One of the leading schools of thought on learning a language suggests that students who are immersed into a language learn the quickest. Necessity forces learning. Teachers who only speak English to the students force the students to instantly begin wrapping their heads around the language. The teacher will assign a lot of work and drill the language into the students. This causes students to sink or swim. The students who want to learn will learn quickly, while those with only a casual interest will be unable to cope.
In a participative classroom environment, students are encouraged to speak and the activities and lessons are designed around interaction help to foster oral language skills. The students will develop a confidence speaking English because they will have practice doing so. The teacher must adopt a very forgiving style as the students will make many mistakes. Chastising them for the mistakes will make the students reluctant to participate.
ESL classrooms can include students of all ages. It is important that the instructor designs the lessons for the audience. Young children may benefit from games and fun activities, while the same strategy would not work on adults. Adults require practical instruction relating to their daily life.
The teacher should assume that the students have absolutely no concept or exposure to the English language. The teacher should start with the very basics and build from there. Making assumptions could be costly as students may have learned concepts incorrectly.