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Freaka
Joined: 05 Jun 2007
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 Posted: Sun Jun 17, 2007 6:24 pm Post subject: Teaching conversational English to a group of adults... |
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So, it looks like I'm going to be teaching conversational English to groups of adults and as of this moment, this is my general game plan:
A) Ice Breaker - a quick game of some sort (and no, I don't mean Simon Says) because Koreans (even adults) love games. Plus, it sounds like some of my classes are going to be very early in the morning, so I'll need to wake my students up and engage them! (lol)
B) Today's Topic of Discussion - Things You'd Say or Hear in a Restaurant
How many are in your party? Do you have a reservation? The wait will be about ten minutes. Is our table ready? May I please get a refill? I have some questions about the menu. What are your specials? Which dish would you recommend? I'd like to see a dessert menu. May I please get the check?...and so on and so forth. I'd also write out the sentences on a chalkboard, dry erase board or projector screen. If I could bring my laptop and somehow use that to teach, that would be great, too.
C) Pronunciation - Have the students go around and repeat certain sentences to practice their pronunciation.
D) Grammar - Teach one or two concrete points of grammar as it applies to the Topic of Discussion. For instance, "Can I?" versus "May I?"
E) Role Playing - Have the students get up in front of the class and role play (either with myself or with other students) and then correct their English.
F) Q&A Session - Obviously, I'd take questions from my students as I go, but I'd take this time to answer any additional questions they may have about the Topic of Discussion, vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation etc.
G) Assign Homework - Not real homework, but just something for the adults to do or apply in their everyday lives until I see them again.
Of course, every group will be different and I'll have to make some adjustments as I go depending on how much time I have with each group, but the above is the general idea I have in mind.
I'd also welcome any helpful suggestions! Thanks! |
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Jizzo T. Clown
Joined: 27 Mar 2006
Location: at my wit's end
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| Posted: Sun Jun 17, 2007 7:30 pm Post subject: Re: Teaching conversational English to a group of adults... |
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| Freaka wrote: |
So, it looks like I'm going to be teaching conversational English to groups of adults and as of this moment, this is my general game plan:
A) Ice Breaker - a quick game of some sort (and no, I don't mean Simon Says) because Koreans (even adults) love games. Plus, it sounds like some of my classes are going to be very early in the morning, so I'll need to wake my students up and engage them! (lol)
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In my experience, games tend to work better with larger groups, rather than three or four students. The adults I tutored in Japan weren't keen on games at all, as they preferred to get right down to business. Korean adults may be different...just throwing that out there.
| Freaka wrote: |
B) Today's Topic of Discussion - Things You'd Say or Hear in a Restaurant
How many are in your party? Do you have a reservation? The wait will be about ten minutes. Is our table ready? May I please get a refill? I have some questions about the menu. What are your specials? Which dish would you recommend? I'd like to see a dessert menu. May I please get the check?...and so on and so forth. I'd also write out the sentences on a chalkboard, dry erase board or projector screen. If I could bring my laptop and somehow use that to teach, that would be great, too.
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Yeah, a topic is always good. Try to imagine the grammar that will be required in said situation. Also remember that they may sometimes find the topic "boring," in which case you'd better have a back-up. I'd recommend a decent business English book as a good place to get your topics. You can also try www.onestopenglish.com for some ideas. As for your laptop, think PowerPoint, but consider that your students may be more adept at it than you are! In that case, maybe they can create their own presentations in English. Remember that you are teaching them English and not business (you have to fight the temptation here!).
| Freaka wrote: |
C) Pronunciation - Have the students go around and repeat certain sentences to practice their pronunciation.
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Just be careful how you address pronunciation errors. Many students will already be embarrased of their poor ability, and you don't want to bring their shortcomings to the front in an insensitive way.
| Freaka wrote: |
D) Grammar - Teach one or two concrete points of grammar as it applies to the Topic of Discussion. For instance, "Can I?" versus "May I?"
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If you're teaching business English, grammar may be the last thing on your students' minds. In my opinion, students must have a pretty good grasp of the fundamentals before attempting to learn English for Business Purposes.
| Freaka wrote: |
E) Role Playing - Have the students get up in front of the class and role play (either with myself or with other students) and then correct their English.
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This is probably where you'll be spending most of your time, so any books you can find on roleplays will be well worth the money. Of course the situation is a little different with 1-1s. because you'll have to take one of the roles, then switch off.
| Freaka wrote: |
F) Q&A Session - Obviously, I'd take questions from my students as I go, but I'd take this time to answer any additional questions they may have about the Topic of Discussion, vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation etc.
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Again, this is just in my experience, but I don't think this will be necessary. If students have a question (I'll assume they're fairly motivated) they'll ask you. Having a set time for Q&A may be viewed as a waste of time. Always be aware of how you're spending every minute--they are.
| Freaka wrote: |
G) Assign Homework - Not real homework, but just something for the adults to do or apply in their everyday lives until I see them again.
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There's nothing wrong with assigning *real* homework. A workbook may be just the thing--just don't fall into the rut of going over every homework question during class time--just tell them to bring any questions about the homework to class and you can discuss them as a group.
Hope this helps.
(forgive the typos but I have to teach now!) |
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OneWayTraffic
Joined: 14 Mar 2005
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| Posted: Sun Jun 17, 2007 7:47 pm Post subject: |
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Much depends on their ability. If they're mixed, it's really hard. For better students, I recommend www.breakingnewsenglish.com a really good site. Lots of lessons, all using the same plan and another one based on a current event every week or so. I use this for my LG, Doosan and Nonghyup classes but it may not work for random adults. Depends on the students.
For lower levels try an appropiate book or do it yourself. Anything that involves them standing up/moving around is hit and miss. Depends on their age etc. Young adults like some motion while ajummas and ajosshis just want to sit and chat.
Make sure you make groups. 3-4 is good for bigger classes so you can go around everybody easily. Smaller classes=pairs.
Something to try as a 'game.' Write some random words on the board or circle them in a small article. Make the words loosely associated with a topic but different. Tell your students to pick the topics that are interesting and have a chat about them. If someone says a topic is 'boring' then that's ok. I call them on it: "You mean you're not interested in money/clothes/exams/mistakes/bridges? Why not? Tell your group why you find the topic boring and what should be done to make it more interesting." |
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Freaka
Joined: 05 Jun 2007
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| Posted: Sun Jun 17, 2007 7:55 pm Post subject: Re: Teaching conversational English to a group of adults... |
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| Jizzo T. Clown wrote: |
| Freaka wrote: |
So, it looks like I'm going to be teaching conversational English to groups of adults and as of this moment, this is my general game plan:
A) Ice Breaker - a quick game of some sort (and no, I don't mean Simon Says) because Koreans (even adults) love games. Plus, it sounds like some of my classes are going to be very early in the morning, so I'll need to wake my students up and engage them! (lol)
|
In my experience, games tend to work better with larger groups, rather than three or four students. The adults I tutored in Japan weren't keen on games at all, as they preferred to get right down to business. Korean adults may be different...just throwing that out there.
| Freaka wrote: |
B) Today's Topic of Discussion - Things You'd Say or Hear in a Restaurant
How many are in your party? Do you have a reservation? The wait will be about ten minutes. Is our table ready? May I please get a refill? I have some questions about the menu. What are your specials? Which dish would you recommend? I'd like to see a dessert menu. May I please get the check?...and so on and so forth. I'd also write out the sentences on a chalkboard, dry erase board or projector screen. If I could bring my laptop and somehow use that to teach, that would be great, too.
|
Yeah, a topic is always good. Try to imagine the grammar that will be required in said situation. Also remember that they may sometimes find the topic "boring," in which case you'd better have a back-up. I'd recommend a decent business English book as a good place to get your topics. You can also try www.onestopenglish.com for some ideas. As for your laptop, think PowerPoint, but consider that your students may be more adept at it than you are! In that case, maybe they can create their own presentations in English. Remember that you are teaching them English and not business (you have to fight the temptation here!).
| Freaka wrote: |
C) Pronunciation - Have the students go around and repeat certain sentences to practice their pronunciation.
|
Just be careful how you address pronunciation errors. Many students will already be embarrased of their poor ability, and you don't want to bring their shortcomings to the front in an insensitive way.
| Freaka wrote: |
D) Grammar - Teach one or two concrete points of grammar as it applies to the Topic of Discussion. For instance, "Can I?" versus "May I?"
|
If you're teaching business English, grammar may be the last thing on your students' minds. In my opinion, students must have a pretty good grasp of the fundamentals before attempting to learn English for Business Purposes.
| Freaka wrote: |
E) Role Playing - Have the students get up in front of the class and role play (either with myself or with other students) and then correct their English.
|
This is probably where you'll be spending most of your time, so any books you can find on roleplays will be well worth the money. Of course the situation is a little different with 1-1s. because you'll have to take one of the roles, then switch off.
| Freaka wrote: |
F) Q&A Session - Obviously, I'd take questions from my students as I go, but I'd take this time to answer any additional questions they may have about the Topic of Discussion, vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation etc.
|
Again, this is just in my experience, but I don't think this will be necessary. If students have a question (I'll assume they're fairly motivated) they'll ask you. Having a set time for Q&A may be viewed as a waste of time. Always be aware of how you're spending every minute--they are.
| Freaka wrote: |
G) Assign Homework - Not real homework, but just something for the adults to do or apply in their everyday lives until I see them again.
|
There's nothing wrong with assigning *real* homework. A workbook may be just the thing--just don't fall into the rut of going over every homework question during class time--just tell them to bring any questions about the homework to class and you can discuss them as a group.
Hope this helps.
(forgive the typos but I have to teach now!) |
Thanks, Jizzo! Some great advice! At this point, I have no idea if my class sizes are going to be 3-4 students or 15-20 students. I expect it'll vary depending on which company I'm assigned to teach at.
Truce?  |
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Freaka
Joined: 05 Jun 2007
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| Posted: Sun Jun 17, 2007 8:00 pm Post subject: |
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| OneWayTraffic wrote: |
Much depends on their ability. If they're mixed, it's really hard. For better students, I recommend www.breakingnewsenglish.com a really good site. Lots of lessons, all using the same plan and another one based on a current event every week or so. I use this for my LG, Doosan and Nonghyup classes but it may not work for random adults. Depends on the students.
For lower levels try an appropiate book or do it yourself. Anything that involves them standing up/moving around is hit and miss. Depends on their age etc. Young adults like some motion while ajummas and ajosshis just want to sit and chat.
Make sure you make groups. 3-4 is good for bigger classes so you can go around everybody easily. Smaller classes=pairs.
Something to try as a 'game.' Write some random words on the board or circle them in a small article. Make the words loosely associated with a topic but different. Tell your students to pick the topics that are interesting and have a chat about them. If someone says a topic is 'boring' then that's ok. I call them on it: "You mean you're not interested in money/clothes/exams/mistakes/bridges? Why not? Tell your group why you find the topic boring and what should be done to make it more interesting." |
Thank you! I have a lot of ideas, but I'm still not sure what to expect so any advice is much appreciated!
As for levels, I'll be teaching English to groups of business people, so I assume that my students will be of all different ages and skill levels. |
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mj roach
Joined: 16 Mar 2003
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| Posted: Sun Jun 17, 2007 9:19 pm Post subject: |
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J.T.C. made a good point regarding 'correcting' pronunciation; can be a real 'wet blanket'.
What seems to work well with adult conversation groups, is to listen for the the 2 or 3 most often repeated problems during the first meeting.
Then, make them a part of the next lesson plan. In subsequent meetings, continue to 'model' the correct pronunciation without directly making corrections. |
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