Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Zackback]

For medium to high level students an effective way to teach them is to do minimal class preparation. Go into class with just a few ideas and/or worksheet/s. Too often in Korea the teacher winds up talking 90%+ of the class. What happens when Koreans MUST talk to NET's outside of class? Well they just assume that since the teacher always initiated the discussion in class the same thing will occur - but it doesn't. So as a teacher I am to emulate what takes place in the "real world". I may or may not initiate the conversation. The student ought to have the sense of engagement and be willing to approach me and begin the conversation.
If they just sit there in class and say nothing I too will say nothing. By always starting the conversation I am not teaching them properly. What I am teaching them is it is ok just to be passive and say nothing - just wait for the other guy to start the conversation.

[jrwhite82]

That's a real concern. But I don't know if planning less is the right solution. Every lesson you teach should have a clearly defined objective and should adhere to some kind of overall directive. Less planning might cause you to lose sight of what direction you should be going and the students might end up feeling lost.

Try an anticipatory set (hook,intro) called visual discovery. On your projector or TV monitor display an interesting image that the students are unfamiliar with. Maybe a picture of a famous place, or of some kind of old equipment they don't know what it is used for, or an important figure from history. The students will start asking questions, like Who is that? When was it taken? Where is it? Why is he important? And a lot of these questions you can answer back with your questions, Well who do you think it is? Why do you think that? What clues tell you when or where this picture might have been taken?

It's a great way to start a conversation that puts the responsiblity of initiation on the students, they're the ones making the inferences, assumptions and predictions, and gives you the control to keep things on topic that will lead to whatever your objective is for the day.

[bobbybigfoot]

[jrwhite82]

[Zackback]

Less planning is better. It makes for more room for spontaneity - exactly what a conversation should have. Remember I wrote that this approach should be done with medium or high level students. No way for beginners or low level.

[Skyblue]

[Zackback]

The real world? The global community. They claim to be global then act like it. I don't need to spoon feed them this language. If they have a desire to learn it then be more engaging and aggresive and do so.
This is why when my friends and I happen to meet them outside they pretty much just sit there waiting for us to initiate things. Won't work. Our so-called teaching methods have poorly conditioned them so they can't even initiate let alone carry on a conversation without one of us there to constantly "help out".
It ain't working.

[Fox]

These "theory" based language teaching ideas always seem to amount to excuses for teachers to do less work. If a student wants to practice via spontaneous conversation, they can do that on their own time. Time with the instructor should be guided learning. You probably realize this, which is why you're here trying to get some sort of positive affirmation regarding an idea you feel (rightly) guilty about.

A girl I dated some time back had an instructor who tried to pull this crap. She got him fired. If you teach high level students and try this "theoretical" approach, it's probably only a matter of time before yours get you fired too. Be careful.

[Zackback]

They can't do it on their own time because they don't know the language and constant repetition of something wrong will be that much more difficult to correct.
Never mind about getting fired...your girlfriend was an idiot.

[Fox]

[Zackback]

It's not easy to hook up with native speakers. They are taking meaningless classes non-stop.

[edwardcatflap]

[ED209]

Students should always be encouraged to break out of their role as passive 'student'. This is really what role-playing is for.

[some waygug-in]

I don't get it. First you say they are med-high level students,

Then you say they don't know enough to engage native speakers outside the classroom.


Which is it?

Are they beginners or not ?


I do feel you have some valid points and I share some of those, but I think the other posters are right about making sure you are well prepared.

If you're in a hogwon, your students have a lot more power than you think, and their perception of you matters.

The trick is.... you don't have to stick to your prepared lesson all the time,
you should be able to do what you are suggesting but also have a full lesson prepared anyways.

[lifeinkorea]

I use a top down approach, regardless the level. Say something either no one will understand or only the top 3 of the class know.

If you say something everyone can relate to, then you just get loud replies from everyone and students don't get a sense that a conversation is taking place. It becomes a feeding frenzy.

Simplify your words and paraphrase what you initially said. More students will be able to interact but in turns. Then you can move to the rest of the class.

This also allows you time to steer the lesson in a different direction. For example, a higher level student is more likely to give you an answer you didn't think about or one that they have learned in other classes. You can pick and choose at these times how much you want to stick to your lesson plan and when you want to stray a bit to cover other things.

If you have a specific sentence pattern, sometimes it is better to use the lower level students. Higher level students tend to play with the formulas and make up exceptions to rules or they completely apply them beyond their intent. A lower level student is more likely to follow a rule and only apply the vocabulary they have studied. Then the higher level students can see that this is what you are looking for and have a focal point.