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ESL forum >
Ask for help > writing problems
writing problems
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aftab57
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writing problems
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Its my turn to ask for advice and suggestions. I teach beginner adult learners in one class. There is one male student who isn �t making any progress with their writing even after 6 monthes of learning. I have tried picture/vocabulary matching, picture/vocabulary concentration, drilling writing simple sentences repetitively, lots of spelling practice through various methods but to no avail.
I �m stuck. Your advice and suggestions please. |
13 May 2009
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Ivona
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Why not try and find the root to the problem, see what it is that he finds (most) difficult. See which of the intelligences is most developed in him (spatial, musical, logical-mathematical, etc.) and approach the problem (writing) from that pov. I myself am a visual person and am terrible at remembering numbers. Just terrible. I cannot even tell you the year and date of when i got married! True!
The way i remember phone numbers is by �drawing � the shape they make up while pressing the keys (the triangles, squares, horizontal lines, etc.) and it works for me.
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13 May 2009
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nikita2008
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There was an exercise I used to to do when I was studying that really helped me a lot, give him a simple text, he has to write the same text but in a shorter version, you can give him a word limit, in this way he will have to move in a safe field where he already has all the elements to work with.
Another way could be, asking him to write different sentences about the same topic or not , in different pieces of paper, then he has to arrange them in order to make a significant paragraph, of course he will have to make arrangements once he has the idea.
Hope it helps. |
13 May 2009
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manonski (f)
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Maybe it �s not what you do but another type of problem. (physical or neurological, like dysphasia, dyslexia).
Has your student been evaluated? |
13 May 2009
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HARIM
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Hi aftab,
I admit there are slow learners in each and every class who need special care.
Adding to what IVONA said,I think that the new students � page on this wonderful site can be of great use.If he �s aware of his deficiency,I suggest that you prepare for him some simple on line writing activities to help him catch up with the group.Give him self confidence and tell him that he �ll soon excell.
For the on line exercises,I suggest that they should match his age,his interests and his expectations and that they should start from very very very easy to more and more difficult.
I insist on the word easy because only through easy exercises at the beginnig he �ll retrieve his self confidence.
I hope I �ll have time to prepare some useful writing activities to help the most helpful person here.
Cheers |
13 May 2009
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Do carmo
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I have the same hypothesis as Manonski. I sometimes have the same kind of conflict with some learners, and after MAKING SURE I have tried all strategies that usually work with other students, when I "investigate" a little bit about their educational background, I end up finding out that , most of the times, they are also doing bad at school due to some problems at home, or has some difficulty when it comes to concentrating and focusing - in the case of kids; or have some kind of negative attitude towards the foreign language, or not enough motivation, or even some cognitive impairment - in the case of adults or teens.
Please, remember these are just SUPPOSITIONS, based on some previous and current experiences. Even if you are not making the progress you wish you were with this student, you are already making a great difference as a teacher: WORRYING ABOUT HOW YOU COULD HELP HIM.
The problem is that sometimes we, as teachers, tend to carry all responsibility for learners � success or failure on our shoulders, when this might be shared with some other professional, such as a speech therapist or someone from the pedagogical fied, and, obviously, the coordinator/ director of your school.
I believe that trying to learn a little more about his educational background, specially in other areas of study, is the first step to be taken, beacuse sometimes learners � difficulties might transcend the classroom. |
13 May 2009
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Dalya
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I agree with everybody here
this could be related also to previouse bad experiences towards teachers in general (not sure if anyone mentioned this)
but is he an EFL or ESL learner ?
you said you are teaching begginer adults ? so you mean he has started learning English recently ?
if that is correct then you have to be a little bit patient
students follow up faster when they �re young
but he �s a little bit older and he �s just begun ..
umm, he could be a low-achiever after all .. so maybe he should reinforced with extra classes
thats all i have to give
wish you the best of luck dealing with him .. :) |
13 May 2009
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Zora
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I am inclined to agree with manoski. I have a student who is 19 and he cannot structure a paragraph logically - a sentence yes - but not a paragraph, even when I give him the prompts sometimes he cannot seem to grasp what he has to do...
And guess what? He is dyslexic, and the structuring logically thing is extremely hard for them... or so I am told.
My advice is to have patience with the person. I find that some days my student writes 5 lines very well and other days, it takes him 25 minutes to write 4 and of those four lines maybe one is structured correctly.... 
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13 May 2009
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txellalalluna
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what are his problems?
is he just not able to write a coherent thing?
is he just very bad at spelling?
what are his first alphabet and language? maybe the structure is so different you need to go really basic.
is he progressing normally in speaking?
when i try to teach my students, i feel they can �t be great at english, because they already have difficulties in their mother tongue. then on-line, rapidly corrected is good and lots of personal 1-1 support.
and loooooots of patience.
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13 May 2009
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aftab57
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Thank you colleagues, you �ve given many leads to follow. |
13 May 2009
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douglas
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Dyslexia is the first thing that came to mind, but it could be so many things.
I have a feeling (based on nothing specific, but it came to me): play "hangman" with him. I �m guessing this will start him out at the basics (alphabet and spelling) and tie it to fun/enjoyment. If it is a deep-set motivation problem (an old teacher beat him?), he can start out new. if it is a learning problem he is getting the basics in a mult-channel (hear, see, touch, etc) way and you can possibly identify the root problem,
I can �t really base this suggestion on any proven experiences--it just feels right.
Douglas |
13 May 2009
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