Introduction
Much ESP is taught in one-to-one situations. When I first started teaching businessmen English in Japan in 1976, the classes were mostly one-to-one. I then spent five years teaching English to adult professionals in an ESP institution in the UK mainly in a one-to-one context. More recently, I have been teaching a Syrian refugee through CARA. in a one-to-one situation online. The participant was an agricultural engineer working as a project manager. It was then that I first started thinking seriously about one to one teaching and what it involved and I will probably continue for ever!.
Some thoughts:
Advantages And Disadvantages of One-To-One Teaching.
Possible Advantages
Learning can be personalised
The main advantage of one-to-one teaching is probably the ability to tailor the learning experience to the individual student’s needs, wants, interests and expectations. Learners are different, with their own strengths, weaknesses, interests and learning styles. One-to-one teaching allows individualised learning to take account of each student’s state of mind, mood, academic needs, learning style and pace. This allows the student to focus on their personal objectives.
The teacher can adapt to student’s preferred learning style
All students have their own style of communication and learning. With one-to-one teaching, the teachers – and student – can ensure that this is taken into account.
The learning context can be arranged to suit the student’s preferences and ability. They can choose their own study materials, the room arrangement, the overall classroom atmosphere, timing, contributing to a conducive learning environment.
Individualised attention can be paid to the student’s interests and needs
An import ant aspect of this personalised learning is the ability for the student to set their own pace. In a traditional classroom, the pace of the class is often set by the majority of the students, which leaves some students being left behind or other not feeling challenged at all.
One-to-one teaching allows for a personalised pace, ensuring that the student understands each concept before moving on. The teacher can devote 100% of their attention to the student. So students have the constant attention of the teacher, and they can listen to and speak more English than they would in a class situation.
It is possible – and always recommended – for the teacher to use student’s materials and experience, to use the student as a resource and make maximum use of the student’s existing knowledge and skills.
Feedback can be provided immediately
Feedback during one-to-one teaching can be immediate and targeted to the student, making it more effective. This can help personalise the learning process. Teachers can easily identify misunderstandings or lacks promptly, and can address them immediately. This can help students to build confidence in their abilities.
Distractions can be reduced, ensuring that focus and attention can he heightened
In a classroom, students are often distracted by other students in the class. With one-to-one teaching, students can focus entirely on their task at hand without distractions from other class members.
In a group class, teaching can go on even when the student is absent. As a result, the student may run the risk of falling behind. In a one-to-one setting both the student and teacher need to be there for the lesson to take place.
Teacher-student interaction can be of high quality
Students and teachers are actively engaged in a one-to-one class. Interaction can be authentic. Students have control over the questions they ask and pace at which they study. In this way, students can take part in high-quality interactions with the teacher. For example, different roles can be taken. There can be more time for speaking. The student has more opportunities to use the teacher as a resource – to ask questions, and to practise skills.
Teacher-student relationships can be strengthened
The close interaction inherent in one-to-one teaching allows stronger teacher-student relationships. Teachers can get to know the student and better understand their student’s personalities, learning styles, and interests.
One-to-one teaching can boost confidence
Individualised attention and relevant immediate feedback can contribute to building the student’s confidence. Students are more likely to take part actively in discussions, ask questions, and take risks without fear of judgment. Students feel comfortable in their learning environment and can therefore participate more fully in learning. For students with anxiety, or diverse learning needs, classrooms are not always the most appropriate context in which to learn.
One-to-one teaching can increase flexibility and adaptabilityOne-to-one teaching may be better value-for-money
Although relatively expensive, one-to-one teaching can improve a student’s progress beyond classroom teaching because of the extra time and attention invested in each student’s learning.
In one-to-one teaching, it may be easier to measure progressWhen a teacher works directly with one student, the teacher can get a very strong sense of the student’s progress, strengths and weaknesses. In this way, teachers can obtain a better understanding of what the student needs most to best prepare them to fulfil their objectives.
Assignments can be personalised and made more relevant
Individualised teaching thus makes it possible for teachers and students to personalize their assignments to ensure they are beneficial. Their strengths and weaknesses are addressed more consistently and fully without the competition of other students for the teacher’s time. Learners acquire language best through the modified input of the teacher. This means that the teacher adapts their language to the level of the student, and in one-to-one classes the amount and type of input can be maximised by the teacher to benefit the student.
Behavioural and organisational issues can be reduced
In a one-to-one class, it is unlikely that the teacher would need to deal with any behavioral issues. The teacher does not have to worry about how to deal with mixed ability, group dynamics, early finishers, late arrivals etc.
Possible disadvantages
There is a lack of pair/group work
There are a limited range of activities, in an individual class, which can be monotonous for the teacher and the student and not good for learning. For example, it is not possible in a one-to-one class to make use of pair or group or work with students working together. For that reason, there is no learning from other students or different cultures. It is not good for making friends, if that is the purpose.
There is a lack of practice time
Students might feel more comfortable practising new language – and making mistakes – in a group situation with peers, away from the teacher rather than in front of the teacher.
Teacher-student may have a personality clash
The teacher and student might not get on well. That will make the dynamics of the relationship very artificial. Student-teacher personality differences or different opinions can make the class difficult, as teachers might be afraid to deal with comments that they strongly disagree with.
One-to-one classes can be expensiveOne-to one classes can be expensive, despite the advantages of the extra time and attention invested in each student’s learning.
The teacher may be the one doing all the work
It can be hard work for the teacher as the teacher must devote 100% of their attention to the student. It is also true that there may be be no space for student initiatives if the teacher controls everything.
One-to-one classes can be very intensive
One-to-one classes can be hard work for both the teacher and the student. There is also little time for individual study time and personal reflection and learning. The students need time to reflect and process input and the teacher might be more comfortable with silent periods in a larger class..
Teachers also might find it difficult to take notes for correction and reporting without distracting the student.
Momentum of the class can pull the weaker students
There can be a lack of momentum and positive class dynamics in a small class, when stronger students are useful to force the weaker students to keep up with them.
Teacher’s ignorance of student’s subject may be an issue
While teachers can promise to deal with the students particular specific language needs, lack of knowledge of this can cause problems.
It may be difficult to measure progress.
It may be difficult to measure progress without other students to compare with and the possible lack of a syllabus.
There could be al ack of interest
If the student has provided the materials, this should not be an issue. However, the lesson format can become monotonous if the teacher is not able to change the pace of the class and type of activity easily.
It may difficult to do reading and writing
The teacher – and student – might feel bad about giving the student time to do reading and writing. They might feel that it is a waste of time.
Approaches To One-To-One Teaching
I started with Jeremy Harmer’s (2007, 122-125) guidelines:
- Make a good impression
- Be well-prepared
- Be flexible
- Adapt to the student
- Listen and watch
- Give explanations and guidelines
- Don’t be afraid to say no
Many of the tools and activities that are used with large groups are adaptable to a one-to-one class. However, the methods or aims may change.
Discuss the student’s needs and priorities and get agreement
It is very important to know exactly what the student wants from the class. Therefor some kind of needs survey is always useful. Based on the student’s needs, a list of priorities can be agreed on. Later the teacher might find that the student’s needs have changed – this needs to be discussed.
It is important for the teacher to explain what they are doing and why
Once the teacher knows the student’s priorities, it is important to be clear how the work the teacher and student are doing supports them. Always encourage the student student to ask questions.
It is important to be flexible
It is important to be flexible over time – starting, finishing and breaks; aims and objectives, activities and material. It is useful to change if the student asks.
It is good to try a range of methods and techniques
Much of what the teacher does in group classes will work with one student. The teacher can take different roles, for example, to enable pair work and group activity.
The teacher needs to be careful about getting too personal
One-to-one classes can become very intimate. Humanising the class can be very productive, but it is important not to get into personal areas that make the teacher or the student uncomfortable. The class is not a counselling session.
It is important to give regular feedback
There are a range of methods for giving feedback to the student and they should be made use of. Feedback can be given immediately when the student is speaking, for example, or kept for another class.
Homework can be given to support learning
Students might want to do homework, as it adds value. Homework can be used to do things that the teacher would not do in the class, for example extended writing, research or more controlled practice.
In a one-to-one situation, the teacher can push the student
Without the dynamics of a larger class with good and weaker students, it is easy to lose sight of this, especially if the student likes to talk a lot. The teacher can make use of the one-to-one context to push the student student with the language the teacher and the student uses.
It is important to know when to stop
One to one classes can go on for a very long period of time indeed, and be very intense. It is important, therefore to constantly evaluate the progress of the student and be aware that there may come a point where the teacher feels that it is time to change to a less intense activity.
Activities
Needs
Needs analysis: needs, lacks. wants
- Background information: personal details, organisation details, learning history
- Reasons for taking the course, how long the course will be, how often and how long the classes will be, which days, where, etc
- Priorities: grammar, vocabulary, reading, writing, speaking, pronunciation, listening – in as much detail as possible
- English language level
- Preferred learning styles
- Situations in which the language will be used
- Content areas – subjects: e.g. medicine, biology, architecture. shipping, commerce, engineering; level: e.g. technician, craftsman, teacher, postgraduate, secondary school.
- With whom the language will be used
- Where and how the language will be used, in which contexts
- When the language will be used and for low long
Example: EAP
Example: Business English
Setting Objectives
Writing a Course Programme
Teaching techniques
- Using the student as a resource as much as possible
- Allowing student to take initiative as much as possible
Reading
- Reading texts: articles, company reports. Business letters, emails, pamphlets, advertisements, websites
- Reading out loud
- Reading for homework and summarise
- Read and summarise for non-expert
- Discuss text
- Jigsaw reading
- Skimming
- Scanning
- Summarising
- Focus on vocabulary
Vocabulary
- Generated from student texts or activities
- Collocations, synonyms, antonyms.
- Word building
- Gap fills
- Vocabulary logs
Speaking
- Prepared talks – 2 minute TED talks, PowerPoint presentation, podcast
- Discussing articles read at home
- Describing charts, photographs, plans, diagrams
- Sell a product
- Role plays/cards – role reversal
- Written conversations
- Language of negotiations
- Socialising language
- Reformulating – either during or after
- Working with dialogues – written or spoken
- Information gap activities
- Maze activities – making sure that student takes initiative
- Board games that involve language – spot the difference
- Two-player word games
- Information transfer activities
Listening
Recordings: news, lectures, business presentations, student discussions
- Dictations
- Teacher giving short talk
- Take notes
- Listening for homework and summarise
- Listen and summarise for non-expert
- Discuss text
- Skimming
- Scanning
- Summarising
- Focus on vocabulary
Writing
- In class or homework
- Worksheets
- Essays – looking at examples, noticing
- Reports. – looking at examples
- Assignments
- Articles
- Letters
- Emails
- Writing a blog
- Reformulating
Evaluating
- Matching student performance to objectives
Materials
Some general principles for adapting published coursebook materials for one-to-one
(adapted from Wisniewska, 2010, 72-74)
Many published materials intended for classroom use with groups of students can be used in a one-to-one context. They can include pair- or group-work activities which are designed to encourage students to speak. Although following a class coursebook is helpful, it will usually need to be adapted.
Planning
It is always important when reading through the material, to keep your student clearly in mind. It is necessary to anticipate how long will be needed on each section of the class. The time will vary depending on the student’s personality as well as their language level. Activities intended for group and pair work can often take less time to complete when working with an individual than in a group class setting than. Deciding on the focus for each part of the lesson and which sections of the lesson will be of most benefit to the student or could possibly be deleted is useful. Identifying which parts of the lesson are likely to need extra support or extra practice material is also necessary
Personalisation
Most materials can be adapted to have personal relevance to the individual student, to their job or to their interests and needs. One-to-one teaching offers many opportunities to make language learning more motivating and memorable by adapting the material to the individual student’s interests. In one-to-one teaching, the teacher can focus their attention on any specific aspects of a topic that the student finds interesting and ignore the less interesting aspects.
Role reversal
Whenever the materials require the student to answer questions about themselves, or about their interests, there is also an opportunity for the student to use the same questions to interview the teacher about themselves, their job and their interests. This is a natural information gap, and it can be used for the teacher to play the role of conversation partner and focus on communication.
Modelling
For exercises that are difficult or unfamiliar, it is often easier to show the student what they are expected do by the teacher modelling the task, while describing what is being done. The type of language the teacher uses will depend on the student’s level, but it is a good way to get students to verbalize their learning strategies too, something that might be too difficult in a large group context.
Recycling
Exercises and activities tend to take up less class time in a on-to-one context because in a class, there are other students offering possible answers, discussing with each other and exchanging opinions. In one-to-one, there might be a tendency to move too quickly through exercises, feeling perhaps that it is boring for the student to spend too much time on one exercise once it is done. However, one-to-one students can benefit greatly from recycling the same material in different ways because they have not had the interactive peer learning interaction that goes on in a classroom. It is therefore important to use activities that recycle the same language in order to allow time for new language to be processed.
Supplementing
In order to make the materials relevant to the student, strategies might be needed to make a fluency exercise more structured, for example, or for turning a grammar exercise into a role play, depending on the student’s needs and goals. Supplementing does not necessarily mean that more materials are needed, but the teacher will need ideas for different ways of using the same materials.
It is also the case that role play and other pair-work activities that are useful practice between two students are not as time-efficient between teacher and student because the teacher does not need an equal amount of practice. In these cases, it is useful to think about additional ideas to extend and expand exercises so that they maximise the student’s production of language and minimise the teacher’s own.
Learner takes control
One-to-one provides an excellent opportunity for the teacher to give some of the power of decision-making in the lesson to the student. As part of the process of helping the student to develop independent study skills, ways of taking control of the lesson to adjust the pace or level, or to choose which direction a discussion will follow are required. This is is much easier to do when teaching one-to-one, as there is no need to compromise between the differing needs of people in a group.
Websites
Some of the websites I looked at for ideas are:
https://demandhighelt.wordpress.com/2012/04/28/one-to-one-teaching-within-a-group/
https://www.oxfordtefl.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/SpeakingUnplugged-30Activities.pdf
Online Teaching
One-to-one teaching is often carried out online.
References & Further Reading
Askew, B. J. & Simpson, A. (2004). Does one-to-one teaching really
matter? Journal of Reading 36 Recovery, Fall, 36-412.
Bloom, B. J. (1984). The 2 sigma problem: The search for methods of group instruction as effective as one-to-one tutoring. Educational Researcher, 13(6), 4-16.
Catterick, D. (2007). Teaching or coaching? Reflecting on roles and objectives in one-to-one EAP. In O. Alexander (Ed.), New approaches to materials development for language learning (pp. 135 -148). Oxford: Peter Lang.
Dudeney, G. & Hockly, N. (2007). How to teach English with technology. London: Longman.
Dudley-Evans, T. (1988). One-to-one supervision of students writing MSc or PhD theses. In A. Brookes & P. Grundy (Eds.), Individualization and autonomy in language learning (pp. 136-141). London: Modern English Publications.
Harmer, J. (2007). The practice of English language teaching (4th ed). London: Longman.
Luecke, R. (2004). Coaching and mentoring: How to develop top talent and achieve stronger performance. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.
Osborne, P. (2005). Teaching English one to one. Oxford: Modern English Publications.
Pawan, F., Wiechart, K. A., Warren, A. & Park, J. (2016). Pedagogy and practice for online English language teacher education. Alexandria, VA: TESOL Press.
Russell, V. & Murphy-Judy, K. (2020). Teaching language online: A guide for designing, developing and delivering online, blended and flipped language courses. London: Routledge.
Shaw, P. (1996). One-to-one work on dissertations: Effectiveness of correction and efficiency of pedagogy. In M. Hewings & T. Dudley-Evans (Eds.), Evaluation and course design in EAP (pp. 86-95). Hemel Hempstead: Phoenix ELT.
Whitmore, J. (1992). Coaching for performance: GROWing people, performance and purpose (3rd ed.). London: Nicholas Brealey.
Wilberg, P. (1987). One to one: A teacher’s handbook. Hove: Language Teaching Publications.
Wisniewska, I. (2010). Learning one-to-one. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.