Becoming activity-aware in the ERM classroom

Anyone transitioning from EFL to ERM (English for Refugees and Migrants) needs to be activity-aware. Those activities that served you so well when teaching in private language schools may no longer work with refugee and migrant learners. Let’s look at three examples.

Group and pair work 

Working in groups and pairs can create community and rapport on the one hand, but can be uncomfortable or confronting on the other.

Your learners may not be ready to speak in front of others. Your groups may contain different opinions which can trigger individual learners.

Not all participants in a group task will be sensitive to the needs of their peers. 

Nominating people 

Asking individuals to answer a question or contribute to an activity can be highly challenging for those who are hypervigilant.

They may feel exposed and scared they will make a mistake, so anxiety levels will quickly rise.

Some traumatised people may go into a kind of shutdown where they will refuse to speak.

Personalisation 

Asking students to talk about their lives, families and experiences is central to many EFL lessons. We’re taught that by relating language to personal experience and feelings, it becomes easier to learn and apply.

However, given the extraordinarily difficult journeys many ERM learners will have made even to be in your classroom, let alone the ongoing challenges many are dealing with outside lessons, asking your students to share in this way risks triggering feelings of trauma and heightening anxiety. 

These are just three examples of activities that you may have used in pretty much every lesson you gave in an EFL environment.

However, while they may work in ERM classes, especially as students get to know and trust each other, it’s vital to tread carefully and be aware of the many potential issues involved.

Becoming activity-aware is something we explore in depth in our course Teaching English to Refugees and Migrants. The next course starts on September 15^th.

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