Today I sat in on Ryan Flemming's Group 3B speaking class. Ryan started out the class by taking attendance and announcing that I would be sitting in on the class. One thing I took note of was how well it seemed (to me, at least) that he pronounced everyone's names. Remembering and pronouncing names is one of the things I worry about being able to do in a foreign country.
Second, the students received note cards with feedback from a presentation they must have done in the last class. First the cards listed words and phrases that should be practiced for pronunciation, and then sentences with improper grammar. The sentences were not fixed, just written out, and the students spent the next few minutes correcting their own errors. Once they'd done all they could, they formed groups and helped each other. During this group work Ryan helped, rarely by correcting sentences for them, but more often by saying what was wrong with the old sentence ("This is an adjective - what part of speech should have you used?").
Finally, to practice fluency, the students (in pairs) read aloud a short story. They read it three times - once with a goal of three minutes, then two, then one. Ryan reminded everyone that they would make some mistakes while reading so quickly, which was normal and would help them know what words and phrases they did not know fluently yet. Here I participated by reading some of the stories out loud as an example, and correcting pronunciation.
Second, the students received note cards with feedback from a presentation they must have done in the last class. First the cards listed words and phrases that should be practiced for pronunciation, and then sentences with improper grammar. The sentences were not fixed, just written out, and the students spent the next few minutes correcting their own errors. Once they'd done all they could, they formed groups and helped each other. During this group work Ryan helped, rarely by correcting sentences for them, but more often by saying what was wrong with the old sentence ("This is an adjective - what part of speech should have you used?").
Finally, to practice fluency, the students (in pairs) read aloud a short story. They read it three times - once with a goal of three minutes, then two, then one. Ryan reminded everyone that they would make some mistakes while reading so quickly, which was normal and would help them know what words and phrases they did not know fluently yet. Here I participated by reading some of the stories out loud as an example, and correcting pronunciation.
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