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[ghost]

Hello. Any ideas for teaching Oral English classes to groups of around 35 students, most of whom are English majors (future English teachers)?

This is an average University in a provincial city so the students are what one would expect from a place like this, and nothing negative about that statement.

There is a book for the class, but I think I need supplementary materials as the books are often not of interest to many of the students. Students often want 'activities' - but not quite sure what kind of activities are best?

Thank you.

Ghost in China

[esl_prof]

1a. Bring in newspaper or web articles on current events (keep the articles short and simple as this is not a reading class) and have students work in small groups to read and discuss the topics. 1b. Alternatively, bring in half a dozen or so different articles on the same topic. Assign a different article to each small group and, then, jigsaw the groups, so that they can share what they've learned with each other.

2. The old standbys -- skits, role plays, debates, oral presentations.

3. In lieu of formal oral presentations (stand in front of the class and give a speech to your peers), I have students put together poster presentations on a designated research topic. Then, on presentation day, we set up posters around the room. Half the students stand next to their posters while the other half rotates and asks questions. Half way through the class, we swap roles. Rather than giving a stilted formal presentation, this gives students the opportunity to share their research with each other in an informal, conversational fashion. And by answering the same types of questions over and over and over again, they get a lot more practice. For English majors, you might ask everybody to present on a favorite short story or novel. But other topics (e.g., current events, endangered species, etc.) could be interesting as well.

Okay, this should be enough to keep you busy for the next class session or two. Have fun!

[esl_prof]

Oh, yes, and Google is your friend! Try doing a search on "conversation activities for academic ESL"

[ghost]

Thank you and I appreciate your feedback as I am new to this country (although I worked in Taiwan back in 2005-2006/ some similarities) and appreciate any feedback or suggestions for possible interesting classes, activities that you may have.

One challenge I face here is that many of the students (mostly female) lack the confidence to talk in a clear and confident manner, and this means that (sometimes) their peers lose interest in what they are saying.

But I think that with some of the activities that have been suggested by you, I will manage to find something of interest.

Ghost in China

[esl_prof]

One technique that I was encouraged to use while teaching in Puerto Rico (and, occasionally, continue to use with groups who are shy here in the U.S.) is to require students who are listening to presentations to ask questions, either as part of their grade or for extra-credit. That, then, forces them to listen to their peers who are presenting so that they can respond with intelligent questions.

Another technique that I've used on occasion is the talking stick (alternatively, you could toss a hackey sack, a ball, or stuffed animal around the room). For overly enthusiastic groups, it serves to quiet everyone down as only the person with the talking stick is allowed to speak. In contrast, it forces shy groups to speak up because the person with the talking stick is required to speak.

Kicking off each class session with an interactive ice-breaker also goes a long way towards setting the tone.

Good luck, and please keep us posted on what works best for you![/i]

[roadwalker]

I found that skits like a news broadcast or television advertisement worked well (have an everybody speaks rule). The shy ones had to be coaxed to face toward the class at times, but there's safety in groups. There's a game in the idea cookbook section on daves called "alibi" and involves keeping your story straight versus police interrogations. It was very popular whenever I used it. It takes a bit of explaining at first but the students soon catch on.
http://www.eslcafe.com/idea/index.cgi?display:927874509-10974.txt[/url]

[spiral78]

[esl_prof]

Excellent suggestions, Spiral! Thanks! I can implement some of these in my current Academic Listening and Speaking class immediately.

Upon further reflection regarding the OPs request for "activities," another idea that comes to mind is to simply spend some time on structured pronunciation and spoken grammar practice. In other words, focus on the sub-skills that will help students speak with more clarity in conversation or formal presentations. Having done that, those sub-skills could be reinforced by using some of Spiral's helpful suggestions above while having students do more formal presentations.

[MozartFloyd]

Talk shows are great. I often act as the host for the first one. I pretend as though we're on TV and I'm the host. I use drama and charisma saying we're going to have a talk show to discuss some topic like movies. Everyone likes movies, right, I say. Then I start calling students one by one to the front of the class. They aren't always prepared, which can be great. It's up to you to keep the drama going. I then ask them questions as though we're on TV.

Often I'll have a topic like shopping, which the boys don't like. I invite them to the front of the class and ask them what they like about shopping. Having the boy's negative feedback makes it more interesting.

As others said: role plays are great, games of all kinds that get students to forget they're in class. If you can help them to have fun, half the battle is over. I also make participation part of their grade and this makes inactive students more active.

I've also done quiz shows; a bit like the American TV show Family Feud. I use grammar questions: writing, spelling, multiple choice which can all be found on Google. I have a bell in the middle of my desk with a student on either side of it. When I ask the question, the student who knows the answer and rings the bell first will get points for their team.

The ultimate key is to make things interesting and fun. There's lots of different games and ideas on the internet that you can adapt to your situation if you're clever. There's also lots of great games on this website and I've utilized many of them over the years.

Best of luck.

[spiral78]

I believe that much/most of the research into language learning indicates that co-operative tasks are more productive than competitive ones, actually. Though of course if one's always dreamed of being a game show host....

[buravirgil]

[spiral78]

[MozartFloyd]

[spiral78]

I don't know how large your classes are, but it's highly likely there are a significant percentage of your students who totally dread being in the spotlight at the front of your room, before all their peers, poised to ring a bell, and secretly sure they're going to eff it up and be humiliated in front of all their classmates. Particularly if it means their 'team' loses.

[7969]