Korean Job Discussion Forums

[crazylemongirl]

For the last week I've been giving speaking tests to my first and second years. I give them a set of questions in advance on material that's been covered in class in advance. During the test I give them a supplemental question related to the answer from material we've also studied in class that they won't have in advance.

My first years have kicked butt. Not only were they mostly answering questions in full sentences but I could give them supplemental questions which 75% of the class could answer in someway, sometimes in perfect sentences. Except for maybe 2 or 3 kids with major learning problems (They're mentally retarded) everyone spoke some english. I couldn't be more proud of the little guys.

My second years are depressing. In most classes there is no attempt to answer the question at all by about 20-25% of the class. The questions aren't that hard. One of them was 'how was your weekend,' which after a few years of english study they should be able to answer. The rest of them are barely able to string together a coherent sentence on the material, save for the 25% of able kids who did an excellent job.

It's depressing that on average I'd say my first years can speak english better than my second years. *Sigh*

[manlyboy]

My 5th graders can definitely out-do my 6th graders. The thing is, last year those same 6th graders could out-do the 6th graders of that year. There's something about moving up in the hierarchy that seems to ruin their attitude.

[JongnoGuru]

CLG, maybe I missed some of your earlier posts about your school. Do they really put mentally retarded kids in the school along with normal kids? That's encouraging to hear, but I'm guessing the children aren't too bad -- I mean too retarded. (I don't know the PC way to say these things.) I'm just asking because one of our clients has a little girl who's got a fairly serious disability (it's quite noticeable) and her mother was telling me that although doctors recommended she be put in regular schools, the schools themselves (esp. mothers of other students) made a big fuss. Luckily her parents are as rich as Croesus and they've found other ways.

[crazylemongirl]

We've got about 10 students in my school that are offically retarded. There's a few more border line cases as well. The other mothers aren't happy about it as they can be a problem discpline wise and to all intents and purposes they are just dumped in the school for a lot of the day.

[joe_doufu]

It may have something to do with tiredness and the increased frequency of beatings.

[the_beaver]

Actually, yes. As new forms are learned and subsumed there is often a regression into old mistakes or brand new mistakes that weren't present before.

However, I don't believe this to be the case with your classes.

[Yu_Bum_suk]

I've got two retards ... I mean mentally disabled kids ... in one of my second-year middle school classes. The just sit at the back and don't do anything. I think once or twice a week they do some activities with someone who comes to the school. They're nice enough and don't cause problems. One of them sometimes pulls her blazer up over her head and just sits there like that, but that's about it. I haven't been able to get any diagnoses on them beyond 'they are very low intelligent'. I guess it's better than them sitting in a shop or working some manual labour job all day long. This way at least they get to wear the uniform and feel like they're part of something; and the other girls seem to be fairly nice to them. Unfortunately, in a class of 34, I've got my hands full and can't give them any special attention.

[peppermint]

Yup, the definitely stream the " challenged" kids into regular schools here. and in some ways it's a good thing. The main problem is that classes are so overcrowded that the teacher either can't give the special kid as much time as he might need, or they have to neglect the class a little.


I know that in Canada, most special needs kids in regular schools have teachiing assistants who kind of bridge that gap. ( though the teaching assitant is usually only there a couple of hours a day)

What do they do in other countries?

[Hater Depot]

My school had a few kids who needed a lot of help they didn't appear to be getting. One was a real tiny boy with an astonishingly small head. He didn't talk much but it was clear he didn't understand a damn thing going on in English class. A couple other kids were probably autistic. One was cripplingly shy. And happily at least, none of the other kids picked on them at all. In fact the shy one especially seemed to be looked out for a bit.

[canuckistan]

I noticed the onset of puberty brought about big changes in many students' attitudes to learning as well. One year they're sweet as pie and the next year I'm asking myself "is this really the same kid I taught last year?!!"

[JongnoGuru]

[steroidmaximus]

actually I think it has more to do with listening to more propoganda than the younger ones, so they don't have such a desire to learn English

[schwa]

I dont think they "regress" but many certainly become reluctant to participate. Shining in class just aint cool -- I was much the same at that age. Theyre still listening & thinking though.

[blunder1983]

My second years don't get as enthusiastic either, tho its partially due to less dynamic coteachers compared to the first years.

I find any exercise which involves the corridor, or anything breaking the standard monotony of a class. Songs work well in the 2nd year too.

I find the kids who are a bit slower quite endearing, when i first got here they sat at the back doing nothing, but I always spend 5mins going through the exercise with them simplifying it down. This week i got them all giving directions to places successfully. Instead of saying "Go straight 1 block, Turn left etc. etc." they said straight/left/right/stop. May not sound like much but u could tell they were psyched about actually communicating. So next time u have an exercise and ur going round checking they're doing it, dont write them off, they really appreciate the time u spend!

[Gwangjuboy]