 | BACKGROUND & PRE-ASSESSMENT |  |
 | Before you can prepare a lesson you need to know something about the background of the students you will teach. Here are some questions you might want to find the answers to before you plan your lesson: |
- How many students are in the class?
- How old are they?
- What country are they from? (Or "What countries?" if you teach a mixed group.)
- What language(s) do they speak?
Here are some more questions to ask about your ESL students' background:- How well do they comprehend, speak, read, or write English?
- What do they know about the target culture (the everyday life of the English speakers they will communicate with)?
- What style of classroom teaching or learning are they used to?
Learning about students' background (especially their ability level) through testing, observation, etc. is often called pre-assessment. If you will be teaching an ESL class soon, think how you might be able to find the answers to questions such as these before you actually meet the class (and beforeyou plan your lessons).
Whom could you contact? What questions would you ask?
Here are some possible sources of background information that may be useful in pre-assessing your students:- The person who asked you to teach the class.
- Previous teachers of the class.
- Scores from placement or screening tests given to the students.
- Members of your students' ethnic or native language group.
|  |
Do you see how background information and pre-assessment can be helpful?