Teacher Discussion Forums

Hello
I've been teaching here in Wonbuk(small town outside of Seosan/Tean) and i've come to realize that most of the kids can speak a little bit, but really have no idea what they are saying most of the time. In addition, I've noticed that there seems to be a disconnect when it comes to spelling anything, even cat. Of course, there are exceptions but i need to somehow to make this connection.

I do listening exercises to see if they are able to write a complete sentence while answering a verbal question, or response. And 90 percent cannot do it, at all.

I'm thinking of working intensely for a while on vocabulary. I've devised a long term game, competition for building vocabulary and sentence building. I feel that if i can get the kids to use the language more in a practical way the sights and sounds of english may come alive more.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated.
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Hi, I don't know all of the details, but it sounds like you may be jumping in to early with the writing and reading. I think that kids should have a solid foundations of at least the basics before trying to get them to write and spell. By basics I mean numbers, colors, animals, basic phrases etc. You can also start phonics out with them at the same time, which will help with their writing and reading. Here are some pages on my site that may help you:
Getting Started:
http://www.dreamenglish.com/basickidsenglish
Phonics:
http://www.dreamenglish.com/phonics

I hope this helps a bit, best of luck!

Yeah, these kids already have 3-5 years English, but have been being taught by mostly koreans, which means no english in class at all,except to blindly repeat phrases without knowing what they are saying.

I fear, I may have to start over with them. This is difficult because I still have to cover the current curriculum.

I will try to find a way in.

Thanks Again

(It's hard to offer advice when the details aren't quite clear, but...) If you're teaching in elementary public schools, then (drawing on my experiences of them in Japan), I'd say it would be ambitious indeed to be expecting students much below the final year (or at most two) to have studied the alphabet (English ~) symbols and strokes much, let alone be 'able to write a complete sentence' or even words - letters would be about all I'd hope for (and even then, there might be quite a few b's for d's and vice versa etc).

In further relation to written answers, you might like to supply multiple choice answers via speech to your questions, and ask students to write just option a, b or c on the space for question 1 or 2 or whatever number it is for on their answer sheet - at least this would get them writing something that would be more within their current capabilities (if you want to insist on some form of written response to a question, rather than just a show of hands). Then, the student who writes the most correct answers (correct not just in terms of right choice but also letter shape) could win a little something (I used to have a stamp of a cute rabbit or frog - something for the girls and boys respectively!). You could even work through the rest of the alphabet a bit by having answers d through f the next week (slightly unnatural though that might be in authentic spoken "quiz English"). (Don't forget though that letters names and order are only useful for spelling and dictionary navigation, and bear less relation to the actual sounds that letters/phonemes have when connected into words and then continuous speech - some form of phonics, in other words, as Mdream mentions).

I personally always like to try to move away from possibly only suggested syllabuses and develop and use my own methods and materials (which aren't at all bad compared to some of the dodgy stuff that's sometimes pressed onto us English teachers, often by people who don't even speak the language!), but if you're working in a hogwon rather than an actual elementary school then this may not be a real optiion.

Anyway, here are some threads that might prove interesting ('cos they detail my own elementary-school syllabus, some activities in general, and an approach to the alphabet that I developed specifically for Japanese learners i.e. which used their pre-existing literacy in Japanese kana...but I don't know much about Hangul, so can't say if something similar could be developed for Korea!):
http://forums.eslcafe.com/teacher/viewt ... 0542#40542

Hi there.

New to the board but been teaching ESL in China for about 5 years now but most of it in Jr. High. This year I'm teaching 4h and 5th grade once a week I feel your pain.

Chinese students have similar problems. They have generally at least memorized a fair number of words and know what they mean but can not
construct sentences. One activity that has seemed to work well for me was this:

- Divide the blackboard into two sections labeling each section "nouns" and "verbs" respectively. Call on students to fill in the board with vocabulary starting with nouns because that is easiest. Usually you have to give them a few examples to get them started as they may not even know what nouns and verbs are.

- Once you have filled the board with lots of vocabulary, show them how they can form sentences by just picking a word from each section. Call on students to choose randomly words from each sections and then help them link them into sentences.

Generally the only help they need is adding or not adding an "s" to the verb depending on what noun they chose as a subject.

Good luck. I am still sweating bullets over this afternoons classes. Elementary school is still kind of new to me.