task; and finally with a very productive task. Students can also listen one last time to check their answers.
In this way, you have achieved the goal of providing a lot of auditory input--so valuable in the input-poor
EFL environment--but by providing a new task with each listening, you avoid boring students by having to
listen several times.
Students listen with no task.
Students listen with
a receptive task.
Students listen again with Students listen again just to
a very productive task. check their answers to Exercise 4.
27
Teaching Teens in the EFL Setting
Listening Comprehension
4. Vary the difficulty of exercises: the input-task
ratio.
If a listening passage is relatively easy to understand,
the exercise can be challenging or productive. If,
on the other hand, a listening passage is relatively
difficult, the exercise should require only a receptive
response. The two exercises to the right demonstrate
the principle of the input-task ratio:
In the first exercise, students listen to people
discussing sporting activities. They then have to
circle the equipment that the people will need. Since
the speakers don’t actually use the equipment words,
students have to “listen between the lines.” Because
the task is challenging, the exercise is designed for a
receptive response.
As a contrast, in the second exercise students
hear speakers talk about various kinds of artwork
they are looking at. The information is very easy
to catch because it is explicitly stated. In this case,
the exercise can be more challenging, requiring a
productive response.
28
Teaching Teens in the EFL Setting
Listening Comprehension
Summary
In the reality of the EFL setting, where students have little opportunity to listen to English
spoken outside of a classroom, building students’ listening comprehension skill is challenging
but important to address. Following the four principles in this article will build students’
comprehension and enable them to listen to spoken language with confidence and success.
Text and illustration examples in this article are from Teen2Teen by Joan Saslow and Allen Ascher.
29
Further Information
All text and illustration examples in these articles
are from Teen2Teen, a 4-level course for teens, by
Joan Saslow and Allen Ascher.
To find out more about Teen2Teen, visit our
website or contact your local Oxford University
Press representative.
