Job Discussion Forums

[brsmith15]

I'd like a few suggestions from you more seasoned EFL chaps. I normally teach business subjects, but we had a bit of a shakeup at my uni. The former FT kind of screwed up by having first year students listen to him reading Plato and Socrates. They revolted, went to the dean and got him replaced. He also didn't respectt them and their culture. Because I just happened to be standing in the wrong place at the right time, I got the job of taking over the class.

Right now, I'm simply having them listen to me and have asked them to tell me where they were born and what their parents do. Then I showed them "Shanghai Noon." They seemed to like that a lot.....better than Greek philosophers in white dresses carrying on about "Arguments" or "Republics," I suppose.

One OP gave me a great idea and that was to ask them who they'd like to have dinner with if they'd had the chance. I'm going to try that, but after that I'm short of ideas.

Class size is 22. Smart kids, but some are quite lite on English.

HELP!!!!!!!!!!!

[Roger]

Maybe your ideas of "teaching" are not congruent enough with a regular teacher's ideas!

First thing: what makes you so cocksure your predecessor "didn't respect your students' culture"?
Why is reading aloud Plato "wrong"?

Why is engaging in chitchat so smart?

I wouldn't ask you these questions had you not claimed to be "teaching" at a univeristy! But universities usually churn out adults, not minors talking about dinner in English!

The best advice I can offer you is: to subject your students to MORE listening, and listening to mature stuff! And teach them to act as adults!

That doesn't mean you have to read aloud Plato or some such. But you will have to modify your lessons to turn your students into grown-ups that talk about things that adults generally talk about. And, first of all, you must teach them to LISTEN and UNDERSTAND what others are saying.

[latefordinner]

Now I was a big fan of classical philosophy when I was in uni (and Plato wasn't quite yesterday's man, dinosaurs ruled, etc), but I'm more than a little sympathetic to the claim that it's not quite apropriate for EFL work. Or I would be, if it weren't coupled with the strange "didn't respect the culture" line. That one rings alarm bells.

Roger:

[ChinaMovieMagic]

For some solid suggestions, check out:

www.teachingenglish.org.uk/think/think.shtml
www.winwenger.com

Also, check out the "Promoting Change" thread ABOVE in China Job-Related. Do you have access to DVD?

Good luck!

[cujobytes]

Roger