Korean Job Discussion Forums

[jajdude]

I think it's even more important for the students to speak! Only the ones who do, who aren't too embarrassed or whatever, will get better at speaking. I find these listening classes annoying. Some students may ace the TOEIC but barely manage a "hello" if they meet a foreigner.

[Scott in HK]

I don't think you should ever speak unnaturally as in leaving large pauses between your words. But you do need to adjust your speed to your learners. This as one poster said is just basic teaching. There is an theory called the zone of proximal development that suggests that you should be speaking just a little faster than is comfortable for your students. When they get used to this speed, then you speed up so they are uncomfortable again. If you speak at your normal speed, you will probably be speaking at a 'frustration level' and most of your students will give up.

At the same time you should be dropping a lot of your slang and idiom from your speech..adding it again as the students become more comfortable with the language.

Then when you go home and talk to your friends...they will stop you have way through a conversation and ask if you think they are an idiot...


ZPD theory is very popular and is the basis of a lot of classroom techniques.

[helly]

From what I remember of TESOL training, speed can be adjusted for level but teachers should not fall into broken language to help students understand. Broken language encourages lazy sentence structure.

For a very simple example:

"Do you understand?" is much better for long term language acquisition than "Now....understand?...OK?"

[Clutch Cargo]

Scott in HK is on the right track with Vygotsky's ZPD. Teaching at a level just beyong the students' comfort zone means that they are continually reaching out just that little bit more. Helps to keep their attention too, if they are motivated students.
I try to moderate my speech speed and my vocabulary level to the ZPD that is evident with a particular class group. Ideally it should be for each individual student, but when it's a whole class then I try to get an idea of the group's comfort zone and work from there.
If I was learning English as a foreign language ie. not living in an English speaking country, then I would definitely need a slower FL speed from my teachers, but not too slow for too long as, like others have said, I would not develop an 'ear' for the target language's stressed and unstressed components which are so important for speaking and listening.

[crazylemongirl]

I teach kids so speaking slowly is part of the deal. However I try and use phrases correctly with them as I think saying to younger kids
'book, you give me, yes?" is ingraining bad english from a young age.

However I don't spend enough time with them to get it right and was nashing my teeth which having just got most of my 8 year old classes understanding It is a/It is an to have the korean teacher telling the kids it's a eraser.

Grrr

CLG

[rapier]

In Taiwan they were continually telling me to" speed up, speak at normal pace." (The kids are brighter there).I actually prefer slowly and clearly, -you don't have to cram so much into each lesson.