[alawton]

Hello all,

I usually teach standard ESL classes to beginners up to advanced students. This fall I am going to be teaching an ESL class for the construction workers of a local company. To make a long story short, we were contacted by an employer who is willing to spend a little bit on getting his full time staff more English proficient.

After speaking with the boss it is apparent that I have complete freedom to teach what I want, as long as the goal is improving English fluency. Does anyone have any good strategies to teach a class like this where all of the students are in the same line of work. I want to focus some on the language that these men will hear at work, but I also want to cover basic grammar and vocabulary. As with most classes I seem to get, the English proficiency level is all over the place. Any suggestions will be appreciated. Thanks

[Dave-B]

Well, I may as well start with the obvious, but teaching them the vocabulary of their profession is very important.

While you will think to teach all the nouns, don't forget the verbs too. Give them the action words they need to form sentences.

Ex: hammer, nail, drill, put in, take out, fasten, measure, etc.

Also, safety vocabulary should be important for them too.

Ex: look out, watch out, behind you, etc.

Are they all working with English learners, or are they in an English speaking country?

[bread_baker]

I agree with Dave-B's ideas. Combine relevant verbs and nouns in sentences and questions. Write dialogs using relevant vocabulary and have the students practice the dialogs.