Job Discussion Forums

[Jizzo T. Clown]

Why is it that no matter how much explaining, pleading, and threatening I do, my students can't seem to shut up while a classmate is giving a presentation?? I've even stopped the presenter mid-way through and told everyone that what they were doing was extremely rude, and that if they did that in their uni courses, the professor would most likely ask them to leave.

To be fair, they never chatter away while I'm speaking, but the minute one of their colleagues begins speaking to the class, it's as though they're trying to see who can have the most interesting conversation (in Chinese), or who can be the loudest, most annoying, etc...!

[Super Mario]

Its true and they still do it in a Western classroom.
The thinking is that its impossible to learn anything from a peer.

[fluffyhamster]

You could ask them if they think ANY of them (each individual included) has absolutely nothing of any sense or value to say in English...obviously not (depends on each individual student's level, though!)...but one could be forgiven for thinking so, such is the disrespect they show each other. Or, to put it more simply, how does each of them feel when it's their turn to present? If the answers honestly seem to be 'Don't know' and 'Don't care' respectively, then ask them why the hell they are bothering studying English (hopefully the answers will be 'No, I/we do have something of value to say' and at least 'Don't know' rather than 'Don't care', though, in which case there would seem to be a slight contradiction).

That all being said, I am not a great fan of too much one-way talk, even when it is more from the students than the teacher (I think quality TTT provides valuable input)...

[Super Mario]

BTW, this isn't just Chinese. Their old enemies from Japan are the same.
If you ain't white, you ain't right seems to be the motto in ESL.
And appeals to "politeness", reason etc get an apology, contrite looks..........until 5 seconds later when they're at it again!!
Zenme ban?
Other examples
:Look through the teacher's marks/attendance book when he's on his 10 minute break.
Turn off the carefully selected, soft, mood music [eg, "Moondance"] before the class, as its "annoying".
I'll give them annoying!!

[YanquiQuilme�o]

[guest of Japan]

Sure, they are being rude. But do you give them a reason to listen other than courtesy? Try to encourage active listening by giving them a task such as summarizing, answering specific questions, creating questions, etc.

[Super Mario]

Can do. But we shouldn't need to side-step courtesy, particularly in societies that tout themselves as being formal and polite. Ironically, Western kids will usually give their peers a better hearing than they do their teachers!

[gaijinalways]

Actually in Japan, some of the students are just as rude to the teachers, so it doesn't matter who is speaking.


Sure, they are being rude. But do you give them a reason to listen other than courtesy? Try to encourage active listening by giving them a task such as summarizing, answering specific questions, creating questions, etc.

Sometimes, for some students, it still doesn't work, though of course their grades usuaaly suffer because of it as I collect this in-class work periodically, especially if I see too many students goofing off (heh, heh, makes me less popular but thought of as more fair by the ones who want to do something to improve).

[Roger]

You could ask the to give their FEEDBACK on the presenting student's contribution, his or her English or simply to ask him questions.
As a penalty, use the "stand up if you didn't listen and don't know what he was talking abouot".

Works quite well in some of my classes!

[sheeba]

I treat my Uni students in China as if they were 10 years old . If they nark me off I have them come to the front and write lines on the board

Usually the boys favourite is 'I must not spit in class' The other students find this quite amusing and I think it gets the point accross. If they act like kids treat them like kids.

[Jizzo T. Clown]

[YanquiQuilme�o]

[valley_girl]

Is this stereotype day or something? This is the second thread I've come across today with generalizations about students from a specific region.

Hmmm...I must have gotten really lucky because neither my Chinese students nor my Japanese students carry on like this during a student's oral presentation.

To be honest, I wouldn't tolerate that behaviour. I let my students know before the presentations begin that as the audience they must be silent and pay attention to the speaker. I tell them that anyone not doing so will be asked to leave the class. Thus far, I haven't had to follow through.

Apart from threatening to kick them out, you could always try other subtler tactics to get them to be silent and attentive during oral presentations. For instance, I like to get the non-presenting students to be "evaluators" while their classmates are presenting. It keeps them from losing interest, falling asleep, and/or being disruptive with chatter or clicking on their laptops. I also often give bonus points to students who ask questions at the end of a student's presentation. They must pay attention in order to formulate a good question for the speaker!

[thelmadatter]

So whats the difference between generalization and stereotyping??? In this case, we have something that occurs with great frequency in classes and a possible explanation lies with certain cultural values. After all, if the culture does not value learning from a peer, is it surprising that there are problems with oral presentations?

Generalizing about a culture or cultural phenomenon is not necessarily stereotyping. Stereotyping is a negative when one thinks that ALL people of "Category X" are _______ and it is something that will never change. Its generalizing in the extreme. Sometimes the line between generalizing and stereotyping is fine and/or blurry. Im sure not all of the OP's students behave so badly during presentations, but enough do that it has become a problem. The situation needs a blanket solution, and one must generalize to deal with the majority of problematic students. This is not putting Chinese (or any other type of) student down... Its simply a tactic to try and find a solution to a problem.

The solution to the OP's problem is not to accuse him/her of stereotyping.

[Jizzo T. Clown]

thelmadatter, I'll second that.

Indeed, I was talking about my students in particular, and having experienced the same phenomenon in China, I assumed others had had the same problem, and might could offer some way to deal with it.