In the school I teach we speak Dutch (This means English is fairly easy to pick up and learn.). Our students study English for 5 years and go from starter to advanced. They only get English 2-3 hours a week. 

 

We �ve always had students whose parents are immigrants and who speak an other language not related to ours: Turkish,  Spanish,... These students have to study Dutch, French, English and German at school and at home they speak their native language. They often put a lot of effort in their study but unfortunately they seldom get rewarded. The rate at which they have to study languages here is way too fast. They need a lot more focus.

 

This year I �m teaching two girls. They are both really weak and they both work extremely hard. One of them studies Latin and fails in every language exam she takes. Actually she �s quite smart but she doesn �t seem to get a grip on how to study languages. I �ve tried all I know and there is little result. Her marks are a bit better, though, but still not enough. Students can �t do without languages. They have to study them. As she is quite smart it would be a pity for her to end up in a vocational class but there seems nothing I can do. The other girl will probably just succeed and have a lot of trouble next year.

 

What �s actually worrying me is:

 

All my students have to be able to form a sentence with a word I give them. They should also be able to describe a word. Normally our students don �t have any trouble doing this. Those girls tell me they really understand the word but they are not able to make sentences with this word or they are not able to describe the word. My personal feeling is they do not know enough vocabulary ( Because they speak a different language they do not pick it up easily.). That way they doubt themselves and they can �t get started.  I have taught them on how to form a sentence, that they should ask themselves what, why, where, when,... and then try to form a sentence,... but I almost see no result.  

 

Maybe you have experienced this before? Maybe you have tips or tricks for me? If there �s a good site... I �d really welcome it. I �d dig into this matter deeper myself if it wasn �t this busy at school.

 

Thanks a lot

 

Kristien

 

 

When tackling something as complex as sentence structures, I like to play a game called "Silly Sentences." I �m a real visual person and I learn best through the "hands on" approach. If your students are anything like me maybe this will help them...

 

Let �s say your trying to help your students learn about adjective clauses using the relative pronoun "that" First I would write out several (silly) sentences using the sentence structure.

 

EX: 1. Superman has a girlfriend that has big feet. 

       2. Mr. Turtle has a pet snail that has big eyes.

 

(Sorry about the examples, but it �s late...)

 Then I make cards (I put pictures on them, but that �s up to you) for all the subjects. So in this case; I would have a card for Superman, girlfriend, big feet (I combine the adjective and nouns together for the sake of simplicity), Mr. Turtle, pet snail, and big eyes. Then randomly hand out the cards to the students. I put all the cards in a small box and have my students take one each. I write the sentence structure on the board, leaving blanks where the subjects go. Then the students must find two other friends and use there cards together to form a "Silly Sentence." The sillier, the better! Once they have a sentence they are confident with, they rush up to the board and fill in the blanks with their chosen cards. I write the first four complete sentences on the board and then have the class votes on the best three.

 

Well, this Turtle needs his sleep, so I hope this helps you. Remember above all stay positive, believe in your students and they will believe in you!

 

@Mattyzink: Yes, maybe it �s simply the fact they are weak in languages. A sad thing because we do need our languages... Thank you for your example. It �s a very clear one. But, indeed, I do not want to give up on them yet and yes, I �ll still keep on trying, even when they don �t really stand a chance. Changing goals might be a good idea for them but won �t really help them succeed, I �m afraid. Maybe when I �d spend more time teaching them... But still thank you very much for your reaction. I appreciated it!

 

@Homeless Turtle: I really like your idea! I sometimes use a similar exercise but the fact that this is a bit silly makes it so much more fun! Thank you so much! I always try and live by your last sentence. It �s so important!

 

 

Kristien