Hi.
I'm stuck this term with New English File Intermediate (a good book) with a basically pre-int class.
I'm finding they struggle with the sheer level of the reading and listening, and the way the grammar is presented is hard for them to catch on. They find most of the exercises too difficult.
Ditching the book is not really an option, as they have bought their own and will expect to cover most of the material.
Do you have any tips for how I can make it accessible for them?
Book higher than the level of the class
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Antiguated
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Sally Olsen
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Find out the pattern behind each type of exercise. Do they put the information in the first or second sentence and then summarize for the last sentence. Is there any useful information in the middle. Could they make this middle information into lists. In other words, teach them to skim and find patterns in types of writing. Do they use different words that mean the same thing. Spend a lot of time on the initial pages to teach them to do the exericses and how they are laid out, what is expected for each type of exercise . If there are questions, do they ask the questions in order that they are presented in the article. They should always read the questions first or at least the first few. Do you see patterns in how they ask the questions? Do they ask specific ones and then more general ones. The students can answer the specific ones as they read and save the general ones to the end when they understand more of the article. How much do they have to read to really understand what is going on? Can they make a thesaurus and group words together that mean the same thing?
English is usually very good about making a pattern, - topic sentence, supporting evidence and then repeat of the topic sentence in different words. Do the articles follow this pattern or another?
If you spend a lot of time on how things are put together at the beginning, they will only have to cope with vocabulary as they move on and it will get faster. Series are known for doing the same kinds of exercises over and over and having a certain slant to how they teach grammar.
If they don't understand the grammar part of the lesson, you could substitute something you know they will understand and then go back and show them how it works in the book.
Do you have a teacher's manual? There is usually an overall plan of the lessons in a teacher's manual and you can show that to the students so they see where they are going and where they have been. Not all students will use this kind of knowledge but the ones who learn this way will be appreciative.
When you have done all this and they are still having trouble, break them into groups with one good student, two middles and one poor student. Assign each group part of the page and have them post it on a poster for the others to see. When you have about 10 minutes left in the class or when most groups have finished they can move around and see the answers for the other parts of the page and ask questions from a member of the group who has stayed behind to explain.
They can fill in answers and do the rest of the work for homework and ask questions of the groups or you the next day.
You can bring in other books at their level for the grammar and compare it to what they have in their textbook and critique how the textbook is teaching them.
You can then send letters from the students to publisher to give them your findings and criticisms or praise.
No textbook is perfect and it gives the students a certain feeling of power to know that it is not a sacred work, not to be questioned but a try by certain people with a certain theory to teach English. It is really useful to let the students know what that theory is and that there are other theories.
English is usually very good about making a pattern, - topic sentence, supporting evidence and then repeat of the topic sentence in different words. Do the articles follow this pattern or another?
If you spend a lot of time on how things are put together at the beginning, they will only have to cope with vocabulary as they move on and it will get faster. Series are known for doing the same kinds of exercises over and over and having a certain slant to how they teach grammar.
If they don't understand the grammar part of the lesson, you could substitute something you know they will understand and then go back and show them how it works in the book.
Do you have a teacher's manual? There is usually an overall plan of the lessons in a teacher's manual and you can show that to the students so they see where they are going and where they have been. Not all students will use this kind of knowledge but the ones who learn this way will be appreciative.
When you have done all this and they are still having trouble, break them into groups with one good student, two middles and one poor student. Assign each group part of the page and have them post it on a poster for the others to see. When you have about 10 minutes left in the class or when most groups have finished they can move around and see the answers for the other parts of the page and ask questions from a member of the group who has stayed behind to explain.
They can fill in answers and do the rest of the work for homework and ask questions of the groups or you the next day.
You can bring in other books at their level for the grammar and compare it to what they have in their textbook and critique how the textbook is teaching them.
You can then send letters from the students to publisher to give them your findings and criticisms or praise.
No textbook is perfect and it gives the students a certain feeling of power to know that it is not a sacred work, not to be questioned but a try by certain people with a certain theory to teach English. It is really useful to let the students know what that theory is and that there are other theories.
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nicolasbrunette
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First of all, you may have to work a little bit more than usual. I think you have to adapt the activities of the book to the level of the class. You simply have to use the content seen in this book in activities that you conceptualized. This may be hard to visualize but I’m sure that as soon that you’ll do it one time it will come clear. This is what I meant when I said adapting the content. Simply use the same content throughout easier activities that involves visual supports or helping materials. Give them some simple hints such as cue cards or illustrations. The choice is yours.