TEACHER TRAINING · CLASSROOM SKILLS

💡 Eliciting vs Telling

⏱ 5 minutes · 📚 CELTA methodology · 🏫 Micro-lesson

📖 From the teacher’s desk: As a sommelier, I quickly learned that guests who chose a wine themselves were far more satisfied than guests I chose for. The same psychology applies in the classroom. When learners produce a language item themselves — even with prompting — they own it. My CELTA tutor would frequently stop me mid-explanation: “Don’t tell them — elicit it!”

🎯 By the end of this micro-lesson, you can: distinguish eliciting from telling, and use eliciting techniques effectively to draw language from learners.

🔥 Telling vs Eliciting (1 min)

❌ Telling	✅ Eliciting
“This word means very tired.”	“What do we say when we are extremely tired?” then students say: exhausted
“The past tense of go is went.”	“Yesterday I [gesture walking]. What is the past tense?” then students say: went

📖 Eliciting Techniques (2 min)

1. Gestures — mime an action, students guess the word

2. Visuals — show a picture, ask “What is this?” or “What is happening?”

3. Definitions — “It is something you use to make coffee. It is a machine. What is it?”

4. Examples — “Sydney, Paris, Tokyo — what are these?” then students say: cities or capitals

5. Gapped sentences — “I was _______ when the phone rang.” (eliciting past continuous)

💡 Key principle: Use eliciting BEFORE telling. If no one knows, that is fine. Then you tell. But try eliciting first!

✍️ Practice (2 min)

Write an eliciting sequence for each:

The word “exhausted” (very tired)
The structure “have you ever…?”
The concept of formal vs informal register

For each: state which technique you used and write exactly what you would say or do.

🔟️ Answer Key

Gesture/mime: Pretend to fall asleep at the desk. “I did not sleep. I worked 14 hours. I feel very, very… [pause, gesture]” and students produce: exhausted
Gapped sentence: “_______ you ever _______ eaten sushi or visited France? [pause] Students try to produce the question form.”
Examples: Show two texts — one email to a friend, one to a manager. “How are these different? Which one is more formal? Why?”

Cambridge CELTA course completed — 120 supervised teaching hours, 4 written assignments passed at the required standard.

Independent project; not affiliated with, endorsed by, or accredited by Cambridge University Press & Assessment. Confers no qualification.

✉️ Questions? sourovdeb.com

LLFE-T06 · Eliciting vs Telling — Getting Language from Learners

💡 Eliciting vs Telling

🔥 Telling vs Eliciting (1 min)

📖 Eliciting Techniques (2 min)

✍️ Practice (2 min)

Find out what your English actually produces.

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