Hi everyone, session 2 was great.
Hi everyone, session 2 was great.
Penny, your input is inspiring and spot-on.
Sorry I couldn’t participate and enjoy it life but going through the slides makes me think and evaluate how to approach my students again and again.
I’d like to share the following ideas regarding the points made about speaking:
1. The problems
Shyness,being introverted, inability to express themselves, fears of losing face and making mistakes are extremely sensitive issues to handle. My business students find it difficult to be challenged with tasks where their background work knowledge , skills and experience are vast but they are thrown off balance by realising that they lack foreign language needed to express themselves properly.
2. Level appropriate
I explain to my students when they can tell the level is appropriate for them, I show them that some expressions are familiar to them, some of them can be guessed and some of them are totally new for them. This usually puts them in a more comfortable position and boosts their confidence, it’s okay to know something and not to know something. I usually remind them how much they know and how exciting it will be when they learn this particular new phrase, grammar, vocabulary, etc. I elicit where and how they will be able to use newly acquired language, which makes every learning activity relevant.
3. Make it Interesting
You get the business adults talk rather easily when the topic is the area they work in. Fluency practice goes smoothly. Such a situation also gives you opportunity to tackle accuracy issues that are a bit challenging but feasible as long as the goal is clear. To perform at work more professionally.
Clear communication of achievable goals and personalisation are a must, visualisation and interactive resources help to make activities more dynamic.
4. PEP TALK is extremely important
In my experience my adult business students respond well to tasks and tend to handle their insecurities well when Pep talk is done properly.
Acknowledging the fact that making your passive knowledge active is actually difficult helps a lot. Patience, support and drill are needed to make considerable progress.
Explaining that mistakes don’t matter and correcting only target language makes a lot of sense to students. I keep reminding the aim of the task – to get the message across. In corporate training the tasks are very result-oriented and work-related, students get the sense of achievement by participating in meetings actively or delivering presentations successfully. Their teacher is there to give them target language and opportunity to practise, the student knows the topic he/she is expert in. That works well together.
We train e.g. present perfect to give updates on project tasks for the next project meeting.
Penny, your input is inspiring and spot-on.
Sorry I couldn’t participate and enjoy it life but going through the slides makes me think and evaluate how to approach my students again and again.
I’d like to share the following ideas regarding the points made about speaking:
1. The problems
Shyness,being introverted, inability to express themselves, fears of losing face and making mistakes are extremely sensitive issues to handle. My business students find it difficult to be challenged with tasks where their background work knowledge , skills and experience are vast but they are thrown off balance by realising that they lack foreign language needed to express themselves properly.
2. Level appropriate
I explain to my students when they can tell the level is appropriate for them, I show them that some expressions are familiar to them, some of them can be guessed and some of them are totally new for them. This usually puts them in a more comfortable position and boosts their confidence, it’s okay to know something and not to know something. I usually remind them how much they know and how exciting it will be when they learn this particular new phrase, grammar, vocabulary, etc. I elicit where and how they will be able to use newly acquired language, which makes every learning activity relevant.
3. Make it Interesting
You get the business adults talk rather easily when the topic is the area they work in. Fluency practice goes smoothly. Such a situation also gives you opportunity to tackle accuracy issues that are a bit challenging but feasible as long as the goal is clear. To perform at work more professionally.
Clear communication of achievable goals and personalisation are a must, visualisation and interactive resources help to make activities more dynamic.
4. PEP TALK is extremely important
In my experience my adult business students respond well to tasks and tend to handle their insecurities well when Pep talk is done properly.
Acknowledging the fact that making your passive knowledge active is actually difficult helps a lot. Patience, support and drill are needed to make considerable progress.
Explaining that mistakes don’t matter and correcting only target language makes a lot of sense to students. I keep reminding the aim of the task – to get the message across. In corporate training the tasks are very result-oriented and work-related, students get the sense of achievement by participating in meetings actively or delivering presentations successfully. Their teacher is there to give them target language and opportunity to practise, the student knows the topic he/she is expert in. That works well together.
We train e.g. present perfect to give updates on project tasks for the next project meeting.
Great points Katarina Brezani!
ReplyDelete1. I agree totally. What you said reminded me of something I read years ago about having a "reduced personality" in your second language. It really resonated with me as although I speak Spanish fairly well now, I'm not totally ME when I'm in Spanish mode. I only really feel myself in English.
Business classes can also be very tricky when the group has a mix of bosses and more junior staff with all sorts of work politics going on!
2. I really like this point and it's not something I've really thought about before. Is it to enable them to choose appropriate material outside class? How do you deal with the problem of students getting frustrated at not understanding TV programmes in English? (something I find hard to help them with)
3. Totally agree. If I find the topic boring, I'm sure my students will find it even more uninspiring!
4. I do use pep talks at the beginning of courses but I think I should do it more regularly. I agree that reassuring them that things can be difficult is a help. I think sharing my own struggles with Spanish (the subjunctive?!?) is a way to be on the same page as them. I often find myself saying I have the same problem with Spanish and we contrast our difficulties. Yet another reason to allow L1 to creep into class when needed.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
Francesca Di Mambro
ReplyDeleteHi Francesca, thanks a lot for your reply, you made a lot of good points.
How do I deal with the problem of students getting frustrated at not understanding TV programmes in English? I use MEC -Macmillan English Campus, the digital platform resources we have in our company both as a resource for teachers and extra product for students. This platform has a range of authentic materials that can be adopted according to the level of students, you can choose from elem to advanced. With lower level students I sometimes encourage them to watch cartoons for children such as Peppa Pig because they can actually learn a lot of practical language there with their kids.