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[nickpellatt]

I feel such a novice to ask...but I guess thats what you guys can do best...help!

I teach college grade one classes, and although there is a difference in abilities generally, I would say they are low intermediate, which is fine..

But I have one class which is really an IT class....and their English is very poor...my first lesson last week, bascially covered an introduction, where I wrote questions on the board, covering things like 'what is your new teachers name?', and they had to guess from a selection of words on the board.

we then repeated the answer with choral repetition..

It was a struggle but we got through it...

Today, I walk to class, and to refresh them...I ask the same questions...'What is your teachers name?' - to a sea of blank faces....they dont understand me....and dont remember...which leads me to believe their comprehension of last week was nil....and that they just followed me in repetition, but learned nada...(I have a clear voice and am almost accent free, and of course I speak slowly)

I guess I am looking for some guidance and help in how to approach this class...I dont want to be in a position where I dread going into class...as Im sure they will pick up a negative vibe soon enough...

any idea for how I can plan for this class...

It is small in size....and fairly disinterested in truth...

Should I go for simple 'this is a pen, that is a pen' type drills, use flash cards with what colour is the ball, type questions??

Im sure i sound silly in asking things - my ego isnt big enough to feel too stupid though...I just want to get it right...and at least have some progressions and plan for my classes here...

Thanks guys n gals

[saint57]

[ilaria]

They do sound like total beginners, although in reality they're probably false beginners - students who sat through years of middle school English lessons without actually learning much.

Nick, to avoid reinventing the wheel and spending hours planning your lessons for this class, why not order a decent beginners' coursebook on Amazon (or its Chinese equivalent) - if you can't find anything in your local so-called 'foreign language bookstore', that is. With the teacher's book or resource book and the CD. You can make photocopies for the class or you can adapt the activities so that you don't need to make so many copies (for example, dictating the questions to the students before you play a listening passage). I'm not a big fan of coursebooks in general, but you are a new teacher and you need a syllabus to follow and some useful ideas for things to do in class.

[Glenski]

You might have better success with some listening exercises using focused learning.

Give them a print with blanks in various sentences.

My teacher's _________ is Glenski.
My teacher is from ____________ in the USA.
The teacher said he likes to eat ____________ but hates __________.

Tell them what you are going to do. Don't read the sentences, but tell them a story with this information. They can work alone or in pairs to get the info. Have groups (not individuals) report.

Tell them to make similar stories about each other, and have them do the work in pairs. Report to you and hand in the papers as in-class graded work. Before you just tuck these away, discuss them. Read a few. See if they are RIGHT.

Just a starter. Don't have a teacher-focused class. Get the kids involved.

[spiral78]

I second Glenski's excellent advice, and wanted to add that if you have this group just one hour per week, you really may not see much visible progress from week to week.

At lower levels especially, they just may not have enough knowledge for your carefully-taught items to 'stick' to, particularly if they aren't exposed to English in between the hour your are working with them.

Not to imply that the lessons are a waste of time, just that conditions are far from optimal for learning, no matter how professional you are. They'll certainly benefit from your efforts, but maybe not as much as you'd hope to see...

[nickpellatt]

LOL Saint57, life is still good, its one class in 13 that is like this!

But I always make sure to carry plenty of rose coloured spectacles...Im a 'the glass is half full' kinda guy!!

I definately cant buy books here...I have been trying to buy a book to learn chinese but nothing at all....although they may have books to learn English...Ill look tomorrow..

Glenski, with the first lesson mention, I did write prompts on the board, and they filled in the gaps with things like my name, age, hometown etc...and that did go OKish....

I guess I can tear apart my English books here, and try similar listening and comprehension type exercises....

Choral repetition worked last week....and to a very small degree this week in attempting dialogue...no-one would answer individually....but as a GROUP they would read from my prompts...

I do have ideas in my head, for simple things, with flash cards etc as mentioned, but I guess I feel it will not be stimulating enough and perhaps a little boring...Ill search on daves for some ideas too..

I knew it was a harder class last week when I asked them if they had a foreign teacher last term and was met with blank faces...and cries of 'butong butong' which may or may not be mandarin or hainanese...for i dont understand...

my normally quite active body language doesnt seem to come across either...and all my games and simple ideas dont seem to be understood by them! LOL

I think as mentioned above...they have had english classes before...but they were possibly unwilling class members...their major is IT, and I think now English is a chore for them.

Ill check in with you next week and tell you how it went....

[mlomker]

[Jetgirly]

I'm writing a paper about the benefits of keeping ESL students in mainstream Language Arts classrooms, and I came across the following in my initial research:

"Very typically, children in a new country, faced with a new language, are silent for a long period of time, their output being limited to a set number of memorized phrases and sentences that they hear frequently and whose meaning they do not understand completely. [...] The child, during this time, is simply building up competence by listening, via comprehensible input. His first words in the second language are not the beginning of his second-language acquisition; rather, they are the result of the comprehensible input he has received over the previous months." Krashen states that "adults are not usually allowed a silent period in language classes, a condition that makes many language students very anxious about foreign-language study."

Krashen, S. 1985 The Input Hypothesis: Issues and Implications (Longman)

It's not unreasonable to expect your students to speak in their early lessons, but I would say that is unreasonable to expect them to remember everything you "cover" in a class. Did your students have the chance to write down these structures? Did you let them practice them in pairs? Do you honestly think that as a beginning learner of say, Farsi, you would be able to recall the things you chorally drilled the week before?

I agree that you should get a good textbook, follow it and supplement with the activities and exercises that your judgment tells you would be appropriate. Don't stress yourself out by trying to design the course from the ground up.

By the way, I wonder if they would have understood you if you'd asked, "What is my name?" as opposed to "What is your teacher's name?" It's kind of weird to refer to yourself in the third person.

[nickpellatt]

thanks for the input everyone! Ill be better prepared next week, or at least have more realistic goals for the class....

Jetgirly, the third party questions worked according to a role play situation in my first lesson, one doesnt normally refer to one in a third party manner

[chola]

Not sure what your class layout is like, but I like to give each student a strip of paper and get them to write the question on it themselves. For example: What is your name? You can model the question/response first. Say your name, point to yourself. Draw on the board two stick people with bubbles. What is your name...My name is X. Do this with two or 3 students then get them to write the question on the paper for reference and then get them to go around the class and ask each other so they can practice the question and the response. You could even try to find a student who can draw the figures on the board...a lot of gesturing might be needed to get this across but it would involve a student and the others would probably be interested too..of course, depends on your students. This kind of modelling has worked for me in into/no English classes many times.

[coffeedrinker]

I realize it may not be very practical, but I'd be all about finding a book - even if it's just one copy for you to base lessons on. If you're really not sure what to do - and I would probably also be unsure in that situation - a book will at least give some structure and a general idea of the pace, how much revision, etc.

I also don't know the background of your situation at all...but I'd be pretty stressed having to teach IT students who only attend an hour a week beginner English without a book or resources...

[eslstudies]

[nickpellatt]

Updating this thread, as I had another class with these students today...

Ok, my plan - I have a book - New Interchange 1 - and I used P7 (for those of you who may have the book)

It is simple text on greetings customs from around the world...eg Finland - Finns greet each other with a firm handshake. Hugs and kisses are only for close friends or family

Simple text which I read....there are then some standard questions to answer, ie People shake hands every time they meet in which country? etc etc

Next part of the plan was a grid on the blackboard, with columns as follows...

First column had country, second has does or doesnt, then shake hands, kiss, hug each other etc...

Idea was, obviously after lots of body language too, that they could construct the correct sentences according to the text...

Didnt work, they didnt understand enough, or maybe just lacked the will to participate in the exercise...to be fair....i think they are good kids, and fun...the boys loved it when I made them stand up and hug them...in fact one of the silly buggers saw me shopping later and insisted on kissing me!!! LOL

hmmm..... an even more basic lesson next week!!! I guess I just need to keep pitching it lower!!!!

Just thought Id update you....more suggestions welcomed

[spiral78]

Nick, I like your lesson plan in terms of general interest and the possibility of using a variety of input (written text and even body language) to get the ideas across. But I'm not entirely sure of how
relevant the goals of this lesson may have seemed to your learners.
How likely are they to need to greet Finns, for example?

For what it's worth, though these are students, they are IT students, right? They probably have some idea of what an office environment is like.
What about spending a couple of weeks comparing what's in a classroom (desks, blackboard, etc) and what's in an office (computer, fax, copier)? Maybe you could ultimately draw office floorplans on the board and let them design an ideal office (labeling what's in it in English, of course) in paris or groups and vote on the best office.

[ls650]

Exactly what is the English skill level of these students? If they're rank beginners, they won't have a clue what that lesson is about.
"Teacher, what is greet?" "Teacher, what is handshake?" etc.

I assume you're a beginner with Mandarin. If someone had presented the equivalent lesson entirely in spoken and written Mandarin, would you have understood it?