Job Discussion Forums

[scot47]

Speakers of Chibemba and other families in the Bantu group have difficulties with the distinction between "l" and "r"

When I was teaching in a large secondary school in Zambia the large group of expatriate teachers had problems keeping a straight face at School Assembly when the head announced that we were having a short vacation because of the "General Erection".

I was one of the many thousands of teachers from Britain and elsewhere who found employment in Africa in those heady post-Independence days. That market for teachers has now gone.

[arioch36]

Denise, I am doing something similar in my debate class right now. One group of four (30 students) do a sample debate in front of the class, and the others have to judge, evaluate, comment.

One main problem is the same in any country, I think. There are some students who are always actively listening and paying attention, and there are some students who don't have the discipline or desire to work in class. Overall, though most everyone is working, but I think they would get bored if I do it the rest of the semester. People don't want to listen to thers, just themselves.

I hate the phonetic "alphabet" becuase personally, personally I think it is a crutch that traps their mind and limits them...similar to these electronic dictionaries that I forbid in the classroom.

But hey, I also think students should not be allowed to use calculators when learning beginning math ( do the british really say "maths" ?