Korean Job Discussion Forums

[wendysue]

I was just assigned a new class of middle school students. Their English level is low to fair for their age. Their textbook, "What Do You Think?" is for "very advanced students" and clearly not for the middle school age groups (chapters titled "The Right to Sex" and stories about extramaterital affairs and suicide, etc).

My students understand maybe 25% of the words in the book and so they are bored and rude during class and I'm not sure how to handle it. I've talked with my supervisor and she sympathized but said I have to keep using the book because the parents paid for it already. I've instructed the students to bring Korean/English dictionaries with them to class, but what else can I do to try to bring the material down to their level?

[jajdude]

Don't use a book that's too hard. If you must buy another one yourself. I would. Then photocopy. What's the point? OK let's read the newspaper? Teacher, what does "society" mean? What's "government"? Reading should be at least 90% understandable.

[captain kirk]

yeah, the middle school book we use is ok, you'd think. but every other sentence there's a word they don't know, and the idioms and phrasings are difficult and need explaining. or don't get explained and they don't say boo about not getting it. so teacher and students end up going through the APPEARANCE of having a lesson. the middle schoolers not moving, apparently stock still receptive (but not). teacher going on about a hundred miles an hour. that's korean style, i think. lecture style. so the kids have their heads down, 'listening', 'learning'. but it's english class with the foreign teacher so it should be immediate, conversational, an exchange switch-firing across the big desk. i've been at this school six months now. the middle school class happens every three days and at the end of the day. so i haven't much cared how it goes. but after months going by i notice that i really HATE rattling along with an echo in the room and nobody even looking up. and when i ask them anything i might as well be some maniac with pliers they decide is 'not real'. one guy, who started out being ok, like the ONE person in class who i'd call on to talk to cut the silence. he has clammed up since my desire to change the vibe starts out with 'venting for answers'.
you've bought the book already, so do as little as possible but proceed. spend most of the time
-free talking from the start to get their lolly-lickers into 'talk mode'
-copy sheets from easier books to use and have a file book (1,500 won) with the clear sheets to put the handouts in so parents see pages being covered. but don't stall listening to the boss re; 'we already bought the book'.
i think in korea there are the strictly defined roles and everyone's job is more separate than part of a whole. my boss, when i'm not performing smoothly in his opinion or when i ask for help re; paperwork and using the computer (program in hangul; can't read it), says irately, 'just DO your job!'. like it's none of his business. so, if that's the attitude, what you do in class to make it effective is none of his business. don't wait for him; he isn't aware/doesn't care/just wants RESULTS. or it's off with your noggin!

[Saxiif]

yeah I'm having to slog through an textbook for "International Communications" that includes charming bits about the effects of exercise on brain chemistry etc. etc. Am making mini-worksheets that are half-way funny stories about bears trying to eat my students "_____ did the bear eat? It ate Evan? _____ did Evan taste like? He tasted like chicken?" etc. which keeps em attentive and amused enough to spend at least a short time each class slogging through the text (with plenty of skipping of anything that looks hard).
going to involve me doing a lot more prep than I want to do to keep this up though

[whatthefunk]

Make definition sheets for them. Go through the readings and write down the words that they might not understand and then make a sheet with the english word, a place for a korean definition, and then a place for a brief english definition. Design some games to make looking up definitons more fun. One that works well for me is to have them race to find a korean teacher in the hagwan and then ask them. The korean teachers don't like it much, but the kids love it and they seem to pick up the words pretty fast. Or make crosswords etc. After they know the korean, help them make simple english definitions.
As other posters have said, find some worksheets from easier books to help them with the difficult grammer and idioms.
Ive found that if you do this, you can pretend to crawl through the book without even really using it.

[weatherman]

Then you have to dumb it down. Take the basic concept, teach that, and simplify the activities in the book, so your kids, can do them. How to simplify, is the question then. Again, look at the idea of what the exercise is trying to do, then change the formate of the exercise so the kids can do. I have been in these situations many times. Kind of have to think on your feet a lot, for planning will only help so much.