Sheltered Verbalized Teaching: A Case Study on ESL Out of Field Teachers

In the Philippines, English as a Second Language (ESL) teaching is growing. Language learners from neighboring countries like South Korea and Japan come to the Philippines just to learn English. In such light, this case study looked into the kind of teaching that ESL teachers teach. The study was conducted at Etalk, an online ESL company located in Baguio City, Philippines, where nearly a hundred ESL teachers are employed. Through cool and warm analyses, three main categories of ESL teaching were created: presenting speaking tasks, managing classroom elements and creating student connection. These categories led to the formulation of the theme: sheltered verbalized teaching. Specifically, the study discovered that gestures are effective means getting attention and encouraging participation among students. Also, the use of basic vocabulary words is effective in comprehension. In interactions, the teacher is a guide and a facilitator. Utilizing real-life questions facilitates speaking engagement for the students. Positive attitudes displayed by the teacher towards the students create a good learning atmosphere. Empathy is considered to be crucial in communication in order to communicate effectively students need to be able to understand persons’ affective and cognitive state. Finally, this study forwards that teachers should pay attention to the students’ feelings and emotions to achieve their goal since teaching a language means teaching cultural customs, traditions and values.