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John Hall · Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2007 2:24 am Post subject: Student Feeling Inferior

Here is one of my current teaching problem situations:

In a company class of 4 students, one is an eighteen-year-old secretary, and the others are all about twice her age. It's a beginner class. All the students are female and speak Spanish, but other than that, the secretary has little in common with the others. She is shy, a bit reticent, and obviously feels quite inferior to the Department Heads that she is taking the class with. I also get the impression that she is a young woman who has felt intellectually inferior to others throughout her education. She has learned some English since the course began, but is a slower learner than the others. Obviously, she dreads feeling like the dummy in the class, and is sensitive about that.

Recently, she has not attended that many classes. When she last came to class, she got kind of defensive. We were doing a basic lesson of answering the telephone, and explaining that someone was not in the office. After a choral drill that sounded rather mechanical, I asked the students to say it with the "emotion" that a secretary would use. I asked the secretary to say it in the way that she would say it, and I got an answer in Spanish. No, she could not say it that way because she was not in that situation now. She could only say it with the real feeling if she were actually in the real situation; imitation was not possible for her.

Most of the time, of course, Spanish is not permitted in the class (though I do break that rule occasionally). So, what she said was a little bit defiant, and the other students picked up on that.

So where do I go from here? Everybody please hit me with as much advice as you can!

rusmeister · Joined: 15 Jun 2006 Posts: 867 Location: Russia

The fact that she is a social inferior in the same company as the others (I gather) makes integration really really difficult. She could stand to lose her job if she got too familiar with the bosses, or face being hit on by a much older man (who again, might be able to have her fired), etc. She's 18, so really young. You have to guide the situation, and should probably not put too much attention or pressure on her.

In that kind of situation, I don't force more from the students than they are willing to give. If they attend long enough, they will eventually start talking because they will be tired of being quiet and will eventually realize that they CAN imitate you and not look like idiots in doing so, although if you can encourage them to laugh at themselves (you have to set the example there) you will really speed up the process.

If you try to force them to act in ways they feel REALLY uncomfortable with, they won't want to play ball and you could eventually lose the group.

wildchild · Joined: 14 Nov 2005 Posts: 519 Location: Puebla 2009 - 2010

I'm sure you have talked to the young lady to see how she feels about the class/situation?

What are her and your options? Are you able to give her private lessons? Would that make her feel more comfortable? What does she have to say about the situation? Are you able to accomodate her?

ryuuga · Joined: 13 Mar 2007 Posts: 7

Introverts like to observe people, so trying to get her involved might be a bit intimidating to her. Although this may not be the case, she probably learns simply through observing others. I have a slight feeling that you may be wrong about her feeling inferior to others. She may be trying to portray herself as inferior and try not to draw as much attention to herself. Usually, quiet people tend to be a lot less emotional when doing certain things. This does not mean they don't have emotions, but that they maybe do not like to express that emotion. Hopefully that helps a bit.

EDIT:
See if she seems to be more comfortable when she is not included in some of the activities. Although language is a very verbal subject, it does not alway need to be practiced verbally. I would suggest being a little less concerned and try talking to her when there aren't as many students in the class.(end of the period if she is the last to walk out) Try not to "put a spotlight" on her, it will most likely make her uncomfortable.

Sheikh Inal Ovar · Joined: 04 Dec 2005 Posts: 1208 Location: Melo Drama School

She might not be that comfortable with a teacher who interprets a reversion to L1 as an act of defiance ...

coffeedrinker · Joined: 30 Jul 2006 Posts: 149

I've been in company situations where people are at different levels in the company, and it's always tough when something like that happens. They all have to deal with each other for the rest of the day, after the class, and after the eventual end of the class too, so it's going to be hard for you as a newcomer to the situation to do much.

I understand the point about talking to her (privately, I assume the post meant) but while I think that might work in a regular group to some extent...I'm skeptical about how effective it will be among a group of officemates who already know each other to some extent and have to deal with each other a LOT or in matters other than the English class. To a student in a group of random learners, I can say "It doesn't matter what the others think" but I wouldn't presume to know that about the situation for one person in an office. In an office situation, it does usually matter what your boss thinks, and especially if the secretary herself is choosing to be more reserved, I'd worry about creating an awkward situation that could have very real effects on their work situation.

In general, I'd try to give her confidence and encourage her to participate more indirectly than directly - and in this situation, I wouldn't want to single her out. Sometimes it just happens that some people are less confident or less open and while you can contribute to shaping the environment, you really can't control it all yourself.

gaijinalways · Joined: 29 Nov 2005 Posts: 2279

Sheikh Inal Ovar

ls650 · Joined: 10 May 2003 Posts: 3484 Location: British Columbia

The OP used the role playing situation of being a secretary - and then started to tell the secretary how to do her job differently! Naturally she took it as criticism and was offended. Has the OP talked privately to the student about this?

If she is lacking in ability when compared with the others, she should probably not be in the same class as them. Talk to the school and see if she can be put into a more appropriate class.

Sheikh Inal Ovar · Joined: 04 Dec 2005 Posts: 1208 Location: Melo Drama School

spiral78 · Joined: 05 Apr 2004 Posts: 11534 Location: On a Short Leash

I think it's common for us, as teachers, to feel solely responsible for classroom dynamics, but in fact we can only affect them to some extent.

I'd suggest that in a case like this, the other three students have some responsibility (even if it's only a social one) to help this weaker one fit in, even if it's just for lesson time and she has to revert to her 'lesser' status afterwards.

I also think that, as teachers of adult learners, we need to be respectful of our students approaches to learning. I agree with the above poster that this person's being perceived as too quiet or unresponsive in class may not indicate that she isn't learning as she should.

I wouldn't put her on the spot, and I wouldn't feel that the dynamics of this difficult class are solely my responsibility. And I'd try to respect the learning style of each member - I'd let her be as passive as she wishes, and as the other members of the group will allow.

If you're using a teacher-centred approach in this class, the dynamics may not change, but if you're using significant pair and group work among the four of them, their one-to-one contact with the secretary may change things, as they get to know her a bit better as a person and language student like them. I'd try using team and group tasks, without teacher participation, as much as possible with a group like this.

rusmeister · Joined: 15 Jun 2006 Posts: 867 Location: Russia

Agree with spiral's post completely.

Excellent post!

Justin Trullinger · Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2007 3:37 pm Post subject:

Maybe it's not defiance, but just defensiveness. And if so, it's a pretty natural response to feeling at a disadvantage and put on the spot.

At work, she's inferior to the other students.

In English, she also feels inferior.

Not surprising, imho, that she winds up not wanting to show weakness. (By talking, exposing errors, etc.)

What are her strengths? How can you build on this? How can you encourage her? (Often, I find secretaries, who are used to taking notes on phone conversations, to be the strongest in the class on listening exercises. If this is the case, make a point of noticing it! Build her up!)

Also, be aware that as a sylable timed language, Spanish simply doesn't have all the ups and downs that we associate with emotion in English. Maybe trying to show "feeling" in English sounds ridiculous or embarassing to her? She wouldn't be the first...

All the best,
Justin

spiral78 · Joined: 05 Apr 2004 Posts: 11534 Location: On a Short Leash

Justin, I think your motivation is totally pure, but as a rather passive, quiet learner myself, I'd just close down more if I became the target of an obvious 'build the student up' effort.

I still think that the key is to create enough group work for her to begin to feel part of the group - the teacher isn't the primary source of confidence in belonging to a class - it's more fellow classmates, particularly in a situation of social/workplace inequality.

Margot73 · Joined: 16 Feb 2007 Posts: 145 Location: New York City

I think it was a bad idea to draw attention to the fact that she is a secretary. If she is already self conscious about her relative position with the higher ups in the company, emphasizing it class is not going to help. I would avoid this topic in the future. Just let her be for a couple of classes and see how it goes. I wouldn't bring it up with her yet, if at all.

Justin Trullinger · Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2007 5:46 pm Post subject:

Who said anything about obvious? I do think that acknowledging a weak student's strengths is a good idea. I certainly didn't mean to suggest calling unnecessary attention to her, though- your point is well taken in that respect.

I wouldn't mention job positions much in the classroom either- I only meant that her strengths should be acknowledged. I don't know her, but have observed in many cases that secretaries, probably from taking so many phone messages, are often strong at listening exercises. (Partly, I suppose, because the multi tasking involved in listening and writing at the same time is a skill that they already have down.) But I wouldn't say "Because you are a secretary..." I'd probably just say "well done."

Best,
Justin