Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Mr. Literal]

[Demonicat]

I see where the op is going with this- yes if one's teachers only speak very slowly, then one will only comprehend very slowly. Why he used Winston Churchill is aloss for me. Are the students Eurpoean History majors at uni? I show western movies and cartoons to fit this end. Labyrinth, Pokemon, Mulan, etc. these are things that the suents actually want to see. And if they want to see them, they'll push themselves to listen and understand what Ash or Hoggle are saying. I'm was always being told that i talk way to fast, but now my students talk at my speed- which is really impressive (if bothersome to some parents who don't talk fast).

[fidel]

If any of you had any ESL training at all you would know that slowing down your speaking is a cardinal sin. Speak with your normal speed and if necessary repeat at a slower speed. Your student's listening skills will not improve if you speak like a dimwit.

[some waygug-in]

Slowing down is a necessary 'evil', in my opinion.

Expecting students to be able to understand things at regular speed is OK for more advanced classes, but 90% of my students are at the beginner level.
It's far better to slow things down a bit and have them understand than to not slow things down and have students quitting in frustration.

The reason that it is considered a "Cardinal sin" is that the students get used to slow speaking and can't function at normal speeds.

However, this criticism seems overly simplistic as it fails to consider the fact that a good teacher can teach more slowly for beginners and speed things up for more advanced classes.

How do they put it, "different strokes for different folks?"

[Ya-ta Boy]

Actually, there's a debate in the ESL field about slow vs fast speaking. When there is a debate, it means no one knows the 'correct' answer.

Since the experts don't agree, I feel free to decide for myself. And as far as I can tell, learners need slow, clear speech with no idioms, slang or complex grammar until fairly far into English.

I gradually speed up as their ability, vocbabulary and active knowlege of grammar increases. It seems to work for me. I disagree with those who say students won't increase their listening speed if I slow down. They get loads of listening time with tapes and movies and TV. The limited time I get with them, they need to understand what I'm saying--I'm giving explanations and directions for most of the time I'm talking in class.

I remember talking to a Ph.D. who speaks and writes beautiful English. I asked how she improved her listening skill. She said she did what everyone else did...endless hours of tapes etc and it had only limited effectiveness for her. She said she was a grad student at UC Berkeley. She'd been there about a year. One morning the TV was on while she was getting ready for class. She said she stopped in the middle of the living room and stared at the TV--because she was suddenly understanding what they were saying without concentrating. She said she'd finally 'caught' the rhythm.

Anyway, I agree that the selection chosen by the OP was too difficult. I recommend what someone else said--take a clip of a movie or TV show with people talking. Hand out a transcript with some words missing. You can choose different kinds of words to omit, depending on what you want to focus on. I like leaving out the prepositions or the articles, because they are usually unstressed and difficult to hear.

[Demonicat]

I think it breaks down to age really- with adults you have to speak slowly, wioth kids normal spped is good because they adapt quickly. I only teach kids and I speak at a normal speed, and I also use accents for the stories (I'm a trained actor so can pull it off). Anything I can do to minimize the WTF element when its time to apply their learning in the real world.

[Hollywoodaction]

Sure, sometimes you need to speak slower. But as a general rule you should stick to speak slightly slower than normal. Researchers tend to agree that the best rate of speech for ESL teachers should be 100 to 110 words per minute. Anything less than that and you end up with students who can't understand the average rate of speech (120 words per minute, or so), or students who risk sounding really sleepy when they talk.

[fidel]

[the_beaver]

[nev]

It's strange, my kindergarten got the Churchill speech first time. Maybe try playing it louder.

[peppermint]

I slow things down a little but my normal speed is quite fast. Something around the speed of a southern drawl (without the accent) seems to work well with beginners.

[buymybook]

[Manner of Speaking]

double post

[Manner of Speaking]

[Hollywoodaction]