Job Discussion Forums

[Little Algebra]

Is teaching to beginning level students easier or more difficult than teaching to higher than beginning level students? Why? Is there more demand in U.S. for teaching beginning level students? Are the skills much different between teaching to beginning level and higher than beginning level?

Little Algebra

[denise]

I think different teachers have different preferences. For beginning students, I'd say go easy on the grammar instruction (or at least, be gentle with it!) so as not to confuse or intimidate them. You may have to monitor your own speech a bit more for the beginners as well (keeping in mind, though, that if you speak unnaturally slowly and clearly, your language may be less authentic and will not match what they'll hear on the streets).

I personally prefer teaching more advanced students, because I like getting them to analyze their own language and correct their own mistakes--less proficient students might not have the language ability or the "training" to do these things. One of the reasons that I've heard for preferences for beginning students is that they can be more enthused/motivated. At the most basic level, if a student comes into your classroom only knowing five words of English, and you teach him/her five more, he or she (damn, it's annoying having to be so p.c.! from now on, I will say "him"), has doubled his vocabulary--an instant and noticeable change. More advanced students might not see their improvements quite as easily, and thus might not feel like they're really progressing.

I don't know what the situation is like in the States right now, but I'm equally curious, as I'd like to come back home eventually.

d

[Mike_2003]

Everyody will have a different opinion on this I think. I'm just as happy teaching any level and each level has its own rewards.

Beginners can be quite satisfying in that you see some improvement quite quickly as they start to put together their first few sentences. Also, beginners (if motivated of course) seem to enjoy themselves more with their new language and this can be infectious and the lessons fun. With the limits on the vocabulary you can use in your explanations, you require a certain amount of skill and patience.

Intermediates are often easier to teach and maybe this is way many new teachers tend to avoid very low level classes. Their level is sufficient enough that you don't have to spend so much time going through explanations of the grammar and the topics you can cover for conversational/discussion-based lessons can be more interesting and varied than "Where I was born" and "My family".

Advanced students can often be a little tricky too. You must be well-versed in the complex grammatical aspects of the language and more focused on their needs as these can be more varied in a class of advanced students than in a group of beginners, who are all starting from the same point.

So in answer to your question I would say that the skills you are required to employ do indeed vary from level to level.

Mike

[Kent F. Kruhoeffer]

Good Day Little Algebra:

With a username like yours, maybe you should consider teaching math? Ok ... just kidding! I hate math anyway.

To answer your question: Mike_2003 is absolutely correct in that opinions on this will vary from teacher to teacher.

In my own personal and subjective world, I'd have to say that teaching elementary students is harder ... for reasons already mentioned in some of your replies. Unless you are fluent in your students' first language, you'll often find that explaining and defining new words and grammatical concepts can be a daunting task.

As students move up the ladder of proficiency, it becomes easier to teach them new things, since they have already 'mastered' the basic vocabulary which is needed to do that.

It's a bit like teaching a baby to walk before it can run.

And as Mike_2003 already said, patience is an extremely important element when working with real beginners. The more of it you have, the more you'll enjoy it.

After many years in the classroom, you'll develop a preference for one level over another. It's normal. For me, I'd rather walk into a classroom in which everyone has already learned how to walk. hmmm. Am I getting lazy and impatient in my old age? Maybe a little.

Best wishes,
keNt

[Roger]

I believe a little sarcasm does no harm here!
Those newbies who are immatujre or lacking self-confidence will feel more secure practising conversation English with so-called advanced learners. Why? They do not expect to have to bridge any communication gap, which if it does occur will be conveniently ignored.

I originally thought the older my students the closer we would be. Wrong! The cultural gap was such that I soon had to accept defeat. They had been so inured to their local teaching techniques that a Western approach had to fail.
I moved into adult training - and got so disillusioned by the fossilised English and the thinking-in-a-box of my learners that I almost lost heart. Then luck struck - first a very enthusiastic crowd of students in a rural school, and later, much better - a kindergarten!
Although speaking to foreigners without knowing their language looks like a daunting challenge, I found it is not as difficult as you might think. You quickly learn to lower your own expectations and you monitor realistically the progress of your students.
At higher levels you can hardly check on their progress in English - you are so tied down to the never-ending avalanche of repeated bad pronunciation and hopeless grammar!
But, well, some think that is where they fit in. Not me though!

[xiaoyu]

i think that it can be stated that you will go through a lot of different teaching preferences in your life before you find the one(s) that really fit. look at roger's posting above. quite a variation in teaching levels and reactions!

i started out teaching intermediate level english with some slightly advanced level (high school students that had teachers who actually could speak the language quite well!) at the beginning i liked it, but soon i became frustrated with routine mispronounciation and the general inablity to retain information or carry on a spontaneous conversation that varied from the basics (what do you like?, how old are you?, what do you want to do?, etc. with no "why" questions, etc.) - just my A.R. rearing its ugly head....

after that i went into a position where i taught varied age groups and language levels. my favorites? i loved teaching the young children! they were so spontaneous, fun, energetic and willing to learn! and it helped my language skills to be forces to study up on grammar terms etc. and work on my grammar to explain things to them when necessary in their language. just a wonderful wonderful experience! but i did need to have a higher level conversation in my own language. teaching business english and prepping students for their IELTS or TOEFL became my second passion. i could let myself be A.R. and be appreciated for it! focusing on their pronounciation and smaller grammatical mistakes.... i could talk to them about more complex issues and require comprehensive responses. (and let's face it, anyone who knows the language and is using it all of the time, needs to find a place where he/she can speak their native tongue - besides typing it - on a level that is acceptable to their intellect! )

sure the intermediary students are great, but my preference is a combo of the beginners and the advanced.... so you don't feel innudated with one set type of teaching/learning and do not go stale yourself! which is always my priority!

xiaoyu

[guest of Japan]

This is my opinion.

Advanced students are the easiest experience to walk into after leaving your home country. This is because you don't know what your students have difficulty with yet. At first they will be happier with your natural pronunciation and speaking speed. However, as time goes by they will become your most demanding students. They have extremely high expectations of teachers, because they have probably had a lot of them. They also have the tendency to ask extremely difficult question.

Intermediate students are often very eager to use their English with a native speaker. You can often have very enjoyable interaction with them because they may be very experimental and try to make you laugh. The downside is that you have to moderate your English a lot. They also require the teacher to motivate more often, because they've studied English long enough to feel frustrated at what they haven't been able to accomplish, but not long enough for it to have become a passion. There sentences and pronunciation have a tendency to be fossilized and it is sometimes difficult to push them to use more complex sentence structures.

Beginner students are overjoyed to have the opportunity to speak to a native speaker. They tend to study very hard. They are quick to try to use new vocabulary and grammar and their improvement is easy to see. They also require a lot of patience. You have to watch your own speaking very carefully. You have to try to limit your vocabulary and grammar to things they already know or things that can easily be shown (not explained).

The above descriptions all deal exclusively to student who are interested in English and motivated to learn more. Good luck.

[cheryl]

hmmm, i need to disagree with Roger's comment about newbies finding it easier to teach advanced level students...

i'm a "newbie" whose taught all levels of LINC and have observed advanced classes all the way up to EAP. I think teaching the advanced LINC classes are the hardest and EAP was even harder. The students at the more advanced levels (in my experiences) tended to have higher degrees (i.e. master's or PhD's) thereby making questions and discussions a heck of a lot more "advanced". I noticed that was preparing a lot more for my advanced classes than for my elementary ones. I found that i had to not only prepare myself for the lesson of the advanced students, but also for "worldly" general knowledge.

I'm not saying elementary students are not as bright, are ignorant or are easy to teach... i'm simply saying that since they don't have the vocabulary to express themselves, you dont' have the extra worry of needing to have as much general knowledge (due to topics that could arise in class) or vocabulary as you would with advanced learners.

i agree with everyone who said that every teacher's preference would be different. But speaking as a new teacher, i think my literacy level students are the "easiest" to teach...although they are also my most energy draining.

[cheryl]

one more thing...my experiences were all in Canada. i'm still clueless about the ease of teaching specific levels overseas.

[Little Algebra]

The original question set results from wanting to know generally which level is most abundant in English As Second Language Classes, and from wanting to know if job-seeking ESL teachers tend to try harder to enter positions more for one particular level of student than another. I tend to believe that beginning level students not yet understand enough Enlgish to benefit from a teacher's explanations, and so must rely on demonstrations and illustration, and constructed pattern experiences; intermediate and advanced level students can handle more descriptions and explanations. My expected location and population would be adults in the US. When I use the abbreviation, "ESL", I intend to mean English language acqusition (not mostly formal learning or studying ).

By that discussion, Are the beginning level students more difficult to teach? The teacher may be first getting them started in the new language. Are the beginning level students more plentiful? Do many ESL teachers have a natural, or acquired format for bringing the beginners into the language, and if not, is THIS why it may be difficult for some ESL teachers to teach beginning level students? I listened to one ESL teacher state that teaching the beginning level can be hard, or exhausting. My question set was intended to find out by other teachers insites, how is it?

Little Algebra

[Sherri]

Can I start by saying that there are no clear-cut answers to your questions? In any case, here is a start.

Q1-- Are beginning level students more plentiful?

Well it is hard to say. What age group are your asking about? If you are talking about children, the answer is probably yes. If you are talking about adults, then it depends on where they are from. I have taught students from most European countries, Brazil, Argentina, many Asian countries and am presently in Japan. It was rare for me to encounter a true beginner since most had some English at school so I would say that I have taught many "false beginners" not so many true beginners. In Japan, almost all adults have some grounding in English so true beginners are rare. The same goes for people from any country which offers English at junior or senior high school.

Q2--Do job-seeking ESL teachers tend to try harder to enter positions more for one particular level of student than another?

Unless you are going for a part time job in which there is a specific class the school wants you to teach, it is unlikely that a new teacher would be able to teach a particular level. In my experience schools like for their teachers to be flexible and be able to teach whatever level they are assigned. I have not heard of teachers competing to teach a particular level. It may happen at some schools though.

Q3--Are the beginning level students more difficult to teach?
Not necessarily. A lot depends on the teacher, the students and the situation. Of course there are particular problems faced by teachers teaching beginners, just as there are at any given level.

Q4--Do many ESL teachers have a natural, or acquired format for bringing the beginners into the language?

Again it depends! The teacher may prefer to use his or her own method, but the school may have a set book or syllabus that means teaching grammar pattern practice or notions and functions. Look around for a school that has similar ideas to teaching that you do.

When you mentioned that by ESL you mean acquisition (like Krashen or Prahbu?) not formal learning or studying, I was not sure what you meant exactly so it is hard for me to comment. If you do mean the Krashen-type acquisition, my own opinion is that students of any level need a balance between comprehensible input and focus on form to avoid fossilization and I believe I am not alone in that belief.

A word about advanced students, just because they can "handle more descriptions and explanations" doesn't mean they are easier to teach. They have very different problems (again depending on nationality and background) which can be equally challenging and exhausting for teachers!

I hope this helps.

[cheryl]

Hi Little Algebra,

i apologize for not understanding your original post. One thought, put your most important question in the beginning, don't imbed it between two other questions that are about the ease of teaching different levels.

i agree with all of what Sherry said, i kept reading her comments to your questions and thought, "yup yup yup". Hope you found this thread helpful.