Karen's Linguistics Issues, March 2004 | Previous Months

 

Within the framework of students’ real needs? Reflecting on practice

by Julio Menochelli, Săo Paulo, Brazil 

Teachers and coordinators complain a lot about the number of drop-outs from English language courses. What are the possible reasons for this?

Apart from well-known economic reasons, we can also conclude that the quality of teaching on these courses is of utmost importance to the maintenance of student numbers. The feeling that they are learning, or the value for money, is one of the most important things, if not the most important one, that keeps students on a certain course.

Several resources have been incorporated into the teaching of the language and instead of non-stop repetition exercises, students are now given the chance to play games, watch videos and interact more freely.  Even with all this, however, students often complain that they are not  progressing, that they reach a certain language plateau and can't move on.  Hence, they often quit their courses.

Let us look at  the following dialogues that take place at the end of a very tiring day in the life of two average students:

 

       Situation 1:

             Wife: ‘How was your day?  Did you have a nice English class?  What did you do?’

            Student: ‘Yeah, well... we played dominoes and watched a film.’

            Wife: ‘Oh.’

 

Situation 2:

Wife: ‘Did you have a nice day?  Did you have a nice English class? What did you do?’

Student: ‘Yeah! I learned how to order at a restaurant!’

 

Obviously, the second student could measure his progress at the end of the day: he was able to produce something, or at least he thought and felt  he could. The first student, however, felt he had learnt nothing really tangible.

Because of fierce competition, schools tend to do whatever they can to keep their students.  Hundreds of training sessions encourage teachers to use games that sometimes entertain more than teach.  And students notice it!  I am not saying that games and videos should be abolished from the classroom, and drills should be brought back.  What I do think , however, is that teachers must reflect on the framework of students’ real needs and their own teaching practice.

I have observed many classes in numerous locations, and what I have noticed is that most teachers do not state their aim clearly to their students.  It is perfectly healthy to give students a game, but it is of utmost  importance to let them know what the aim of the game is.   If teachers do this, students will understand that the purpose of the activity is not only to give them a good time, but also to consolidate whatever they have studied.

In order to maintain students' interest in their courses, there are some other important things to consider: 

 

 

Take, for example, the following exercise taken from an English-language course book ( Framework Level 1, Unit 4, page 39, Richmond Publishing, 2004):

 

Leaving a message 

1.  Marie phones Ben.  She gets his answer machine.  Complete her message.

 

____, Ben.  It’s Marie.  It’s a quarter to seven.  I’m _____ to see what you’re_____.  

Would you like to meet for____ later?  Maybe 8 o’clock, quarter past eight, half past eight?  

Call me.  I’m at ____.  You’ve got the number. ____.

 

         2.  Look at this message.   Put the sentences in the correct order.

 

·     Would you like to meet for lunch?   At 1:30, maybe, or 2 pm?

       Hi, Mali.  It’s Jay.  It’s 12:30.

·     Call me at the office.  Bye.

       I’m phoning to see what you’re doing.

 

         3. Write a message inviting a friend to go for a pizza this evening.  Then practise reading the message.

                                                 

Look back at the exercise above and tick the check list:

 

Is it realistic? Does it happen in real life? (   )

Will students use it in real life? (  )

Is it contextualised? (   )

Does it give students a model that they can refer to? (   )

 

The aforementioned exercise is relevent to students´everyday reality and the teaching of the function is done wisely.

As seen above, a course book can facilitate teachers' busy lives.  Whenever they choose a course book, they should bear in mind that the balance between meaning and form is what teachers should really be looking for!  Here are some tips that will help the teacher select a course book that will cater to both theirs and their students' real needs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Having the aforementioned in mind, I believe students, with the help of their teachers, will notice their improvement and will not give up half-way down the track.

We cannot forget that whatever we plan or do must be within the framework of our students’ REAL needs. If we remember this, both teachers and students should see tangible results at the end of the day!

 

 

© Julio Menochelli 2004. All rights reserved.