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[SnoopBot]

Do this:

1st week Assessment- use generic Introduction for all students.

Introduce yourself - simplified version

Students introduce themselves - then when complete you introduce yourself - detailed version- and allow free questions.

Give the rules and regulations, talk about second language acquisition and the importance of language linguistics - simplified

Give out a listening and oral ability progress sheet- this to be used and brought to each class.

1st assignment = give at least 5 topics that THEY want to talk about in class.

-------------------------------------
2nd week
1. Complete assignment baseline to set the tone and pace, develop topics from the 5 topics each student wants to discuss.

Benchmarks/goals
develop language listening ability
use methods to overcome L2 ego problems to secure the L2 identity.
Start the topics


3rd - week continue from week 2

Start activities
-----------------------------------------------
4th week

Do an assessment using their oral and listening self-critique sheets.

Start to reinforce L2 by doing group presentation work
limit listening building and start oral based presentations

later weeks-start single oral based presentations, slang and common error drills

Increase activities and group work

Optional- debates- plays, sensitive issues, team building and confidence exercises.



Something like this above can be used.


Major points:

-Assessment so the course is at the correct learning level
- Explanation is given on the psychology of human L2 acquisition (Why, How,)
-Confidence building tools to promote USING English
-Breaking down cultural and shyness barriers while speaking English
-Public Speaking skills
-Reflective analysis for learning and teaching
-Benchmarks met or adjusted
-Advanced Language usage
-Leadership skill-sets promoted
-Creativity and imagination skills utilized by various activities


You end up with a well-rounded student that is not afraid to speak English, voice their opinions, debate or discuss ideas, use creativity in language, learns how to reflective analyze their weak points and correct them, is a team player, can communicate ideas well, can show leadership skills in l2 and provide management or job input in English.

I prepare my students for the real world of business and try my best to give them the confidence and knowledge to improve using English as a skill for work or career, incorporating independent thought.

I use various activities to build these skills

Totally different from the Chinese system of repetition learning or test taking.

Your students levels might be lower or higher so you can adjust your pedagogy, benchmarks, goals, and activities for each class.


The things you can do are endless once you get a good feel and experience in this area.

I highly suggest reading or taking courses designed for TESOL written at the graduate degree or higher level. Having a good knowledge of human language and second language acquisition , assessment and reflective teaching principles, L1/L2 language markers, linguistics, behavioral language development, language psychology, history of languages, cognitive language development, material-courses and design, leadership and management, public speaking.



Good modern books on the topics above will give you some tools to try and use, it also gives you some excitement and width to teaching just Oral English classes. Often the teacher will become bored or stale if they are tasked with only Oral courses. The more you know and the more you stay leading edge the more interesting it will become.

You can design your courses on a scientific approach that gives good results.

As a previous poster commented above, who uses this approach, it is not difficult to become a highly effective teacher in this area.-- Best teacher award ect.

[InTime]

On page 1, there was the description of solo student solo-ing in front of EVERYBODY...
The Poster described said student as

[fitzgud]

Sadly most of the above is reliant on students being capable of independent thought, alas, my students wait to be told exactly what they think. Only then are they prepared to express what they never knew had ever passed through their minds.

You are all so lucky to have such a high level of self motivated young people to teach. I will just have to keep plugging away in my middle school with the absolute basics, and enjoying each and every glimmer of light in their tunnel vision.

But, they are a delight to laugh with, but never to laugh at.

[Katja84]

[arioch36]

[Slick Fox]

Either talk for an hour and allow them to practice their listening skills or treat it like an English Corner.

[sheeba]

[Shan-Shan]

[sheeba]

Well I guess that preparation helps students in mind and in performance.

But I still feel that the big problems students face in terms of erroneous productions in oral class are far better approached via group work. Maybe Shan your students are a better level but I even find my major students I teach have BIG intelligibility problems and for them to stand there at the front is often a BIG pain for everyone.

[Shan-Shan]

I never allow for more than five minute performances, though I do have some colleagues whose entire classes are made up of student presentations (no need for FT to plan) and I can only imagine how frustrating the 90 minutes must pass except for the X number of minutes spent presenting "something".

Decent student performances, aside from entertaining fellow classmates in English and showing each other what is possible even after years of being bolted to a desk, can provide a good opportunity for discussing language itself. In more advanced classes, I've assigned a focus -- for example, pronunciation/vocabulary usage -- to groups of students in the audience. After the presentation/performance is complete, each group prepares a short language report, noting both what was done well and what needs improving, for the performers. This student generated error-correction session gets everyone listening -- in theory -- closely to the performance (from a specific angle) and then discussing language itself without exclusive teacher direction afterwards.

[InTime]

Good thread!!!

Shan-shan

[arioch36]

For 40 students, with 16 teaching weeks, easily gives time for each group (of 4-5) to prepare and perform once. I usually work more closely with the first group to go, which is usually a group that volunteers. The hard way, I found that if the first group doesn't prepare or take it seriously, the rest of the groups will also do poorly, and vice versa. I also have the group prepare a vocabulary and cultural notes to share with the class. My first year in China I stole the idea from a Chinese teacher who did plays in her extensive reading class.
Last year I had English major juniors for writing and movie class (a nice combination). We talked about satire (saw the Simpsons). I didn't consider these students to be very motivated, maybe partly because as sophmores there laowai teacher taught them nothing in writing class. Every group did some pretty good satire on their culture, and compared it to their perceptions of how Americans would act. Didn't increase their grammar much, so perhaps wouldn't help them on a national test (still the using an adverb as an adjective, etc), but a definiteprogress in their ability to communicate fluently.
I let the students judge/grade them, and have found their grades to be similar to what I would give, albeit slightly higher

I would never do more then two or three groups performances in one class. Our attention spans aren't sufficient. Even when I give finals, I always divide the class in half or quarters.

Most students welcome the group performance. I am now sold on groups debating in front of class as well, one group a week, before they all debate in groups

The better students look forward to the chance to give an individual speech.

The worse the student, the less the student prepares, the longer the speech

[sheeba]

1. Lower inhibitions---via role plays/songs/small group work
2. Encourage risk-taking--praise students/give fluency-only exercises
3. Build self-confidence--encourage students, have them make lists of their strengths
4. Develop intrinsic motivation--focus on real-life rewards-for-learning, BEYOND the Exam
5. Promote cooperative learning--via small group work/class-as-a-team
6. Encourage them to use right-brain thinking--use movies&tapes, have them read passages rapidly, do oral fluency exercises without corrections
7. Promote ambiguity tolerance---encourage students to ask teacher/each other questions; keep theoretical answers brief and simple
8. Help them use their intuition ---praise students for good guesses; correct only selected errors, e.g. those interfering w/learning
9.Get students to make their mistakes work FOR them---tape record oral production and get them to identify errors
10.Get students to set their own goals--have them make lists of what they will accomplish in a particular week/lifetime


BELOW ARE THE RELEVANT QUESTIONSTO ASK YOURS TUDENTS>


1, I don't mind if people laugh at me when I speak
vs
I get embarrassed.

2. I like to try new words and structures that I'm not sure of
vs
I like to use only language I am certain of.

3. I feel confident in my ability to succeed in learning this language
vs
I feel quite uncsertain

4. I want to learn this language because of what I can personally gain
vs
I am learning this language because someone else is requiring it.

5. I really enjoy working with other people in groups
vs
I would rather work alone

6. i like to 'absorb' language and get the general 'gist'
vs
I like to analyze the details and understand exactly what is said/written

7. If there is an abundance of language to master, I just try and take things one step at a time
vs
I am very annoyed by an abundance

8. I am not overly conscious of myself when I speak
vs
I 'monitor' myself

9. when I make mistakes, i try to use them to learn something
vs
when i make a mistake, it annoys me because that's a symbol of how poor my performance is.

10. I find ways to continue learning outside the class
vs
I look to the teacher

This test should be done by students ticking boxes a-e

a would suggest the student agrees strongly with the first comment
e would suggest they don't and agree more with the second comment for each number above.

Please do this test on your students and give feedback here so we can all compare. My guess is we'll have similar results but who knows. Perhaps we can then start deciding on strategic techniques suitable for our classes.

I still think Brown misses very important parts- kinasthetic, auditory and listening strategies. I usually add these as questions but any ideas would be welcome.

[sheeba]

May I add that you should emphasise to students that this is NOTa test.

I tell them that if they don't want to write their name on the paper this is fine.

I have just looked at one class of non-majors.

question 1, 6,7 and 8 were of relevance.

Students ticked more C's, D's and E's in these questions.

Now question 1 is very much so linked with Krashen and his affective filter. It's my opinion that students have a problem here and this is why individual presentations are getting the boot in my class(at least this one and I suspect other classes will be similar)

Brown suggests guessing games, communication games, role plays and skits, singing songs, group work(plenty of) and laughing with your students. Sharing fears in SMALL groups is what he suggests and I agree totally.

Question 6 is linked to analyzing language and Brown suggests to encourage right brain processing. He suggests Movies and tapes in class, rapid reading, skimming exercises, rapid 'free writes', talking without being corrected

Question 7 - we need to promote ambiguity tolerance. Just a few rules at a time. Translation CAN and I feel SHOULD be used sometimes . Sorry all you guys that sware by only English in class. does not work IMO.

Question 8 - Help with intuition - Don't explain things. Encourage students to work out stuff for themselves. I throw them the dictionary. Tell them to find out the answer and tell me next lesson.

Let corrections suffice Sir Brown says. Only those that interfere withlearning.

So here is a start . I'll analyse the other results and if anyone is interested I'll tell you the results. I will be interested to see if the majors differ in opinions.

[Katja84]

I agree with those of you that are sceptic of presentations (for them to work the teacher needs to prepare the class so well beforehand), though I do like the less formal variants of letting people speak in class. In one Extensive Reading class we had done a text on Martin Luther King, and afterwards I asked them to get together in groups to re-assemble different sections from his "I have a dream" speech. Finally one person in each group came to the front of the class so that about a fourth of the class were up there in total, and then I made sure they were standing in the right order and they got to deliver his speech collectively. I think this worked quite well in the sense that the person to come up had been picked by their friends and and there were so many people "on stage" doing the speech that even the students from the less confident groups at the back seemed to enjoy it. I guess it is a bit different though since a lot of students who don't like to do presentations do like to read out-loud, since they can focus on just one aspect of language (delivery) and not on the content and the language too...