Job Discussion Forums

[fox1]

Hi,

Help! I'm not sure what I should teach these kids.

They are really low, with an attention span of about 2 seconds, and they can barely answer "What are you doing?".

But I get the vibe from the Japanese teachers, and their awful textbook, that they want me to teach horribly complicated stuff like: "It would have made me so happy to have realized you were impressed by my lunch."

I don't know whether to teach simple conversation skills starting with the simple present, simple continuous, etc. and build a foundation, or do as the Japanese teachers and "impart" complicated stuff that the kids don't have a hope of producing themselves.

[Nismo]

Are you a JET? I don't think you'll have much say over what's taught in the classroom, if that's the case. You can try and offer suggestions to the JTE. Request a short pop-quiz (it's imperative that students not be given the chance to study before it) on what the students "should know" from the very beginning steps of English to the current topic in the text book. Whatever they can't do, they obviously need to review.

In this case, it's probably best to preempt the request by making the test yourself, and then submitting it as an example to the JTE when you suggest it being administered.

Don't hope for much, as it really seems like the material to be taught is predetermined and inflexible, so even if the JTE wanted to go back and review the basics, they simply can't do it.

[markle]

I've never been an ALT but is it possible to negotiate some time to teach the kids the basics of conversation. Simple stuff like, greetings, apologies, compliments, etc. In the class give the students basic models to use and then get them to do it themselves. When negotiating with the JTE try to emphasise that you are teaching 'conversation' rather than going over basic grammar.

[fox1]

I'm a T-NET.. you know, alt, jet, net, t-net, whatever.

I am free to teach them whatever I want, for the whole 50 minutes I should add.

So far, OK I guess. I try to get these (mostly) guys, (unwilling to use L2 it's fair to say), to get up and move around and take on characters, etc.

I'd like to get a ball park idea of what I want the students to say.

I come from a conversation school background, and I want them to be able to communicate: "What do you like to do?", "Do you have a cell phone?", "Is it expensive?", "How much is it?", "What do you do on weekends"?, etc, etc. and, of course, really use the language to suit their interests.

But I don't know if I'm on the right track..

[azarashi sushi]

I taught some low(ish) level high school students a couple of years ago and had a lot of success using the books "Now You're Talking" and "Talk A Lot". It's fairly simple conversation type stuff and well laid out, I thought.

[Glenski]

Face it. Foreigners' main responsibility is to provide listening practice and give oral communication opportunities. Don't even think about using such complex language as you wrote originally.

Give them chances to interact. You should speak about 10-20% of the time. Have them do surveys or info gaps. Do BINGO to review vocabulary (PM me for details). Get them to do things in small groups so that you don't embarrass individuals in front of the whole class. Use realia. Don't neglect listening skills, so show video clips or play audio clips for practice.

Just keep it simple and enjoyable. Serious will kill the moment and your chances of much success.

[fluffyhamster]

[Glenski]