Dear all,
In the process of teaching practice, I noticed that lots of students don’t show any reaction and are inactive in class when I pose a question even though they know the answer; it seems that they don’t want and like to express their opinions. I think it is a difficult problem to deal with, especially now “student-centered” is advocated, students should play the major role in the class. So what should I do to encourage most of the students to participate in the class?
Thank you for any help you can offer!
How to encourage students to participate in the class ?
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xiaomingchen
- Posts: 1
- Joined: Fri Mar 30, 2007 3:59 am
1. Create activities that force the students to communicate, i.e information gaps and role-plays.
2. Make the students responsible for creating conversation questions for the class to use - this will encourage them to choose topics that motivate them to talk, and you can have them create questions that practice any grammar you are covering, such as "Have you ever..." or "What would you do if..."
3. Have the students brainstorm topics/situations that they would like to cover in class.
4. Give each student a playing card out of a deck, then have a pile of playing cards in your hand (from another deck) that match the students' cards. When you ask a question, pick a card from your hand ("Who has the Jack of Hearts?) and have that student respond. Every student will have to answer a question at some point during the class. If the student picked can't answer, open the question to the other Jacks, or the other Hearts.
5. Google "speaking activities ESL" or "conversation ESL" and surf your way through the thousands of ideas available on the Internet.
6. If all else fails, beg them to talk. Tell them you will lose your job and you have bills to pay.
Good Luck!
2. Make the students responsible for creating conversation questions for the class to use - this will encourage them to choose topics that motivate them to talk, and you can have them create questions that practice any grammar you are covering, such as "Have you ever..." or "What would you do if..."
3. Have the students brainstorm topics/situations that they would like to cover in class.
4. Give each student a playing card out of a deck, then have a pile of playing cards in your hand (from another deck) that match the students' cards. When you ask a question, pick a card from your hand ("Who has the Jack of Hearts?) and have that student respond. Every student will have to answer a question at some point during the class. If the student picked can't answer, open the question to the other Jacks, or the other Hearts.
5. Google "speaking activities ESL" or "conversation ESL" and surf your way through the thousands of ideas available on the Internet.
6. If all else fails, beg them to talk. Tell them you will lose your job and you have bills to pay.
Good Luck!
I give a certain number of participation points based on
- attendance
- being prepared (book/notebook/something to write with
- contribution to discussion
- attentiveness to teacher and ESPECIALLY other students' contributions (this is just common courtesy)
So, sitting like a lump can adversely affect a student's grade!
- attendance
- being prepared (book/notebook/something to write with
- contribution to discussion
- attentiveness to teacher and ESPECIALLY other students' contributions (this is just common courtesy)
So, sitting like a lump can adversely affect a student's grade!
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jedimasterbooboo
- Posts: 11
- Joined: Mon Apr 30, 2007 1:45 am
- Location: Philippines
- Contact:
Scenario
I wonder about the classroom dynamic, because I have a suggestion, but it may not work well for all dynamics.
I run conversation classes for small groups (under eight) and run into the issue of repitition which can lead to boredom.
My students get to know eachother well, so sometimes instead of asking a student a question about himself, I ask about another person in the class. "What's Harry's favorite movie?"
They seem to love this whether they know the answers or not.
I'm thinking that it wouldn't work well with younger people that may be more prideful and wouldn't work in a more sterile environment than I've got. So we're back to the icebreaker suggestions if that's the case in your class.
I work with University level and beyond, so I'm a bit spoiled in these situations. They're more open to fun, it seems- and the class size doesn't hurt!
I run conversation classes for small groups (under eight) and run into the issue of repitition which can lead to boredom.
My students get to know eachother well, so sometimes instead of asking a student a question about himself, I ask about another person in the class. "What's Harry's favorite movie?"
They seem to love this whether they know the answers or not.
I'm thinking that it wouldn't work well with younger people that may be more prideful and wouldn't work in a more sterile environment than I've got. So we're back to the icebreaker suggestions if that's the case in your class.
I work with University level and beyond, so I'm a bit spoiled in these situations. They're more open to fun, it seems- and the class size doesn't hurt!