Learning without studying ... a new video from Hiroshima

[Laurence Howells]

Check out a new video from the Hiroshima series.  

We're planning to do some more work to present this in a different way, but for now, here is the video of a lesson Don gave to the students on ... playing a CD in a CD player.

Well worth watching!

Please pass on to anyone else you think might be interested.

https://silentway.online/2024/06/27/teaching-english-at-university-learning-without-studying/

Laurence

[Luigi Magnano]

Progress is coming along quite well, and Dan is always full of new and interesting activities  for presenting vocabulary and noun phrases.  You note that the students have been attending class for 6 months now, can you be more specific how many hours per day or week?

I like your phrase  "Learning English without studying"  . Glad to be following the students in their progress.

Luigi

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28/06/24, 11:58:30

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[Laurence Howells]

Good point.  I’m pretty certain they have had one 90 minute lesson with Don per week since the start of the Japanese academic year ie from April to October.  Don, is that right?

Laurence

[don cherry]

Hi everyone. You are right, Laurence, but we hadn't been meeting nonstop from April. They have had 90-minute lessons with me from April until July, then from October. So by the time of this lesson, they had 14 lessons with me from April to July, then after a summer break about 4 or 5 more lessons.

[Luigi Magnano]

Challenges in Teaching Adult English Language Learners

I would like to  highlight the challenges encountered when instructing adult learners of English as a second language (L2) in a one-on-one online environment. The adult learners possess an insignificant  foundation in English grammar, but possess a variety of vocabulary. Major problem for these students is the  struggle with spoken communication and active listening skills, especially when trying to understand other English speaking colleagues.  I acknowledge the difficulty in rectifying communication habits formed over a long period of time. While  progress is  being  made, yet the learners  seem to revert to their native language pronunciation when speaking at a faster pace.

My request to all is to invite you  for  further exploration of effective pedagogical methods to enhance spoken communication and listening skills in adult L2 learners , when approached on a one to one bases  within a remote learning environment.:

Would you comment on your personal experience and progress with adults regarding:

• Techniques to improve pronunciation and fluency in adults
• Strategies to enhance active listening skills in adults
• Best practices for online instruction of adult ESL learners.

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03/07/24, 12:27:43

[Laurence Howells]

Luigi

I know it’s not quite what you asked but I can perhaps comment from the perspective of being a SW student.

I think the great strength of what we do is that we are able to work with great precision and accuracy.  We know from what students say and how they say it what they can do now, and what they can’t - we don’t have to make assumptions.  

So when I make basic mistakes, that’s what we work on.  When I almost-successfully launch ambitious sentences, that’s what we work on.  So, I’m always advancing!

Laurence

[Andrew Weiler]

Hi Luigi,
I currently work with learners of English at the upper levels...online... one to one
They all function well in their respective professional fields here in Australia but are wishing to keep improving.

I would like to address one of the issues you talk about...what to do so the changes they make in a session are in fact transferred to their everyday speaking.

One way to understand this problem is to understand we are talking about physical skills...in the area of pron. Much the same as tennis, cooking or any other skill.
Just consider what it takes for a good player of tennis to change their grip a bit..to maximise the power they hit the ball with.

Being told it and being able to do it in front of. COACH is a far cry from doing it in the midst of a match.

A Tennis player will have to do rigorous practice IF they wish to take this grip into a game.... there is no other way. And the practice has to be of a certain kind for it to be effective. Repetition per se does not hit the mark...excuse the pun!

Back to pron.
Here is an example of a pron practice to help someone to adjust their pron.

Keep in mind though the learner needs also needs to develop their self awareness so that THEY know if they are hitting the mark or not. This can take a little time. The "seasoned" learner will do this in their stride. This is where work has to be done side by side with the issue of the physical skills.....

Anyways, lets say we are talking about being able to say the /a/ sound as in mat in the way the local say it.
 ....starts with them being able to make the adjustment in isolation or together with a consonant. I won't dwell on this here for now as that was not your Q

> mat, cap, sat, man, fan... etc they need to be able say this sound in various environments

Once this is achieved "pressure" needs to be added to see if they can maintain the sound... Too much pressure can be dispiriting.
In SW classes at the lower levels this is very much evident.

> i have a cap; where is the mat; the fan is blue...etc
once they can do this with a variety of words ...phrases
- accuately,
- fluently and
- effortlessly

they can progress.... each of the skills just mentioned adds more pressure....gradually. Fluency can't be worked at until accuracy has been achieved...and so on

> then lengthen the utterance a bit... ( I put the hat in the cupboard)
repeat..as before

etc..etc

towards the "end of the process" they should be able to utter long sentences sounding "native-like". This can take time as the learner masters what it takes to do this.

Reading a paragraph is what can happen next...

My experience tells me that for some this will be enough... For others they may need to do more work in a similar vein.....

The refrain  that "I can't remember to do this in a conversation" tells me they have not mastered the skill.
We don't use memory to exercise skills. They become an expression of who we are.

Others may wish to add this to clarify what I have explained etc.. Please do so

Pls feel free to ask me to clarify if not clear Luigi

Best,

[Cedric Lefebvre]

Luigi, 

If I understand correctly, you want to discuss the challenges of teaching adult ESL learners in a one-on-one online setting. You say these learners have limited grammar but a varied vocabulary and struggle with spoken communication and active listening. Despite some progress, they often revert to their native pronunciation when speaking quickly.

The first two items you seek insight on (improving pronunciation, fluency and listening) can also be seen as: helping these adults to speak English better. In other words, you want to do exactly what the Silent Way is best with: teaching how to speak English. 

A common issue when we get intermediate students who have studied the language in traditional language courses is that what they'll actually need to work on is what we see as the basics. It's not always possible to just focus on pronunciation and basic functional vocabulary with the first word charts (and rods), because they expect something absolutely different and might run away from your courses before they start seeing any benefits.

What some teachers have often suggested is to make them see for themselves how flawed their fundations are. As you watch the Hiroshima video series, you'll see how Don manages to show his students how they're unable to recognize seemingly simple words (cup, cop, carp, cap) or to build precise short sentences (take the straw off of the clear plastic cup, etc), so that they accept the idea that they need to work on their "basics". Other teachers use a specific frame, such as the Verb Tense System Tool, to make the students feel they're working "on grammar", but at the same time they give them feedback on any mistake they make, so that they rectify all their English bit by bit. 

 

In one-on-one situations, "Tell Me lessons" can help you see where the problems are and tackle them as they come. This works very well in an online environment, and you can find examples of this kind of lesson on Youtube.

In general, I'd suggest you explore https://silentway.online/ on topics that feel relevant to you, and report here specific situations you face, or difficulty you can have, whether conceptual or very practical.

Cheers,

 

Cédric Lefebvre

Creating Within You a Mastery of French  

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[Luigi Magnano]

Laurence, Cedric

I definitely agree with both your comments,   correcting past articulatory  error settings  at advanced levels  takes time . Students  often feel that within a few lessons and a touch of special medicine they will come away speaking as  native speakers.

When I see my students again I'll try to record the sessions giving you an idea of their level and the corrections needed to be made.

Keep in mind that lessons being one-on-one  through a zoom  video conference student has no help from other students  and  trying as best I can to Keep my mouth closed is not always possible. 

Thanks

Luigi

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[Roslyn Young]

Hi Luigi,

This problem was my bread and butter for many years : people who had seven or more years of school English and whose grammar and pronunciation were less than optimal. 

We only had 50 hours with them so we had to go fast, and I'm  sure not all of them all managed to change their pronunciation, but they did learn to hear English much better, and understand conversations more easily.

We concentrated on two things: pronunciation and verb tenses. The work on the verb tense system actually became work on the whole of the grammar of the language, and the work on pronunciation was especially about learning to reduce syllables, which for French students yields a better result than working on sounds. It certainly takes much less time, and the students are amazed when they discover how the pronunciation of English works. We never spent much time on the sounds because once reduction was in place, it don't seem to matter as much.

That's a quick resumé of my experience.

Ros

[Cedric Lefebvre]

Two more links that can be of interest:

This "Teaching Pronunciation Differently" youtube playlist is full of very technical videos which can provide English teachers with ideas and techniques to use with their students. It was part of a MOOC, as most people here already know, but the playlist is still available on Youtube and still a gold mine of information.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVmycSH2lVk&list=PL4DXj09icrC8Fwv14wpIvdUOvceoy7n-7

Also, as can be guessed from his above message, Andrew Weiler has very interesting videos on Youtube, some of which directly shareable with intermediate autonomous students, such as this one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvvgEZR-Lpc

ATB,

Cédric Lefebvre

Creating Within You a Mastery of French  

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