Teacher Discussion Forums

Hi, everyone.
I teach an informal weekly ESL class for parents at my son's school. Right now we've got an Iranian lady who's very much a beginner. I've been teaching her mainly through writing -- our alphabet and some phonics. She works hard at that, but she doesn't seem ready to try to communicate in speech. If I speak to her, she repeats what I say and that's it. If anyone speaks to her outside class, she just says, "No English."

I've been thinking I should teach her to write some basic greetings and so forth, then try to get her to use them. Does anyone have any other ideas?

It would be easier if I could give her individual attention, but there are the other students to think of, some of them not much more advanced than she is.

Thanks!

Use them to teach her. Have then act out the situations where the greetings can be used and say them. Get them to repeat them to her, get them to write the phrases on the board. That will keep them involved and help to reinforce it to them too. Then get one patient and friendly person to try the phrases out on her.

Thanks, I'm working on it.

If you have access to a computer and internet in class, you could have a student to help her writing e-mails to friends and classmates.

This student would help her to improve her writing at the same time she would be improving both listening and speaking. in an informal way.