Hello! everyone... I've got myself in a conundrum of some sorts and I'd be glad if you guys can help me solve it.
I've been teaching academic english (as a private tutor in new delhi, india) for about 2 years now as I've good understanding of literature and grammer and I am good with communications and it's also because I love teaching and languages (I am intermediate French and basic Spanish with some Sanskrit and Bengali), I want to develope a course for spoken english for my students which should have a duration of no more than 4 months, it should have functional grammer+idioms/phrases/ some presentation skills with some confidence building exercises (because here in India the people know what they want to say but are always afraid that they might come out incorrect so I think some cbe would be helpful)and oral material and ofcourse lots of speaking in real life situations and exposure to english via songs, movies, tv etc which I'll arrange myself; the problem is I am having a hard time comprehending how i should go about it? like how to start and then in what kind of chronological order of exercises should I start and end things with? generally the students have an intermediate level-1 understanding of english, so my course will be focused on these students to enhance their skills.
can someone please help me develope something like this!
(in b/w i'am new to social networking and forums so if i made a mistake somewhere I apologise for that, I also want to develope a course for buiseness communications later, so if anybody wants to work together on these things I would really appreciate it, I've a lot of useful material (around 20 gigs on my pc) , also I would love to talk to other english teachers from around the world and exchange methods and develope new techniques)
any help is much appreciated
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Hello varunled,
Some ideas I hope may help you. Regards to India; I have some friends there.
You have an important and necessary basis: understanding literature, communications, etc., etc. That’s very helpful, beside your wishing to do things well.
Neither am I a native speaker of English. I think to guess your native language is other than English; sorry if I’m wrong.
Speak in English all the time (I’d say). They need to listen to someone, you, talking in that language in a massive way. Pretend (it’s a treat with them) you understand only English, so they must say something, some word, some words, from which you ‘understand’. ‘Oh, I see what you mean...’: this is an example to show them you are understanding.
Use facial clues so as to help them see you are trying hard to understand them, and they are trying hard to communicate with you.
lightly, delicately praise their big effort, their trying.
Lean yourself on good humour and smiling: you are connecting with them!
The class is a period of time when English is spoken naturally, all the time. Put that functional grammar you have to teach into the way of conducting I’ve just said.
Make interviews with them, about personal general information, for example. Or the interview is with a famous actor or actress, or a singer, or a football player. Paraphrase their messages, make a summary of what they’ve said so far. Nod when listening to them.
Utilize the blackboard, or any kind of board, as an aid, throughout the class. Utilize visual aids, also movies, or flash-cards, or photos from a magazine: physical aids.
Set role-plays in the class. First, you are one of the players, to facilitate their later performing themselves. Accept any reply (you’ll polish their grammar later on). One example, one student has got to buy a bottle of water in a shop. He or she knows some English, and you strive to understand that customer.
Enjoy your classes, and make them have a nice time too. With experience you’ll do better and better, also because, and this is very important, you’ll have learnt from them and the ways they use to learn, even acquire English.
Best wishes
Fernando Díez Gallego
Teacher of English. Teacher trainer.
Spain
For more suggestions about communication and other topics, if you wish, you may have a peek at http://fernandoexperiences.blogspot.com
hello fernando thanks for the insigths i had thought of the same things more or less, i agree with you on the points that you have made plus there are a lot of practical exercisses which i'll make them do and the first thing i'am going to ask my students to do is to urge them to start thinking in english (coz i think that really helps i think that's how i started to speak in english too). yes you are right my mother tongue is hindi but i've a natural american(neutral) accent, but actually what my quetion really was that how should i develop a proper curriculum so that i don't find myself stuck somewhere after a couple of sessions ( actually i'am the kind of guy who makes the blueprint first and does all the written work before-hand so that things don't go awry) in short i want to be well prepared with contents from the start to the end you know like a step by step system..
i'll make notes from what you have just mentioned here all these exercises will really help students, though i'd already decided that i'll allow only 5% of the whole communication in the mother tongue and that too when the student has expressed himself in english first but was not really able to say the right thing all the other 95% of the time all the communications will have to take place in english - that would be the rule but the first one being to tell them that it's ok to make mistakes!
thanks again for the props your blog sure is nice and resourceful
regards..
Hello varunled,
Thank you for your interest. I'm glad to hear what you've said about my possible help.
A curriculum? I could compose one for you, I mean, better said, sorry, some suggestions for a curriculum, but obviously you know more about your school directions, your students' needs and expectations, etc.
One more thing: I would plan a curriculum with a functional approach, as you need. Think of real situations your students can encounter in their ordinary lives, keeping in mind the point that they will use English on the Internet as well, more and more.
Plan a series of situations, not many, I'd tell you, and also plan the grammar and vocab as a helpful aid for performing those functions. Thus your students will see grammar and vocab are useful things, for a regular day.
Regards. I keep at your disposal.
Fernando Díez Gallego
http://fernandoexperiences.blogspot.com
Hi Neighbour
I a Noreen Mirza a teacher of English specifically in the ESP context. I am a visiting a faculty to local universities.
I have worked many times with private organisations and government functionaries on similar courses. Also I have designed and taught Functional English courses successfully.
First of all good to know that you are confident about communication cause I'd say many of us design well enough but the effective delivery becomes the issue.
Functional English and particularly grammar is a big issue I agree, one suggestion is to consult the sources on Systemic Functional Grammar, you could do it on the net; ( this is from wiki)
"Systemic functional grammar (SFG) or systemic functional linguistics (SFL) is a model of grammar developed by Michael Halliday in the 1960s.[1] It is part of a broad social semiotic approach to language called systemic linguistics. The term "systemic" refers to the view of language as "a network of systems, or interrelated sets of options for making meaning";[2] The term "functional" indicates that the approach is concerned with the contextualized, practical uses to which language is put, as opposed to formal grammar, which focuses on compositional semantics, syntax and word classes such as nouns and verbs.
Or if possible you could look for the book: " Exploring English Grammar" from Form to functional by Caroline Coffin, Jim Donohue and Sarah North- published by Routledge 2009.
I am also reading through it these days.
As for the curriculum I can share the outline/s I have made and would love to share material. I also have quite a lot ( don't know how much Gb though) gathered in the last 20+ years of teaching.
Good luck
Hope to hear from you
Noreen Mirza
I have been an, English Language Trainer, for over 10 years. I relocated to Kerala from Mumbai, four years back . Down here, students are never encouraged to speak in the English Language, at the school or college level. Even if a student tries to make a genuine effort, he is mocked and ridiculed, to such an extent, that he loses his motivation and desire. Whenever I get a batch, I set a decorum for the whole class, by clearly mentioning, that at no point of time, can they come to their mother tongue. They have to communicate only in the English Language inside and outside the class. I am ruthless on this, because, if you do not tune their minds right at the start, it is very difficult to take them with you. I never get into grammar. I just tell them to follow the same method, which they used to pick up their mother tongue, as in, by listening to their parents speak. I never allow them to get the slightest feeling, that they will be laughed at or ridiculed. I make students come out everyday, and speak on whatever topic or subject they wish to. For the first few days, I focus purely on getting them to come out and speak, without the slightest hesitation . This is the most difficult part, since their mental block is on the higher side. I also make it a point to communicate only in the English Language. Initially the resistance is high, and they also find it difficult to understand me. As days pass by, they gradually come out of their shell, and start speaking freely. This is when, I start correcting their mistakes, without initiating them into grammar. By the end of the first month, the initially mental block is broken, and they rediscover themselves. I have studied this transition very deeply, and the element of trust they have in you is the decisive factor. Once they perceive the teacher, to be, unbiased, supportive , making the class interesting, having the ability to get in humor at the right time and sharing a passion to change them, they give it their best.