How to Use Chants and Drills to Boost Speaking Confidence in Small ESL Classes

Speaking English can be difficult for many ESL learners. Some students are shy, some are afraid of making mistakes, and others struggle with pronunciation. As an online tutor for adults or children, your job is to help students build confidence in speaking. One of the best ways to do this is by using chants and drills in your ESL lessons.

Chants and drills are simple but effective techniques that make speaking practice easier and more enjoyable. They encourage students to speak more often, improve their pronunciation, and develop fluency in a structured and low-pressure way. This article will give you practical online teachers tips on how to use chants and drills in your ESL classes.

Why Chants and Drills Work in ESL Lessons

Chants and drills are useful because they:

• Make speaking easier – Repeating words and phrases helps students remember them better and use them naturally.

• Improve pronunciation and rhythm – When students repeat words in a pattern, they learn how to speak with proper stress and intonation.

• Reduce fear of mistakes – When students practice speaking in a group, they feel less embarrassed about making mistakes.

• Encourage participation – Even students who are usually quiet feel comfortable joining in because everyone is speaking together.

• Make learning fun – Adding rhythm, repetition, and interaction keeps students engaged.

These techniques work well in small ESL classes, where students have more chances to speak and receive guidance from the teacher.

How to Use Chants in ESL Classes

Chants are short, rhythmic phrases that students repeat together. They are especially useful for building confidence, improving pronunciation, and practicing sentence structure. Here are some ways to use them in your ESL lessons:

1. Use Simple and Repetitive Phrases

Start with short phrases that students can easily remember. The goal is to help students get used to common English patterns without feeling overwhelmed.

For young learners, you can use chants based on daily activities:

• “What’s the weather? It’s sunny today! What’s the weather? It’s cloudy today!”

• “Where is the dog? Under the chair! Where is the dog? Over there!”

For adult learners, the chants should feel more natural and useful in daily conversations:

• “How are you? I’m doing great! How are you? I’m running late!”

• “What do you like? I like coffee! What do you like? I like tea!”

Repeating these sentences regularly helps students remember useful expressions and say them automatically.

2. Add a Rhythm or Beat

Photo from twowritingteachers.org

Students learn best when they engage multiple senses. Adding a clap, tap, or snap while chanting helps students develop a natural speech rhythm.

For example, when practicing questions and answers:

• Teacher claps: Where do you live?

• Students clap and answer: I live in Manila!

The physical movement keeps students focused and helps them follow the natural flow of spoken English.

3. Use Call-and-Response Chants

Call-and-response is an effective way to encourage students to speak without hesitation. The teacher says a line, and the students respond in a predictable way.

Example:

• Teacher: “Do you like ice cream?”

• Students: “Yes, I do!” or “No, I don’t!”

After a few rounds, change the question to practice new vocabulary:

• Teacher: “Do you like pizza?”

• Students: “Yes, I do!” or “No, I don’t!”

This technique is great because students don’t have to think too much before responding. It helps them get used to answering quickly and naturally.

4. Make Chants More Challenging Over Time

Once students are comfortable, you can increase the difficulty to help them grow. Start with a basic chant and slowly add more details.

Example:

1. Basic chant: “I like apples.”
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2. More detail: “I like apples and bananas.”
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3. Full sentence: “I like apples, bananas, and grapes.”

This step-by-step approach helps students practice longer sentences without feeling pressured.

How to Use Drills in ESL Classes

Drills focus on structured repetition to help students master sentence structure, pronunciation, and fluency. They are especially helpful for online tutor for adults who need to develop confidence in speaking English correctly.

1. Substitution Drills for Grammar Practice

Substitution drills teach students how to replace words in a sentence while keeping the sentence structure the same.

Example:

• Teacher: “I go to work.”

• Students repeat: “I go to work.”

• Teacher changes the place: “I go to school.”

• Students repeat: “I go to school.”

You can keep changing the place (I go to the mall, I go to the market) to help students practice without worrying about making mistakes.

2. Chain Drills for Conversation Practice

Chain drills help students build longer sentences and improve fluency. The activity starts with a simple sentence, and each student adds more details.

Example:

• Teacher: “I wake up early.”

• Student 1: “I wake up early and brush my teeth.”

• Student 2: “I wake up early, brush my teeth, and eat breakfast.”

This type of drill encourages students to listen carefully and think quickly while speaking.

3. Backward Build-Up Drills for Pronunciation

This drill is useful when students struggle with long sentences. Instead of making them say the whole sentence at once, break it down into smaller parts.

Example:

Target sentence: “I would like to order a cup of coffee.”

1. Teacher says: “coffee” → Students repeat
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2. Teacher says: “a cup of coffee” → Students repeat
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3. Teacher says: “order a cup of coffee” → Students repeat
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4. Teacher says: “I would like to order a cup of coffee.” → Students repeat

This method helps students focus on pronunciation and word connections without feeling overwhelmed.

4. Transformation Drills for Sentence Variety

Transformation drills teach students different ways to express the same idea. This helps them speak more naturally instead of just memorizing one way to say things.

Example:

• Teacher: “I am happy.”

• Students: “I feel happy.”

• Teacher: “She is hungry.”

• Students: “She feels hungry.”

By practicing these variations, students become more flexible in their speaking.

Tips for Using Chants and Drills Effectively

1. Use Visuals and Gestures – Show pictures or actions to help students understand new words.
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2. Encourage Natural Speaking – Don’t force students to speak too fast; let them develop their own pace.
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3. Make It Fun – Add music, props, or movements to keep students engaged.
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4. Give Encouraging Feedback – Praise students for their effort, even if they make mistakes.
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5. Be Patient – Speaking English takes time. Let students practice often without pressure.

Conclusion: Boost Speaking Confidence with Chants and Drills

Helping students speak confidently is one of the biggest challenges in ESL classes. Using chants and drills makes learning more interactive, structured, and enjoyable. These techniques work well for both children and adults, helping them improve pronunciation, fluency, and confidence.

At EDGE Tutor, we provide free training resources to support online tutors in creating effective and engaging ESL lessons. Try using these online teachers tips in your next class and see how your students improve!

Looking for more strategies to improve your ESL teaching? Stay tuned for more expert online teachers tips from EDGE Tutor!

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Start Using Chants & Drills Today!

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