Music provides a TEFL teacher with the means to instantly engage students. The repeated lyrics of many songs make them ideal for teaching English. Choose songs that have lyrics that work for the level of TEFL you are teaching. For example, songs with repetitive lyrics in the present tense work well for beginning students, while songs that contain figurative language are appropriate for more advanced groups. Sing the songs as a group --- plan to work on one song for at least one week. Use the songs to help develop reading comprehension skills, vocabulary and grammar as well.
Immerse your students in English as much as possible. This means getting them away from worksheets and other static activities and asking them to engage in participatory activities. Develop students' listening skills by asking them to "open the book," "pick up the pencil" and "touch the desk." Encourage students to act out directives such as "wash your face" and "dial a number on the telephone." Play a game of Hokey Pokey so that students can learn the parts of the body along with a variety of prepositions.
Set up scenarios in your classroom so that students can practice English in simulations of real life situations they encounter on a daily basis. For example, if you are doing a unit on food, set up a faux restaurant so that students can practice ordering from a menu and paying for a meal. Students can practice just about any skill using these scenarios. This approach helps your students feel more competent when buying a car, for example, or reserving a hotel room or calling a school to let it know their child will be absent.
Some students in a TEFL class are shy and do not feel comfortable orally responding to questions in front of a class. Eliminate this problem by asking your students to work in pairs on a daily basis. Provide students with a script for two people and ask them to take turns reading the different parts. While students are doing this activity, circulate around the room to ensure that everyone is participating.