8.1 | Eliciting Skills
Preview
Before we begin this section, consider the differences between the teaching in these two situations.
| Situation A | Situation B |
|---|---|
|
Teacher: There are four main directions. They are north, south, east and west. The teacher writes the four directions on the board. Teacher: We use a compass to know which direction is north. The teacher writes “compass” on the board. |
The teacher draws a “+” and writes “north” on the board. Teacher: There are four main directions. One is north. What are the others? Student 1: South. Student 2: West. Student 3: East. Student 1 writes the other three directions on the board. Teacher: Does anyone know how we can know which direction is north? The teacher waits for ten seconds. Teacher: We can use a c… Student 2: A compass! |
Understanding Eliciting Skills
There are many ways to present new information to students that are engaging and interactive. You can see from the table above that the same new learning can be made more passive (Situation A) or more active (Situation B) depending on how much or how little the teacher uses eliciting.
Eliciting involves getting students to give information from their prior knowledge and generate ideas about what they are currently learning. The prior knowledge the teacher tries to elicit is usually called the “target item”. Teachers often elicit from students by prompting – giving clues in different ways until they name the target item. Sometimes when teachers elicit there may be many target items, such as when they ask students to brainstorm about a topic. If students remain silent for a long time or give incorrect answers, they may not have the necessary prior knowledge. If this happens, the teacher can review and clarify the prior knowledge.
You should praise and encourage learners when they give good suggestions and answers. The more you use eliciting, the more the students will expect it. Eliciting can be used throughout the lesson whenever you want the students to recall, share ideas that they have or connect the content to the world around them.