Job Discussion Forums

[basiltherat]

Hi
During training, I try to give my trainees as many opportunities as possible to converse in English among themselves (group work, problem solving tasks, discussions etc) especially those groups at the more advanced levels. As I listen in and jot down any problems that might need to be discussed post-task, I am often astounded by their ability to communicate among themselves in English with few , if any, structural or other mistakes. So much so that I find myself having to pick up on what some of us might regard as problems of little consequence.
However, and it's a big 'however', when they are chatting with me - a native speaker - post lesson, I am similarly astounded by their inability to communicate with me in English as well as they are able to among themselves.
Do any of you experience this to any great extent ?
basil

[Guy Courchesne]

I often experienced the same thing. I am assuming you are a native-speaker and your students were not. I chalk it up to classroom pressures to perform, even outside the class as students stop and stutter while trying to be more precise. Even outside the class, you are still Teacher.

[Twisting in the Wind]

I agree with Guy here. Your ss have performance anxiety when speaking to you, the omnipotent native speaker-teacher.

Is this something that troubles you?

If it's something that really bugs you, or is really obvious, I suggest the following approach:

If you can speak their language, which I would assume is Arabic, and if you can get away with it without getting in trouble with the school, call a time out in the class and speak to them in Arabic of your struggles in learning/trying to learn that foreign language. If you don't speak Arabic or just a few words, speak all you can. Your ss will probably laugh at you, but may (hopefully) laud your efforts. This will hopefully relax them and show them that they're not alone in trying to learn a foreign language, and that you empathize with their experiences...I used this approach with hispanic language learners at times, and it really got them relaxed and more comfortable with me. They began to see me not as just this alien being, the teacher, who could not empathize with their efforts at all, but as someone who has struggled, as they are now.

If you are already fluent in Arabic, maybe there's another language you only know a few words in that you can speak to them. The point is to show them what I said above, that they shoudn't be afraid of you because you're really more alike than different.