Eliciting

Eliciting
This is a popular technique which encourages the learners to become active participants in language production. It involves
the teacher encouraging the students to produce the target language rather than supplying it her/himself. If, for example,
you were aiming to teach the word ‘chair’, you could point to a chair in the classroom and ask students to say if they think
they know the English word. You may well find that one or two students already know the word or have a rough idea.
Approaching the new language like this, rather than immediately telling students, focuses their attention on the item, gets
them thinking to see if they know the word in English and motivates them to learn the word when it is finally established. If
no students know the word, this is not a problem. You can supply it and students will be equally ready and motivated to
learn it.
Eliciting can be done through a variety of techniques depending on the type of language you are teaching. For example:
• you can draw on the board or use pictures to elicit such things as rooms, methods of transport, etc.
• you can use mime to elicit such things as sports, everyday activities, etc.
• you can work backwards from answers to elicit question forms. e.g. Write ‘She's a doctor’ on the board to elicit ‘What
does she do?’