I don �t understand why, but I noticed that a few students don �t undestand completely what a language is. They don �t associate "language" with their mother tongue, so they learn words by heart (sometimes with spelling mistakes) and read them using the same pattern we do in our mother tongue, so it sounds unfamiliar even to the natives.

 

Once a student asked what "guy" means, but she pronounced it like in the first syllable in "Ghinea" (as we �d read it in Portuguese) so I wasn �t able to understand. Another student asked me what "now here" means. After some minutes of reflection I realized the word was "nowhere".

 

The students that don �t connect English to "a language" simply write or say nonsense, because English doesn �t make sense for them and they imagine the clue is to say / write unintelligible words with tons of consonants (or consonant sounds when speaking) and it �ll be OK. They don �t seem to understand that the language is used in communication and the sentence has a beginning, middle and end and must be used to transmit a person �s feelings or thoughts.

 

They understand "the verb to be" but are unable to understand what it means, because sometimes (even after several years studying English) they ask the teacher how to say I am a student, they don �t realize that the verb "to be" should be used.

 

In fact, some are able to say all the grammar rules and know tons of vocabulary by heart, but they are unable to use them or to connect words in English with their thoughts.

 

This problem is more frequent in children up to 10, 11 years old, but I �ve noticed the same condition in teens and even adults. It �s complicated to teach them how to use what they spent years "learning", mainly if they were not my students and were taught using different methods at diverse schools.

 

I had some students with the same problem (maybe 4 or 5 during 12 years) and 2 or 3 of them had an "insight" and started making sentences that make sense, the others simply gave up.

 

Have you seen the same problem among your students?

 

Zailda

 

The students don �t have any contact with the written word until they get used to it orally at the school I teach. When students read and pronounce words like if they were in their mother tongue, this is called "interference" and to avoid it, it �s better let them read the word only after oral practice.

 

Of course each student has his own pace and even if we provide further practice (asking questions, conversation, listening exercises and so on...) for some it seems not to be enough and they still pronounce and read words (or write it as it sounds) wrongly.

 

As I said, they don �t understand the aim of a language: to communicate. And to communicate effectively they have to understand that no one will be able to recognize the words if they pronounce them the way they "think" they are, or if they write them like they come to their minds at that moment.

 

It �s like if they were sending a message: "I can �t understand this language, it doesn �t make sense for me. So, the others may feel the same and it doesn �t matter how I �ll say or write, since they won �t understand anyway."

 with "nafin"..

and just today I had a chuckle when I read that "Homer is giving Marge a hog" (he meant �hug �)