Speak slowly and clearly. Students can become quite frustrated and discouraged if they can't understand the language or their teacher. Smile, and be as encouraging as possible. Students will respond better to the lessons if they feel their teacher has an interest in their success.
Break students into small units, preferably no more than three to a group, for specific assignments. This gives students more opportunities to practice their skills and prevents students from being left out of class discussions. Try to create groups with students of equal ability so no one gets lost or too frustrated.
Make class discussions relevant. Many language lessons focus on situations that seldom occur in the real world. Use newspaper articles, television programs, movies and role-playing to keep students interested and remind them of the value of learning English.
Consider using paired immersion methods, placing native English speakers in classes with non-English-speaking immigrants. The approach, recommended by researchers at the Center for Research on the Education of Students Placed At Risk (CRESPAR), allows students to learn languages faster.