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ESL forum >
Techniques and methods in Language Teaching > don´t or do??
don´t or do??
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Vickiii
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don´t or do??
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Why are our students so great at saying �Don�t do that�?
Is it because that is what they hear most often from their teachers?
What are people�s thoughts on eliminating the word "Don�t" from the teachers vocabulary?
So - your thoughts please - "Should teachers only focus on the positive?" or "Should teachers focus on the negative"
EG - consider this: A student is talking in their native language while the teacher is explaining the instructions for the next activity.
How would you react? |
25 Sep 2008
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vbpb
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You may think this is ridiculous, but the only thing I do is to ask the student a question....
(in my case)
" Pablo.... is that Spanish?" they immediately say... "...mmm a little... "
and I answer...
"Oh!!!! That�s what I thought... because my ears started aching...."
I cover my ears with my hands and make a funny face, they all laugh and normally the student who was speaking apologizes...
I don�t know if this is positive or negative, but it works for me.. :)
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26 Sep 2008
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Zora
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I think that you need to focus on the positive although there are times when you have to put your foot down and say, "Behave yourselves or else!"  (Although, I�m never sure what the "or else" might be, but anyhow..." )
You could try just saying,
"Settle down class.", "Behave.", "In English please...", or "That�s wonderful, but in English now.", "Pardon? Can you repeat that please?" with a silly look on your face until they realise they need to speak in English for you to answer them (my French teacher used to do that to us... it was quite funny at times to see someone repeat a question three times until they realised they needed to say it in French.. lol )
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26 Sep 2008
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puspita
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Mmm... ideally, I would stand on being positive. But sometimes it�s so hard!  Saying �behave yourselves� to a bunch of loud and (hyper)active kids (who may �accidentally� push or hit their friends and then start an argument) doesn�t really affect them.
What I do when a student is talking in their native language while I am explaining ... is, I ask him/her to do it �officially�. That is, translating my instructions into their native language. Then I ask some other students whether the translator uses the correct words or not. Of course this thing cannot last long (thus the word "don�t" comes out...)
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26 Sep 2008
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Vickiii
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Thank you for your ideas. I love the funny face ideas (although in my case it is genuine - try teaching english when you don�t know the students native language!!!)
I personally have a complete ignore policy in place. Whenever one child does something incorrectly i look and listen for someone doing it correctly - instead of saying "Don�t speak in Spanish" I say "Well done for saying ... in English" The students realise very quickly that they only get attention if they speak in english. |
27 Sep 2008
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cristina.063
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I want to talk at a symposium. This is my very first time. It is a symposium about ESL. I have no idea what to talk about. Any ideas, topics. I will of course develop them myself. Could any of you help me? Thank you. |
27 Sep 2008
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