Working with Non-Native Speakers

"Working with Non-Native English Speakers" - Special presentation on June 29, 2004 by Vicky Holdridge. (Notes courtesy of BoulderReads! tutor Evelyn Kaye Sarson.)

Five Essentials

  1. Keep your lesson relevant to the student; focus on what he or she wants to learn.
    Platinum Rule: Treat others as they want to be treated.
  2. Limit use of student's language: use English at all times.
  3. Judge teacher-student-talk ratio; you should not be talking all the time.
  4. Structure your lesson. Be prepared, plan activities, assign homework tasks.
  5. Make corrections wisely. If your student says something incorrectly, repeat it back to them with the correct tense or words. If they are talking and you don't want to interrupt, take notes of mistakes and talk about them afterwards.

Use Realia

Realia is real world material that you can bring into lessons and use for vocabulary and conversation. Some examples of realia and how you could use it in lessons:

  • Phone Book: addresses to look up, maps at the front, talk about where they live, yellow pages to find things, planning a party - locating where you would look for party planning ideas.
  • Calendar: talk about dates, numbers, holidays, pictures.
  • "Dear Abby" column: talk about vocabulary, slang, what the problem is. Ask "Why do people send problems to the newspaper?" and "What would you do?" Have a cultural discussion about this situation.
  • Real Estate section of newspaper: abbreviations in ads, prices of houses, use a map to find places listed, different rooms in houses and what they are. Cut out 5 ads and match them to pictures of 5 people - old couple, family, single woman, etc to see who is most appropriate for which living arrangement and have student explain why.
  • Cookbook: vocabulary and abbreviations, types of food, sequence of events, go shopping for ingredients and cook something, put together your own cookbook.
  • Scavenger Hunt: have list of 10 things and say where you can find them.
  • Medical items: thermometer, Band-aids, antiseptic, insect repellant, wrist brace.
  • Medical terminology: role play a dialogue between doctor and patient, go to grocery store pharmacy.
  • Sales flyer from paper: vocabulary, price comparison, make shopping list, math problems.
  • L. L. Bean catalog: vocabulary for items, colors, different item names, sizes, order form, prices, numbers, budget, ask "When would a person wear something like this?".

New Vocabularly

  • Link words thematically; have props and pictures to illustrate words
  • Describe parts of speech
  • Keep vocabulary at the right level for the student
  • Use words relevant to the student's life
  • Find out what the student already knows i.e. parts of the body, and add new words: face, body.
  • Limit it to 8 to 10 new words
  • Concentration game: pictures of words on cards, flip two over at a time to make a match, say word for each one.

Grammar

  • Teaching it can be helpful to explain about our language structure
  • Make sure to show form and meaning Example for teaching the verb "To be": make a timeline.
    Past____________ Present____________ Future____________
    I worked I am working I will work
  • Fill in the blanks activity:
    She (walks) to the store. We (read) a book.
  • Teach only ONE new thing at a time. (Don't put new vocabulary in sentences when the focus is on new verb tenses.)
  • Suggestions for activities for teaching grammar:
    1. Put action on a card and give one to student and one to you to act out.
    2. Use gestures to show full sentence (2 hands open), listen (hand to ear).
    3. Make a statement about pictures and encourage student to expand what they say.
    4. Drawings: cards with drawings of stick figures doing different things and ask for descriptions.