Instruction checking questions (ICQs)
This is a core area of focus in initial teacher training courses. I'm sure a lot of teachers have strong opinions about ICQs and, rightly so, you can imagine that some students may find it patronising to be bombarded by these questions. 'The exercise is self-explanatory. Do you mean I haven't understood how many questions there are?'
Beyond the assessed lessons on teacher training courses, my response to whether ICQs should always be used is, not surprisingly, 'it depends'. The purpose of asking ICQs is to make sure that students have understood the forthcoming task or activity. Ollie, one of my CELTA trainers, put it nicely, 'ICQs are used to guide students towards completing a task or activity successfully.' I've seen confused students because of the lack of ICQs. I've also seen an excessive use of ICQs in assessed DELTA lessons, which feels redundant but which ticks the right boxes to get a Distinction for its own sake.
When should ICQs be used in real teaching? Before I decide whether to use ICQs, I consider both the task or activity itself and the students in my class. For tasks or activities with a straightforward format or type of responses, it may be better to let the students get on with their work. I sometimes anticipate the most likely student errors, in terms of task format or responses, and ask ICQs accordingly. 'Do you need to change the verb form?' This prevents students from copying the given verbs without engaging their brains.
If I'm teaching large groups of teenagers or university students, the use of ICQs helps me to set an appropriate tone in the classroom. For the weaker students, they can either confirm their understanding of my instructions or correct themselves. Most students don't really understand the purpose of ICQs - why would they? That's why I've decided to signpost it clearly with the phrase 'Just checking, ...' before I ask one. In online lessons, I nominate individual students to respond to my ICQs as everybody usually stays silent in order to avoid speaking over one another. This is less of a problem in face-to-face lessons as body language can be more easily read. I've realised that 'nominating for correct answers' does not apply here - it's relevant to checking answers in post-task feedback, not to eliciting responses to ICQs.
If I'm teaching one-to-one courses or small groups of business English students, I will check their understanding of complex tasks or activities such as role-play practice. 'Before we start, let's make sure ...' I've taught business English students who are senior managers of multinational corporations in Italy. You know, people with C-something-O job titles. If one or two students are struggling to understand what to do in a task or activity, they don't shy away from asking me directly. I think this is actually a more natural way of communicating with them. After all, we ask for clarifications and also clarify our messages in everyday life, don't we? The same logic goes for teaching one-to-one courses. Having said that, I still use the imperative structure and consciously keep teacher talk concise in my instructions.
Pairing or grouping of students
In the context of pair or group work, teachers can pair a stronger student with a weaker one, or ask two stronger or weaker students to work together. What is often missing in most discussions is the 'when' - when it would be more effective to use either grouping arrangement.
I find it helpful to consider whether a task or activity is closed and open.
In a closed task, the response to each question is either right or wrong. Most closed tasks are also individual tasks by nature. By pairing a stronger student with a weaker one, the faster finisher can help their pair partner after the individual part of a task. As the teacher, I can intervene and offer further help as needed.
In an open task such as spoken discussion or 'freer' language practice, there is no singular correct response. I've found it more effective to let two stronger or weaker students work with each other. In this arrangement, it's also easier for the teacher to offer the weaker pair(s) targeted support. When I tried the opposite way, the stronger student would often feel dissatisfied and the weaker one stressed because of frequent communication breakdowns.
I also consider other factors, such as rapport and personality. You'll be surprised that some teenagers still struggle to know all of their classmates' names after weeks of learning together in the same class. Unfortunately, this kind of cliquey group dynamics isn't always avoidable as students prefer to stick to their friends in pair or group work. Some of them may initially refuse to work with other classmates. The student-student rapport seems weak, which in turn affects the teacher-student rapport down the line. When I'm confronted with classes like this, I usually mix different students early on in the course so that they learn to work with different classmates. I also create plenty of opportunities for them to mingle with each other in personalised practice activities - beyond the first get-to-know-you (GTKY) lesson.
For students with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), I've tried pairing them with their 'study buddy' in pair or group work. This is an idea I learnt from Dagmara Tanska's session on inclusive teaching (2025), in which she shared some strategies for teaching students with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. The way I identify study buddies is by observing which classmates a SEND student tends to get on with and work well with.
Demonstration and modelling
In my first few years of teaching, I relied on giving instructions verbally and underestimated the power of modelling a task or activity. Of course, it depends on task complexity and my students' familiarity with the task format. Most textbook activities are self-explanatory, but anything that involves visual or kinaesthetic elements lends themselves to task demonstration. Students are generally able to follow suit when they're shown a clear example of the target responses. In my experience, task demonstration works particularly well in Young Learner classes and with students at lower language levels as verbal explanation is likely to confuse matters.
I've also asked strong students to demonstrate communicative activities. Some students don't like being in the spotlight, whereas others may volunteer to model a task or activity with the teacher but struggle a bit 'on stage'. To prevent this from happening, I usually plan ahead and find an opportunity to talk to a strong student in the previous activity. 'Are you happy to demonstrate the next activity in front of the class with me?' I tell them what to do or say briefly. I also ask them whether they'd like to practise the task demonstration with me before the real thing.
Attention grabbing
My initial thoughts about attention grabbing were largely negative as I associated it with student misbehaviour. Why would the teacher need to grab their attention if they were already paying attention?
The longer I teach, the more I realise that attention grabbing is also related to turn taking. We cannot assume that students understand automatically it's the teacher's turn to speak. Attention grabbing is, therefore, an integral part of classroom-wide discourse management, if you like.
What attention grabbing signal works best? I think it's very much a personal choice. My go-to signal is the phrase 'thank you, everyone'. Please don't ask me why I keep thanking my students - this must have something to do with sociolinguistics. I've briefly tried using a desk bell, but some teachers find it patronising. In Young Learner classes, students may run to the bell and ring it for fun, which is actually counterproductive in terms of classroom management.
Chris Roland suggests using a mascot or toy animal with teenage learners - I'd say it works very well and saves the teacher's voice too. The louder the teacher shouts, the louder the students talk. His attention grabbing signal involves the teacher raising the mascot so that students know by the visual cue it's the teacher's turn to speak.