The Art of Assigning Homework
In my experience I have found it very difficult to get my students to really do any homework assignments I give out. I think there are a number of reason why this might happen. Firstly, your ESL class probably doesn’t count towards their overall grade. This really kills motivation to do homework. Even if the course does count, homework from other classes usually takes precedent and your assigned work doesn’t get done or is only partially done.
Something I’ve found moderate success doing is in letting students assign their own homework. I know it sounds a bit strange but sometimes it works. Here is what I do…
At the beginning of the course I tell students that they will be able to assign some of their own homework and I make them do so a few times throughout the term. As a homework assignment I tell students to come up with their own English homework assignment. They have to write an assignment on a piece of paper and show it to me next class. It can literally be on any topic. The students who are more interested and motivated to learn English will make a homework assignment relating to the class content, and the less motivated students will choose to do an assignment on their favorite music, or something along those lines. The good thing is that it usually gets everyone to do something.
When you give the assignment for the students to make their own assignment you should give a few examples. For one example give a real assignment that has to do with the content in class. For another examples give something else (e.g. memorize the words to a new English song and sing for the class, or read a celebrity magazine and write a report on the best new gossip).
When it is difficult to get everyone involved (i.e. the middle school classroom) this works well.