Korean Job Discussion Forums

[NightSky]

And I do mean low level. There are six middle schoolers who barely understand the meaning of most of the words in the book, but they are supposed to be learning how to write cause and effect sentences, proofread their own work (ha!) identify S-O-V, etc. Anyway, it's a nightmare. All of the students, though they usually try, have no idea what's going on. They are still writing sentences like "She is go to home." I have spent extra time explaining why you can't say "is go, are went," made handouts, etc, talked about it v-e-r-y slowly and in great detail, and there is this one boy who still continues to come up with those sentences. After listening to one particularly detailed explanation, he handed me a worksheet where everything said "he making cake, she going store" etc. Arhgh! I need help. How can I teach this effectively? What's the point in them learning all that other stuff when they are still stuck with this?

[dimnd]

Perhaps you could explain the different verbs on the board
as


making is something one is doing now or will make is later or
he bakes a cake

try using the he , she or it..and the action word
try short sentences......he makes...he sings
she sings
we sing
they sing....

two word sentences..like a child learns...me make....mommy get...that way...it is childish..but baby steps become bigger steps

get flash cards...for small words..if the book is too heavy and begin at the beginning..otherwise they will get so discouraged.

I am writing two novels and have taken many creative fiction and writing courses and taught writing in Bundang last year from small children to middle school...

They might learn to make their sentences longer that way and you can things...In Russia, for example, the use double negatives...and every letter in their 27 letter alphabet is pronounced save for one or two...

Hence, English is a nightmare for them to learn. Mostly they use books for the lack of foreign English teachers there.

hope this helps some ..

Peg

[jajdude]

I had to do writing before with beginners who'd write "He is die" and other such stuff. They didn't have the reading or other skills either. I think you need to be a good reader to write something not so lousy.

Mostly it would work if I practically gave them the structure to practice.

Sentences would need to be really simple:

I like _____
I go _______
I eat ______

I like using animals for sentences.
An elephant is ________
It has __________
It likes ___________
It lives __________-
It can ____________-

Daily actions are good too.
I get up at _____.
I go to school at _________.
I eat ________ for lunch.
I _________ in the evening.

Jobs: Where do (doctors) work?
What do they do?

This is all in most basic texts, anyway.

It's a bit much to expect good writing when they don't have the reading and other skills. Perhaps needless to say, spelling was also an issue.

[cubanlord]

for some helpful worksheets and handouts, check out my site. The link is below.

[Hotpants]

For really low level writers, I find http://www.onestopenglish.com/ site really useful. You'll need to register to get an access password, but it's well worth it. I especially recommend finding the Reward Worksheet series on that site which can be printed off. They are graded and many of them have a practical sentence structure focus, which I will sometimes modify to get the students practice one particular structure through writing. There is no point in moving on to anything more complex unless they can write a range of basic sentences. The Reward pack from this site really has saved me a lot of time.

[HydePark]

Wow, sounds like a trying situation, at the very least.
It does seem like the expectations are above the student level at this point, and that you're really trying to help achieve the aims set. I give you a lot of credit -- not an easy task, but you're looking for solutions and doing the best you can.
In my opinion, the suggestions from dimnd and jajdude are right on track (as are the worksheets you've been giving, and the wkshts suggested by others)... it's sort of a "scaffolding" method -- show the students what sentence constructions are acceptable. "She likes ___" etc. Do a work sheet of this one construction, but point out mistakes. Maybe another worksheet of a specific problem for students to correct... "She is likes soccer" is wrong. You don't always have to explain "why" -- just say "is" and "like(s)" are NEVER together; they are enemies. Have students correct sentences that use "is" and "like" together to read "She likes soccer" instead of "She is likes soccer." Then progress to verb friends: is + going or other -ing verbs. She is running, is cooking...
So, just some ideas to simplify explanations...
Hang in there, and hope this helps some!

[susmin]

With beginners and writing, content is more important than structure. Unfortunately in Korea, the schools tend to be much more grammar focused. Use techniques like the experience approach, where the kids contribute as a group to a story and you write it out on the board. Then, make big sentence strips with the stpry and let the kids practice putting them in order. Also, as students are writing choose one or two things to work on and correct with each exercise or assignment. For beginners, it is too much to try and remember everything. For example, if you are working on basic sentences, let students know you will be looking for capital letters and punctuation and that is the only thing you will correct. Or maybe you are working on past tense, so you will only correct the verbs. Just make sure you write that somewhere on the page so your school and the parents know you are not just being negligent and letting the mistakes slide.

You can also use drawing as a tool. Kids draw a certain picture and you help them put together sentences that talk about the picture.