Job Discussion Forums

[leeroy]

After "Lucy", a DELTA trainee, had drawn a picture of a postman, elicited his job and responsibilities, had eye contact with every student in the room (and ensured that she was speaking in a suitably soft, unthreatening, easily comprehendible voice) she then proceeded to kneel down on the floor and place other cartoon pictures of jobs on the ground, gesturing to each one eliciting some more. Every time a student miraculously identified a policewoman, chef or teacher there would be vigorous nods of approval, with "good!" or "excellent!" thrown in for good measure. This might have been over the top, as they were Pre-Advanced.

"Irene" taught a learner-training lesson, with the help of a video, to an Elementary class. The point was that if you can't understand the words of an advertisment, then you can listen to other sounds to guess what its about. The student correctly ascertained that the sound of a phone ringing meant that the ad was for phones, and later that a camera clicking and winding was for cameras. What the f* this had to do with teaching English I don't know - but both lessons passed.

A learner-training book recommends that students spend the first few minutes of class discussing with each other some new words that they have learnt recently - and how they feel this has affected their confidence as learners of English. Perhaps this could be followed by group therapy sessions for every time someone mis-uses an article - and "discover your inner child" sessions when covering the past tenses.

Maybe this is a female/male thing.

I can't stand this "touchy-feely b*llocks" (a phrase coined by another, male, colleague).

Wearing hats in the classroom, realia, learner training, soft and high-pitched voices, "gooood!", all of it. I don't feel "proud" of my student if he writes a really good essay - similarly I'm not "dissapointed" if they fare badly in an exam. I see these things objectively. In short, on an affective level, I don't care about my students at all. It sickens me when I hear teachers of adults referring to their role as something parental! ("Oh we have such a responsibility..." To do what? Bang out some grammar and speaking exercises?) My role as a teacher is to improve my students' communicative abilities in English. It is possible to do this without cuddling them.

Unfortunately, not all students agree.

Yuki: "Teacher... i hab plobrem for spikking..."
Leeroy: "OK, we'll cover some of that today"
Yuki: "Is difficult! I feel sad because spikking.."

So Yuki feels sad. It may sound very callous and uncaring of me but I don't care about the feeling sad part, it's the "l"s, "r"s and long and short vowels that interest me more.

So this is a call to arms! Let's end all the touchy-feely rubbish right now!

[Canuck2112]

I agree about 99% with what you're saying. In an teenager/adult class, I never, ever do anything remotely "touchy feely". They aren't stupid (many are incredibly bright), and they'd see through my facade immediately, making them feel awkward and making me feel like a complete knob. If they perform exceptionally well, I'll commend them for it, but I have no time for romper room spoon-feeding.

It's still possible to have a laid back, fun class without the high toned "Goooood!" remarks though. We all crack jokes and have a great time, and they also learn alot without me acting like Tickle me Elmo every time they get a correct answer.

My 1% disagreement is with my childrens classes, in particular my 2 year olds. I HAVE to act like a nitrous-huffing muppet in those classes, or the kids start bawling their eyes out and trashing the room. Enthusiastic tones and facial expressions (the latter is key) are needed in these classes IMO.

[denise]

I agree maybe 80%. I do care about my students' moods, but my goal is fairly clear: to prepare them to take university classes in America. There are several very well-defined skills that they need, and we all have to keep pushing them. I do try to be sensitive to their learning styles, give praise where it is deserved, etc., etc., but hell, they've got to learn to cite, paraphrase, give speeches, think critically, etc., whether they like it or not. That's why they're here.

In a different context--teaching younger students (which I probably wouldn't do anyway) or teaching conversation classes--I might be more touchy-feely, but in my current job it would feel completely inappropriate.

Come on, now--group hug!

d

[Capergirl]

I do encourage students and give genuine praise when they perform exceptionally well - no oohing and aahing, just a little comment to tell them that I was impressed with their reading/speaking/writing skill at that particular time. I'm not like your colleagues, though, Leeroy. If my students were young children, I might praise them just a bit more often but only if they seemed to need a little extra push/pull. My adult students don't want to be patronized. They are all very educated, intelligent folks and would read the "touchy-feely" attitude as condescending (and rightly so, I suppose). Only babies need to be babied.

[shmooj]

While I did cringe at the extent of the approaches you outline Leeroy I do disagree with your approach quite a bit.

The people you teach are human beings and can no more disassociate their feelings and other affective factors from their language learning experience than they can physically leave their brain at home (no matter what impression they might give!) What they feel will directly affect how they learn. If your aim is to increase their communicative ability you will have to deal with issues relating to confidence, motivation, fear, etc. Even you as a native speaker know how these can affect your own production in English. How much more so a student.

I think you are mistaken not to take into account affective factors when you teach students. I think they suffer for it. I wonder if it possibly threatens you to have to deal with someone wearing their heart on their sleeve because to acknowledge this might mean you have to be a bit more transparent about your feelings too.

Just a stab in the dark. Hope I didn't hurt your feelings

[leeroy]

[guest of Japan]

Shmooj captured my feelings on this issue as well. I cringe when I see a teacher treat adults as if they were children, but it's also very important to try to be in tune with the emotions of the students.

[shmooj]

Glad to hear you do have some strategies for affective issues. OP sounded like you didn't care if they learned or burned