Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Yu_Bum_suk]

Re: the new high school textbooks: they're a vast improvement over the old ones, but the problem I'm finding is that the kids just have such an impossible time producing anything with the grammar and vocabularly the books teach. Even if it's something as simple as whether to fill in a blank with an adjective or an adverb, it seems to take them bloody forever and they're still getting heaps of wrong and sometimes very confusing answers. And I'm talking about in academic, not vocational, high school classes.

I'll give you some examples:

(careful / carefully / careless / carelessly) How does your mother drive? She ____________________________________.

(messy / messily / neat / neatly) Is your bedroom clean? Yes / No, _____________________________________.


I'll give students questions like these after reviewing that you use adverbs with verbs that imply action and adjectives with the verb to be. Most of our new grade one high school students this year did not attend our connected middle school and I really feel like I'm the first person ever to be asking them to produce anything using the words they're being taught. The problem is they've never produced anything using introductory level English and now are completely lost trying to use intermediate-level English. For this week's chapter they're supposed to be learning (and supposedly using) the past and present perfect tense, but it looks like most of them have almost no experience ever using the simple past and present tense in anything. Are many other high school teachers finding this and how are you getting around it?

[Fishead soup]

Deubles has that sight with the Baam game. If you are a member you can download a version of the game and change it to fit the grammar point you are teacher. Sorry I don't have the link handy. The Baam game is quite good for teaching grammar.

I've also used school house rock from youtube to teach grammar althought they don't have much for high school students.

[Yu_Bum_suk]

I've used Baam! with my vocational students but find it pretty low-yield for actually teaching my academic students anything very advanced. It's too easy for students just to sit back and observe or get answers from friends and not have to produce anything themselves. But yeah, for once in a while it's fun for lightening things up.

Basically I'm finding some of the material in the new textbooks very difficult to get the kids used to using when I only see them once a week, not look for more ways to try to make it 'punny'.

[Fishead soup]

Basic English Grammar: Barbera Azar.

My co-teacher borrowed this book and I still haven't got it back. It's gotta be anal enough for Korea.

[The Gipkik]

I prefer more task-based activities. A simple one for adverbs is this:
1. Divide the students into groups A and B.
2. Groups A stand up at previously designated stations around the room. They can be in pairs if the class is large. Groups A have a card with questions on it. For instance: How do you drive?
3. Groups B have answer cards with a selection of adverbs. They walk around to the stations and answer the questions based on one of the adverbs on their card. So, if A says How do you drive? B says, I drive carefully OR I drive angrily. Whichever one they want to answer with.
4. The motivating key is this: Group A students have a dice. When Group B students answer correctly, they get to roll the dice. They make points that go to either Group B or their own class team. I have class teams that win points week after week. When they get 5 stickers. The students are put in a lottery and get the chance to win a small prize. This takes several weeks so don't worry about having to give away a lot of prizes. Ultimately, the stickers in themselves become the motivator. Yes, it is extrinsic, but only in a subtle way.
5. The Group B students then record what the A students dice roll was. Then the A students move on to another station. After about 7 or 8 minutes, call time. Have them sit down and reverse the roles.

It's noisy, but in a very communicative way. The first time may require a few examples and models to get them to understand, but then you can use the basic skeleton of the idea for lots of other question and answer dialogues.

[Yu_Bum_suk]

[ThingsComeAround]

I'm sorry to bring up the stink in this situation, but the text isn't the problem. It's the fact that MS and elem students are taught the easiest possible English repetitively, so they aren't thinking about it (i.e. Q: How are you? A: I'm fine thank you and you?)

Go back to the earlier text if they had fewer problems with that one. Or take their hand and teach them the way most others don't/can't/refuse to

[Yu_Bum_suk]