Korean Job Discussion Forums

[SeoulESLteacher09]

Its a week before the new session starts at my school and I've just been informed that I have to teach a conversation class once a week for 50 minutes. I also have to pick out the textbook. I don't have much time to plan and make sure I have the right materials.

I'll be teaching 3 different levels with my elementary students--beginner, intermediate and advanced and I need to pick a textbook for each level. I've never taught conversation and I don't really know anything about specific textbooks.

I need advice from someone who has taught conversation. What is a good textbook for beginner, intermediate and advanced levels?

I also would like advice on how to teach a conversation class...What is an effective method? What works? What doesn't work when trying to teach conversation?

[andrewchon]

If you could, do a 'Needs Analysis'. The students are away on hols, so ask the co-teach about their needs in this conv-class. I found out much too late that my students can't hold a conversation even in Korean. Having a conversation, in an adult sense of:
listening to the speaker or
agree/disagree or
repeat back the speaker (telephone talk) etc aren't entirely there;

This is what they do:
They both speak, one of them stops and waits for the other to stop, and then starts speaking. Does the latter's speech has anything to do the former's speech? Occasionally.

My school uses Step and Jump.

[D.D.]

I just had a university English prof watch my youtube conversation classes. Her comments were that the students were speaking more than she could have imagined. She was blown away by how much they speak when the topic is interesting to them.

I will say it over and over again that using video increases students abilties to use the language to a higher degree than a textbook will ever do.

I think textbooks for conversation classes are an outdated method.

Instead of asking what textbook should I use we should be asking what is the best way to run a class to encourage the students to speak. How can we teach so after so many years of English education a Korean university student can hold a conversation in English.

Current methods tend to fail when it comes to the conversation side of things. I set out to be able to get people talking and have been able to do it with simple methods at Chinese Universities and Korean public schools.

I am not writing this to brag but to make this point: Step number 1 is to close all books.

Really make a point that all books are to be closed in your class as it is a conversation class. The next point is to tell them they are expected to speak and that is the goal of a conversation class. I have to make those two points over and over again for the students. These two points need to be made over and over again to the teachers.

After this the teacher needs to experiment with ways to get them to talk. Try many tactics and keep the ones that work and throw away the ones that don't. But keep asking the question " Does this tactic get them talking"

This industry like some stuffy old religion keeps using old methods that really are not that good. English is an art and a science and few teachers know how to teach both sides to make whole brain learning.

Most teachers think teaching is the passing on information rather than teaching students how to process information.

[SeoulESLteacher09]

Use what kind of videos?

The only problem is I don't have a way to play videos. We don't have tvs or projectors in the classroom. I highly doubt the school would put any in the classroom. They won't even provide a computer for me to work on.

[D.D.]

[missy.seoul]

Use games or activities based on your target theme. Competition gets the kids excited to try to speak. Winners get candy, stickers, or raffle tickets to win a prize.

[SeoulESLteacher09]

a small hagwon

[Fishead soup]

Conversation class is a bit of a contradiction in terms and misleading I would be tempted to change it to Speaking and Listening.

Try to get your laptop computer set up with the TV monitor so you can do online stuff. There are tons of powerpoint programs available online.
Try E.S.L. 20 A site hosted by deubbels.

David Deubels is on this site and offers a wealth of materials