Today I went to Normal I school, to the same classroom I've been going to for the last month, since I started my teaching practices there. When the bell rang, the kids entered their classroom, sat at their seats and stared at me waiting for instructions, as they usually do. Great group, by the way! After that, I gave my lesson and fortunately, everything went as planned. However, one student in particular caught my attention: he couldn't copy words from the blackboard correctly, he couldn't recognize any of the linguistic items they'd been working with for a month, and he couldn't understand any of the things I was saying in English. It was like Chinese for him. So I talked to his teacher and I learnt this kid is "particularly slow", and I hadn't realized that before. This kept me thinking. What can we do to help this kind of children learn?
There are quick brilliant learners in every classroom, but schools are full of those really "slow" and "not precisely bright" students, too. Let me tell you I really believe THESE are the ones in greater need of help. So what are we doing to help these little "creatures" learn? It might be possible that particularly weak students do not feel confident enough to participate in their English lessons, having fewer opportunities to use the language and to correct their mistakes, and having fewer opportinities to feel proud of their achievements in communicating their ideas in a foreign language. It seems they generally feel they are not capable of carrying out any task, and therefore, they don't do it. But we don't realize this can be working this way. So we just prefer reaching the conclusion that they are not good for English at all and that there is not room for improvement. And that's all.
But is their facility for the language or their level of English the heart of the problem? I firmly believe they are not. Maybe we should start thinking about how to work on their self-confidence first, rather than on their language, help them develop their self-esteem, make them feel secure enough to take risks, and make mistakes, and learn from them, give these students responsibilities in every lesson, make them feel important and useful in class. And stop pointing out their error all the time. Can they really improve if they are just penalized for every mistake they make? Probably they will just end up shutting their mouths and being afraid of opening them again.
Sometimes, I believe, our lesson plans are great, our lesson, perfectly organized and loaded with entertaining and meaningful activities which, we are almost convinced, will inevitably lead to acquisition. But we need to remember, from time to time, that acquisition is not the same in every individual. Different children, different levels of English, different capacities, different abilities, different interests and different needs coexist in our classrooms. Even our best lessons might not be enough for our so-called slow students.
So, I wonder whether teaching English aims only at having proficient English speakers by the end of the year. I believe there should be many other aims in teaching. What about first encouraging them to be proud of their achievements? What about first helping our learners feel they are capable of learning? Maybe, only then, if everything goes right, might these so-called "slow" students be able to try learning English. Or not. But at least they'll know you've made an effort to help them be better learners FOR LIFE.
There are quick brilliant learners in every classroom, but schools are full of those really "slow" and "not precisely bright" students, too. Let me tell you I really believe THESE are the ones in greater need of help. So what are we doing to help these little "creatures" learn? It might be possible that particularly weak students do not feel confident enough to participate in their English lessons, having fewer opportunities to use the language and to correct their mistakes, and having fewer opportinities to feel proud of their achievements in communicating their ideas in a foreign language. It seems they generally feel they are not capable of carrying out any task, and therefore, they don't do it. But we don't realize this can be working this way. So we just prefer reaching the conclusion that they are not good for English at all and that there is not room for improvement. And that's all.
But is their facility for the language or their level of English the heart of the problem? I firmly believe they are not. Maybe we should start thinking about how to work on their self-confidence first, rather than on their language, help them develop their self-esteem, make them feel secure enough to take risks, and make mistakes, and learn from them, give these students responsibilities in every lesson, make them feel important and useful in class. And stop pointing out their error all the time. Can they really improve if they are just penalized for every mistake they make? Probably they will just end up shutting their mouths and being afraid of opening them again.
Sometimes, I believe, our lesson plans are great, our lesson, perfectly organized and loaded with entertaining and meaningful activities which, we are almost convinced, will inevitably lead to acquisition. But we need to remember, from time to time, that acquisition is not the same in every individual. Different children, different levels of English, different capacities, different abilities, different interests and different needs coexist in our classrooms. Even our best lessons might not be enough for our so-called slow students.
So, I wonder whether teaching English aims only at having proficient English speakers by the end of the year. I believe there should be many other aims in teaching. What about first encouraging them to be proud of their achievements? What about first helping our learners feel they are capable of learning? Maybe, only then, if everything goes right, might these so-called "slow" students be able to try learning English. Or not. But at least they'll know you've made an effort to help them be better learners FOR LIFE.
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