EALP

Characteristics

Combinations of explanation and/or active listening options constitute a second pattern of interaction in instruction. The Explain/Active Listening Pattern (ELAP)
Sometimes the tutor explains and the tutee listens and sometimes the opposite is true. The tutee explains and tutor listens.

Advantages

Tutor explains, tutee actively listens

A tutors explanation sometimes signals the beginning of EALP. When you start to explain the tutee will likely attend closely. After all, you have information that the tutee wants.

Tutee explains, tutor actively listens
The tutee’s explanations helps your tutoring in five ways.

1. Adding information to that of the tutor, the tutee is signaling you to stop explaining.
2. The tutee is showing you a good faith effort to work out an answer.
3. Your tutee may use EALP to summarize her learning or to summarize the underlying learning process.
4. When the tutees explain, you can assess the accuracy and completeness of the tutee’s knowledge.
5. You have the opportunity to see what is being learned and how it is being learned from the tutee’s perspective.

Tutor and tutee explain

You and the tutee may be functioning as approximately equal partners, each doing some of the explaining, each person’s contribution building on that of the other.

Disadvantages

Off track

Sometimes exchanging information will take the tutee off track and he or she will begin to talk about something other than the task at hand.

Takeover

You can also be aware of when the tutee is ready to take over the explanation. It is this ‘taking over’ which demonstrated real understanding on the part of the tutee. When the light bulb goes on over the tutee’s head, it’s very important to give the tutee free reign to explain what he understands and to recognize his own misunderstandings or to identify gaps to what he’s learning.

 

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