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adult students complaining

Discussion in 'Modern foreign languages' started by joycirclelanguages, Jul 2, 2019.

  1. joycirclelanguages

    joycirclelanguages New commenter

    I have been teaching languages for a while now and I believe I have a lot of experience, as I try to update my material regularly. I use structured lessons based on adult evening language courses. I've always enjoyed teaching MFL to adults and I usually seem to have happy students. However, just recently, I've encountered some issues which have challenged me. I have a few mixed ability groups with different age groups, which means that some have seen some aspects of the language before or are able to grasp it faster. So the latter group will always have one or two students who complain the course it's too slow. Yet it's my old students (in age), the ones who struggle the most, who are regular attendees and good payers. On the other hand, I had students in the past saying I was going too fast! Therefore I slowed down and I have the ones who say it's too slow. I do lots of pairwork with them and try to give lots of speaking practice.

    In my beginners' course, not only do I include holiday vocabulary, but also the foundation and building blocks for those who want to carry on learning. Again, I have been having a few students who say they only want to learn a little for holidays, so all that 'thing' of learning how to introduce themselves in a foreign language is a waste of time. I work hard, but I am losing motivation. I'm very aware that I should advertise the courses for specific needs to avoid the 'complainers,' but I also know I may end up with a couple of students each time. Shall I stick to what I do or definitely change everything, from the way I teach to the way I market the courses?
    Last edited: Jul 2, 2019
  2. MissGeorgi

    MissGeorgi Occasional commenter

    Are you differentiating? I would think adults and children need quite different lessons. Without seeing your resources, it’s hard to tell. Give the ones who finish early extra work or a project etc.
  3. ChocolateChunk

    ChocolateChunk New commenter

    Have you attempted to do carousel activities?
    The idea is to give a wide range of activities to apply the learning. Within these groups, you could have your more able learners to direct the rest of the group whilst challenging them too.
    Let's assume that your lesson's focus is the "Imparfait", one group could go through a dictation (read by your most able learner(s)), another group could translate a challenging text which is differentiated and your more able learners would not be allowed to use their notes or dictionary... You get the idea.
  4. MrMedia

    MrMedia Star commenter

    I was thinking the same. You need more differentiation. In the drama based role plays, have scenarios where some speakers have far more language than other speakers.

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