Job Discussion Forums

[fladude]

Well some of you may remember the Christian fundamentalist/ native student that I had. I had a problem getting her to write about current event topics outside of her church. Well today I gave her the same assignment but with written instructions which specifically listed the only topics that she could write about. I read the instructions out loud to the class. She complained... but followed the instructions.

I'm not sure why the written instructions worked when the verbal instructions had failed, but for some reason it did. Maybe she just doesn't understand me. Its certainly possible that all this time we have just had a communication issue. I know that I should have given written instructions on day one, but current events just seemed so obvious to me....

Anyway written instructions.... people from different backgrounds may understand them better than oral instructions.

[spiral78]

Simple but brilliant!

I've always given my feedback on presentations in writing (though I might hit a few highlights orally right after the presentation) because I find it increases understanding dramatically (shows up in future presentations).

I give instructions orally, but also sometimes write them on the board while students are getting started or making plans - just to be sure they understand. Depends on the students, level, and complexity of task.

No reason not to give them both channels of communication.

I think it's interesting that none of us considered that she simply might not understand entirely - or that she might consider the written words more authoritative somehow than spoken instructions. I'd be curious what you think made the difference in this case...

[fladude]

I'm really not sure why the written word worked when the spoken did not, but you do raise a good point. Perhaps the fact that the instructions were in writing made them hold more authority to her (like the Bible I suppose). I had tried writing part of the instructions on the board in the past, but it may be that she felt there was some wiggle room there. This time I wrote a very detailed list of instructions. I told her that she "must write about politics, business/economics, entertainment or sports." She honed in on the words "must" She said, "it MUST be about?" And I told her that yes it "MUST" be about one of those topics. She did not like it, but she complied.

She wrote a current event about a suspected terrorist who had been caught and released in the UK. She expressed the opinion that she thought it was crazy that he was being released. She might still be a bit "Fox Newsish" in her world view, but at least she wasn't writing about church.

I am going to call this one a success, at least for today....

[artemisia]

Good to read about this Fladude. Yes, it is interesting that none of us considered it might be a basic comprehension problem. Like Spiral, I often follow up written instructions. Even if students really do understand they often like the security of reading as well as hearing what they need to do. Also interesting the bit about the 'authority' of the written word.

[Glenski]

I had thought you gave written and verbal instructions for this very reason. Have had many cases of the same sort of confusion, even with fairly high level students.

Now we'll just have to see if she complains and disregards your complete instructions in the future.

[fladude]

[mimi_intheworld]

That's kind of fantastic and an apparently simple fix. I'm going to take that away as a little piece of wisdom to remember when I get to my next placement. Thanks for the update, fladude!

[fladude]

This story seems to get stranger and stranger. Tonight after school the girls mother came in for parent teacher conferences, and I decided to broach the church subject (brave I know). Anyway, the mother ended up asking me for advice about how I could help her get her daughter away from her church group. Apparently she recently started going to a Southern Baptist missionary church on her own, or probably through the suggestion of others..... I guess I'm not the only one who thinks she has a problem......

I had assumed the family would all be church zealots but apparently that is far from the truth. I actually think it was one of the teachers at the school who got her so involved in what is clearly a cult like church group. I think that I'm going to talk to the principle about it, although that teacher no longer works here.

Anyway I'm glad to learn that I'm not the only person

[Von Dut]

One thing I have noticed here in China that when speaking (the same words their Chinese teacher uses) they tend to not understand the pronunciation. Maybe it's just them being lazy but I can say something and get blank looks from my students or write it on the board and most understand. They are brought up reading and writing more than speaking.

Back when I was taking my TESOL course one of the things we were taught was to write down, to a certain degree, things you say like instructions. I know it's helped my in my few years here.

Good advice though. Thank you!!

Now if only the chalk didn't dry my hand so bad...

[scot47]

My students are absolutely hopeless about following instructions. No matter how often I bark at them about "READ THE INSTRUCTIONS", they never do !

[nickpellatt]

I recently had bad feedback from a group of German students that related to my instructions. I spoke too slowly when giving them, and by continually asking questions about the instructions (how many questions are you answering/are you working in pairs or groups/are you going to write the answers or spend time discussing them) I made the students feel patronised and stupid.

Good old ICQ's, unpopular ... but none of these students went off and did the wrong thing and all stuck to task instead.

Anyway, good news for you fladude, nice to read a resolution to a sticky situation!

[Glenski]

fladude,
I think you were brave and very lucky in finding out what her parents think. What would have happened if they were just as strongly religious as the girl, though? You might have ended up even deeper in trouble.

Don't talk to the "principle" (principal). Drop it.

[fladude]

Yes I know its principal. I read a lot of financial news and get my mental wires crossed sometimes.

Well sometimes you have to trust your intuition and that's what I did. I spoke with the woman for a good 5 to 10 minutes before I brought the subject up. She seemed like a reasonable woman to me. I broached the subject in a fairly neutral way. The parent responded in a positive way and was quite upset about the girl being so involved in that church. I will still talk to the principal. So far I've judged things right.

I've never really been one to play it safe. If I don't get my contract renewed next year, I'll take it as a sign from the gods that I need to move on.... Besides I have a strong desire to see SE Asia one more time..... and my summer bonus will provide me more than enough to get started.

[Jetgirly]