continuing teaching... and ELLIS
The last couple of weeks I have continued to teach four hours on Monday to Entry 3 at Coleg Gwent. I have continued using the textbook syllabus, supplemented with more communicative activities. We have been working on comparatives and superlatives, and the activities seemed to be successful in getting students to grasp these and use them appropriately in speaking. However, towards the end of the lesson this week I gave them a writing activity using both superlative and comparatives, and some students got them confused. I will need to go over them again, especially in preparation for a writing task next week. Through these experiences I have been alerted to the fact that students do progress at very different rates, and it is very difficult to keep both those who progress fast and those who struggle more, all engaged throughout the lesson. There is one girl who is particularly strong and finishes exercises very quickly, while another older lady struggles with everything, and it seems (as my mentor has stated) that she's been put in a class too difficult for her.
This week I also went in to Coleg Gwent on Wednesday to look at the ELLIS computer program, which some students use to complement their ESOL lessons (though at other colleges there are students who study ESOL only through this program). It does have it's good points, with a variety of comprehension, vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation activities all based around videos of real themed communicative events in a real-life situation. Students are able to look in detail at the dialogue, and even record their own voice and compare them. It has the advantage of the students being able to do the exercises and assessments in their own time at their own pace, without others slowing them down or leaving them behind (a challenge in a lesson as I mentioned above!). However, students are reticent to record themselves (especially as the computers are in a public place, the library), and so it doesn't really cover speaking practice- and in any case, none of the speaking involves real communication. Also, the way the program is organised does not give a clear linear sequence to do all the activities, and as Claire (my mentor) told me, this means that students need a lot of guidance at the beginning so they know how to use the program, and to make sure they complete all the exercises. Another problem is that the exercises don't really 'teach', as if you get the wrong answers, then it just gives a cross, until you click the right answer. There is a danger that students may not learn from their mistakes, and instead just click until they get the right answer. My conclusion about ELLIS is that it's an excellent tool as a supplement to ESOL classes, giving students practice and situational vocabulary, at their own pace. However, the lack of real communication on the part of the students, and feedback from a teacher, means that ELLIS would not be effective on its own for students to learn to function in English.
The Red Cross classes continue as before, though this week only one turned up- as some were ill and others had been misinformed that they had to now pay for the classes! So I again learnt the importance of flexibility in community education! I joined Pam's class for an hour, which is a higher level group. Actually, I was surprised that their English was at a much higher level, working using Skills for Life Entry 3 materials. I thought if they were at that level they would be in more formal classes. In the class they were looking at jobs and job interviews, so I ended up as the interviewer for each student! This was fun and interactive, though I wasn't quite sure how useful it was for the four ladies there, as probably most of them wouldn't be looking for jobs in the near future.
As for my prepared beginners' lesson, I've saved it for next week! I plan to do a bit on the alphabet- as while I want to focus on speaking, there is inevitably some reading and writing necessary for exercises (and real life!) and I've noticed some of the students have struggled with this, mixing up letters.