Eliciting: A Key Technique in Language Teaching

As a new English teacher, one of the most valuable skills you need to develop is the ability to ask the right questions. Eliciting, the practice of drawing out language (vocabulary, grammatical forms etc) from students rather than simply telling them, is a technique that can help make your lessons more interactive and student-centred. It’s a core method often highlighted in CELTA feedback, and in this post, I’ll explore why eliciting is effective, how to use it in your lessons, and how to overcome some common challenges.

Why Eliciting is Better Than Telling

When you tell students something, they’re simply receiving information. This is a passive process where the teacher is at the centre of the lesson. But eliciting flips that dynamic by involving students in constructing the language themselves. It’s a more active approach that helps students internalise the language and encourages more processing on the students' part. By eliciting, you make students part of the learning process rather than just passive recipients of knowledge. This is why eliciting is frequently emphasised during CELTA courses, as it encourages deeper understanding and more engaged learning.

Eliciting also fosters a more student-centred classroom. Instead of explaining everything yourself, you guide your students to discover the language, drawing it out through carefully constructed prompts and contexts. This leads to greater student participation, which in turn improves their retention of the material. The more students actively engage with the language, the more they’re likely to remember it and use it in the future.

How do you elicit?

The most common mode of eliciting involves setting up a context or giving a definition or example and drawing the target language from the students. Below are some practical tips for eliciting language

1. Setting a Context Setting a relevant context is one of the most powerful ways to elicit language. For example, if you’re teaching vocabulary related to food, you might set the context by describing a meal you had and acting out a restaurant scene. This prompts students to bring up words when you act them out in context, such as “menu,” “waiter,” “bill,” and so on. You’re creating a situation where the target language is relevant, and students can naturally contribute it without feeling like they’re being tested. By using real-life contexts, you can make the language feel more authentic and memorable.

2. Giving Definitions or Examples Another key eliciting method is providing a definition or example and allowing students to deduce the target language. For instance, if you're teaching the word “bicycle,” you might describe it by saying, “This is something you can ride, but it isn't a horse,” and then prompt students to identify the word. You can also give an example sentence, like “I rode my BEEEP to the park,” and ask students what the BEEP might be. This type of eliciting encourages students to focus on meaning and use their own understanding to arrive at the word.

3. Using Visuals or Realia to Elicit Language While visuals and real objects are excellent for introducing new language, they can also be powerful tools for eliciting known words too. For example, showing a picture of a school scene and asking, “What’s this?” or “What can you see?” will likely prompt students to respond with terms like “classroom,” “whiteboard,” or “students.” By giving students the opportunity to connect words with images or objects they are familiar with, you help them recall and produce the target language naturally.

4. Creating Scenarios or Situations Another way to elicit language is by creating hypothetical scenarios or drawing on students’ experiences. For example, you could say, “Imagine you are going to the airport. What do you need to do first?” This type of scenario encourages students to use the vocabulary or structures, like “check-in,” “passport,” and “security.” You’re not just telling them the words; you’re prompting them to recall and produce the language based on a familiar or imagined situation.

5. Drawing Out Language Using Gradual Prompts Sometimes, you might not need to offer a full definition or example at once. Instead, you can ask a question, or series of questions that gradually help students deduce the target language. For instance, when dealing with a word like “bikini,” you could start by asking, “What do you do in a pool?” and when students respond, “You swim,” you can then ask "What do you wear when you swim?". By gradually guiding students to the correct answer, you allow them to be more active participants in the lesson, which strengthens their understanding and retention of the language.

   
   

Common Challenges and How to Overcome Them

While eliciting is a very effective technique, there are a few challenges that you might encounter along the way. Here are some common issues and tips for overcoming them:

1. Students Not Responding Sometimes, students may be hesitant to answer, particularly if they’re unsure of the language. If this happens, don’t rush to fill the silence. Instead, give them some time to think. Silence can be uncomfortable, but it often leads to deeper thinking. If necessary, you can provide hints or rephrase your question to help guide them. Patience is key. That said, you don't want it to turn into a guessing game. If you've given a definition or context that makes meaning clear and the students have had time to think and still don't know the word, it's fine for the teacher to then say the word. This doesn't mean your eliciting has failed. You've still conveyed the meaning. It's just that the students happened not to know the words.

2. Students Giving Incorrect Answers It’s normal for students to make mistakes while eliciting, especially when they’re trying to recall new language. If a student gives an incorrect answer, don’t correct them immediately. Instead, try to prompt some peer correction and ask "Does everyone agree?" This technique encourages critical thinking and allows the class to work together to reach the right answer.

3. Over-eliciting While eliciting is essential, it’s important not to overdo it. Asking too many questions or continuing to elicit when it's clear students don't know the word or concept you're trying to elicit is tiring for both the teacher and the students.

4. Students know the target language, but don't understand the context Sometimes, students may not have enough background knowledge to engage fully with an eliciting activity. In these cases, it’s best to build up the context slowly, and if necessary use more visual aids to make your context as clear as possible. This step-by-step approach ensures that all students can participate and learn at their own pace.

   
   

Final Thoughts

Eliciting is a powerful technique that fosters student-centred learning and makes lessons more interactive. By setting contexts, providing definitions, and drawing language out of students gradually, you help them internalise language and participate more actively in the lesson. While there are challenges to eliciting, such as students not responding or giving incorrect answers, these can be addressed with patience and thoughtful questioning. As you gain more experience, you’ll find that eliciting becomes an invaluable tool that will improve your teaching practice and deepen your students' engagement with the language.

Looking to develop your teaching skills even further? Explore our CELTA courses to take your classroom practice to the next level.

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About the author:

Dr Connor O'Donoghue hails from Ireland and he started teaching English as a foreign language in Poland in 2003 and he became a CELTA trainer in 2008. He has taught and trained in Ireland, the UK, France, Italy, Slovenia, Macedonia, Poland, Russia, Kazakhstan and Vietnam. Connor also holds a Masters and a PhD in Education from Trinity College in Dublin. He has previously managed large teacher training centres in Vietnam and in London before founding DC Teacher Training.