University students...discipline ideas at their age?

[yoyo]

Hiya people,

I have seem some of the posts here and I know that a few of you might be in the same situation as me. Well, here goes. I have taught a semester at this university and I thought that the students would be well behaved because I am in Korea and these are university level students. Most were but a few drove me nuts...hehehehe...What irritates me is that when I am talking, a few of them start talking..One student told me that he couldn't understand me so he was asking his friend. I understand the language barrier but I gotta teach without distractions.

So, I got some ideas from other teachers. One says he embarrasses the students if they talk and one takes points away. I used the point system and it worked but I was wondering if anyone had any other ideas...

Thanks...

[surrealia]

I can empathize with you completely. I teach at a university in Taiwan, and this is a common problem. And I agree that university students should be able to sit and listen quietly without the teacher disciplining them.

There is no simple solution for it, but I think it is helpful to consider some of the various alternatives. The easiest is to just ignore them, which might not be a good option if they are too noisy. Another idea is to call on the students who are talking, and challenge them with "excuse me, what did I just say?". A lighter approach is to tease them a little bit. You could say "Hey, your Korean is really improving!" or "Oh, I must be in the wrong classroom. I thought this was English class, not Korean class." You can parrot one of their Korean sentences back to them and ask them "How do I say that in English?" Other ideas: Walk around the class while you are talking and make a point of hovering over the ones that like to talk in Korean. You can also make a note of the "talkers" and from time to time have them come up and write something on the board, such as answers to questions, or some pattern sentences.

I would also recommend trying to understand that students (especially beginners) occasionally do need to communicate in their native language if they don't understand the teacher.

I guess what works best for me is to not make too much a big deal about it, unless they are seriously disrupting the class. And giving the whole class lots of different kinds of language practice (dictations, kinesthetic activities, role plays, etc. ) can do wonders in getting them to speak less Korean and more English.

I hope all this helps.

[jase]

hi yoyo
I also teach at a uni in korea so i know exactly what you are talking about. If these are freshman classes which i assume they are, students are of all levels- a fair percentage in my uni are complete beginners (i'd say 10 per cent)- so there would be two reasons why they are talking in class:
1) they don't understand
2) they're mucking around.

usually you can tell which one they're doing. if it's the first situation keep your language simple, paraphrase and repeat yourself.(i think its ok if there is some explaining going on in korean for the wekaer students)

If it's the second situation you call on the student not paying attention to answer the question you might be addressing to the class (with big freshman classes i make sure everybody has a big name tag so i can call on any student any time).
Don't yell- just wait in silence for that person/ persons to stop.
If they just continue chatting continually then boot the offender out of class (i've only had to do it one time). After that you'll have no discipline problems. I think it's especially important that you know/ can see everybody's names so as soon as one student looks out the window/ turns to their mate jump all over him/ her with a question.

cheers

[yoyo]

Hiya Surrealia and Jase,

Thanks guys for the great suggestions. I have tried some of your ideas. I guess you just gotta do the best you can but yet let them know that you need control of the class. I think student interactions are good, too so they can stay focused. I know it's not easy to stay still in a boring class...

Have fun in your classes...