Job Discussion Forums

Jetgirly · Joined: 17 Jul 2004 Posts: 741

What do you do when you have students in your class who are absolutely terrible at speaking English, but have plans to go out and teach it in the very near future? Are you harder on them than your other students? Do you feel a compelling urge to sit them down and talk some sense into them? Do you try to share your teaching philosophy with them? Do you think it's better that their future students will get some form of English education than none at all?

naturegirl321 · Joined: 04 May 2003 Posts: 9041 Location: home sweet home

Usually if they're no good, they fail the course. That deters them.

shuize · Joined: 04 Sep 2004 Posts: 1270

Justin Trullinger · Posted: Mon May 14, 2007 10:09 pm Post subject:

What about the ones who are now working as English teachers, but have only a tangential relationship with the workings of the language?

In Latin America, this is very common. I'm serious about trying to offer them the support they need to improve, but I try not to blame the individual- the whole system is at fault. Many have degrees in ENglish, after all...

I've known some Spanish majors in the US and the UK who were, in theory, qualified to teach the language...but spoke it in ways that were probably an insult to the language itself.

I'd be frank with your student, about what he or she needs to get to a point to be able to teach.

But understand, your students have probably been taught by some who were even worse.

Best,
Justin

william wallace · Joined: 14 May 2003 Posts: 2869 Location: in between

So it's not just in China...hmm?

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

dreadnought · Joined: 10 Oct 2003 Posts: 82 Location: Sofia, Bulgaria

I remember working at a summer school in England and teaching a high-beginner/elementary class. It was the first day and we were going round the class doing some basic introductions. There was a very sweet Japanese lady with impenetrable pronunciation who told everyone her name in stuttering English and then said she was a teacher. I naturally responded, 'oh, like me' and then asked her what she taught. I had to ask her to repeat her answer a few times as I couldn't quite work out what she was saying. My jaw dropped a little when I realised she was saying 'English'.

On a more serious note, I think it's easy to be critical of teachers who don't have a substantial grasp of the language. Remember though, most students don't have the luxury of choice when it comes to their English lessons, particularly if they live in rural areas. Any teacher who's willing to at least try to be an English teacher deserves a little encouragement. To be honest, many of them won't be teaching much beyond elementary level and their English may be good enough for that.

coffeedrinker · Joined: 30 Jul 2006 Posts: 149

It's an interesting dilemma...there are probably plenty of people teaching who shouldn't be. I'm sure we all agree that teaching is not just about mastering the subject matter - it's about what you do in the classroom - but it's hard to go too far with this argument when the subject in question is a language, and one that many people do speak well as a second or third one. The situation in the original post sounds like an extreme one.

That said - and I can only say this in the context I know - teaching in a language school - I don't know that special pressure on that student, or trying to teach them your philosophy - is a good move. Again in my context, one or two classes with me is unlikely to give me the authority or whatever in the student's view to change their career plan of teaching, or to counter what they've learned in their 10+ years of education. If they fail by the same standards as everyone else is held to - as naturegirl says that can be a message in itself.