Thursday, November 8, 2007

New Intermediate Student and Grammar

I'm excited to have a new adult ESL student who is at an intermediate level. Most of my students lately have been very advanced ESL students. While this is enjoyable in a lot of ways, having more to teach is even more exciting.

With my advanced ESL students, mostly we practice conversation skills and sometimes pronunciation. Only occasionally do we need to review grammar points.

With most intermediate ESL students, grammar review is also a part of our lessons, although the review is more extensive than for advanced students. I actually like grammar and enjoy teaching it.

I look forward to refreshing my English grammar teaching skills.

--end--

1 comment:

Eric said...

Interesting blog. I share many of your interests, experiences, and ambitions.

As the cliche goes, what gets measured, gets taught. I'm afraid that in adult education we tilt toward teaching fill in the blank grammar, short reading assignments, and so-called life skills as measured on standardized tests. Sometimes, the better programs will also include listening tests - but often at a relatively low level. What's missing?

Perhaps the most critical life skill - the ability to hold a serious, in-depth conversation in English. The citizenship exam at least makes a minimal effort in this direction; the vast majority of adult education programs have too little time, too little money, and perhaps too imagination to assess the speaking and conversation skills of students.

Meanwhile, conversation clubs and private tutors often fill the gap. That's fine, but I wish more students also had a chance to take conversation classes, public speaking classes, or at least interview skill classes.

Good luck with your blog.