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Ask for help > Make the students speak!
Make the students speak!
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lovinglondon
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Make the students speak!
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Hi mates!
I �ve got a big problem with my 16 year-old students. Let �s see, There are about 10-11 students in my classroom and they are really embarrassed when they have to speak, so the situation is that I ask questions and it is the same as if I talked to a chair. They look down to their tables and nobody answers me. I feel really demotivated because I think I could do really good things with such a small number of students!
Have you got any idea or game I can do to make them lose their shame! Any theatre technique or something?? Any website with ideas to break the ice?
I �m really desperate because I always leave the room with the feeling that they haven �t understood a word!
Please, help me!
Thank you!
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13 Oct 2011
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maryse pey�
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Let �s try to find a common interest (football, fashion...)
Then write with them a short play (funny, dramatic... according to the mood) in which each one of them will have some sentences to say. Short sentences with easy vocabulary but of course affirmative, interrogative, negative and exclamative ones.
First of all make a list of the vocabulary they absolutely want to see in the dialogues. Decide with them who will play which part.
Then once the vocabulary set write the sentences asking each one of them to build the sentences (s)he would say with the chosen words.
Once you all agree on the final text ask them to close their eyes and read them the text. ASK THEM TO IMAGINE THEY ARE ON THE STAGE RECITING THEIR PART WITH FUN AND PRIDE BECAUSE THEY HAVE GONE OVER THEIR FEAR.
Once you have read them the text ask them to read aloud the sentences of their part as if they were rehearsing. Giving life to their OWN work and words.
Then tell them you will register them to make them hear themselves and give their opinion about their performance. Ask them to close their eyes again : that way the brain can focuse only on the oral part and they will be more objective.
Tell them that learning with fun is learning with pleasure and that even from errors we can learn ! Tell them you trust them because you are sure they can be persuasive actors !
Hope this will help you a little bit. |
13 Oct 2011
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lovinglondon
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Hi maryse, thank you for your kind reply. The problem is that I ask them about interesting things and they never ask...NEVER!!! even a YES or NO answer!! I feel as if I was talking to a table, believe me.
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13 Oct 2011
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maryse pey�
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Dear Eva,
According to what you say there is an important thing to point out for you : the actual reason of their silence ?
Is it teen shiness ? Is it because you are a (young) woman and the students are boys ? Is it because they don �t understand the necessity of speaking a foreign language ? Is it because the students are given no choice for their 2nd language ? ...
So try to make them writing in their mother tongue the ACTUAL reasons or obstacles they are feeling. Tell them it is not for judging them just to UNDERSTAND them.
And if you do that write me a private pm I will help you in trying to understand the real problem to fight.
If you agree with that solution of course !
Plenty of hugs and never forget that "there are no problems, there are only solutions !"
Friendly.
Maryse. |
13 Oct 2011
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Zora
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We often forget that teenagers are shy and public speaking is hard for anybody at whatever age. That is why big groups can be bad for conversation, the shy ones don �t like to talk and are often looked over.
I teach privately in Spain and from my experience, students often have very little vocabulary with which to express themselves and they find themselves very limited. Also, a lot of times they have very poor conversational skills simply because English classes tend to be so grammar focused.
Now, as a private tutor, who has had many parents say to her... "so-and -so is very shy, I am not sure about this but I know my child needs English" and had fairly good results. I will say that you need to build up their vocabulary and divide them up into small groups. Personally, I always try to keep the vocabulary related to the conversation.
i.e. vocabulary - objects in a house / conversation - describing their bedroom, what they have in their living rooms, where are things in the house, where do they study, etc.
Get them to talk among themselves, ask each other questions, but give them guide questions so they can start out like:
What colour is your room (blanket, favorite t-shirt, dog)?
Where is the fridge (TV, your alarm clock, the forks)?
Which room do you prefer?
etc...
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13 Oct 2011
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lovinglondon
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I agree with you Zora, classes are focused on grammar and they don �t really use their oral english, that is why I want to give them the opportunity to talk in the class. There is a basic problem here, I give them vocabulary but they don �t really study it. They don �t really study anything becuase they are quite lazy. I always think that a language is learnt by talking and listening...I think this is the basic point of learning a language.
I also agree that they are shy. However, they are teenagers who have been together since they were 3 and they all know each other ....why being shy then??
Thank you all of you for your kind replies!
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14 Oct 2011
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maryse pey�
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Why not making a common project with the music teacher ?
The students would write the lyrics and then find the music with your colleague ?
If the result is good they may be proud to rehearse a "show" for the end of the year with their own songs ? |
14 Oct 2011
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