Starting in September, I will be teaching esl to a class of 15 Chinese senior citizens in Canada. I have been told that the class is at the earliest beginner level. These seniors live in a Chinese community in the center of the city and are learning English for fun and survival to some degree.
This is volunteer work, on my part, and I must develop my own lessons. Can anyone suggest any textbooks and other tools that can help me with this?
Thank you
Developing Lessons for Beginner Level ESL
Moderators: Dimitris, maneki neko2, Lorikeet, Enrico Palazzo, superpeach, cecil2, Mr. Kalgukshi2
Developing Lessons for Beginner Level ESL
Below is a good textbook that I use for teaching basic conversation and coping skills to beginner-level adults. I haven't had the pleasure of teaching an Asian senior group but my mother has. Her advice: relax and don't worry if it seems like they aren't making progress quickly. Just like with seniors in any language, they love to share photos and stories about their families and their lives. Good Luck!
Book info: Lifelines 1 by Barbara Foley and Howard Pomann, published in 1993 by Prentice Hall Regents, ISBN # 0-13-225574-X. If you have trouble finding it (it might be out of print), I recommend used book websites or half.com (a subsidiary of e-bay).
Book info: Lifelines 1 by Barbara Foley and Howard Pomann, published in 1993 by Prentice Hall Regents, ISBN # 0-13-225574-X. If you have trouble finding it (it might be out of print), I recommend used book websites or half.com (a subsidiary of e-bay).
Developing Lessons for Beginner Level ESL
Thank you very much. I'll look for the book on the web. And thank your mother for the suggestion about using the students' family photos. I can see a way to work that into a number of lessons in order to motivate their speaking.
If the students are seniors, many of them are likely to have some degree of hearing loss (diagnosed or undiagnosed).
--Remember to always face them when speaking (not in the shadows, not with your back to them, not in profile).
--Decrease background noise as much as possible. (close windows and doors, turn down AC or heater units, etc.)
--Speak extra clearly, and pause between sentences/phases to allow for the increased processing time they need.
--Use a lot of visuals (pictures, objects, gestures) to make your auditory message more obvious.
Also, in my experience, seniors are sometimes the least shy/uptight students. You could really have some fun with role plays, charades, and games. And try to find out what each student's hobbies are. You could create vocab lessons based on the activities they like to do (cooking, golf, reading children's books to grandkids, calligraphy, painting, etc.).
Good luck!
-EH
--Remember to always face them when speaking (not in the shadows, not with your back to them, not in profile).
--Decrease background noise as much as possible. (close windows and doors, turn down AC or heater units, etc.)
--Speak extra clearly, and pause between sentences/phases to allow for the increased processing time they need.
--Use a lot of visuals (pictures, objects, gestures) to make your auditory message more obvious.
Also, in my experience, seniors are sometimes the least shy/uptight students. You could really have some fun with role plays, charades, and games. And try to find out what each student's hobbies are. You could create vocab lessons based on the activities they like to do (cooking, golf, reading children's books to grandkids, calligraphy, painting, etc.).
Good luck!
-EH
Thank you Mrs Sohn. Yesterday I received in the mail the copy of Lifelines 1 which I ordered online through the Alibris website. The book meets my needs perfectly. 
I am in the process of drawing up an outline of what I will cover over the year. My plan shows me covering a chapter of the book each week, but I will slow down if that seems to be too quick for the class. I will adapt a lot of the material ... add / subtract activities.
Since this is a low/beginner class, I thought I would also teach the alphabet and numbers. I haven't worked out how I'll approach numbers yet, but I thought I would focus on a different letter of the alphabet in each class, slowing working through it. In this way I can introduce vocabulary (both nouns and verbs I think).
Any additional ideas are more than welcome, Carolyn
I am in the process of drawing up an outline of what I will cover over the year. My plan shows me covering a chapter of the book each week, but I will slow down if that seems to be too quick for the class. I will adapt a lot of the material ... add / subtract activities.
Since this is a low/beginner class, I thought I would also teach the alphabet and numbers. I haven't worked out how I'll approach numbers yet, but I thought I would focus on a different letter of the alphabet in each class, slowing working through it. In this way I can introduce vocabulary (both nouns and verbs I think).
Any additional ideas are more than welcome, Carolyn
