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Students sometimes practice speaking English using the sounds of their mother language. Of course they would like to be able to speak more accurately, more clearly, have fewer misunderstandings, but they’re not sure how to begin. Today I emphasized the need to exaggerate, especially the need to elongate stressed vowels. This is not natural in Chinese, so getting students to ”play” with the language, to try to stress too much, helped them break (or start to break) old habits.
During a small group class today (only four students), I gave immediate feedback as students needed it. Generally when I teach, if students do something well, I point it out. If they say something that is not easy to understand, or that could be said using more accurate language, I tell them how to express themselves more precisely. When they are able to correct their own errors, I confirm that they are, in fact, doing well. In other words, during every class, I’m giving valuable feedback that students can put to use immediately. In the learning center where I teach however, we are required to record feedback to each student AFTER every class. Sometimes I am able to remember the most useful feedback I gave in class, but other times I can’t. I try taking notes in class, but that distracts me from actually teaching. Sometimes I can give feedback within 10 minutes of class, other times I have other classes to teach and have to wait, so it’s not really immediate. As far as I know, no other teacher in our center gives feedback during class. Our students, who are highly motivated adults, seem to appreciate my classes precisely because I give immediate, appropriate, and usable feedback. What do you think? Should teachers wait until after class to give feedback? Is that useful in your teaching situation, or is it better to give feedback during class, while the language is still fresh in students’ minds? Post comments here and let’s discuss!
Today we had a lesson on the topic of arguing. One page of the lesson had this interesting advice on “How to have arguments”. Note that this advice is NOT “how to argue politely” or “how to argue effectively”. It is just about how to have them. I think if you follow this advice, you will have MANY arguments!
What I like about this list is that it forces students to think. They should read these items and start to think about how to have better, less destructive arguments. In today’s class, students brainstormed various things that people commonly argue about, then we discussed how to have constructive arguments based on doing the OPPOSITE of the suggestions above. Just a simple thing like changing the perspective – how to have arguments instead of how to argue well – can make a big difference!
When I first started teaching, I tried to correct EVERY mistake my students made. I imagined them learning to speak absolutely perfect English after spending a few weeks under my expert guidance. Of course, it didn’t turn out that way! Students had their own thoughts and their own concerns, so pronouncing the letter V perfectly or getting word order just right wasn’t always at the top of their list of goals. Some students simply refused to listen to my suggestions and went on making the same mistakes again and again. Others became upset and started participating less in class. I remember one student even stopped talking to me, either in class or out of class! I felt correction is important, but I needed to learn how to do it more effectively. With experience, I’ve come up with some simple guidelines for when and how to correct students’ errors. You can read my ideas here: http://www.teacherjoe.us/TeachersCorrection.html I hope this helps with your teaching! Leave any suggestions or questions in the comments section…
Before my current job teaching adults, I spent many years teaching high school and junior high school. I often had over 40 students in class who were reluctant to speak out in English. Over time, I found ways to encourage them to speak out (see http://www.teacherjoe.us/TeachersTimedPP.html as an example of the type of activities I used) and I did NOT give immediate correction to students when they made a mistake. However, I still felt they needed feedback, so the most common way was to wait after class was finished so that everyone got a lot of practice time in, then we focused on accuracy at the end. I think that was a lot less stressful for young learners. It just occurred to me: my teaching is a lot like coaching a sport. Maybe growing up watching sports and admiring the great coaches influenced me more than I previously realized!
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