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wawaguagua
Joined: 10 Feb 2013
Posts: 190
Location: China
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 Posted: Fri Aug 16, 2013 4:16 pm Post subject: Re: Surviving those first classes and how |
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| chinesearmy wrote: |
| Non Sequitur wrote: |
• Be prepared for a ‘sea’ of Chinese faces when you enter the classroom... |
In China? No way. I was expecting Africans. |
About half of my students are of the Central Asian varieties (Uyghur, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Tajik). |
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Non Sequitur
Joined: 23 May 2010
Posts: 4724
Location: China
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| Posted: Fri Aug 30, 2013 5:11 am Post subject: |
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Another post has suggested I add another thing that could happen:
- It's the last weekend in August, you've arrived in China on time and you don't yet have a teaching schedule for Monday. |
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cloud_pleaser
Joined: 29 Aug 2012
Posts: 83
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| Posted: Fri Aug 30, 2013 5:26 am Post subject: |
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For a crash course in methodology, read Jim Scrivener's Learning Teaching. For lesson content/communicative activities (for spoken English), Cutting Edge is highly recommended.
(Keep in mind that Chinese universities/middle/high schools are environments that can be quite resistant to the methodology mentioned in Scrivener, or it can be difficult to put elements of these into practice) |
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FreakingTea
Joined: 09 Jan 2013
Posts: 167
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| Posted: Fri Aug 30, 2013 5:34 pm Post subject: |
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| cloud_pleaser wrote: |
| (Keep in mind that Chinese universities/middle/high schools are environments that can be quite resistant to the methodology mentioned in Scrivener, or it can be difficult to put elements of these into practice) |
Is there some kind of compromise between the T-SSS Chinese students are used to and a communicative approach? I don't want to totally succumb to student expectations, but maybe there's some way to make communicative lessons be accepted more readily? I really have no idea. I'm going to read those books regardless because I hope to stay in EFL after I leave China. |
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cloud_pleaser
Joined: 29 Aug 2012
Posts: 83
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| Posted: Fri Aug 30, 2013 6:28 pm Post subject: |
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This is something I often wonder myself.
There are days where I make (small) concessions to the dark side of Oral English teaching and the students, unfortunately, love it. Then there are days when I hew fervently to the PPP/TBL/Communicative approach.
Some really like it. Some hate it. The more intrapersonal learners in the class freak out, as they think they've wandered into some kind of educational free-for-all, and that their spoken English will not progress because the teacher doesn't interrupt them constantly to correct their grammar, pronunciation etc.
I've built more structure into the courses this semester. I have the students keep a diary of errors that they and others make, and have them review it regularly. I make sure they are writing down all the vocab and grammar we cover in class and get them to write English definitions/explanations for homework.
Hopefully this should appease the more intrapersonal learners.. it can be more difficult to cater to them in a strictly Oral English class which does stress a lot of interpersonal skills.
Other FTs? is it an uphill battle to implement TEFL methodology in your classes too? |
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johntpartee
Joined: 02 Mar 2010
Posts: 3258
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| Posted: Fri Aug 30, 2013 10:37 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| their spoken English will not progress because the teacher doesn't interrupt them constantly to correct their grammar, pronunciation etc |
I don't do this because I've found that it makes the students reluctant to speak because they're afraid of making a mistake. I usually have the students give a talk and while they're speaking I take note of grammar and pronunciation errors and afterwards quote the passages in their speech where the errors occurred (mostly verb tenses) and ask the speaker to correct the mistake. |
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Javelin of Radiance
Joined: 01 Jul 2009
Posts: 1187
Location: The West
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| Posted: Sat Aug 31, 2013 1:17 am Post subject: |
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| johntpartee wrote: |
| Quote: |
| their spoken English will not progress because the teacher doesn't interrupt them constantly to correct their grammar, pronunciation etc |
I don't do this because I've found that it makes the students reluctant to speak because they're afraid of making a mistake. I usually have the students give a talk and while they're speaking I take note of grammar and pronunciation errors and afterwards quote the passages in their speech where the errors occurred (mostly verb tenses) and ask the speaker to correct the mistake. |
Constant interruption to correct is guaranteed to make the student nervous, anxious, embarrassed, and unwilling to want to speak again, especially if it's in a classroom setting. Letting them speak and giving a short debrief after they've spoken is much better. Watch a few different ESL teachers in action, poorly trained or inexperienced ones usually correct every mistake as they occur, other teachers let the conversation flow and deal with the errors afterwards. This is where some peer observation comes in handy. I shudder when I see or hear about a teacher that corrects every error, because as a student I've had it happen to me as well.
Last edited by Javelin of Radiance on Sat Aug 31, 2013 1:25 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Non Sequitur
Joined: 23 May 2010
Posts: 4724
Location: China
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| Posted: Sat Aug 31, 2013 1:24 am Post subject: |
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I've had students ask me:
'Teacher, why don't you correct us?'
I've even had the same thing relayed to me through the Teaching Affairs Dept.
My answer is:
'I want to know what you CAN do, not what you CAN'T do'.
If pressed I tell them that so many people speak English as a 2nd language, that native speakers are used to listening to less than perfect delivery. |
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johntpartee
Joined: 02 Mar 2010
Posts: 3258
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| Posted: Sat Aug 31, 2013 1:26 am Post subject: |
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| 'I want to know what you CAN do, not what you CAN'T do' |
YES! |
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cloud_pleaser
Joined: 29 Aug 2012
Posts: 83
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| Posted: Sat Aug 31, 2013 3:22 am Post subject: |
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| Non Sequitur wrote: |
'I want to know what you CAN do, not what you CAN'T do'.
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Great answer. I'll definitely try that in class when the issue comes up
| Quote: |
| I don't do this because I've found that it makes the students reluctant to speak because they're afraid of making a mistake. |
Me either. I note down errors and review them at the end of class. I get them to keep an "error diary" of sorts. I get them to make a table in their exercise book with three headings: "incorrect sentence", "correct sentence" and "why it is incorrect" .For homework I get them to fill these tables out.
It's my new approach for the semester. I'll see how it goes |
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cloud_pleaser
Joined: 29 Aug 2012
Posts: 83
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| Posted: Sat Aug 31, 2013 3:24 am Post subject: |
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| Javelin of Radiance wrote: |
| I shudder when I see or hear about a teacher that corrects every error, because as a student I've had it happen to me as well. |
Me too. I don't think my Russian teacher ever let me finish a sentence in my entire three years of studying it  |
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