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

Are you as frustrated with this as I am?! One of the first things that I do with a new class is tell them that I want them to tell me if they don't understand something. All they have to do is raise their hands and ask, and I will gladly answer their questions. I find someone who speaks the language, where I am Chinese, and have them write it in Chinese and one of the students reads this.
But no, instead, they pursist in whispering to their neighbors, staring in space, and simply looking confused instead of asking a question. And it disrupts the whole classes and down right ticks me off.
Is this a Chinese face thing? I hate it. Good thing I only have a class a day with adults and the rest are kids who gladly tell you if they don't understand.

Canuck2112 · Joined: 13 Jun 2003 Posts: 239

I have a similar problem in Japan with some of my adult classes. This whole "face saving" BS (and that's exactly what it is...BS) is not condusive to learning a new language. I've told them, repeatedly, ANY time there is something they don't understand to let me know. No luck whatsoever. This even happens to me in private classes.

My younger kids are much better though in this respect.

guest of Japan · Joined: 28 Feb 2003 Posts: 1601 Location: Japan

You get used to it.

grahamb · Joined: 30 Apr 2003 Posts: 1945

Many adults simply don't like admitting that they don't understand. Face-saving is not BS; it's simply part of the culture. It happened to me a lot when I was teaching in Spain. I'd ask one girl a question and nine times out of ten she'd turn to her neighbour and say ?Que ha dicho?
One way of checking whether or not the students have understood is to ask them to repeat your instructions before they start a task. If you ask them "Do you understand?" they'll all nod their heads automatically, even if they haven't got a clue what's going on.

shmooj · Joined: 11 Sep 2003 Posts: 1758 Location: Seoul, ROK

Naturegirl and Canuck - have you never ever learned a language in a group setting. Takes guts to raise your hand and effectively say "Hey, I'm a slow moron. Can you waste everyone else's time and go over this one more time just for me."

At least that's how I feel in that setting and I don't have any of this face saving BS to fall back on either.

Gee some of the recent threads show some intolerance to things from the students' POVs. Perhaps we all need to get out a bit more people Wink

schminken · Posted: Mon Feb 02, 2004 2:17 pm Post subject:

Naturegirl I agree with grahamb and shmooj here.

I teach Austrians and I consider them to be advanced students. I always give them the "Tell me if you don't understand. It's ok." speech and I get these looks too. Actually there are two tactics: the "If I stare at the ceiling, maybe she won't call on me tactic" or the ever popular "Just nod like you understand even when you don't" plan of action.

Why? It does take guts to raise your hand and say something in another language in front of your friends and classmates. These are people who work together in German in every other (technical) subject and are worried about looking stupid or not being perfect.

johnslat · Posted: Mon Feb 02, 2004 3:12 pm Post subject: To Noah Veil

Too true. There were lots of times when I couldn't even BUY a question in Riyadh (and I actually did offer 5 riyals for one on many occasions). This, despite the fact that I always gave a little mini-speech at the beginning of every session to each class on the IMPORTANCE of asking if something wasn't understood. Nobody wants to look "dumb" in front of his peers, and all my claims that it was NOT asking that was dumb were usually to no avail. It's a universal problem, I think.
Regards,
John

Canuck2112 · Joined: 13 Jun 2003 Posts: 239

shmooj · Joined: 11 Sep 2003 Posts: 1758 Location: Seoul, ROK

Canuck, I'M not saying that all slow students are morons - don't get me wrong. What I am saying is that raising your hand is tantamount to waving a flag saying "I'm a slow moron" in the eyes of others. PRivate lessons are great but some of us slow morons can't afford them. We feel very very self-conscious about our slowness and hate to draw attention to the fact. In fact, sometimes, the private option just confirms my moronic status as a language learner

"Hey what happened to Shmooj?"
"Him? Oh, I dunno, he took a private class."
"Guess he couldn't hack the pace then."
"Yeah, he'll be better off in a private class."

Hey everyone, to put another spin on this - what the heck is wrong with students not understanding clearly in a communicative setting anyway. A well designed and set up activity should have enough in it so that students who are half clueless can manage something at least through peer work, negotiation etc Often I doN't wait for full comprehension of something - I just throw them in there with enough support to simply have a go without worrying and try to create an atmosphere of trust so they feel bolder as the weeks go by. Seems to work. Students who start off as jelly seem to set with time until they can cope with not knowing everything and understanding everything. Surely this is a vital meta-skill to develop.

lozwich · Joined: 25 May 2003 Posts: 1536

khmerhit · Posted: Mon Feb 02, 2004 6:43 pm Post subject:

Interesting thread.

In my humble experience, there are also certain nationalities that don't like to betray their lack of comprehension--most notably the French and the (southern) English. Why this is, I don't really understand....
regards
khmerhit Question

Capergirl · Posted: Tue Feb 03, 2004 12:16 am Post subject:

I just gave my students the whole "it's your responsibility to ask questions when you don't understand something" speech again today. They have a TOEIC test coming up in a few days so if anything needs clarification, the onus is on them to get that clarification. I told them that I am not a mind-reader. How can I help them if they don't tell me they are having difficulties? (I stopped just short of doing my Jerry Maguire impression..."help me help you"...lol)

I think I got through to them, though. They were quite forthcoming with the questions today and we appear to have made some real headway. *sigh* Only three days to go.... Confused

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

I learned Spanish and Sign in a group setting. And I"m currently learning Chinese. If I don't understand, I ask, becuase I know that I will only get more confused and I know that many times, other people in my class don't uderstand either.

struelle · Joined: 16 May 2003 Posts: 2372 Location: Shanghai

Kurochan · Joined: 01 Mar 2003 Posts: 944 Location: China

What I did because of this was from time to time, I'd ask the students to tell me what one of the key words I had said was in Chinese, or to repeat the directions to me in Chinese. That way I KNEW if they understood or not (even if you don't understand Chinese it works, because if they don't understand, they usually don't say anything, or finally admit they're confused). I think that made them kind of mad, though.