330 Part V: What Kind of Class Will I Have?
Many words in Italian end in a vowel so the students often add an extra vowel
sound to the ends of words. They pronounce the words ‘read’ and ‘reader’
almost identically, for example. Use the cutting gesture during the lesson to
remind them to cut the ending.
Grammar and syntax problems
There is a recurring error caused by students confusing the infinitive form of
a verb (such as to go) when it should be the gerund (going). Remind students
how to use ‘enjoy’ as it comes up in the lesson: ‘I enjoy reading’; not ‘I enjoy
to read’.
The English class in London
In this class there are four nationalities among the students in equal numbers.
They are Brazilian, Japanese, Colombian and South Korean. I don’t speak the
languages of any of these students so I can only use my observations of them
and fellow countrymen to predict errors. In addition to linguistic problems
faced by the students due to L1 interference, there are other cultural
characteristics which I need to take into account to get the best out of
everyone.
Most of the students need to broaden the range of tenses they use and
include more modal verbs, so while monitoring I will make an effort to check
their progress in these areas. I can also encourage them to modify the examples
they give me to include these points.
As the students all have different problems they should be able to assist each
other. It’s important to mix them up so that each pair is made up of different
nationalities, ideally one South American and one Asian. Before the role play,
students can inform their partners of particular problems they have so that
the acting examiner can be on the look out for these points. The peers can
correct each other during feedback sessions too.
Problems for Korean students
Most of the Korean students make mistakes with /p/ and /f/, getting the two
sounds confused. They need to practise drilling these words but I can use
the Colombian and Brazilian students to help model words such as favourite /
pevrit/ and fiction /pikʃən/.
This group of students have a tendency to focus more on grammar than
fluency. Remind them to be coherent and use linking words. Ask the
examiner in the role play stage to listen out for this.
