Korean Job Discussion Forums

[ddeubel]

Goku,

Try [url=http://www.mediafire.com/file/yzcimmonkzm/100 Games - Teaching English to Children in Asia.pdf] these games[/url] or even better, go HERE and find all the articles, activities, theory and description about games you'll need.


By the way, games work because language is something intimately connected to "will". When we use language to accomplish a task, to transfer meaning, to "get something", to communicate and send thought from A to B -- we are harnessing a powerful learning principle. Games have that embeded within. The key is to make them fully particpatory and involving -- the HOW. Use creative point awarding (a bag of photo copied money works wonders or a spinner) and make an aspect of suspence inherent (like in my BAAM game which does this in a simple but powerful fashion). Further, have the game focus on some kind of target language - contextualized learning - a theme or a grammatical feature. You don't need to pay anyone $$$ to learn about this.

It's all in the eating, not just the cooking.

DD
http://eflclassroom.ning.com
DD
http://eflclassroom.com

[QbertP]

Also I would consider your purpose in the classroom. Many teachers, especially in public school positions, may only see a given class for 45 minutes a week.

In the face of the rest of their time spent in school or in hagwon this is a pathetically small chance to make any sort of impression.

As Ddeubel said language is connected to the "will". Fostering some sort of intrinsic desire to learn English is IMO far more important than what language points you are actually teaching.
That said there is a difference between having fun in English class, and having English class as simply fun time. Appropriate games and activities introduce language and facilitate learning.

[dmbfan]

See this is the ongoing problem in Korea (and in other places), concerning the idea of what learning English should or should not be.

First, Koreans have no clue on the matter so their opinions are pretty much useless. As I have said before, I have yet to meet one Korean who can.....
1. Speak English in the classroom.
2. Generate English conversation using methods/material that is not in the
book.
3. Prepare, deliver and engage a solid ESL lesson.


Anyway, I'm not a teaching genius but let me present a point. Learning ANY foreign language is like learning to play a musical instraument.

1. You have to know what you are reading.
2. You have to know what you are hearing.
3. You have to know how to process the information in your brain.
4. You have to know how to use your instraument and communicate the
information back to the sender.
5. You have to practice.


Inspiration, yes....it is important. But, I think back when I was learning Spanish in school and I recall that we were there to work...not to play bingo everyday. We worked, practiced, did our homework and went on about our day.

Here and in many places in Asia, the responsibility of the student and the parent(s) does not seem to matter...in addition to the responsibility to hire good instructors (especially in Korea.........speaking mainly towards the Korean "teachers"). The idea of "edutainment" does have it's place. But, it cannot be an everyday matter.

Perhaps Korea will one day realize that it spends so much on English education as a country, but yet has some of the lowest results.

Learning takes work. It takes responsibiliy.


Teaching takes preparation, dedication and discipline. Dedication does NOT mean playing the role of a parent, especially in ESL. It is not our job. Our job is to teach them English, have a little fun and get as much as we can out of them. It is not our job to be their friends, bribe them with candy and lavish them with attention (Korean teachers). We should them accountable as we hold ourselves accountable..........and in Korea, holding students accountable WILL put an instructor in a trick situation with the boss and Korean "teachers".

Here in Korea, motivation should come from the fact that these kids' parents are spending their money for their prince/princes to learn English. If I were a parent, I would make dam well sure my kids was practicing what he/she what was taught. It has to be realized that these kids are not here to be entertained by you or me. The Koreans can do what ever they want to do. At the end of the day, it is us who spend our time in the ESL trenches. I don't care how much admin work the Koreans do....not my problem. Until they can....

1. Set an example by speaking to the kids in English (40-50 minute classes....that's it).
2. Prepare a decent lesson that gets the kids speaking English.
3. Can come up with something (lesson) original, creative and not taken from another foreign teacher (without thanks)..
4. Can realize that it is not how many pages you do in the book that counts.......
5. Work for a boss that expects the same things as we do.

...until that time, they can't tell me (our most of you) anything about ESL, teaching or what it should be. Yes, they know a lot about the rules of grammar but they still can't comminucate. I've spent so much time with kids, breaking bad habits they learned from their Korean teachers, picking up the slack from other waygooks who go by the theory...

"Oh, these poor kids. This is the only time they can have fun. I need to make them smile. I NEED to make them laugh. I can't hold them accountable. It is not their fault.

Translation: Laziness


Education first.
Entertainment second.


dmbfan

[Goku]

[dmbfan]

[quote]That's exactly how I feel at this point of my ESL teaching.
Especially about the part of thinking back to my Spanish days...

We did play games but far and few between and I was trying to remember if I actually learned anything from them... I didn't... In fact, I can't even remember what the point of the game was. All I remember was that it was fun.

Whereas I recall the hardest part about spanish because I took a long time grapsing the concept. Subjunctive form. I drilled it hard into and it was boring as hell, but I understood it and it stayed with me. And I took pleasure in learning it and being able to apply it later.

But I have to consider the fact that I only learned these things because of my learning style.

I'm thinking games can be educational if done effectively and properly, but I'm observing my students more and more and I get the feeling (only feeling) it would be much more productive to be teaching them more solid lessons like phrases, some applicable grammar, or new vocabulary.[/quote]


Good thoughts. Unfortunately, the only proven method that works is total immersion. However, what you described sounds somewhat like the Communicative/Lexical approach. I am a fan of that and I think it compliments my teaching style.

As for the kids, well..........................as in music, basics are very imporant. Most of my students can't sound out words because they can't read properly. They have not been taught, yet they are in classes that are beyond their level.

There are so many more important things kids have to learn BEFORE , for example.........You---have....vs.....She----has.

Months of the year.
Days of the week (Today is, Tomorrow will be, Yesterday was).
Time of day
Phonics
ordinal numbers
Site Words

If I had my way, we would spend about two solid weeks on the basics. Practice, writing, speaking and tests.

Here, I am desperately trying to give more visual aids at the start of class, using prepositions and articles (Bogglesworldesl.com is great for flashcards). Once they can gain a mental image, it is easier for them to make that connection with what to say and what it means.

Really, I had a upper level class that could not even respond to..........
"Jimmy, how are you today?".

or

"Hello, Jimmy".

Nothing but blank stares.


And you know what, I put a lot of blame on the korean "teachers".

It is all smoke and mirros and the parents are dumb enough to buy into it.


Education, first.
Entertainment, second.

dmbfan

[cubanlord]

[cubanlord]

[Otherside]

[cubanlord]

[ddeubel]

Cubanlord moaned

[cubanlord]

[Yu_Bum_suk]

Games are useful and important, but any KT who tells their co-teacher 'you should only play games' likely has his/her head up their ass. In Korea they're too commonly used for the simple reason that Korean students don't want to try to pay attention to English or have been subconciously programmed not to.

The right kind of game can be great for repetition. This week one of my consistantly worst students (and we're talking over a period of more than two years) blurted out 'Please change the head!' when it was her team's turn after hearing the similar structure about 20 times from classmates during the game we were playing. I'm willing to bet it's the first grammatical English sentence she's ever uttered in her entire life that wasn't direct repetition. While I'm still quite confident that she'll score about 20% on the English component of her CSAT, perhaps one day she'll find herself in a position to make a request to a foreigner and actually be comprehensible.

[Yu_Bum_suk]

[some waygug-in]

[cubanlord]