It has been a wonderful first three days of teaching two groups of Diploma in Accountancy students. Up till now, I have met them 3 times. As usual, I always take the time to know all their names (nicknames) and by the end of the first class I often can say everybody's name correctly. Besides introducing themselves to smaller groups as the initial activity, each of them had to introduce a friend. They only needed to speak for 30 seconds.
While introducing their friends, the most common error that I can detect is the usage of pronouns. I noticed,not only these few days, that students often make mistakes of using 'she' and 'he'. To use 'she' for a boy and to use 'he' for a girl. In this case, most of the time, their friends will correct them and they also realize the errors. The next is the misuse of 'his' or 'her'.As an example,"She name is..." when it should be "Her name is..."
I often see that students are very happy whenever I manage to say their names correctly by the end of the first class. They will give me their round of applause. I believe it's a 'gift' that I can remember so quickly and hope that I will continue to be able to do this for all my students for the rest of my teaching career.
In the second class,for both classes, I'm so glad to have my class at the Cyber Lingua Lab, where I could guide everyone to create their own blogs, including creating this blog. Although I already have Through My Eyes, this one is especially for my students and is more focused on the teaching and learning of the English language. I hope to make my reflections more interactive and some things that I might have missed in class will be communicated through this blog.
In the evening class, I have the combination of both classes. I started off by giving the scheme of work and the course outline for the whole semester. The next 20 minutes, I showed them the slide presentation which I have prepared,which cover topics on Clauses, Coordinators and Semicolon. Upon completing my explanation, I proceeded with the pair work activity. In pair work activity, each one had the chance to explain to their partner what they have understood from my explanation earlier. During this activity, I often can detect if my students are unable to catch what I've said or otherwise. If they are able to explain clearly and do not have any questions, then I proceed to the next topic.
In the final activity, I divided the class into 8 groups and they have 15 minutes to creatively prepare their presentation on the 8 Parts of Speech on a piece of mahjong paper. I gave each representative from each group to present for 1 minute only. I'm impressed! They were able to present the basic explanation and examples. They had learned the details for each Parts of Speech when they were in Part 1. So, what we did was only more of a review. They made some minor mistakes;which I have corrected.
Hopefully, everyone learns something and have enjoyed the classes, so far. At least, I have!
Till I write again!
8 comments:
Hi,
I read your article with very concerned mind. I supposed you are teaching first year students.
However, their English seem very much low standard.
I guess you have been teach English for quite sometime and have many years of experience in this field. To your opinion, what the main reasons for low standard of English among our IPTA's students.
Being a student from Malay medium those days, my English not very good. FYI, I failed my English at SPM level. However, I think my English is better than those got A in the recent years.
Zainudin
p/s I hope you forgive my bad English which may not be suitable in this blog.
Dear Mr Zainudin,
Thanks for dropping by my blog and for leaving your comments.
I'm teaching second semester of diploma students. Well, you can still consider they are in their first year, fresh from SPM.
Yes, I have been teaching for 10 years now and have taught all levels, from toddlers, kindergarten, primary school,secondary school, university, as well as, working adults.
There are a few factors contributing to the low standard of English. Perhaps I will write an entry to answer this question.
Mainly, I feel they don't read English books and don't use the language frequently. To be good in any language , we must do extensive reading, listening, watching and speaking in that language. Since language is a skill, it's not enough to just learn about the language without using it.
Regarding failing your English at SPM level but getting better in the recent years, I believe you must have used a lot of English while working and the need for you to be able to communicate creates the opportunity to improve in the language.
Very often, students don't realize the importance of English until they graduate and enter the workforce.
As for me, I try my best to create a lot of opportunities for my students to use the language and guide them, as well as , motivate them and not to be afraid to make mistakes. Most of the time, the mistakes can be the learning point.
I hope somehow I've answered your question. You certainly have given me some ideas on what to write in my future entry. Thanks!
Dear Pn Nazhatulshima,
I think you got a brilliant teaching skills because i've learn a lot during your class and eager to learn more.Thanks Pn :)
Thank you Puan for teaching us BEL200 for this semester. I really enjoy your teaching. I hope that I can improve more on my English.
Hi Shima,
TQ for taking the trouble to give explanation. Actually I don't expect you to do that.
While reading comments from your former students, an idea pop-up in head.
May be you could encourage your students write more in blogs like yours. From there they can practice without feeling shy about the level of their English as normally language used in blogs rather simple.
Forgive me if you have implemented the idea.
Zainudin
I feel very happy today because I can create my own blog.Thanks to God to give me strength for me to continue my study.I hope I can achieve for the better result in this semester.
HI PN.SHIMA,
HOW ARE YOU? I WANT CHANGES MY HITS SONG THAT I GAVE YOU IN OUR SPEAKING CLASSES. MY HITS SONGS ARE REACHING FOR THE STARS AND YOU WERE IN MY MIND.. THATS ALL.. THANKS AND SEE YOU TONIGHT...
WASSALAM..
assalamualikum..
dear pn shima,
thank you for your teaching. i'm very happy and enjoy for your activity in the class BEL200 (D2A1). you so sweet when you smile and happy always.
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