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grizzlies03
Joined: 28 Nov 2004
Posts: 8
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 Posted: Fri Mar 11, 2005 12:36 am Post subject: starting new job tips please |
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Im going to be teaching conversation classes in China to low level university students. The classes will have up to 40 students. Any tips? How do they like to be taught? what topics? what kind of activities do they like? anything i need to be aware off?
I've heard they can be tough like by not talking. What should I do?
thank you! |
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Norman Bethune
Joined: 19 Apr 2004
Posts: 731
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| Posted: Fri Mar 11, 2005 8:35 am Post subject: Re: starting new job tips please |
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| grizzlies03 wrote: |
Im going to be teaching conversation classes in China to low level university students. The classes will have up to 40 students. Any tips? How do they like to be taught? what topics? what kind of activities do they like? anything i need to be aware off?
I've heard they can be tough like by not talking. What should I do?
thank you! |
That's a good one....I can't stop laughing.....english conversation classes with 40 students....
For the most part the majority of students will be conversing only in Chinese for most of the time.
Group work, pair work, student centred fun activities, teacher led activities, all degenerate into one loud Chinese conversation.
You have to try everything you have in your bag of tricks to keep the students focused on speaking english. In one class, a jigsaw activity will go over blockbusters, in the next it will sink like a lead balloon.
Learn how to be adaptable and ready to dump a well-prepared lesson plan that isn't working while in class.
Try anything you can think of...because at the end of every class, no matter what you do....at least one student will come up to you and say that they think your class is boring or that you are not like their Chinese english teacher or the other foreign teacher and that the (having spend the last 45 minutes only talking chinese in class) students don't have enough of a chance to speak english in class. |
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tradinup
Joined: 13 Nov 2004
Posts: 132
Location: Shenzhen, China
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| Posted: Fri Mar 11, 2005 11:32 am Post subject: |
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I teach University classes of this size and smaller. You should devote at least ten minutes of class to macking on the cute girls because they already think you are wonderful.
The biggest thing is that you really need to take control of your class. You have to be really confident and you need to constantly be talking to them and keeping their attention or they will revert to text-messaging. They don't care if you tell them not to talk, etc. as there is no consequence, their parents guanxi will take them to their future job regardless of how they perform in school. It some students in the back start chattering or something you can crack a joke about them, or tell them something like "Since you feel like talking so much, you can read such and such in English now to the class" Having to speak English is great form of punishment for most Chinese.
Organize things into groups and walk around making sure everything is rolling along. Group the students who really don't care about learning together so the rest can work. Some of them are going to be the CEO of a bank in 4 years so you need to let some go and help the ones that really want to learn. |
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journeyeast
Joined: 03 Dec 2004
Posts: 56
Location: China, Connecicut USA
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| Posted: Fri Mar 11, 2005 6:04 pm Post subject: |
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| Break them into small groups and moderate the topics. Teaching oral English to University students even at a low English level can be fun and challenging. Have them prepare some role playing situational dialogue for homework, then moderate the group discussions, try to polarize the group in the classroom if you can, get the students on one side or the other of an issue.. Good luck.. |
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