Can anyone give a structure to follow when teaching english

[Ajarn Ling]

Hi

I have recently volunteered to teach 2 groups of students in our rural village here in Thailand, once a day, everyday for the next month as a way of making merit within the community. One group is aged approx 6 to 11 years old and the 2nd group is aged 12 to 18 years old. They have had little exposure to reading, writing and speaking English....... or at least little proffiency

My only real qualifications are that I am young, English and very affable. But the more I think about what to teach them, the more complicated and convoluted the whole thing becomes

So can anyone please advise me of a simple structure to follow in building up a quality of lessons that they will enjoy learning everyday. I obviosly want to cover the basics (whatever they are hahahaha) but also I would like to follow a guideline that has a good learning curve........ for both them and myself.......

If anyone can help me from stressing out about this I would be ever so grateful for their contribution

Thanks for reading, now bring on that advice, the more the merrier

Ajarn Ling........... or so they call me hahahahahah

[LarryLatham]

Hooboy! What have you gotten yourself into?

Well, some readers of this may find my suggestions odd, considering other posts I have made along the way, but given what you've said, Ajarn Ling (or so you're called), I'd suggest you play games with them.

You only have a month. Almost nothing you can do academically will make any difference in your students' English. But you may be able to play with them and make some headway. You say you're affable. That's a good start, perhaps. Talk to them, shout at them (nicely), whisper in their ears, speak directly to them both in groups and individually, one-on-one, in idiomatic English as you play. Encourage them to ape what you say. Reward their efforts with smiles, grimaces, body language, slaps on the back. Make believe you're playing with young English friends. Move around a lot, making contact with every student several times in each lesson. Be flexible: if a game doesn't work, abandon it in favor of one that does. Play outside games, sports, futbol, cricket, vollyball, badminton, baseball, kickball, dodgeball. Work with the girls on "ring around the rosy", play "hide-and-seek", play "war" with the boys, have parades singing "whistle while you work". Sing songs. Teach them lyrics from American and European hit songs. Well, you get the point.

Given your circumstances, I believe you might get the best result from activities like these.

Larry Latham

[Ajarn Ling]

Thanks Larry Latham

I appreciate the info that you offered and it is very much what I had in mind to do but I am hoping that this month of teaching will lead to further classes with the students as well, provided I have gained their interest in learning more

This is the structure I am going to follow thus far

Giving you name and personal information (name, tel number, address)

Greetings - basic small talk including "how are you"

Alphabet - Pronounciation Skills

Phonetic Alphabet - a = ah, b = ber , c=ker, d = der etc

This, that, here there - recognising this/here, that/there

Present of the verb to be - Conjugation of the verb, question and negative form

Basic descriptive adjectives - ability to describe objects simply

Basic prepostions use - in, at, to, on, etc

There is, There are - Difference between singular and plural, question and negative form

Some, any, much, many - When to use some and any in the positive, negative and question forms. Questions using much and many

Question Words - The use of "wh-" question words as well as how much and how many

Adverbs of frequency - The use of adverbs of frequency such as: always, often, sometimes, never

Subject Pronouns - I, You, He, She, It, We, You, They

Possesive adjectives - My, Your, His, Her, (its) Our, Your, Their

A, An, The - Basic rules for usage definite and indefinate articles

Jobs - Names of the most common jobs

Telling the time - How to tell the time

Time Expressions - Using "in the morning" "in the afternoon" "in the evening" "at night" and "at" with time

Everyday objects - Well rounder vocabulary

Present Simple - The use of present simple for describing every day routines, positive, negative and question forms




As you can see, I have put a little thought into this "structure" but I would like to know what I may have missed and indeed, what else I can add

Maybe this "structure" that I have now may help others too

Ajarn Ling - always monkeying around

[LarryLatham]

Indeed, it looks like you have put some thought into it. I think you'll do very well!

Best of luck.

Larry Latham

[Renaissance Man]

b=ber c=ker d=der?

Is this actually the standard phoenetic spelling of the alphabet? I have a hard enough time stopping my Chinese students from saying 'er' when they're supposed to say 'uh', I can't imagine if somebody had taught them to say B(er)ob(er).

Aside from the material that you have listed as the guideline for what you want to teach, I agree with Larry (as I often find myself doing) that the methods are a large part of what you should be thinking about. In a one month period, the greatest thing you can do for your students is teach them a love of english.

As for physical contact, it's great with the youngest children if you think you can keep them disciplined without speaking their language. That might be the biggest problem in dancing around the classroom, pantomiming and teaching them in an interesting way. However, in China teachers keep a lot of distance from their older students, certainly never touching them, and there's actually a lot of stigma against it. You might get a lot of skewed glances from parents.

For generating interest with the younger children, teach the names of some animals. Do a lot of pantomiming, maybe use simple songs. For the older students, some good natured ribbing is usually what they like to learn the most. The point at which I usually figure out that my students are going to pay the money to stick around at my private school for a while is the first time they tell me, with a big smile on their face "You are so mean! I will beat you up!"

[LarryLatham]

However, in China teachers keep a lot of distance from their older students, certainly never touching them, and there's actually a lot of stigma against it. You might get a lot of skewed glances from parents.

Point taken, Renaissance Man, and all the more so in Thailand. I had more or less assumed that, since he was already in that country, Ajarn Ling will know about the local customs. (Touching the head is especially egregious). But I may have assumed wrong, and you are quite right to point out the potential for social disaster.

Moreover, there certainly will be need for a different program for the older students than for the younger. The older ones will likely be slightly more discerning about the quality of the language instruction.

Keen eye!

Larry Latham

[Ajarn Ling]

Many thanks to you both for taking the time to read my message. Its nice to know that there is someone else out there who I can hopefully reach out to when everything goes awry

You rightly assume Larry that I know the local customs. I have been living here for nearly 4 years now and I am very well versed in the etiquette and the way of life here nowadays...... its a pleasant lifestyle that I thouroughly enjoy and I pay respect to all of their customs, phom khun thai farang as I am often reminded by my friends

But you did also hit on a point that I was trying to communicate in my previous posting...... that being the slightly more discerning quality of instruction for the older students. As you have already seen, my absolute beginners structure is quite balanced and along with a few songs and lots of antic, it is proving to be good fun for both me and my youngest students

But alas, I am not so sure it is going to be a roaring success with the older students, it is only a basic introduction after all and they will quickly devour that knowledge and will be wanting more. This is where I feel I at something of a loss as I know I need some more structure to build upon but I am not sure in which order I should then be doing things.

I have bought a few books and students workbooks etc which are pretty good and I will use some of them at times......... but I dont just want to teach out of a book..... far too repetitive for the students. nor do I just want to resort to playing games all of the time either.......

I really do want to make this an ongoing thing for them and to have more than a modicum of success in teaching them to communicate properly but its a structure that I lack to follow on from structure I posted previously...... so if you have any suggestion they will be greatly appreciated

Mmmm sure I had more to say but I feel the urge for Hoi Tod and so off I go in serach of food

Thanks guys

Ajarn Ling

[LarryLatham]

I have bought a few books and students workbooks etc which are pretty good and I will use some of them at times......... but I dont just want to teach out of a book..... far too repetitive for the students. nor do I just want to resort to playing games all of the time either.......

This sounds quite balanced to me. I think your instincts are great. I expect you will be a great success as a teacher.

Larry Latham

[Renaissance Man]

I guess this is my own inexperience showing through. Very little assumptions are being made here, as everything on this side of the world is all rather baffling to me still.

If you're going to teach them english with an eye towards ongoing education, please teach them words like "pronoun" and "adverb" I'm sure you already have that covered, however. I tried to teach what I thought would be a breeze of a class on rejoinders (You did?) with a group of middle school students and stumbled for the whole hour on the concept of [pronoun] + be or do.

This group has been spoiled by "crazy english" sentence classes and won't sit still through a grammar lesson anymore... It's really disheartening, I used to be their favorite teacher!

*to the students, with a tear in his eye*
I only do it because I love you!

[LarryLatham]

If you're going to teach them english with an eye towards ongoing education, please teach them words like "pronoun" and "adverb"

Oh, I most heartily agree with you, Renaissance Man. And, of course, in addition to teaching them the words, be sure, too, that they understand what they mean. There can be no discussing of the language if you don't have a grasp of the terminology involved. Every field has it's "buzz" words.

Larry Latham