Reigning in spoiled students

[Renaissance Man]

First, I would like to state that it has been my distinct pleasure to benefit from the posters who so lovingly bestow their knowledge upon us in this forum. The names that first spring to mind are LarryLatham, Rania and Lorikeet, though I know I'm missing some very wise individuals. Reading your advice has helped me a lot in sorting out my worries... though it is very hard to condense so many years of experience into a personal understanding in a couple weeks.

I'm facing a problem that I mentioned in a discussion with Larry before. I've been teaching a group of students in the private school I work for for 9 months now (my entire stay in China) and they are at around an intermediate level. The bulk of their education, however, has been using 'Li Yang's Crazy English Sentences' and only that. I know that this is far from the best way to give an english education, it completely skips the fundamental building blocks of english. Now that I've been given more freedom to dictate the contents of my classes and the textbooks, I'm trying to correct the glaring holes in their knowledge.

All the students are at rather diverse ability levels, as this is a private school that has just been soaking up any students it can get into the program. One is a 35 year old teacher that has been teaching for 9 years, another is a 16 year old girl with no aptitude for learning english at all. However, thanks to the politics of Chinese parenthood, she's tagging along in the advanced class "learning as fast as she possibly can".

As mentioned, they've been "learning english Crazily" from all of their teachers, including myself, before now. Fast repitition of words and sentences, all students actively involved in each class throughout the class, familiarity with the teaching method making everything very ... simple for them. Even now, all their other teachers are doing basically the same thing, in different ways.

Insert Brian, wanting desperately to correct these holes in their english knowledge called grammar and situational application. Brian, who knows very little Chinese. Brian who works at four different schools because of the ridiculous contracting the school does. Brian who has about 50 hours of work on his lap every week.

As mentioned in another thread, I ran into problems with the meaning of pronoun. I lost the students in a lesson on rejoinders. A listening class is met with sighs of despair and heads slumping to desks. Watching an english movie didn't even raise their spirits, as the equipment was too poor, and you couldn't make out the sounds of the english voices properly. Everything else I'm doing is going wonderfully except this class, and it's driving me insane!

So what I've decided on doing is creating a well structured, pointed class on communications, primarily situational dialogues (answering the phone, may I take your order? etc.) and question/answer patterns. Hell, even question recognition is going to take a bit of work with some of the students! I'm most certainly alone on this in my area, as everybody I work with appears less experienced and less educated than I.

I'll get into the clockwork of it more later (I'm still formulating plans) but right now I have to go meet a colleague and iron out some of the lumps forming in my sanity. I'm eager to see what sage pieces of wisdom I can lure out of you with my desperate pleas for aide! *prays that this is the season for sympathy*

[Renaissance Man]

Well... everything just got halted by an unexpected contraction of tuberculosis. Maybe I spent too much time attending John Keats' muse... So I guess it doesn't matter too much anymore, I'm not sure what I'm going to do.

I guess the advice I should ask for now is whether I should get treated in China or go back home to Canada?

[Lorikeet]

Oh dear, so sorry to hear about your illness. Unfortunately, I don't really know anything about the health care system in China, but I bet someone here will.

[LarryLatham]

I'm so sorry too, Brian, to hear about your illness. I rather suspect that the doctors in China will have some experience in treating TB and may therefore be pretty good, but if I were you I think I might feel more comfortable in Canada where I'd know the docs were good. Maybe, as Lorikeet suggests, others who read this thread will know more. Roger, where are you?

Larry Latham

[Renaissance Man]

Well, I've decided to use this illness as a ticket out of this mess. I hate to leave the students hanging, and I'd probably feel more proud of my work if I could have tackled the class well... but as you can tell, I'm not in the best work situation with my school. I'm also getting very tired of how business is done in China. Maybe I'll come back later... but for now, perhaps the advice you offer can help my friend who is staying behind and taking over the courses.

Are guided discussions the best way to teach english fluency? Does having the class break into partners and talk amongst themselves encourage effective learning? What kind of methods might drive a conversational dialogue class most effectively?
My impression right now is that it's best to have a number of short activities within each class, each training a different point and eventually meeting at the end to create a comprehensive understanding. Something I'd really love to be able to prepare someday, when I have a REAL teaching job, not this circus act.

Just a short bit of advice on structuring a class like this is all I ask.

Wish me luck with my recovery, Keats was a many times great uncle so TB scares me a little. Thanks for the concern. You're all a great help, and have made this forum a resource worth anyone's time and appreciation.

[Lorikeet]

I wish you the best of luck for a speedy recovery. I'm sure you'll make the best of it by using the time to rest, reflect, and rejuvenate yourself. Let us know how you are are doing!

As far as conversation practice goes, I think it's a lot harder when your students are all from the same language background. (Mine are from different language backgrounds.) There are a lot of different things you can do. Among the things that have worked for me are exercises where one student has one part of the information, and another student has another part of the information, and they have to work together (without speaking their own language or looking at their partner's paper) to put the information together.

Here is one example: Student A gets a paper with story 1 at the top. Story 1 has blanks in a lot of places. Student A's paper has story 2 at the bottom. Story 2 is complete. Student B gets a paper with story 2 at the top. Story 2 has blanks in a lot of places. At the bottom of Student B's paper, Story 1 is complete. The incomplete sentences look something like this: John is a _________. He likes to ____________ in the afternoon. The student without the information has to ask the student with the information a question to elicit the answer. (What does John do? He's a student. What does he like to do in the afternoon? He likes to play tennis.)

Another example: Both students get a map with empty squares for places. The get a list of places with a number beside each. Student A puts the places on the map by putting the number in the squares. Student B asks Student A for directions on where to put the places.

I also use "regular" interviews of open-ended questions. (What do you like to do after school? What kind of food do you like the best? etc.)

Well, these are kind of mundane ideas, but that's all I can think of at the moment. Maybe it will give your friend some better ideas .

[LarryLatham]

By all means, Brian, keep in touch with us wherever you may go. All the best for a quick and easy recovery.

Larry Latham