Ways To Elicit Effectively In The EFL Classroom

“Eliciting” is a term loved by TEFL trainers the world over. But what is eliciting in teaching? What does “elicit” mean? And why should we care? 

Eliciting is a range of techniques which are used by teachers to get information from students. Eliciting is used to get students to come up with vocabulary items, word meanings, ideas or associations.

Eliciting is when you attempt to draw out information from your students instead of giving it to them directly. Usually eliciting is used as a form of brainstorming or as a way of getting students to produce certain language. 

We try to use students’ previous knowledge to inform the content of the lesson so that we do not teach what is already known. This is especially useful in recapping or brainstorming situations, where eliciting is a team effort and there are many correct answers. It isn’t particularly useful if the students have no ideas or knowledge on the topic.

Why do we use elicitation in the EFL classroom?

More and more we are moving towards student-centred classrooms.

Read more: From Teacher-Centred To Learner-Centred: Transforming Your Classroom For Success

Traditionally, teachers stood at the front of the classroom and gave information to students. Students were passive participants in the lesson. These days we prefer to give the students more power in the lesson. We allow them to do more work.

As a result, instead of the teacher giving answers to the students all the time, we encourage the students to contribute what they already know to the lesson. This helps them to build on their foundation of knowledge. It is a technique used to improve language retention when students build links between new knowledge and old knowledge. 

Elicitation is a technique we use to increase participation in our lessons. Elicitation keeps our students engaged, active and focused on the activity at hand.

Elicitation techniques in the EFL classroom

Eliciting can be a useful tool, but often there are times when eliciting should be abandoned. Here are a few helpful guidelines for eliciting:

DO: Use pictures

Pictures are the easiest way to elicit a particular item, especially if a word lends itself to visual representation. Use pictures whenever you can but be careful that your pictures are not ambiguous.

DO: Use actions

As they say, just do it! If you are eliciting an action, the most effective way to do it (if your miming skills are up to scratch) is simply to do it. Follow up with concept checking questions to make sure everyone interpreted your actions correctly.

DO: Use description

If a picture won’t work, describe the word or situation. Use definitions, synonyms and antonyms to provide a context to elicit words or meaning.

DO: be subtle

Elicitation in the classroom should feel natural. Your students shouldn’t feel that they are playing guessing games every lesson. Elicitation should happen throughout the lesson, and not just for single vocabulary items. Elicit ideas and opinions as well and do it often so your students become comfortable with contributing to the lesson in this way.

DO: be patient

Allow students time to think. It can be tempting to jump in immediately if nobody can give you the correct answer but allow your students time and space to think for themselves. 

DO: check comprehension after eliciting

If your students are able to give you what you are trying to elicit, then you may think your job is done and you can move on. Remember, that just because one student volunteers the answer, doesn’t mean the rest of the class know the answer. Nor does it mean that they know the correct meaning of the word. Spend a few minutes making sure everyone is on the same page with the language in question by asking concept checking questions.

Read more: Concept Checking: What Is It And How To Do It

DON’T: try to elicit everything

We elicit to draw out knowledge from our students, to find out what they know. It’s natural for our students not to know everything we are trying to teach them, so it’s logical that we cannot elicit everything. 

Be selective about the language you choose to elicit. Use elicitation sparingly and appropriately.

DON’T:  flog a dead horse

It’s tempting to play an endless game of guess-the-word with your students, but eliciting is utilised to make your lessons more interactive. 

Sometimes our students won’t know what on earth we are trying to elicit. Much to our horror and entertainment, they will guess everything under the sun except what we are looking for.

This is pointless and frustrating for everyone.

If your students are struggling to understand your elicitation, give them the answer and move on.

DON’T: dismiss other answers

We elicit for one specific language item or a particular idea. 

This doesn’t mean that there aren’t other answers to your elicitation that are correct. Your students may offer answers which fit your description but which you aren’t looking for. Don’t dismiss those answers with a “no”. Agree that those are possible answers but that there are other ones which fit the brief too.

Eliciting examples

• A teacher wants to elicit boiling hot. They say: What’s another word for very, very hot. Extremely hot. It’s also what a kettle does to water.

• A teacher wants to elicit different takeaway restaurants. They display the relevant logos on the smartboard, points to them and asks the students to name them.

• A teacher wants to elicit jog. They mimic someone jogging and ask: What am I doing?

Difficulties with eliciting

What is especially important is to keep in mind the balance of eliciting. 

• You cannot elicit everything, but you shouldn’t elicit nothing. 
• You cannot focus your eliciting on the one student you know knows the answer, but you cannot wait for an eternity for others who may not know the answer at all. 
• You can elicit work that has already been dealt with or knowledge you know your students know, but you cannot elicit new work your students aren’t familiar with.

The problem often comes when teachers elicit for a very specific answer. 

It’s quite possible that no one knows the answer and yet teachers often prolong the eliciting exercise by giving hints or clues. 

Remember that if students have no idea, no matter how much you help them they’ll probably still have no idea. They may not understand what it is you are wanting from them. Even if they give you an appropriate response, it may not be what you are looking for and so it will be dismissed and the whole process will continue.

Some teachers try and elicit information that there is no way the students would know. 

Eliciting is a means of finding out what students know but if you try and elicit the names of your children, don’t be upset when they don’t know or won’t answer you. 

It’s unfair to try to elicit new language which you haven’t discussed in class. Though they may try this to find out if they are familiar with it or not, you will get your answer very soon so there should be no need to keep eliciting.

Eliciting can be a very useful tool, but it shouldn’t be exploited. It needs to be done with care and with thought or it could lead to a very frustrated classroom!