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ESL forum >
Techniques and methods in Language Teaching > How to make myself clear?
How to make myself clear?
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D@N! P
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How to make myself clear?
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Hey, peps. How are you doing?
Let me tell that is happening with me. I want to know your opinion.
Last class, I had to explain students what is a house-warming party. But it was really hard to teach them what this party is.
It was the first try:
�Imagine you buy a new house. You want to show the new house to your friends. So, you give a party and call your friends to the party.�
Students didn�t get it. Then, I give them a definition:
�It�s a party that someone who has just moved to a new house or apartment.�
Second try fail.
I didn�t give up. I went to the board and draw a house, balloons, a welcome poster, people dancing, key tones and everything else I could imagine. But, they didn�t get it. As I didn�t know what to do, I told them what a house-warming party is in their mother tongue. And I got very frustrated after that.
This kind of situation is happenning with me very frequently and students get nervous and start yelling that they can�t understand. So, a sometimes tell them in Portuguese. I usually feel I can�t explain things or make them clear to students. What can I do? Is there any way to develop this �ability�? How can I make myself clear to students?
Peps, I need some tips. Help
Thanks.
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26 Nov 2009
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Zora
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@Silke..."peps" is, I think, "peeps" or chat speak for "people". 
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26 Nov 2009
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darryl_cameron
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Hey Don,
I really feel for you.
My students ask the most amazing and insightful questions, but we lack enough vocabulary to communicate many ideas effectively. Sometimes its hard enough just explaining what the homework is!
I believe your explinations should have been enough. If not, there are a few things you might try.
1st: Break your explination into steps and check for understanding at each step. Like, "You buy a new house". Emphasise �new � and make sure they understand this before you move on to the next part of your meaning. The key word is �new � here.
2nd: They might be confusing the word "warming". (My ss often get stuck on phrasal verbs which have similar confusion issues). You could alternatively write "New house party" and go on to say when you have a new house, you have a party there.
3rd: When all else fails, don �t give up. However, tell students you will get back to them on it when you might have some better ideas. It �s not worth the frustration and time wasting in the short term. Keep a positive environment in class.
But hey, basically you are right in your explinations and use of pictures.
This is a common problem in ESL classrooms with idioms, phrasal verbs and the like.
And in English there seems an exception for every rule too!
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26 Nov 2009
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Spagman63
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Yes, peps is chat lingo for people.
It�s a party that someone who has just moved to a new house or apartment.�
This is not a complete thought. Did you forget some of the definition or is this all there was? This is better: It�s a party that someone who has just moved to a new house or apartment gives to welcome the neighbours to the their home..�
I �m not sure why your ss didn �t get the meaning. It helps to check that they know ALL of the vocabulary in the defintion as well as the concept. It helps to take it step by step. Maybe you could ask why people have parties. Explain to them that parties are often given to show love and kindness. I �ve never been to a hate party. LOL
I told them what a house-warming party is in their mother tongue
Is this part of your culture? If not, it is a new concept for them. Tell them it is like them inviting some friends over to their house to play a new video game. Instead of playing a video game, the adults show their house and welcome the "friends" into their home.
This
kind of situation is happenning with me very frequently and students
get nervous and start yelling that they can�t understand.
It sounds like there is miscommunication. It helps to think in their mindset. Make it as SIMPLE as possible. DON �T assume they know what you know. It could also be that they are just being annoying to get you angry. Whenever I explain a new concept, I check understanding with my best student. If he/she understands them, use that S to explain in the mother tongue what you are trying to say. They get to be "teacher" for a while. :)
PM me if you need anymore help.
BTW, there is nothing wrong with using the mother tongue to help the Ss understand meaning.
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26 Nov 2009
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zailda
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Hi!
The concept is new since housewarming parties are not part of our culture. You didn �t mention your students � level, but I have a suggestion on this particular case.
Go to YouTube and search for "housewarming party", and you �ll find tons of videos. Choose the one you think is suitable for your students � level, skills and age. Download it, burn a CD and show your students, as an introduction to the new concept.
After watching the video, ask students what was happening. Is it a kind of celebration? Do they seem to be close friends? What were they doing during the video? Was it a party? What kind of party? A wedding ceremony? Etc... Lead the students to where you want them to be, after the questions tell them this kind of party (when they already understand what they are doing) is...
Ask if they have already been to a housewarming party, if they have seen one in TV series or movies. Ask if they would throw a h.w. party if they moved to a big and comfortable house, if they think it would be a good idea to start a new relationship with neighbors, etc.
We can �t assume students will understand explanations and definitions are not the best way to introduce new topics - IMHO. When we give the students the chance to think about the new situation first, to understand and deduce, it �s easier to give it a "name". And then we can ask questions to make them understand how to use, how they can include the new word in their lives, how to pronounce it, etc.
It �s not necessary to use Portuguese to explain, in this particular case for instance, besides unnecessary it �s also confusing, since we don �t have this sort of party in our country.
Hope it helps, and if you want more suggestions, feel free to send me a PM or contact by email.
Cheers
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26 Nov 2009
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lamyaa
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all the posts above are great esp zailda �s approache ..
i only want to add one more thing, u say ur ss have this problem of missunderstanding frequently, well , be careful coz sometimes when u tell ss the meanings in ther mother language they get used to it and they dont want to do much effort to understand it in english,,
so try using all the ways mentioned above surly oneill work ,esp. the video, then u can just metion a few words in other tongue , not all.
u can also set a present for the one wo gets the meaning first ...and let him or hertryto explain to the class...the present can b a sweet or a card, it doesthve to b something fancy , but ss like it nomatterwhat only bcoz its from their teacher:) |
26 Nov 2009
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alien boy
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Keep it simple. I don �t often have access to video/youtube or other visual aids for my private students (& sometimes my school students too!), so this is my basic approach when introducing new concepts:
Plan what you are going to say.
Introduce new vocabulary before you give them a complete sentence/passage/description to analyse. If you want to introduce a new concept - e.g. �house warming � & they already are familiar with the idea of what �moving house � means (or you teach those words to them) but want to extend it, why not ask them what they would call a party they have to celebrate moving into a new home?....
Give them the sentences/passage/description.
Prompt them to analyse the sentences/passage/description using the newly introduced vocabulary.
Then get them to �role play � a �housewarming party � (in this example)
Cheers,
AB
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26 Nov 2009
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RabbitWho
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It sounds to me like you did a good job of explaining, so either they didn �t understand your accent or you spoke to quickly. OR the students knew full well what you meant but pretended not to so that you would have to say it in their mother tounge. (When I was a teenager some of the students used to do this to our German teacher, out of simple annoyance that she expected them to understand German.)
It �s also possible they were just confused because they were looking at the individual meaning of each word, with phrases like this you have to explain they �re not literal.
Everyone else here gave really good practical advice about explaing vocab. :) I �m getting good ideas by reading the posts.
L1 should always always always be last resort! But you seem to know this allready becasue you came here to ask the question :)
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26 Nov 2009
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Crespus2006
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Hi!
There �s no problem in using Portuguese in class. Sometimes we have to use our mother tongue as a tool - in any level.
Take Care!
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30 Nov 2009
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