Korean Job Discussion Forums

[canukteacher]

Uni students can be a tough audience at times. We are into week 5 here, and I have all of my classes going along quite smoothly. We've progressed to eyes staring at the desk when spoken to, to grunts, and now I am actually hearing a bit of English out of some. I figure I am doing ok, except for one class. I swear I could come to class naked and they wouldn't even notice (or else they would run so fast, that I wouldn't know they were there)

I have tried everything I can think of, and nothing makes them respond. Any ideas on how to motivate those who don't seem to want to be motivated (or even participate) would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

CT

[antoniothegreat]

I am experimenting with an idea. i have a seating chart. everytime someone answers a question, or asks an intelligent question, they get a check mark by their name. Since I dont control grades, and am at a middle school, the highest in each class, or two highest, will get to have pizza at the end of the semester with me. maybe for you you could add that into their grade, so they are competing against each other. like the top 25% get a "A" for participation, next 25% get a "B" and so on. We all know how when their grade becomes involved, they suddenly care.
I hope this helps.
Good luck

[Yu_Bum_suk]

They sound a bit like several of my 3rd-grade high-school classes (18-year-olds). They're generally very attentive and easily amused, but getting them to say anything besides whispered, one-word responses can be like pulling teeth. I've found the lessons where I've used dialogues I get them to practice in pairs at least gets them saying something in English. Even when I write out model responses such as 'I like _____________ because __________________.' it can be difficult to get responses. Hopefully if they are listening to me as attentively as most of them seem to be they're getting something that will be worthwhile for their government listening tests.

I've also found that talking to them outside the classroom can help a lot - both in terms of actually getting them saying something to a foreigner and bridging the psychological hurdle that comes with saying something in front of 30 of their peers.

[Tiger Beer]

Each class is extremely different. I can teach the same material to two different classes.. one is just running with the material and having a great time and the other is just going through the motions and not getting into it like how I want.

This also depends a lot on class what you teach as well. Some classes aren't exactly 'conversation university classes'.. in which case, you might have to resort to just reading off people's names to get someone to answer your question or point randomly.

But I'm guessing its deeper than that.. probably 'conversation-oriented' classes, right? For one, make sure your material isn't TOO tough.. its amazing sometimes how even a fairly simple lesson can be expanded to all kinds of levels that aren't even in the book. So I definetely keep things simple. The other aspect is who they are partnered with. Some people just don't click with some people. I try to mix the partners around as much as possible. Its also great to mix boys with girls, as they both seem to try harder and become more inquisitive.

If I have a student or two who just don't seem to want to try at the conversation.. I'll teach them very very basics like 'and you?'.. and 'what do you think?'.. and tons of follow-up type questions.. at least they can practice that. More than anything I stress that if you finish the material or its not interesting or too easy for your small group, just start having conversation about anything! You are being graded heavily on participation (higher than ability), so participate!

I also continue to reinforce over and over its not their natural ability before coming into the conversation class.. its how much they participate in class that counts! How much they put into a conversation effort-wise and otherwise.

(Its also helpful to right all kinds of questions and answers and vocabulary words to use during the conversations.. so they have a basic structure of how to go about it).

[the_beaver]

Structured pairwork.

Put students in pairs each with an interview sheet (to make things task-based). Have them ask the questions to each other.

considerations

1. Expect a few minutes of silence before students actually do the activity. Students are too nervous to speak and this gives them a little bit of time to rehearse in their heads and makes subsequent speaking easier.

2. Almost every time a teacher enters the conversation, and often when the teacher hovers too close, students say less. Don't lurk around the pairs too much, but just meander around the class smiling and nodding and helping out when asked.

[lastat06513]

Not only do I work in a college, but I work in an all-girl's college
So the problem I face is 2X as worse.

What I do is just tell them that speaking is part of their grade; if you don't speak, that would definitely affect your grade.

I know it sounds abit rough, but it works

[Yu_Bum_suk]

[ajuma]

Have them all buy an English notebook. Write the "target dialogue" on the board with as many options as you can think of. (Of course, you can ask for suggestions, but you probably won't get any!). Then, in pairs or groups of 3 or 4, have them WRITE the "target dialogue" first, THEN have them read it to you.

For example: If you're teaching "What did you do last weekend?" Write the question on the board, along with possible answers: "I met my boy/girlfriend", "I hung out with my friends", "I drank with my friends", "I went to church"....etc...then add "How about you?"

Have them write the dialogue TOGETHER in BOTH of their notebooks, then go from pair to pair (or group to group) and listen to their dialogue. Even the most anti-English student will be able to manage this!

While they're writing, you can go around and check that their grammar is correct. They're much less embarassed to make a mistake if it's only their group who sees the mistake and not the whole class! This way, it's the "group's" mistake, not the individual's mistake.

[Ya-ta Boy]

No doubt the majority of your students are products of the YHS school of English teaching, just like my high school boys. As far as I can tell, no one has ever bothered to show them that the basic grammar structure of an answer is provided in the question: delete the question word and invert the verb/subject and away you go...

Q: When will you go home?
A: X I will go home at 6:30.

This brought a chorus of ooohs and ahhhhs when I put several examples on the board. In only three weeks they have begun to realize that when they hear the word 'you' in the question and I start beating my chest, that the first word in the answer is 'I'.

My point is: pity them. No one has given them the most basic and elementary instruction on what to do with the thousands of foreign words that have been flung at them.

[desultude]

[desultude]

[Hanson]

Here's what I've done this semester:

I made up a self-evaluation sheet for each student in the class, with their picture and personal info on it. At the end of each class, I hand out the sheet, on which they evaluate their own participation in the class by answering 5 questions. They get a point for every 'yes' answer they give to the 5 questions.

My 5 questions are:
1- Did I speak mostly in English in today's class?

2- Did I answer a question from Hanson voluntarily?

3- Did I ask Hanson a question?

4- Did I encourage other classmates to use English by asking questions and following up on a conversation?

5- Did I participate well enough for my English to have improved today?

For each 'yes' answer, they give themselves a point in boxes for each class on the sheet. I then collect the sheets at the end of class and give comments (good job today!, less Korean in class, please., Asked Hanson a question today-well done, ...). I do this in the last 5 minutes of every class.

You'd be amazed how many students answer questions, try harder, ask me questions, so they can write a '5' on their sheets. A lot of students are actually very honest, and write a '2' for themselves, cuz they know I will notice if they exaggerate their score (by writing my comments)...

This has worked very well for me... My students are much more active in class than last semester. My students receive 20% for participation in their final grade, so this internalizes the score they will get.

[ajuma]

The only problem with NOT correcting their mistakes (I correct the written text as I go around the room) is that the longer they keep making the same mistakes, the longer it will take for them to correct them in the future. If I can get the majority of the class to stop saying "I'm going TO home," I feel that I've accomplished something.

[desultude]

[Tiger Beer]

Two exercises I always do with nearly all my students.

When I first come into the classroom I ask questions like 'what did you do last night?', 'what did you do before this class?', 'what will you do after this class'?

They just have to respond grammatically correct, and if they don't, I'll write out several examples on how to say it correctly on the board. After awhile they get good at that and can respond grammatically appropriately. (I WILL go home) (I WILL meet my friends) (I studied last night) (I met my freinds last night), etc.

I do the same thing immediately after break. 'Okay, so what did you do during break?'

'I WAS sleeping', 'I WAS talking to him', 'I made a telephone call', 'I went to get coffee', 'I went outside for a cigarette'.

If they don't say a complete sentence, or struggle communicating what they are trying to say, I'll write it on the board, you'll be surprised at how many people write it down and then struggle to say the same thing themselves next time. About half way through the semester, they get fairly quick at responding, and it gets them talking immediately the moment you walk into the room.

I won't spend more than 5 minutes doing that.. but it loosens up their English tounge right away.