Job Discussion Forums

[jillford64]

I have a question regarding the previous discussion of students using like many times in a sentence. How do you get them to stop doing this?

[thelmadatter]

At first I found it amazing how students who still couldnt conjugate the past tense correctly, had amazingly accurate use of the interjectory "like" Just goes to show, that sometimes (at least) things other than repetitious grammar drills work better (like just hearing the "structure's" use in authentic settings)

[Deicide]

[jillford64]

Would that I could remove this particular influence of North American English, but I can't. I need some techniques that I can use in the classroom to make students aware of the problem and to effectively reduce it. Some students may not have access to tape recorders, so I need methods that don't neccessarily involve making a recording. I'm looking for quick fixes and long-term solutions. I have one group of students that will be making a presentation to the class on Nov 21 (hence the short-term need), but I'd also like to be able to have some techniques to implement over the long term.

[MikeySaid]

Really it's something that people learn about as a public speaking skill. Generally, they're just not aware of how foolish their speech begins to sound when they use the word "like" to fill their sentences when they're not sure where they're going.

In a public speaking course I took a girl used "ummm" which actually sounds even worse than "like" when used consistently. The advice offered by the teacher... "slow down"... she helped the class understand that instead of filling space between thoughts that haven't been fully constructed yet with "um" or "so" or "pues" or "like" or any other word that with repetition becomes annoying... you can simply stop and breathe. A thoughtful pause will pull people in better than like, a filler word.
That was her take on it.

To get my sister to stop, I bought a little buzzer and called her on it repeatedly for a few weeks by interrupting her mid-sentence when she used the word. She stopped. Probably not recommended in the educational community... someone might comment... but it worked on her.

[Glenski]

1. Fake a heart attack every time a student uses "like" in that painful way.
2. Have the entire class do or say something similarly.
3. Record students on video (or yourself may be a better idea), and then like the Rocky Horror Show, have students shout out LIKE! every time the speaker does. You might have to teach them about RHS a little, first.
4. The buzzer idea is a good one.
5. Hand out "I don't like LIKE" chips whenever you hear that evil word. Students with the least at the end of the class get some sort of bonus.

[Guy Courchesne]

Some good ideas here for a teacher training course...and I do mean training the teachers. Electric shocks would seem to fit into your list quite well, eh?