Entertaining or Teaching English

Today, I had the crazy idea that I should try to get students to speak in English. First, it was difficult to get students to understand what I was trying to say. And then it was difficult for me to get students to stop talking once they started. The trouble was that students didn't seem to be talking about the subject in English or Korean.

The trouble with finding ways to teach English in the classroom as that the ideas don't always work out so well in practice as they seem when I read about them in the book. I spent quite a bit of money on books that I purchased in America, thinking they would work well in Korea. Sometimes the ideas work well and sometimes they don't.

Even after I had students write their answers on paper for a "quiz" that I thought might work well as a disciplining device seemed to be as frustrating as getting the students to speak.

I tried showing the bulk of the movie with English subtitles and students either weren't able to see the English subtitles or if they did, they couldn't read the sentences fast enough. Or, if those things weren't the problem, it was difficult for students to understand the meaning of the sentences.

Part of my frustration was in students not understanding what I was trying to say in English or Korean. I think there must be a tendency among to students to give up on trying to understand me in either language when they don't understand what I mean to say.

Now, the dilemma seems to be that if I show most of the movie during class, it becomes "Entertainment English" rather than "Screen English". But if I try to teach students something about the movie, the method winds up not being a very meaningful way of learning English.

In some cases, I seem to be in a Catch 22, where no matter what I do, it isn't enough because students are only taking the class because they have to, or if they have the desire to improve their English, they don't have the time.

I'm also starting to reconsider my efforts of free-talking this semester. I'm not convinced that the methods I'm using are satisfactory free-talking methods in terms of improving students' English-speaking abilities.

Hopefully the next post will have some more constructive comments in this regard and that I will be able to find a via media approach that is somewhere between "entertaining" and "productive".

Between A Rock And A Hard Place: Teaching a required English Course

As indicated by my last entry, things have not seemed to go well in my classes since the Mid-term. I learned yesterday that students, at least in my conversation classes, come to English Conversation thinking they will be able to relax and learn English in fun ways rather than have to learn grammar or have to sit through a difficult conversation.

I find myself feeling as if I am between a rock and a hard place. I hear the administration wanting students to speak English well and requiring English conversation and the students struggling to endure through an English Conversation class. This leaves me feeling almost sick to my stomach as I also try to sympathize with my students who seem to have almost unrealistic expectations. First, students tell me they want to talk. Then, when I give them opportunities to talk, they complain because the conversation is too difficult or because the activities are too boring. Then they expect the class to be fun in a way that relieves them of the pressure they feel in their other classes.

I feel like I have a better handle on all of this after talking with students yesterday that were in one or both of my conversation classes who said that they are stressed out from all the work they have to do to prepare for their tests in their other classes which are mainly to prepare them for THE teaching test they have to pass in order to become teachers of students with special needs.

I think that one of the students made a valid point about the environment of the classroom not being conducive to creating natural conversation. I think I may start with a simple conversation and see how far I can get with students and try to find some kind of a game to support what they are learning.