ESL Speaking

Games + Activities to Try Out Today!

  • Adult Activities
  • Kid Activities
  • Textbooks
    • ESL Textbooks for Adults
    • ESL Textbooks for Children
  • Teacher Resources
    • Resources
    • Online TEFL Course
  • Learn English
    • Learn English
    • Confusing English Words

in Activities for Adults· Activities for Kids· ESL Speaking Resources

Test Teach Test Approach (TTT): What is it and Tips for TTT Lessons

If you’re looking to keep things fresh and interesting in your language class, then you’re in the right place! Try out the test teach test approach (TTT), which can be a nice change of pace.

I’ll give a rundown on what Test-Teach-Test is, the advantages and disadvantages, when to use it or not, as well as some activities that work well for each stage. Keep on reading for all the details you need to know about TTT and give it a try in your classes.

test-teach-test-approach

An Introduction to Test Teach Test

Test Teach Test (also known as TTT) is a language teaching approach where students complete diagnostic tests at the beginning of the lesson, without help from the teacher. After looking at the results, the teacher plans and presents a lesson based on the students’ specific needs. Finally, learners can do a task (test) at the end to put into practice what they’re learned.

3 Parts to TTT

There are three stages to this style of lesson. I’ll talk about each of them in more detail here.

#1: Test

The main goal of this phase is for the teacher to observe errors that students are making with the target language. 

In the “test” stage, the teacher should set the context by having the students do a test of some kind. It can be an actual test, or it could be a task or activity of some kind that uses the target language.

The teacher will observe carefully and monitor in order to see how students are using the language. Look particularly for any errors or omissions and write them down in preparation for the “teach” phase.

Choose activities or tasks carefully at this point. You want to find something that lends itself easily to the target language. Some ideas here include: Information Gap Activities, Talking about a Picture with a Partner, or this Guessing Game.

These activities work better for finding out what vocabulary students know about a certain topic. To find out about grammatical knowledge, I generally give an explicit test of some kind or use conversation starters with the target grammatical structure.

#2: Teach

The main goal of this phase is to fill in gaps in knowledge with explicit teaching and for students to focus on accuracy with the target language.  

The teach phases of TTT is kind of equivalent to the presentation phase of PPP (presentation/practice/production). This is where the teacher explicitly teaches some grammatical point or presents a vocabulary set.

What you do here depends on the results from the test phase. If students made errors with the target language, then focus on that. For example, if your target language is the simple past and students struggled with making negative past sentences, teach that.

However, if students already know the target language well and made few errors with it, consider pivoting and focus on something else that students made errors with. This does require some thinking and planning on the fly which can be challenging for new teachers, however.

Whatever option you choose (focusing on the target language or something new), the aim of this stage is to work on form and accuracy. It’s roughly equivalent to “controlled practice” in other types of teaching styles. It could include drills, gap-fill worksheets, dialogue substitution, these sentence-building activities, dictogloss, examples on the whiteboard, or explicit teaching.

ESL/EFL Teaching Practice and Methodology: 20 Years of Experience Teaching English in a Single Book!
ESL/EFL Teaching Practice and Methodology: 20 Years of Experience Teaching English in a Single Book!
  • Amazon Kindle Edition
  • Bolen, Jackie (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 301 Pages - 12/21/2022 (Publication Date)
Check Price on Amazon

#3: Test

The goal of the second “test” phase is to help students improve their fluency while maintaining accuracy with the target language. 

To round out the lesson, students will do another “test” of some kind. This can be a task or activity that uses the language in a freer way. The focus should be on improving fluency with the language while still maintaining a good degree of accuracy.

Like in the first phase, the teacher should monitor and offer feedback to the students. Hopefully, accuracy and fluency have improved with respect to the language taught during the previous phase.

Some activities to consider using for this are role-plays, board games that focus on the target language, Just One Question, Telling a Story, or vocabulary auction or presentations.

test-teach-test

What Are Some Advantages to TTT?

There are a number of advantages to this kind of language teaching. Here are a few of them to consider:

  • The lesson is based on students’ needs.
  • No time is wasted focusing on things students already know well (there is there are, present continuous or the present simple for example).
  • “Testing” can be motivating for students to improve their knowledge.
  • During the first stage, students can discover the language for themselves which can be motivating.
  • It can help students build confidence as they move from stage to stage.

Disadvantages of Test-Teach-Test

There are a number of disadvantages to TTT. Here are some of the main ones:

  • It can be overwhelming to weaker students in the first stage if they aren’t able to complete any of the “test.”
  • TTT requires the teacher to adapt on the fly.
  • The first part can be time-consuming if the teacher gives a task or test that is too difficult for students to complete.
  • It’s not suitable for beginners.
  • It’s quite difficult to execute with mixed-level ESL/EFL classes.
  • Students may not be familiar with this teaching approach, as opposed to PPP which they’ve probably seen hundreds of times before, or Task-Based Learning.

When to Use Test Teach Test?

I love to use TTT when I suspect that students already know a fair bit about a certain grammatical point or vocabulary set. For example, unless students are absolute beginners, they’ll be familiar with the simple past, at least to some degree.

That’s why I like to test first. I can see if they might have problems forming questions, the negative or irregular past tense verbs. They might also have a solid grasp on these things and we really don’t need to spend much class time on them.

Another example is with vocabulary. In some countries like South Korea, students are required to memorize a large amount of vocabulary in public school English classes. So by the time I get them in university, even the weaker students will know most of the vocabulary in a lesson, even before I explicitly teach it.

In this case, it’s ideal to do a test to see where the gaps are. Then, I tailor the lesson to this, instead of covering everything. And of course, students should practice the words that are new to them and not ones that they are already very familiar with.

When Not to Use Test Teach Test?

I generally only use TTT with intermediate levels and higher. Beginners often don’t have enough experience with English to be able to complete a “test” without explicit teaching. That’s why they’re beginners and not at a higher level!

However, intermediate and advanced English learners will likely have some background with what you plan on teaching them in that lesson so it can be a worthwhile endeavour to find out what they already know.

ttt-approach

Have your say about the Test Teach Test Approach

What are your thoughts about TTT? Have you ever used it in your English classes? Leave a comment and let us know your thoughts about it. We’d love to hear from you.

Also, be sure to give this article a share on Pinterest, Facebook, or Twitter. It’ll help other busy language teachers, like yourself find this useful resource.

 

Last update on 2022-10-15 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

About Jackie

Jackie Bolen has been teaching English for more than 15 years to students in South Korea and Canada. She's taught all ages, levels and kinds of TEFL classes. She holds an MA degree, along with the Celta and Delta English teaching certifications.

Jackie is the author of more than 60 books for English teachers and English learners, including 101 ESL Activities for Teenagers and Adults and 1001 English Expressions and Phrases. She loves to share her ESL games, activities, teaching tips, and more with other teachers throughout the world.

You can find her on social media at:
YouTube
Facebook
TikTok
Pinterest
Instagram

« English Drilling Games & Activities (Pronunciation, Vocabulary)
How to Teach Grammar | Grammar for English Language Teachers »

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Great Debates for ESL/EFL: 39 Important Debating Topics for English Learners
Great Debates for ESL/EFL: 39 Important Debating Topics for English Learners
Check Price on Amazon
103 Fun ESL Games & Activities for the Classroom : Interactive, Minimal Prep TEFL Ideas for All Ages
103 Fun ESL Games & Activities for the Classroom : Interactive, Minimal Prep TEFL Ideas for All Ages
Check Price on Amazon

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. What does this mean? I recommend products (only ones that I like) and if you purchase a product through that link, I earn some money.

Search this site

39 No-Prep/Low-Prep ESL Speaking Activities: For English Teachers of Teenagers and Adults Who Want...
39 No-Prep/Low-Prep ESL Speaking Activities: For English Teachers of Teenagers and Adults Who Want...
Check Price on Amazon
101 Activities and Resources for Teaching English Online: Practical Ideas, Games, Activities & Tips...
101 Activities and Resources for Teaching English Online: Practical Ideas, Games, Activities & Tips...
Check Price on Amazon
101 ESL Activities: Games, Activities, Practical ideas, & Teaching Tips For English Teachers of...
101 ESL Activities: Games, Activities, Practical ideas, & Teaching Tips For English Teachers of...
Check Price on Amazon

10 Fun Road Trip Activities for All Ages

ESL Phrasal Verbs: Games, Activities, Lesson Plans & Worksheets

ESL Conversation Activities for Adults | ESOL Speaking Activities Adult

Adverbs of Frequency ESL Activities, Games, Worksheets, Lesson Plans

Tell a Story, ESL style | ESL Speaking Adults

Online TEFL Courses

Get Certified Entirely Online

67 ESL Conversation Topics with Questions, Vocabulary, Writing Prompts & More: For English Teachers...
67 ESL Conversation Topics with Questions, Vocabulary, Writing Prompts & More: For English Teachers...
Check Price on Amazon
Scatter Sheets for Intermediate-Advanced Students to Improve Fluency: ESL Speaking & Vocabulary...
Scatter Sheets for Intermediate-Advanced Students to Improve Fluency: ESL Speaking & Vocabulary...
Check Price on Amazon
1001 English Expressions and Phrases: Common Sentences and Dialogues Used by Native English Speakers...
1001 English Expressions and Phrases: Common Sentences and Dialogues Used by Native English Speakers...
Check Price on Amazon
39 ESL Warm-Ups: For English Teachers of Kids (7+) Who Want to Get their TEFL Classes Started Off...
39 ESL Warm-Ups: For English Teachers of Kids (7+) Who Want to Get their TEFL Classes Started Off...
Check Price on Amazon
Jackie Bolen

Disclosure Statement

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

  • Adult Activities
  • Kid Activities
  • Textbooks
  • Teacher Resources
  • Learn English

Our Top-Seller

Sale 39 No-Prep/Low-Prep ESL Speaking Activities: For Teenagers and Adults (Teaching ESL Conversation and...
39 No-Prep/Low-Prep ESL Speaking Activities: For Teenagers and Adults (Teaching ESL Conversation and...
Check Price on Amazon

Search

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

More ESL Activities

manners would u rather questions for kids

20 Kids Would You Rather Questions About Manners

easy trivia questions

50 Easy Trivia Questions for Kids with Answers

present-perfect-for-and-since

Present Perfect For and Since Activities, Worksheets, Lesson Plans

ordering-food-esl-activities-roleplays

ESL Restaurant and Ordering Food Activities, Games, Worksheets

About, Contact, Privacy Policy

Jackie Bolen has been talking ESL speaking since 2014 and the goal is to bring you the best recommendations for English conversation games, activities, lesson plans and more. It’s your go-to source for everything TEFL!

About and Contact for ESL Speaking.

Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

Email: [email protected]

Facebook

Pinterest

TikTok

YouTube

LinkedIn

Address: 2436 Kelly Ave, Port Coquitlam, Canada

Copyright © 2023 Jackie Bolen + ESL Speaking. All Rights Reserved.