Teacher Discussion Forums

Hi, I am a teacher in Shenzhen, China at Oxstand University. This is my first time teaching ESL so I am rather new at this. I took a live TESOL course and everything but I still feel so underprepared.

I have rather a rather atypical chinese class. First off, I only have 5 students which is rather nice. Secondly they are all boys. Thirdly, their respect for me as the teacher is minimal at best. They like me and everything, but they don't respect me. I tell them to stop talking in class and it works... for about five seconds. But most importantly, they don't really give a care about learning ANY English. To say they (all except one that is) are unmotivated is the understatement of the century. I give them homework and am lucky to see them complete half of it. As a result, their English is very poor. Their reading and writing is decent, but listening and speaking aren't so good. I asked one of them "Would you please close the door?" and he didn't understand me. And I am suppose to be preparing them for a program where the classes are COMPLETELY in English.

I think it is partially my faulth though. Because I have been pretty much been teaching straight from the text book without any fun activities or anything. It's a good text book and everything (Interchange third edition) but even a good text book is not enough. As one of my students often loudly protests the class is "So Boring!!" I think if I could spice it up a little I might actually get them interested and trick them into learning something.

I was hoping some of you could offer advice to me. Anything from classroom management from fun activities to any random advice you think might help. Please please please help. I want to do a good job teaching these kids (even though they drive me crazy I still love them), but I just don't know what to do. If you have any advice it all, I would greatly appreciate it.

Perhaps there is ultimately no satisfying some students, even if you haven't been trying quite your best and/or aren't quite experienced or confident enough yet. In such situations, one is often advised to establish and work on disciplne rules and procedures, but I would argue to not neglect (and certainly not to give up on) the actual linguistic research and preparation (i.e. in attempting to identify, present and teach genuinely useful and interesting stuff)...there are more than a few threads on "unmotivated" students, e.g:
http://forums.eslcafe.com/teacher/viewtopic.php?t=738
http://forums.eslcafe.com/teacher/viewtopic.php?t=2122

Anyway, Interchange isn't a bad book, if only because its content and format doesn't demand total slavishness and obedience (e.g. no overly-long reading texts to wade through etc) - you can really expand on its range of exponents if not topics if you want to do conversation (and its teaching) more justice.

It's been ages since I've taught with Interchange but definitely on the whole it's very hard for students to work with only a textbook.

It is boring.

You didn't mention the age of the boys - which is a little confusing because from what I remember Interchange is good with young adults...

An idea might be to hold a brainstorming session with your students on learning English.

Ask them why they are there in your classroom and what their objectives are. Do they want to just have fun or are they there to learn something and if so, what?

It is very possible that they don't feel that their needs are being listened to.

Once you've determined their goals, ask them how you are all going to achieve that aim. BTW there's no reason the class can't be fun and a learning experience!

Give as much control over to them - am I assuming correctly and these are young adults (17-25)? If they don't like the textbook, can they take over some of the responsibility of finding activities and games on-line and bringing them into the classroom for you all to do?

Can you (as a group) determine a curriculum that incorporates their interests and needs? Can you get them to review the textbook and highlight specifically the units that are interesting, that do have value?

Don't hesitate to email personally if you have other questions.

I've got a brainstorming sheet on my website - although it's designed mainly when trying to determine a framework for conversation lessons - it may be useful to you as well.

http://www.kalinago-english.com/cms/ind ... Using.html

Karenne

Ah! I'm sorry! I forgot to mention their ages which is one of the biggest factors. Their ages ranges from 13-16. Fun I know.

Can you let them sit in on a few of their future classes so they know what they will be facing when they finish yours? That might motivate them a bit.

Here are my suggestions based on what you posted:

I politely disagree with Karenne. Instead of trying to motivate them by asking them what they want to learn, I would set up a system of awarding part of their final grade based on their participation in class. Make it painfully clear to them that you expect them to speak English in class, even if it's just a few words, and even if the grammar is less than perfect. Tell them exactly what kind of behavior will give them points and what kind of behavior will cause them to lose points. You can have someone translate into Chinese to make sure they understand.

I've had great success with dictations. Chinese students really take to them, and there are a lot of cool, interesting ways to do them. Try out the ideas on these pages:

http://www.hltmag.co.uk/mar01/teach.htm

http://www.onestopenglish.com/section.asp?docid=146383

http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/think ... -dictation

I can recommend books that have some clever ideas to spice up your classes:

Humanising Your Coursebook by Mario Rinvolucri

Language Activities for Teenagers by Seth Lindstromberg

Also, look over the One Stop English and BBC British Council Teaching English websites for more ideas.

These replies here are excellent. Really great response to a common problem. I completely agree with fluffyhamster but I'd also like to add that some quick, simple activities that you can reward the students for doing can help a lot. If you can make them feel good about something, their interest in English may increase. It is hard to say whether some students will respond or not, but simply your concern in your current situation shows to me that you will gain a lot of experience from your teaching.

Just keep searching the internet for more peoples experiences and advice and try your best to find the things that interest and motivate those boys, and your future students.

Try the shock tactic: Walk into the room and slam your hand loudly onto the table without saying a word. This will scare them into quiet submission.
For a game, try this:

www.phrazzleme.com