The 80/20 rule of language learning is that 80% of learning should come from practice, and 20% from classroom instruction, but students may perceive that classroom is the only time they need to focus on English language acquisition. Our ESL classes in Torrance are conducted for a few hours per week, either one on one or in small group settings. It is therefore important for student to practice and acquire English language outside the classroom.
There are several things you can do as an English instructor to encourage learning outside the classroom:
- Offer student exchanges, where they can practice with fellow learners. Many exist on Meetup, for example Intercambio Los Angeles English-Spanish Exchange. https://www.meetup.com/intercambio-english-spanish-exchange/
- Create an English Club. In an English club environment, students can watch movies or bring in music to listen to and review. Students can pair up so that they speak about certain topics. A teacher in their English club transformed his classroom into a café. Students were then able to have snacks and order certain high-interest topics from different menus each week.
- Have students write down a list of resources available to them in their community or online. Examples could be their local library, a student exchange like listed above. Public School Review has some great examples here: https://www.publicschoolreview.com/blog/43-fantastic-esl-resources-for-students Three of the most common ways students acquire language is through music, movies, and games.
There’s a good article here from FluentU with ideas on how to encourage students to learn English outside your classroom: https://www.fluentu.com/blog/educator-english/effective-esl-teaching-strategies-motivation/
In addition to understanding where their resources are for learning, it also helps to encourage students to see themselves as a member of the global community, and not just a member of their cultural community. In their community, English may not be spoken much, even in shopping stores.