While eliciting clearly contributes to student involvement, it does not always produce the desired or expected

While eliciting clearly contributes to student involvement, it does not always produce the desired or expected results. Questions such as ‘Who can tell me something about….?’ may be greeted with stony silence. Students are wrongly labelled as lacking knowledge or being too shy when there are often cultural reasons for their reticence.

In many cultures, students are not encouraged to volunteer information or ask questions while in others the teacher is seen as the sole provider of knowledge. The problem is reinforced by the fact that many units in course materials begin with open elicitation questions which create the possibility of making grammatical or pronunciation errors and therefore losing face in front of classmates.

In cultures where the group is more important than the individual it is unacceptable to stand out either as a success or as a failure. Even with constant encouragement, it is difficult to break down entrenched attitudes and beliefs, and certain strategies may be required:

– Nominate students rather than waiting for volunteers. The student is then not responsible for being made to stand out from the group.

– Give learners time to prepare an answer. Spontaneity may be ideal, but students will be more confident if they are given a moment to think about or even to write down an answer.

– Ensure that there is no right or wrong answer involved. General questions such as ‘What’s your favourite colour?’ or ‘What kind of music do you listen to?’ are more likely to produce answers than those requiring specific knowledge.

– Encourage rather than correct. When eliciting language, comments such as ‘nearly right’ and ‘try again’ are more constructive than ‘no, does anyone else know the right answer?’ Try not to correct when learners are volunteering background information about a topic – confidence-building, not accuracy is important here.[…]

Conclusion

The success of eliciting depends largely on the attitudes of teachers and learners to their respective roles. Ideally it promotes the notion of an exchange of information, helps to break down traditional teacher-centredness, and begins to establish a variety of interaction patterns in the classroom. It is also fundamental to the inductive approach to teaching language and to learning through tasks and self-discovery, and a simple and effective way of getting learners to produce language”.

Disponível em: https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/professional-development/teachers/managing-lesson/articles/eliciting. Acesso em: 07 abr. 2023.

After reading the text above, write a text – from 300 to 400 words – discussing the strategy “Eliciting”. Organize your text in three to four paragraphs. Use your own words to write your text. Your text must be written in English. It must contain the following topics:

1. a) The definition of eliciting and when it is used.

1. b) The advantages of eliciting.

1. c) Some possible challenges when eliciting and ways to overcome those challenges.

1. d) Your personal experience with teachers of English who used this strategy (eliciting).