Should I interrupt students' role paly?

<b> Forum for elementary education ESL/EFL teachers </b>

Moderators: Dimitris, maneki neko2, Lorikeet, Enrico Palazzo, superpeach, cecil2, Mr. Kalgukshi2

Post Reply
Anne Yang
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun Apr 04, 2004 12:57 am

Should I interrupt students' role paly?

Post by Anne Yang » Tue Apr 20, 2004 7:20 am

Using games, songs and role-plays can help children learn English without too much pressure. During these activities, generally the best thing for a teacher to so is to stand back and let students to do their performance. However, I find it is hard to avoid interfering.
I often use stories to help students learn English. Take Little Red Ridding Hood for example. I said, “Go straight to Granny’s house.” Students answered, “Yes, Mama. I will.” Then I demanded, “Don’t talk to strangers.” They chanted, “No, Mama. I won’t.” generally, Taiwanese students will tend to answer, “ Yes, Mama. I won’t.” I used the story to help them remember the structure. After they all got familiar to the story. I asked them to play the chief characters and made up their own lines. Usually, students make grammatical mistakes and I correct them. However, some students complained to me that my interfering disturbed their performance. They became nervous if I keep interrupting.
I know it would be better if I didn’t interrupt them. But I think if I correct them immediately, they can learn better and avoid making the same mistake. Should I listen to my students’ advice and stop talking?
Last edited by Anne Yang on Wed Apr 21, 2004 4:00 am, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
Lorikeet
Posts: 1374
Joined: Sun May 18, 2003 4:14 am
Location: San Francisco, California
Contact:

Post by Lorikeet » Tue Apr 20, 2004 3:04 pm

Yes, listen to your students. Make a list of the mistakes you want to correct and do it after the presentation is finished. Imagine how you would feel if you were giving a performance and someone kept interrupting you to tell you about all the mistakes you were making, when worrying about making mistakes was making you nervous in the first place.

Post Reply