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Being able to judge level of fluency

 
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ddeubel



Joined: 20 Jul 2005

PostPosted: Sun Feb 27, 2011 10:12 am    Post subject: Being able to judge level of fluency Reply with quote

I just blogged about a teacher's ability to judge fluency, using the wondergirls as an example. http://bit.ly/dOp4l7

Some links there too - to other videos with Korean specific cultural content for use in the classroom....

I wonder how many here can assess fluency quickly and without the student having to say anything?

DD
http://eflclassroom.com
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lifeinkorea



Joined: 24 Jan 2009
Location: somewhere in China

PostPosted: Sun Feb 27, 2011 12:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

This isn't that big of a feat. Reminds me of psychic readings.

We are using similar techniques to get the quickest diagnosis.

The bottom line, it doesn't really matter in the end. Some students are at a higher level but appear to be lower because they aren't interacting. This would be overly optimistic on our part if we credit our teaching to their development later on, when all they did was get more confident speaking to us.

As far as the Wondergirls go, I am sure they have certain ways of designating who will talk. Like if a question about songwriting came up, who would be more likely to comment on the origin of a song, Ringo or John (before he died)? Now if the same question was addressed to Paul and John, we might see some tension and speaking over each other with songs they collaborated on.

Along with this "tension" as I am calling it is the interaction between students who never met before. Maybe one is talkative privately, but when they are in a group they become quiet. Does this mean they are at a lower level?

I may judge a book based on its cover, but it's only a reserved feeling at best. I keep my opinions freely open and make sure a student isn't "LEVEL 1" day one "LEVEL 5" after 10 seconds of being with them.

They may go up and down at times or stay at one level for a period, jumping to the next. That's the excitement in teaching. You don't know. You really don't know. Enjoy the ride and the unexpected moments.
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ddeubel



Joined: 20 Jul 2005

PostPosted: Sun Feb 27, 2011 5:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

lifeinkorea,

I hear you about not pigeon - holing and putting students into a caged "level". I get that.

But what I'm really talking about is how much a teacher can understand about what a student understands/doesn't understand regarding English. Yes, you can be tricked but with experience, you can be pretty good just looking at a student and knowing if they don't understand at all, somewhat, much or all..... even without them saying a word.

Same with the wondergirls. When the interviewer starts - I looked at them and immediately had an idea of their fluency. The video backed up my assumptions.

However sensitive we are , we as teachers are still making hundreds of decisions a day about the level/ability of students. That's just how it is. I think more experienced teachers have a better working crap detector and can more accurately assess students in an informal fashion. I guess that's all I'm saying...

DD
http://eflclassroom.com
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Big Mac



Joined: 17 Sep 2005

PostPosted: Sun Feb 27, 2011 8:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Apparently I'm not very good at looking at still pictures and figuring out fluency.

Before watching the video I had 2, 3, 5, 1, 4. But within about a minute of watching the video I changed it completely to 1, 2, 4, 3, 5.

I think it's hard to do from a still picture, but I probably would have done much better in person.
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