Job Discussion Forums

[Tobie1977]

I have just begun teaching a 4 hour Intermediate class for adults (altho most our varying levels really) and my students:

A). Want to speak Turkish non-stop during class.

B). Seem to find everything boring - they don't even seem to like games.

C). And, not all, but most do not do their homework, of course

I know 4 hours is long and I try to mix up the hours and not do the same thing every day or hour.

They love conversation and we do conversations, but we can't just do conversation all morning long.

Any suggestions on dealing with type of class? I would really appreciate any help!

Thank you,

~Tobie

[lov2travel]

First and foremost you need to be the authority figure in the class.

They need to know this isn't recess time.

Try starting out a class by having them make a list of rules on a large sheet of paper (if you are in a classroom) and make sure the rules have clear consequences.

Since they are adults it may be hard to come up with consequences if you can at all (I can't think of any except perhaps they'd have to stand up and do something silly like sing "I'm a little teapot" in English or talk about a subject of your choosing) Another idea would be to introduce your own set of positive reinforcements and incentives.
Make a group (if you have htem in groups) and a class point system. If they reach a certain level then they can get a bonus as a whole class. Whether it's a fiesta/pizza party or whatever.

However, if there are 1 or 2 students that are DISRESPECTFUL, be sure to take them aside and let them know it won't be tolerated. If it's only a few that are disrupting the class (incessantly so) then make sure they know it's not acceptable behavior.


For more interesting material. As adults or young adults they will get bored quickly. You'll want to make your lessons fit them and also be unique as I'm sure they've studied English before and seen the boring books and phrases they must repeat. Make it unique by having them watch video clips, making flashcards with photos from magazines which can cover many topics (fashion, descriptives, places, things, prompts, etc).
After they finish watching/or during, they can write/speak/both about what they just saw, their feelings towards the clip, etc.

Sometimes you can use the incentive of showing funny viral clips for the last couple minutes of the class to lighten the mood after a heavy study session.

If you dont' have magazines..use your own photos..they'll think it's funny and will keep them interested because they want to know more about you and you can do it through the 'flash cards/photos' that you have them working from.

Best of luck

[Tobie1977]

Thank you so much for taking the time to answer my post.

I would love to use films or the internet in class but unfortunately, we do not have access to either of them at our school.

Thanks for the other suggestions - I will look into some of those, too.

This is a tough crowd to please and I need all the help I can get!

Thanks again!

[PC Parrot]

I'd be wary of treating them like children if I were you ...

Any self-respecting adult in the class would complain to the management and think you were an ass ..

[Sashadroogie]

When I was teaching in Turkey I was explicitly instructed to treat the students like children - by the Turkish manager.

[PC Parrot]

Sounds like a top place to work then ...

In the 6 years I spent teaching in Istanbul, the adults I taught were all adults ..

[Sashadroogie]

It was the lowest of the low, ILM. But at least any such complaints from the students were routinely ignored : )

[Insubordination]

Get to know them on a personal level and find out what they like and don't and what they're interested in in general. Classes are much easier to teach if you know them well. (over)Prepare your classes and keep the the students busy with varied tasks. Sometimes I write grammar, pronunciation, listening, reading, writing, group project and media on a piece of paper. Then I try to do at least a few of these skills per lesson. Don't allow any 'down time' in the class. Make goals and try to reach them. Vary the tasks. Get creative and get their attention (failing that, shoot 'em).

[Irish Lad]

But before you shoot them and cause the school to blame you for the loss of revenue, you could try a few things. Employing some of the strategies suggested by lov2travel and Insubordination should help. A few further thoughts:

1. If you have control over when they break, I would try 2 breaks of about 10 minutes, dividing the 4 hours into thirds. During a class I taught just slightly longer than yours, I experimented with one, two, and three breaks, and found two to work best--for that particular class, no guarantee that the same will be true for your group. Also worked well for lesson planning.

2. Movement--get them moving at least once during the class, somewhere around halfway through. Harder to do with adults, but you've got to get that blood, which is beginning to pool in their lower extremities, back up to the brain cells. Some sort of exercise, appropriate to your particular group, depending on how good-natured they are. Can either incorporate English learning into it, or use it as one of the breaks, you'll know best. If one thing doesn't work, use your imagination, but get them to move those bodies for a few minutes.

3. Somewhat related to 2, but along the lines of varying the class to prevent boredom and sluggishness: if the desks/tables/chairs are movable, have the students rearrange them as needed to best suit the activity--whole group, small group, pairs, etc. (Incorporates #2, while providing new outlook.) Obviously do this only when it serves the goals of your lesson planning. Likewise, vary activities in the ways suggested by the other posters with some that require standing and moving around the room.

4. Since they love conversation use that as a reward for getting through the stuff they'd rather not do. You could either have it be the last few minutes of each third of the class (if you have 2 breaks) or possibly the last segment of the 4 hours, whichever works best in your overall plan.

5. Obviously all these shorter activities will each function as related pieces of your coherent overall plan for the day.

6. Good luck! Personally I would rather give up drinking for the year than teach classes of this length.

[artemisia]

Yes, things that are near and dear to their hearts and using the issue in debates can work a treat, such as preparing for / against arguments on why mobile phones should/shouldn�t be banned in public places and schools. Naturally this is done irrespective of their true opinions as usually students� phones are glued to their hands. It�s helpful to work on extending writing skills by using whatever they�ve produced in other activities, such as �for/against� arguments, and showing them on the board different ways to compare, contrast and develop statements. They produced the ideas so they should be interested!

If you can sometimes hit on topics where students feel they have some personal investment, (eg; free wifi internet access everywhere/ tax-free salaries for everyone) you can develop them into different activities; ones that extend all four skills and pick up on vocabulary and certain grammar points (eg. linking words) in exercises you can create or do on the board. They can also develop their speaking skills by studying and practising specific language (debating, etc). Of course, you have to be careful not to overkill any one topic but it can be a useful starting point.

It is tricky with monolingual classes. I�d consider having them work on ongoing projects, perhaps done over several lessons in small groups, where they ultimately have to produce something concrete in English. This could be producing an itinerary for a supposed (real?) class day trip (to be presented and voted on), a news or current events item, a story and/or presentation etc. Presentations, depending on the school, could involve visiting other classes and presenting something to other students. I agree that getting them up and moving is important and there are lots of ways to do this. You could post current events items (headings/ short texts) and/or pictures (with blank paper) around the classroom walls. They go around in pairs or small groups with a pen and discuss/ note down their ideas (opinions /guessing what the event is about) on the paper provided before moving on to the next one. They could choose one item to write a paragraph on and swap these with each other for correction.

Students always seem to enjoy producing sentences about themselves (related to a grammar or class topic point) on strips of paper which are then randomly picked out in a �Who wrote this?� activity. This is equally true of students writing down true/ false info about themselves and others guessing. To a limited extent, these activities get students to practise all skills.

[Sashadroogie]

Turkish students, even the adults, love competitions. Organise games where they have to compete against each other. Word games like Blockbusters, or board rushes etc. work really well with them. As was said, get them moving about - any kinaesthetic activity. This may sound childish to some, but most Turkish learners I have taught responded very well to this type of activity.

[Tobie1977]

Wow, thank you to everyone who has taken the time and responded to my post.

I really appreciate all the advice and I will do my best to incorporate many of these ideas into my future lessons.

Thanks so much again!