How To Teach Student Who Speaks Good English?

[Gerry290]

Hi Guys,

Hopefully someone can give me a few ideas or tips on how to approach this task...

I have a Korean adult ESL student (on the side) who speaks good spoken English. He wants to improve his grammar and his ability to write in English. I am having my first session tomorrow evening with him, and we have spoken about what he wants to achieve.

I am a bit lost on how to go about teaching him i.e. "improve grammar and written English".

His spoken English is very good so any ideas on how to approach teaching this level of ESL Student?

All ideas will be gratefully appreciated and thank you in advance for any advice from experienced ESL Teachers who have worked with similar cases. :-)

One idea I have myself... my other half who speaks reasonable spoken English she is taking ESL lessons (level 8 in AUA)so perhaps on idea is to use her text books and the exercises in them for the guy I am to teach.

Any more ideas guys?

Thanks

Gerry

[Scott]

A good text book on grammar would be the best thing. Not the usual conversation books--they don't stress written English. This is especially true if he wants to learn to use written English for business writing.

A couple of quick ideas that can help are, first, have him keep a daily written journal. He should write from the most mundane: "I got up at 5:30 a.m., I ate breakfast...."

Second, if he has business correspondence, then have him bring in drafts he has written and go over them.

Writing is harder than speaking. Have him start with simple things; sentences and paragraphs. Help him organize his thoughts so he doesn't jump all over the place. Have him write business letters, with an introduction, a body and a closing.

Best of luck.

[Scott]

Oh, I forgot to mention, he should read his writing to you. Once a sentence has been corrected/improved have him read it a couple of times and explain why we say it that way--not just the grammar. Reading will help him to get it in his head.

I know a number of people who speak very well, but their writing is all over the place.

[Somtamnication]

I teach mostly Koreans and I have two students who are very good with English but suck at writing.

I teach them business English, letter and email writing and I make them do their resumes. Making read everything they write is an excellent idea.

Set up writing scenarios such as looking for job, inquiring on a house, complaint writing and complaint answering.

Tons of stuff out there for you to download re business English.

[Hollywood13]

I've noticed some "native" speakers of the English language can't write very well. Something I've noticed many of them have in common is they don't read much (books, newspapers, magazines, etc). Perhaps having the student write a report (summary) on an article or short book would help him? It might be more enjoyable for him if it's in a subject area he enjoys (sports, cars, whatever). In short, get him to read more. Seeing the words in print, in the proper format and spelling, might help him improve.

Just a thought.

[Scott]

Reading is the key to good writing, so your comment is spot on. A close friend of mine, who works for an international company and commands a good salary, learned to write by reading. When I first met him, his spoken English was OK. His writing was atrocious. He started reading novels. The first few took about a month each and that was with effort. He underlined words he didn't know and phrases he didn't understand. He eventually got up to a book a week.

His earlier employment required short written reports which gradually improved. Now, he writes and speaks to University professors. His writing is flawless.

It's difficult to teach someone how and when to use certain tenses, but reading things in context helps.

Most people, however, want to know the rule and the short cuts. Unfortunately, there really aren't any.

[Phatcharanan]

Resources associated with IELTS would also be a good choice. Lots of writing exercises, examples etc.

You can buy IELTS materials from the British Council or visit various websites. www.eflflow.com (EFLFLOW) is just one example.

Teaching a subject like this would also give a target for the students, something tangible. The student could then enrol for the examinations which are held very regularly.

Edited January 31, 2011 by Phatcharanan

[Somtamnication]

Koreans are notorious for wanting quick fixes to their English problems. At times, they drop off like flies and I am left wondering if it is my arm pits or hairy legs. I tell them up front, that it takes work, and they get homework.

I mean, they ask me at the interview (yes, I interview all of them prior to agreeing to teach them) with a straight face and full of hope, if they will speak like me in 3 months!

[Scott]

You'll have to tell them they can speak like you in three months--but it will cost extra!

Good luck--most adults unless they have a lot of motivation, don't stick with learning. For men, this ultimately means they think it will result in more money.

I once had a student whose bank was being taken over by a Singaporean company. The criteria for who would stay and who would be let go was based on their English skills. He was highly motivated!

[Anyse]

You should ask him for a writing sample that he writes totally in your presence! Sometimes people get help from others and past writing will not necessarily show where he is in terms of his actual writing skills. You need to also work him on kernel sentences. I have students who can not figure out the subject and the verb of many sentences. Sentence combining, a la Strong and others, is also a powerful tool for creating better sentence sense through a process called "sentence combining." So, you also need to be sure if he needs help first at the sentence level and then move to the paragraph level. A daily journal is a must. Have him ask questions of you as well before you tell him anything so that you also get a sense of his real knowledge about what he is or is trying to do. You can learn a lot from some simple sophistry.

Good luck.

[sirchai]

I teach mostly Koreans and I have two students who are very good with English but suck at writing.

I teach them business English, letter and email writing and I make them do their resumes. Making read everything they write is an excellent idea.

Set up writing scenarios such as looking for job, inquiring on a house, complaint writing and complaint answering.

Tons of stuff out there for you to download re business English.

Let him write a type of diary what he’d done the day before and you’ll see how good his written skills are.

Another test to understand how to go on is to let him read an article of an English newspaper, not necessarily the Nation….

Unfortunately it will help you a lot to go on with tutoring him. Good luck! :jap:

[Scott]

One nonsense post which is derogatory toward teachers has been removed. We have a little tighter rules in this forum. You might want to check them in the pinned topics if you want to post here.

[ELCata]

One nonsense post which is derogatory toward teachers has been removed. We have a little tighter rules in this forum. You might want to check them in the pinned topics if you want to post here.

I apologise if I have caused offence. I am an NQT (science) who is moving to Thailand in the near future. Perhaps my combination of dark humour, disdain for unqualified teachers & what you may have misconstrued as racism didn't come across well. I will repost my edited response now, with your permission:

Teach him to be a teacher! Learning how to teach it teaches you so much more!

I am doing / I had been doing becomes present continuous / past perfect continuous.

Bloom's Taxonomy can only go so far; push him through it to the next level.

[Scott]

Thank you.

[Gerry290]

Thank you everyone for the wonderful tips and information.

He actually postponed last weeks lesson so we are doing lesson one tomorrow.

The common theme I have learned from this thread is to get my Korean student reading more and writing, with exercises from keeping a daily journal to writing business orientated exercises.

This certainly will be a growth opportunity for me as a teacher to expand my teaching skills because this side student needs are completely different from my usual P2 Homeroom teacher day job :-)

I will give it a shot tomorrow and and report back with feedback as to how he gets on.

Thanks Again.

[Ijustwannateach]

Reading and writing are best improved by doing a LOT of reading- there are books oriented towards short passages at high levels (and IELTS texts would be suitable in this way), but the best approach would be to get him started on a LONG reading list. Otherwise it's hard to see how he will accumulate enough hours with any teacher to improve in the short term (over a course of years, maybe).

I will back up Scott's statements about policies in this subforum and further add that posters who wish to display disdain for any other members (here or elsewhere) are not welcome (technically in all of Thaivisa, according to rules which require members to respect each other, but even more so within this subforum).

[TenDreams]

Maybe you could have him read news stories, and write summaries of them?

Have him look at pictures, then write about the pictures within a time limit.

Brainstorm a topic, then write sentences connecting 2 or more 'branches' of the brainstorm.

Brainstom conjunctions, then have him write a simple sentence, and then use the conjunctions to make it as long as possible while maintaining integrity of grammar and meaning.

Some ideas used a while back with Japanese students.