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The ESA methodology is an eclectic teaching methodology, with components derived from earlier formed methodologies. The method is student centered, designed to maximize student language output through elicitation. The is especially appropriate for young learners as they perform best when given ample opportunity to engage in activity and speech when learning as opposed to listening for long periods of teacher talk time. The ESA methodology is a three stage methodology beginning with the engage stage. The purpose of it is to get students to speak and think in the target language. It is intended to stimulate interest in the students and to get them to actively participate in language lessons. Games, interesting pictures and stories are effective stimuli for speech production in learners. This stage should be fairly short. The study phase which is the second phase of the ESA method may begin with elicitation. The information derived from the students should allow the teacher to pin point gaps knowledge which will then be used to form the basis of a new learning point for the lesson. The language will normally be noted on the board for consideration. Once the new language is learnt, speech drills done to reinforce the new material and to address any difficulties in pronunciation. Drills can take the form of repetition of words uttered or can be made fun by using nursery rhymes or chants. Worksheets and gap fills with the learned language point may then be used to check the students' comprehension of the material and to address any grey areas. As young learners are prone to lose concentration, it is advisable when planning a lesson to take some measures to keep them attentive. Solutions to reduce distraction include avoiding a lengthy study phase and allowing the students to work in interactive groups. The final stage is the activate stage. This stage is aimed to allow free communication of language. It is designed to enable fluency rather than accuracy of speech. Errors in this stage are then not to be addressed unless they are glaring. Presentations, communication games and signing are effective activities to use for young learners in this stage. When an ESA lesson follows the sequence of stages formerly described, it is referred to as a Straight Arrow ESA lesson. The sequence of the lesson may need to be adjusted for younger learners between the ages 5 to 9. It can be more effective to structure an ESA lesson to have two study stages and punctuating each with an activate stage to avoid restlessness and lack of concentration. This sequence of ESA lesson is referred to as a boomerang ESA lesson. It can be sequenced in any order as long as it begins with an engage stage and ends with an activate stage. Another form of ESA lesson is called a Patchwork ESA lesson. It consists of many mini sequences for the ESA lesson, which creates a good balance of study and activate stages, allowing the students a lot of practice for newly acquired language.
