Korean Job Discussion Forums

[heeckan]

Seeking advice from other kindergarten teachers...

I've been teaching kindy for a while, I love it and I honestly pour a lot into teaching the kids. For the most part, I'm very proud of my kindy students. In the 10-21 months I've been teaching them, they have learned so much and have significantly developed their reading, writing, vocabulary and comprehension. However, I've recently cringed a couple of times when I've heard my students talk. For example, one student (who I've been teaching almost two years) said:
"Teacher! Me this, Ellie this." (accompanied by lots of pointing) meaning "I was sitting here and Ellie took my chair"

I know that they know the words, but when it comes to speaking, my students only choose to use "me", "this", "is", names, grunts and hand gestures. For example: "Teacher! this, this, this (grunt grunt) is me, Jamie this!" equals "Jamie hit us."

I've also been trying to combat "Me syndrome" in which students start a sentence with "me" rather than "I".

I never fully realized how bad it was until last week. There is a kids in one of my classes who lived in New York for a year. He joined the program in October and I was psyched because I was hoping that his superior English-speaking skills would be contagious. The reverse has happened... he used to speak in full sentences, now he seems to have forgotten English. The other day, I saw him outside the class and asked him "What are you up to?" to which he replied "Me water" (AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!)

It's tough, because there are four classes, each of which I teach for 35 minutes a day. They also get 35 minutes with the other foreign teacher and about 3 hours with the Korean teachers, who are not at all assertive about enforcing our school's "English only policy".

Any ideas as to how I can get the kids to better their speaking skills?
Should I not sweat it too much, since they're young and have plenty of time to improve?

[kat2]

I would pretend that you can't hear what they are saying unless they speak in sentences. I make my kids say everything (within reason) in English. Obviously, emergencies, extremely complex situatiosn, or other times this policy may not be appropriate. They will learn after a few weeks that they can't talk to you that way. You may also need to review some sentences with them. Good Luck!

[mumblebee]

You could consistently reflect back to them what they have comminicated, in simple language. (you probably do something like this already) "Oh, she took your chair." "He hit you?" "You are drinking water." If the situation is not too emotionally charged, you could get them to repeat it back to you.

I would be careful about pretending you can't hear or understand their lower level communication, as this might just raise their frustration to the point that they can't learn the correct expression.

Are all the kids that poor, or only some of them? Kids can vary in their ability and motivation; some kids will take a lot longer to start using proper sentences.

[Woland]

Think about any difficult skill that you've learned, like driving a stick shift (or at a younger age, tying your shoes). At a certain point you probably could say how to drive a stick, but your actual performance didn't match up to your knowledge about what you were doing. This is what is going on with these children regarding language learning. Add in the fact that they have the very limited attentional and processing capacities of children, and what you are describing is unsurprising. In fact, they still have difficulties in their native language because of these factors. It will take both practice and cognitive development for them to gradually automatize and proceduralize the knowledge that you have given so that they can perform effectively.

Learning takes time, especially learning any kind of performance. We have to get away from the idea, 'We teach them, they learn it automatically, easily, and rapidly'. I know that many Korean parents do believe in this thoeory of education; it would do them (and their poor kids) some good if they could take an SLA class and develop a better understanding of the process and get some realistic expectations.

[Qinella]

I encounter the exact same thing from my students, up until they reach middle school, or a solid intermediate level.

Something I did awhile back was translate to Korean their sentences so they could see the grammatical points a little more clearly. So, they say, "Me is water." Well, me is an object, so something like 나를 물이다 gets the point across. Then they can see the two problems and change accordingly, since they do actually know the right words already.

Another thing I do is not accept their bad grammar if it's something I know they can say correctly. So, if they say, "Me book no," I repeat it like it's a question, and at that point several other students chime in on how they think it should be said. In doing this rather consistently, I've found their spoken grammar is improving at a satisfactory rate. But I'd like to point out that I do not do this every time they speak. If they're trying to tell a story or express a long thought, I generally just let it slide unless they ask for help.

However, there are still times when even the top students in class blurt out with ridiculousisms like "ah, hungry!" or "pencil no habuh!" So it goes..

[spyro25]

studies have shown that the order of acquisition of certain grammar elements come over a number of years. this order is pretty much set between all languages. your students may simply be too young to comprehend the idea of certain tenses - so dont despair, its not your fault!

[kermo]

I would be tempted to reflect the proper sentence too, but I've also heard it's just not effective.

I agree with the "I can't hear you if it's not in reasonable English" approach. If you respond to the "me me uh uh" you're rewarding it.

Prompt for the basics. Get them to repeat you. "Jon hit me." Then reply. It's a good little teaching moment.

[OiGirl]

Although most research goes against this, the most natural response for me is to recast their utterance correctly. I have found that when the time is (developmentally) right, they will correct themselves or their peers when I recast.

[heeckan]

Thanks for the responses...