Date/Time: September 28, 2018, 11:30
a.m-12:30 p.m.
Location: CIES Conference Room
Topic Discussed: Fluency in Speaking English
My plan today was to help my Tutee
work on automaticity and fluency in speaking. I provided a topic she knew well
and asked her to jot down three or four points related to the topic that would
guide her speaking. She accepted the task and, after making some notes, began to
speak. I was surprised at the movements in her narrative which circumnavigated
the topic and also packed-in a wealth of descriptive information that covered a variety of related
themes.
Along the way on this interesting and
vivid verbal journey, I noted that some of the work in Thursday’s class
surfaced during her speaking. It shouldn’t be a surprise that Thursday’s class
influences at least some of the lesson time we complete on Friday. We seem to
reflect on TEFL learning often. These reflections provide a stimulus for
speaking and thinking.
My lesson plan was intended to
provide a familiar topic as a means of promoting speaking and listening. Discussing TEFL ideas
seems to provide a natural segue into the “pre-lesson” structure. My Tutee took
the speaking challenge to a level I knew was possible, but was amazed to see.
Her speaking fluency seemed to “take on a life of its own” during the lesson
today. I was especially surprised to observe how she wove into her narrative one
of Thursday’s special class activities. That class activity was a listening
exercise during which we were to fill-in missing words from song lyrics. By
referring to this song exercise, because it transported her back to a
particular and memorable life-moment, she created a lengthy and detailed illustration
of the points she wished to make that related to her topic.
I made a few observations “along the
way” and asked questions. My questions included various vocabulary words that
fit the context but prompted thought about word usage. She wrote down the new words and we examined their use in
context. A question I ponder is this: Who learns more? The teacher or the student?
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