Meghan TS #9

Date/Time: October 3, 9:00 am

Location: Sykpe

Topic/Skill: Speaking/listening skills 

Feedback provided to tutee: During this session we played three different games: guess who, cut it out, and the ABC game. Guess who was just a warm up (very easy), but both cut it out and the ABC game proved to be challenging for him. Cut it out is a game in which the tutor asks the tutee a number of questions which he must answer in a way that doesn't use the words yes, no, maybe, or I. He really enjoyed this game, although it was difficult for him in some ways, and I explained to him my reasoning behind asking him to play it, "Most second language learners practice answering questions in the same form in which the question was asked, for example Q: Do you like cake? A: Yes, I like cake. But this isn't the most natural way to answer the question. So, I believe higher level students should play this game in order to force themselves to practice using different sentence structures." The ABC game was more of a fun, cool-down type of game, in which we had a conversation using sentences which began with alternating letters (I say a sentence beginning with the letter A, he says one beginning with a B, I use C, and so on). This forced him to once again reconsider the well-rehearsed conversation structure which so many EFL/ESL students fall back on, which led to mistakes which I helped him correct. He is a very advanced student, so I think it's important to find new and challenging activities to help him become more native-like.

Lesson(s) about tutoring and/or the tutee you learned: 

I know a lot of tutoring for advanced level students comes down to practicing conversation and listening abilities (which is very important, don't get me wrong!) but, because this tutee has two other tutors who seem to be focusing on the more academic or conversational topics, I wanted to make it more fun and challenging for him. Like I said earlier, I think it's important that he is forced to break away from the more comfortable conversation structures that he has learned so far, because you can't grow if you don't make mistakes and he won't make mistakes if he keeps practicing the same things without challenging himself.