Teaching English to Low

Achievers: My Experience

Chun-yin Doris Chen

National Taiwan Normal University
 I. Introduction
 Low achievers (28~35 in one class)
--- Major in Industrial Education
--- Major in Physical Education
 II. Characteristics of
Low Achievers
 No self-motivation
 Negative attitude

 High test anxiety

 No learning styles

 Slow information processing

III. English Teaching in the
New Era
 Student-centered
 Individual differences

 Multiple intelligences

 Innovative teaching

(My driving force: variety &

creativity)
IV. Theories of Second/ Foreign
Language Acquisition
 Behaviourism: the Second Language View
 Cognitive Theory: a New Psychological

Approach
 Creative Constructive Theory

 The Second Language Interactionist View

 Behaviourism: the Second
Language View
 All learning, verbal or nonverbal, takes
place through habit formation.
 Input

 correct repetition and imitation

 positive reinforcement
 habit formation
 Cognitive Theory: a New
Psychological Approach
 Second language learning is a process
which involves active mental processes,
not simply the forming of habits.
 Through some mental process, learners

may have sudden progress without

extensive practice.
 Creative Constructive Theory
 The acquisition-learning hypothesis
 The monitor hypothesis

 The natural order hypothesis

 The input hypothesis

 The affective filter hypothesis

 The Second Language
Interactionist View
 comprehension checks
 clarification requests

 self-repetition or paraphrase
 V. Some Tips to Consider
 Enhance their motivation
 Change their attitude

attitude
a:1 t: 20 i: 9 u: 21 d: 4 e: 5
What’s the total? __________
 Reduce their anxiety level
 Teach systematically

 Recycle information constantly

 Check their comprehension

VI. My Experience
First Semester
--- Quizzes
--- Self-introduction tape
--- Weekly e-mail
--- Role play 1, 2, 3, 4
--- Presentation of the main idea
--- Mid-term exam
--- Final exam
During the winter vacation
--- A letter
Second Semester
--- Quizzes
--- Show & Tell
--- Weekly e-mail
--- Radio play
--- Vocabulary teaching
--- Mid-term exam
--- Final exam
 Extra Credits
 First Semester
--- a tape (reading aloud)
 Second Semester

--- My Visit to the Language Learning Center

--- Feedback from students 1, 2
 Teaching Procedures
Warm-up & Review
--- Quizzes (but not under 70)
--- Self-introduction tape
(Listening: Note-taking)
 Presentation
--- Pre-reading questions (Q & A)
--- Vocabulary teaching
--- Explanation of the paragraphs
--- Emphasis of the reading strategies
--- interaction, visual aids,
students’ demonstration, etc.
 Extension Activities
--- Explanation of
the structure of the lesson
--- group work 1, 2, 3
--- pair work
--- games
Wrap-up
--- comprehension check
--- singing a song
 Structure of this lesson
Introduction: Definition of the culture war
Main Text
--- Relationship between the culture war and the mass
media
--- Statement of the problem
--- Two different voices
--- Conservatives’ views & strategies
--- Liberals’ views & questions
Conclusion: Recent report
 Interview Questions
 What/Who can encourage you to do more
textbook reading?
 When you feel that reading textbooks is

not interesting, what do you do at that

time?
 It’s time to debate…
Should we let teenagers
watch A-films?
 Vocabulary Check
 diversities
 attributed

 devote

 extensive

 undertaking

 stimulating
 Comprehension Check
– According to the author, what is one of the
hardest jobs a person will have?
– What does it mean when a person takes time
to explore career options?
– Why is finding the best occupation important?
 My Reflection (1)
 Asking questions
 Providing feedback/ Giving praise
 Encouraging talk
 Using humor
 Referring to the class as “our” class
 Discussing things unrelated to class
 Addressing students by name
 Calling on students to ask questions
 My Reflection (2)
 I do have a sense of achievement.
 They are [+teachable].

 It’s easy to change their attitude.

 But it takes ...

a long time
to help them pass the proficiency test.
 VII. Concluding Remarks
 games & scoring
 activity variations

--- listening
--- speaking
--- reading
--- writing
 compliment & encouragement

 total immersion vs. partial immersion

Don’t forget…
 to create a nice atmosphere for students
 to make students feel English is fun
 to have students express in English naturally
The End!