Not a list of problems, but I came across an interesting article about teen brain development, and wasn't sure where to post it. Then thought, well, teens pose unique challenges for teachers, and decided to put it here :)

 http://www.livescience.com/health/090323-adolescent-brain.html

Barbsaka.

 

Thanks for the posting. Teens aree indeed, or can be, especially problematical. Good to have the link to that article.

Hi Dennis and Barb,

I agree, teenagers are a challenge to teach for all of us but I believe it's still quite rewarding to work with them. Yet what I sometimes lose my patience about is their persistence in using L1 in the classroom, despite their high level of English and good communication skills. My constant encuragement and requests don't appeal to everybody and of course the situation gets even worse when pair or group work is started. What do other teachers do about it?

Anna

Anna,

 

Unfortunately I have got no practical suggestions for you. What I have observed is that the relationship between teenagers and their teacher is all. If the relationship, on a human level, is right, things often work. If the relationship is wrong, nothing works!

 

There really should be a list, perhaps a SIG,  Teaching teenagers (EFL). I don not think there is one. Perhaps we should found one.

Hello everybody,

It sounds the "problem list" is common to all the teachers. We come to teach our younger learners but they want to play! That is why I try to teach them playing. I prepare all sorts of cards, bring toys, "magic boxes" to guess what I have inside it and so on. But as soon as I organize a pair or group work my kids are becoming noisy and we waste our time. And it becomes worse if thre are many pupils in class. Sometimes there are 24. In Russia the class is devided into two groups if it has 25 children.

 

 

 

Hi again,

thanks for responding. Actually, it's not a huge problem, just like in Helen's classroom, 80% of my students do their best, the atmosphere is good and I agree with Larissa that providing fun activities works best. The students love group work or pair work, but they often start speaking Polish at this moment of the lesson. When I ask them to speak English, they smile, say they are sorry, continue in English but in a moment some of them may be speaking L1 again.

It's not a discipline problem, while speaking Polish they will still do the task, they may not understand they could be practising their spoken English at this time.

What do you mean: "there should be a list?"

Hi,

I don't mean "there should be a list of problems". I spoke about  the problems we have. As for pair work it is OK if I envolve  students into asking each other questions using a pattern, key words so that they could do it quickly. The group work is good when the younger children work on a joint project (draw, add writing to the pictures). Everybody is working then. We shouldn't forget about relaxation during the lesson.

I agree with you Ann "it is not a discipline problem" while speaking native language. It means a teacher should know the psycological "particularities" of his students. In one class it works but in another - it doesn't. The group and pair work is more effective with a small class of students, to my mind.

Thanks

Larissa

Iskra, Larissa and Anne,

You are focussing on an age group, teenagers, that most certainly deserves focussed attention. Iskra, your 20 years of experience shows and you have some valuable insights into teenage sensitivities and sensibilities.

It would beeasy to create a Teenagers and TEFL list. Perhaps I will.

Hi everyone, I would like to read some suggestion for large classes, I teach the second year of high school and for me it is really hard to practice the English pronunciation because I have around 40 students in the classroom.  I'm looking forward strategies to deal with my large class.

Iskra and Laura and others,

 

I am staying over night at Cambridge on the way back to Germany, but just wanted to pick up on the teaching pronunciation problem - a vital and fascinating one. I will come back to it when I am in Germany. There is an IATEFL pronunciation SIG and they have a forum here. Worth checking out.

 

Dennis

Hi Dennis Iskra and Laura, ect

Thanks for initiating an always intersting issue on EFL teaching.

My name is Christa Hamilton and I am a modern foreign language teacher and now mainly an EFL - teacher for almost 15 years now.  I have taught mainly German and English to a wide range of learners aged 6 to 70 in UK and Germany. Presently I am teaching English on all levels at a vocational and further education college in a rural area of Lower Saxony, Germany.  

Looking at everybody's comments, it seems that similarities in EFL settings occur depending on class size, the willingness of the learner to engage with the learning marathon of a second language, and the self - esteem of the individual learner besides social and cultural backgrounds of the students including their previous learning experiences.

I tend to agree with Iskra, giving constant positive feedback is essential to keep young learners motivated.  In addition, the students' socio - cultural background needs to be taken into account when teaching a foreign language.  Teenage students tend to carry their previous learning experiences in former social or cultural contexts into the classroom for several purposes.  

The learner's tendency to drop back in L1, as Anna points out, can have several reasons.  Whether it is a quick, non-related topic exchange  with a neighbouring student or having misunderstood or not understood the task, or not feeling confident in expressing themselves in the target language.  L1 always seems to be in the way for learners to express what they would like to say in order to get it right. 

From my experience as a modern foreign language and EFL - teacher, it is quite useful to use the tendency in falling back into their first language in mediation sessions.  A skill all EFL - learners will have to acquire, too.  It gives the whole class the confidence that they have understood the learning issues and they soon use the target language again.  

For me as a teacher, I feel that those mediation practices deliver the respect for different cultures and social backgrounds, and therefore, the respect for each other as a learner.  This method is particular helpful when the teacher is confronted with classes sharing different cultural backgrounds and therefore identities.  

Considering the aspect that identity is deeply interwoven with language, may explain the learners' need to use L1 in order to understand how English works as a result of the urge to get utterances right.  Matters are complex in an EFL context and it seems important to look beneath the surface as a teacher to understand the strategies young learners employ to succeed in their target language.  

In general, students gain confidence after while to express themselves in English or the target language when they have realised that making mistakes is part of the language learning process.  

Usually, when I get a new class, depending on prior knowledge and level, I break down the academic year in phases working towards the monolingual approach in the classroom.   Gradually, students open their shells and start speaking English by themselves when they are ready while I speak English only and in each lesson one students has the role as mediator.  The fact that English is considered as a must learn in my working context obviously helps.  By the end of the second term most students approach me in English only, even during break times to get the chance for some extra practice beyond the classroom in order to practise every day English.  

From my experience I consider it as important to be aware of the fact that English in EFL context is mainly confined to the classroom meaning as soon as the lesson is over, students are required to use their first language for other subjects.  The gradual development of the idea that English language is alife and not just another subject helps students to progress in their target language.  In order to achieve this positive attitude towards English, I tend to use different methods in the attempt to engage the teenagers in their learning processes.

Knowing your individual students and your classes helps to employ a repertoire of teaching methods successfully.Explaining the aim and objectives of the activities and the related topics which are always on the board for each lesson is essential as the learners' know my expectations of the lesson, too.  

Thanks again for this little reflection.  I enjoyed reading your contributions.

 

Christa

.

 

Hi everyone

this is very interesting to read - mediation is very different from what we are "expected" to do by the education authorities in France , although I think to some extent we all do it depending on our learners needs.

My pupils are very low achievers from "difficult" social and economic backgrounds and sometimes even L1 can't do the job !

For example this week we've been talking about our houses etc and went on to talk about people in worse situations (Making the most of the fantastic popularity of "Slumdog Millionaire" with my pupils). So I found the internet picture dictionary a real treasure,  helping them  understand words such as "gutter/sewage/garbage"   when the first two words were unknown to them in their L1.

That made things so much easier  less teacher talk - as I always feel uncomfortable when I'm yakking away in French  :))

 

 

Thanks Iskra, Ann, Christa and everyone,

You are helping me a lot! great tips! I just have three years of experience and I need to learn many strategies, I'm teaching EFL in Venezuela and sometimes I have hard time teaching and practicing the pronunciation.

  I agree with you I like to have fun with my students in the classroom but at the same time I have to deal with many social problems. As Christa said we have to take into acoount the background and that's why I sometimes think I expend more time talking about the values in L1 than teaching English. 

Thanks again!

Laura

Anna and all,

 

You have reminded me of the other point I wanted to pick up from one of Iskra's postings - English only in the classroom?

 

Of course the context and conditions of teaching will play an influential role here - there are no absolutes - but I confess I followed such a policy rigidly in two countries in Africa, in the Arabian Gulf, in Norway and Germany at middle, secondary and tertiary levels. I could not speak the local African dialects or Norwegian or Arabic, but I speak German. I did this because I believe passionately that setting up an atmosphere of "English only here" creates a sort of magic that is positively influential. My learners were never, ever forbidden to speak their mother tongue, but if they did, I praraphrased when I could and coaxed them into speaking English by making it my rule never to speak their native tongue (in the English classroom). We were brought together for me to improve their English, not my command of a foreign language.

 

Since I have lived in Germany I have several times visitied bilingual primary schools in Berlin - there are 12 - 15 of them. In all of these schools, in principle and in practice:

 

• There are two teachers - one is a native speaker who also speaks German (but NEVER to the children),  the other is a German who knows something of the foreign language.
• The children, routinely and without fuss, speak German to the German teacher when that is necessary and the target foreign language to the other teacher. (German teachers don't translate - but deal with general matters, messages to take to parents etc.)

It is so exciting to visit these classes with kids changing between two language as they turn left and right, though most of the time using only the target language - the language being learned.

 

My personal view is that if you break into a lesson with comment of explanation in the mother tongue the spell is broken and the productive tension of striving to understaand is slackened.

 

What do you think? Comments? Criticisms?

Laura. I don't think I've welcomed you, have I? I hereby welcome you!

 

Although you did not mention the use of the MT (mother tongue) it is easy to imagine lots of instances where, as a classroom teacher, you need to deal with practical or disciplinary issues where English just will not work. Telling someone off in a language they do not understand will not be an effective prodedure!

 

I wrote in my first posting on this matter that context and conditions will determine how far you can move to "English only". Others have formulated the rule: "Use the MT as little as possible and only when absolutely necessary."

 

The situation to avoid is using the MT just because you have a good command of it. And it is suprising how quickly learners will accept speaking English only with their teachers, and even amongst each other. (There are parallels with providing/not providing dubbed versions of foreign language films).

 

If anyone teaching difficult teenagers in a large city with bundles of social and economic problems is reading this they are probably already writing a challenge for me to come and teach their learners speaking English only.

 

Every case is diffierent, but if the aim is to get your learners to become as fluent as possible I am pleading that your high level aim is to get as close as possible to "English only".

 

Dennis

Helen and others,

Slumdog Millionaire is a fabulous film. If your learners are at a suitable languages level to be able to deal with some of it. (There are a couple of clips at the URL above).

 

As a member of the "Speak English only" party, I am delighted you feel uneasy when you speak too much French.  :-)

And you have told us one of the ways to avoid doing so. If you don't know how to mime "sewer" - find an image of one.

 

Dennis

Christa,

 

Thanks for introducing the concept 'mediation.' Hey! We seem to be living in the same country/Land - Niedersachsen. Where are you?  I am in Osnabrueck.

 

I was privileged to be able to observe the same class of immigrant children in Germany being taught both German and English. Their class teacher is my wife.

 

Briefly, the contrast was breath-taking. In the German class my wife spoke only German (There were usually 6,7,8 different mother tongues amongst her learners). She was free to teach as she saw fit so she took the kids to the market, the railway station, to picnic in the park etc. etc. They made heart-warming progress. In the English class (same kids) she was forced to fit into the system, teaching the same chapters of the text book at the same pace so that there could be standard regular tests written by parallel classes taught by colleagues. The kids' English was not very impressive.

 

Dennis

Dear near-neighbour Christa,

 

One day I risked my marriage   :-)    and said to my my wife:  "Darling - that word can often signal something threatening - How can it be that you teach German to the  immigrant kids so brilliantly, and when you teach them English......" Well of course she could explain.

• German was the language of survival, they needed it to live in Germany.
• English was just a school subject.
• With German she was free of all restrictions.
• In English she was restricted by a syllabus, regular texts, need to teach lockstep with colleagues.

At the end of our amicable  discussion my wife said: "Right. You come to my class and show me how it should be done."

"OK. I said. "I'll give it a try. How about next Friday at 11:00?"

"No, " she said - "Tomoorrow at 8:00."

 

We had fun - but it wasn't fair, of course. I was teaching within her discipline, some of the difficult lads loved having a man and I sang with them - and I gave them no homework.

 

The next day a Turkish girl said to my wife: "It was great with your husband - really fun. But it was English - not school."

 

Discuss?  :-)

Anna,

 

You write:

 

"But how can I make them speak only English between each other during group activities? "

 

I honestly don't think you or anyone can. All you can do is patiently and consistently coax them into using more and more English by fanatically speaking virtually only English yourself. I know it is a different kettle of fish, but when I was teaching at the English Department in the University here my German colleagues' English was so good native speakers and German speakers taught only in English and it became so accepted that when a new German colleague started lecturing in German, students interrupted and said: "Can you lecture in English please?" !!!

 

And once when I was helping at a British Council institute in Sarajevo we had a General as a pupil. One break he came to the staff room and started asking Mira a question in Bosnian. Mira smiled sharmingly and said in English: "General, we understand Bosnian here, but we only speak English."

 

The next day he caught me and asked, in halting but understandable English: " Please, may I go outside to the street to smoke?".

 

In the light of my personal experience I cannot doubt the possibility and efficacy of a policy of "English only", though, OF COURSE, I acknowledge that with a class of reluctant teenage learners success is likely to be minimised.

And, of course, there are going to be occasions when it makes good sense to use the mother tongue.

 

Have a good day - or the rest of a day,

 

Dennis

Hi Anna!

I think motivation is the key of our job, the best and one of the most important thing is that you're motivate, i have hard time too, it's pleasant went you plan an activity and the students involve on it. However, with teenagers you never know how they're going to react. Anayway, i think that we have to keep motivating them.

As Ann, I don't do much outside of the classroom, some of my students don't like. But, I'm thinking about to create an English Club in order to them and me practice, I think that i'm losing my English because i don't practice that much.  

Dennis you have great comments you have a lot of experience, that's good! Thanks ; )

Hi, everyone,

This is a very interesting discussion! Motivating teenagers?! That can be pretty challenging! I have found that using a lot of Drama methods in and out of the classroom helps a lot, but in order to be effective you have to listen carefully to your students and know where and when to "push the button".

A few years ago, when my students didn't have as much access to Internet as they do now, they often asked me to listen to favorite songs of theirs and write the lyrics so that they could sing them. I used this and asked them to "help me out a bit" by doing it themselves first and then I could edit it, because this way I could do it faster and give it back to them really quickly. Later we had a discussion about music provoked by a lesson in the text book. The students found it very boring because most of them had never heard about "The Beatles". I couldn't believe it?! I grew up with their music I still sing some of their songs when I play my guitar. At that time Metallica was about to have a concert in Bulgaria and all my students were excited about it. I remember thinking how lucky I was that my own sons were crazy about heavy metal music and through them I knew several famous groups and their greatest hits. I can tell you that having two  heavy metal fans at home can be.... arghhhh!!!! However, that extra bit of knowledge helped me a lot in many ways. Firstly, I was familiar with something which was very close to my teenagers' hearts and that kind of made me one of the gang):)::) Secondly, it helped me pick topics for discussions, which were interesting for them. When we started discussing Metallica's forthcoming concert, some of my students started singing "Unforgiven", one of their hits. When I heard them , I realised that they had tried to write the lyrics, but they had written them as they had heard them, without really knowing what was being said. I knew the song from my sons and I actually liked it, because of the meaning the lyrics carried. It's a wonderful song full of opportunities for discussions on teenage problems:):)): and teaching Present Perfect Tense as an extra. The next day I brought the original song to class and we listened to it. I helped the students correct the text. We started discussing it and they were amazed at how powerful and close to their hearts it actually was. Up to that moment they had liked the song simply bacause it was Metallica's and because it was a hit, but now they began to appreciate it for all it had to say. Then we sang it together in class - several times)::):) The bell rang and noone wanted to go. It was our last class for the day so we stayed a little longer and sang some more. As I was leaving the school, the deputy head master was waiting for me and said, "Had a bit of fun, hei? That was some singing!" and she smiled.

After that day my relationship with my students was different. I realised how lucky I had been and vowed to do everything in my power to keep on being in touch with their world. Contemporary music, martial arts, computers, Britney, Rihanna, fashion, motorbikes..... If I hear them talking, I read up on it and ask them to tell me about it.

Today's teenagers are bright and well informed. If we are not one step ahead of them we have no chance of being the respected authority. Finally, in my opinion, if you treat them like adults, with respect, more often than not, you get respect. I have come to realise that the naughtiest of students are the ones whose need of respect is the greatest. That's what makes it so difficult!

best, Iskra

Hi, again,

If any of you are interested in looking up the song "Unforgiven", I think you should be aware that there are 3 cover versions.You can read the original lyrics here:

http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/The-Unforgiven-lyrics-Metallica/360FC7F120071E214825688D00340910

best, Iksra

Ah, Iskra. I wish I'd been a learner in your class. And you repeat the magical word that my teacher/teacher trainer wife (nominally retired) always gives as the key to whatever success she may have had in the classroom - respect - she respected her learners so they respected her.

 

With music, of course, we're in the affective area and with young people, if you show genuine interest in their music, you can be on to a winner.

 

In my immodest opinion teenagers are of central interest and concern and importance in the modern world. In their own right as indiividuals, of course, but also because if we don't look after them they can go seriously wrong and become a danger both to themselves and society. Hormonal change can make them feral. Why politicians do not seem to realise this is something I will never understand.

 

(Iskra. Are you OK with the YLT list now?)

Dear All

Firstly, I would like to thank everybody for the enlightening comments, and again it shows the complexity of teaching a foreign language, especially when the aim of establishing a monolingual approach in the classroom is blocked by students' divers cultural, social and educational experiences.  I do agree with you Dennis, looking after learners and giving them the feeling that they are looked aftermakes them feel at home in a learning environment and usually they do come out of their shell to perform in the target language. 

As Helen and you pointed out, cultural diversity and its embedded beliefs in gender roles can have an impact on the respect a student will pay to the teacher.  Here I might quote a student originally from Afghanistan  who has managed to learn German to a level which enabled him to achieve his German 'A' levels.  He is now in the process to attend examination in May.  In one of the discussion in year 11 concerning 'English and the impact on colonialism, the topic religious belifs and cultural diversity came up, and he actually said:  Mrs Hamilton ( Iam always approached with Mrs rather than the German version even during break times and when students meet me in one of the corridors - this is important for the students frame of mind and encourages them to speak English), " Most Germans belief that within Islamic beliefs women ar not respected and oppressed because of what they see on TV.  I am so sick and tired to explain that the Islamic religion has sub groups and that the Koran encourages to protect and respect women.  I would never ever disrespect you, for example, - You are my teacher - and of course my mother.  The class was absolutely silent after his comment, and he achieved to break the ice between two divers cultural.

On top of it, with him being multi-lingual in Arabic, Afghan, Pakistani and German having to do two more foreign languages (English and Spanish) for his German 'A' levels, he decided for himself to have English as a second language in his own ranking postions of his languages, and he managed to do so.  Attitude, self esteem and motivation are strong motors for learning - regardless of the age.

The combination of cultural as well as social diversities in classrooms  where several L1 languages fly through the classroom in order to communicate can make an English lesson even more complex.  Like Iskra, I have learnt to use songs and hits using purposefully rock, rap, hip hop or heavy metal groups from the cultural orign of the students who have decided to use English to deliver their lyrics.  It always works, and thanks to 'Youtube' those music groups are found swiftly.

Of course, I am harnessed in curriculum requirements like Dennis' wife, too.  For the English lessons, I check through the textbooks which I have to use, and quite often I replace those activities with own activities, and I give my students a choice, too by offering two activities and let them decide which one they would like to do.

From my point of view, the problem with texts books in Germany is that, in genera,l  justoffers one teaching approach of the language which students rigidly need to follow making them less receptive for different learning options.  Dennis, and if a teacher is resisting the offered teaching method, he or she will have difficulties to realise it in the classroom.  For that reason, I alwaystry to have an alternative or extension activity for my students ready to be used at all times.  Sometimes, students find the text books boring, too.  

The websites onestopenglish, bbc learning English, for example, offer a variety of lesson plans and alterantive activities.  My students reacted very positive when I used them.  

 

Thanks again to you all

Christa

 

 

 

Christa,

 

Thanks so much for your posting and the mention of those two excellent sites:

 

http://www.onestopenglish.com/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/

 

 

 

And thank you, Anna, for raising the issues of how you work with textbooks and who chooses them.

 

Dennis

Hi, Dennis,

Thank you for asking. No, I still haven't got my registration details and I really would like to read some of the articles I saw on the site. Unfortunatelly, to do so I would have to register. I hope to receive them by Friday?!)):):

best, Iskra

Hi Anna and everyone! ; )

Where I work, I can choose the textbook  but at this moment I don't work with it, the group of the students i'm teaching have another insterest. I like to work with pictures and post; the students can make questions and answer drills from pictures; My students really enjoy making picture stories. Sometimes, I use the cellphone; we share the numbers and they try to send messages using English. When want to practice an exercise i made it and then photocopie to give it to the students. In my opinion, textbooks are good to work; however, i think they limit the class and for teenagers books are boring.

best, Laura : )