Jamie´s entry...

Going into our second class, Shaunice and I thought that we had more of a grasp on what to expect. However, it proved to be different than our expectation yet again. Although this time the weather was in our favor, and we had a foundation from the previous session, we still wound up with only a group of three people. After communicating with our peers from the SLA class about the amount and type of participation that they had, I assumed our class would be larger and contain more varied levels of fluency. Before class we drew out some information from our lesson plan focused on home and families. We restructured our lesson to form a sort of “middle ground” amongst the different levels, while concentrating on communicative competency. However, it turned out that all of the participants were yet again advanced speakers, one of which had studied in the U.S. for several months. This made our idea of a “middle ground” impractical. We began the class with introductions as planned, then started in on the first section of the lesson plan. In this brief warm up it was evident, by picking up on cues from the learners that we needed to change our approach and go in a different direction. We ended up using our initial lesson plan as more of an outline for topics for conversation, adding several cultural references and vocabulary along the way.

From the two classes that we have hosted we have found that what we expected for this experience was vastly different from what these students anticipated. Although the class was advertised as intermediate, it is clear that we will have a majority of advanced speakers throughout the program. I believe that this is due to the fact that the general population of people that would want to attend a class like this, have a genuine desire to learn the target English language. Without having the opportunity to submerge themselves into an English-speaking culture, these people are driven to find ways to advance their fluency and communicate with native or expert speakers in other forums. This does however, prove their willingness and motivation to learn. Through our class discussions we have found this aspect to be a vital key in mastering a second language. So instead of turning away from this new recognition, we will manipulate our strategy to best suit the needs of this type of learner.  We will create an environment for both learner-to-learner, and teacher-to-learner interactions in which we can negotiate meaning. We will create outlines based around pragmatic conversation, building their colloquial speech, and downplaying some of the semantics that we had previously built our teaching model around. Possibly centering discussion on a problem, role play interactions and debates. In the case that we may have a lower level member join later down the road, we will adapt and mold to that as necessary instead of the other way around.       

Week one!

My first conversation hour at the Biblioteca Publica went very well, if a little differently than I expected. Although I had a lesson plan, it was far below the level of the students who attended my class. I went to the library thinking I would have eight moderate english speakers, but found thirteen (and one infant) students with a higher level. The lesson plan I had, which practiced introductions, daily activity, and personal interests, was not of a use to them as a whole. Instead I decided the many students would gain more from discussion with one another, as their levels varied person to person. This I facilitated, and helped to continue, gaining a feeling for the group so I may arrange more organized lessons for the future. I haven't got a partner, like the other people leading conversation groups. Something I found more difficult than I anticipated was the idea of intelligible input. I often found myself speaking using cognates, because I knew they would be understood more than words I would more regularly use. I need to keep in mind that possibly, with a high level group speaking in a regular way may be more advantageous than speaking in an intelligible way. I need to find different ways to break the groups up, and tell them what to speak about, and see if there is a better way I can help them. Another thing I didn't realize when going over class goals was the idea that I want the students to achieve what they want, and I want to tailor the time to suit their needs. I am going to try to work in more culture, more grammar, and more variation. It was a good start, and there remains room for improvement.

First week of workshops!

English in action, despite the rain!  We were received with much enthusiasm and gratitude!
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Week 1- Beginners english

Teaching an english class can be quite the challenge. Though we knew our students were going to be adults over the age of 16, the fact that we really knew nothing more, made it a little nerve wrecking to go into a class partially blind. At the beginning of class, we only had 2 students show up. After introducing ourselves to them, we realized that our whole lesson plan was only going to take up about 10 minutes, since the students we got were far from basic beginners. We improvised and brought in more intermediate elements into the conversation, hoping this would be better suited for our students. However, the real challenge came when we had another student and 2 library employees come into the class. It quickly became clear that one of the employees and the student who had arrived last, were at an extremely basic level of English. Since we were already halfway into the class, we decided to break them up into two small groups and have them practice between each other. We paired one of the intermediate speakers with one who was at the basic level and joined them in their conversation. The advantage of the one who was at the intermediate level was quite evident, and though the beginning level student got more comfortable towards the very end, his frustration with not finding the words to express himself was clear when he turned to the more advanced student for help translating.

                Considering this was the first class, after experiencing with a way to manage the different levels we were working with, things went pretty well. We used different methods of corrective feedback throughout the class, such as recast, elicitation and repetition. Students seemed to pick up faster on their error when I used the recast method. I also observed that besides the feedback that I would provide, if I let the more advanced student help the one at the basic level, he seemed to be a bit more comfortable holding a conversation even at the risk of making errors. The avoidance phenomenon came into the conversation when he heard words that were in no way similar to anything in Spanish. He would then look to the other student, express himself in Spanish and have the other student translate for him. After making these observations, I feel it would be best if next class we paired the intermediate students together and the basic students together. Once the students at the lower level get a little more comfortable holding a conversation without having to resort to having someone translate for them, we can once again pair an intermediate with a basic so that they can begin to rise up to their level. 

A trimester in Seville, facilitating English conversation workshops for Spanish adults. Seven American students, seven unique perspectives and experiences. Let the adventures and insights begin!