Engagement can be defined as the conscientious desire of students to partake in the educative process. It is among the most significant aspects of meaningful language learning. In this regard, meaningful language learning pertains to learning that delves into the conscious creation of liaisons between the students’ conceptual schema, empirical evidence, and the ideas and concepts cited in the presented materials instead of merely presenting linguistic units, facts, and rules that must be abided by the students as they use the target language. 

Here are ten pointers for better engagement in English Education:

1. Facilitate a personal connection between the material and the student’s experiences. Get the students involved. Ask their opinions. Encourage them to share their experiences and ensure that you give your full, undivided attention as they do so. 

1. Repeat key terms and ideas throughout the lesson. Significantly, as the discussion begins, reiterating the key terms and ideas will aid students in establishing their grasp on the general background and information being taught to them. 

 

1. Elaborate. Take note that elaboration is more than repetition. To elaborate means to use examples and definitions that bolster comprehension and retention. It also uses reinforcements through visual images or audio-visual presentations.

 

1. Cite standard cultural references. Make sure you draw out the similarities between your materials’ cultural viewpoints. Make sense of it in the Philippine rationale. As much as possible, provide examples and rationalizations that speak of respective learners’ cultural conventions, practices, entities, or things. This will help students own the learning process more. 

 

1. Use clarifying questions. Use prompt questions to elicit students’ responses concerning the ideas and concepts discussed. Using “come-on” questions is advisable to stimulate the students to form and express opinions. A “come-on” question does not have a right or wrong answer. 

 

1. Focus on Meaning-Making Questions. Ask if the students have experienced making those grammatical errors and ask how they felt then. Ask if the students have ever felt the same way as the character in the story has felt. Allow the students to reflect on these meaning-making questions to ascertain a greater connection to the reading.

 

1. Reduce Grammatical Expressions. Simplify the sample sentences as you go through the board work: chunk sentences, statements, or paragraphs with much information. You can also deliberately stop at specific points of a sentence, statement, or paragraph to rationalize what it means and simplify it for students to digest it better. 

 

1. Be mindful of your body language. As teachers, we tend to zero in on mastering the content so much that we may not be able to give any time to be conscious of our non-verbal communication. Use your hands, facial expressions, and body movements to express the emotions and actions of the story. 

 

1. Allow Silence in the Classroom. Never be afraid to let silence overrule the classroom too. The sound break will allow the students to absorb all the mental clutter that the ideas and concepts have learned. Also, a simple pause for either emphatic effect or to stimulate thought is worth doing too. 

 

1. Implement the 80/20 Rule. Allocate 80% of the class time for opportunities. Opportunities to commit mistakes and to self-correct. Opportunities for students to demonstrate what they have learned. Opportunities to discover the ideas and concepts taught for themselves as they absorb them based on their cognition. Only consume 20% of the class time to discuss the concepts and ideas to be learned.

By: MRS. NORALYN G. AGBAY |TEACHER I | BATAAN NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL | BALANGA CITY, BATAAN