invasion of the childhood snatchers

[marx_brother]

i need help!

i have a beginner class of six kids (all 11 years old) in korea. i think something happened to put all these kids in the same class. they are almost all either deadly serious or incredibly shy. i've tried about 10 different games-activities to get them to participate in class but usually end up getting stonewalled because they just don't want to speak! (add to this that they never remember what we did the previous week, no matter how much we review!)
we did a story-reading class the other day where i tried to get them to act out little red riding hood and did as many goofy things to get them active.all to no avail. the ones who did look like they wanted to go with it ending up taking their cues from the ones who answer everything with a blank stare. i know they understand (even if they don't remember later), so i'm wondering if anyone has any ideas on how to deal with this particular kind of group.

i feel like a dentist!

cheers,
j.

[EFLwithlittleones]

Do you have to teach them these things? I mean speaking and so forth? Korean children are notorious for being recalcitrant. You might be better off giving them absorbing writing tasks, games and puzzles to do in pairs or by splitting the class in half. Perhaps if you leave the speaking until they need to communicate with you (and the value of speaking becomes self-evident) there might be greater success.

[Jacqui]

Hey, just wanted to say that your e-mail cheered me up a little.

I have been in Korea for nearly three weeks now and have been struggling to get the kids involved in the lesson. Although in my case it is probably due to lack of experience. The children i am teaching have never had a native english speaker before and hardly understand a word i am saying. In fact I am the only foreigner in my town...

Anyway i was glad to read that there are others in a similar position to me.
Hope things get better for you!

Jacqui

[marx_brother]

thanks for your replies.

i do have to stick to the conversation module for the most part. i have a bit of leeway, so i try to mix things up a bit. it's funny though, this is the only class that i have a problem with. even the fun split-class games make them hesitate. they just don't seem to like each other very much. i'm trying to find games and activities that i can use in-class to go over what we have covered conversation-wise... i guess it'll just keep being trial and error. i did a wheel of fortune type game the other day that all my other classes LOVE. these kids just eyed each other constantly and then every now and then let out a huge "ugh... this sucks..."-type sigh. they are very strange, but i won't give up on them.

and jacqui, good luck! don't worry, there are plenty of us in the same boat but it's a great ride if you go with it!!! (boy.. you must get some hardcore staring action being the only foreigner in town!). if things get desperate, i'll just ship these six to you!

[Jacqui]

Thanks for your reply marx.

I already have two classes like the one you have described... although it could be because i am inexperienced and haven't learnt loads of games etc. Yes, everyone stares at me all the time... I am the only foreigner in this town and the surrounding town. I have been told that people could think that i am morman because they are the only foreigners these people ever see.... I haven't met one person in my town who i can have a conversation with. My director is the only person who understands what i am saying and he doen't even live in my town. I must admit that i am struggling being in this one horse town! It doesn't even have an internet cafe which says alot for a Korean town.

Oh yes, about your 'special' class. My suggestion is that you buy an incentive... some sweets or something. That should work better than anything else i can think of.

Jacqui

[flyingnutter]

Hi I know exactly how you feel and have an easy solution picture stories, if the are at elementry or higher for a class like yours it works. Put the picture story up you say the sentence and get them to repeat it. It's boring and repetitive but thats the way the Korean children learn in school you might find they are less resistant to this method. Once you done that a few times get them in to pair and act it out. Vary it when it gets to boring for you. And if they are advanced put the story up with no word and get them to make the sentences. If all else fails play scrabble.

Don't be hard on your self we all have 'em.

[strider]

My students are very different in age and background (French teenagers) but when I first started in my present job, I had similar reactions. The problem was made worse by the fact that their syllabus consists of reading and understanding business texts. All the subjects that I thought would be interesting to them (9/11, industrial spying...) just made them sigh and roll their eyes. At the same time, I had problems with classroom discipline as they played with their mobile phones during the lesson or chatted to each other about what they saw on TV.

One day I had the idea - why not find a text on mobile phones? I found one, made up a load of exercises using text messaging words and it was a great success. Later, I found another text on 'Star Academy' (One of those shows where teenagers live and train together to win a prize) which was also successful.

What I discovered was that I really didn't know what they were interested in, I had to learn about them first.

So, what about your class? What are they into? Could you get them to talk about video games? Get their opinions on Godzilla? Get them to explain how to play one of their games? You will probably have to start with lots of basics, maybe using questions with 'multiple choice' type answers (Which is the best console, Playstation or Xbox? Why, because it's faster or because it has more games?) etc.

Anyway, I'm sure the key is there, you just have to find it!