Distracted, anxious, student HELP!

MES-Member Joined: 05 Jun 2009 Posts: 2 Location: Brazil

Hello all,

I've been lurking in the forums for a while but not I am in a situation that I have no idea how to deal with, so I am asking for help.

I have this private class student, an adult, who has fairly basic English and how all of a sudden needs to know English urgently.

He is extremely demanding, very anxious, easily distracted and to make matters worse doesn's respond well to written things... I am serious. I used a very well known grammar book to explain the Present continous and he tottaly blanked on it. He was absolutely blocked, while in speaking he does fairly well, when it comes to writting he just shuts down. I have never been faced with a situation like this, and while I know that it is possible to use only verbal tools, our classes are 1.5 hours long and I could use some suggestions of activities and any tools that might help make the class productive and interesting...

Please help?

Thank you all in advance.

MES-Member Joined: 22 Jul 2010 Posts: 8

When I meet an illiterate student, I always remember that even in Great Britain, 1/3 of adults could not read or write back in the 1940s.

I wonder why he's so demanding?

How about trying some dictation? Get a comic strip and delete the words. Cut it up and mix up the order. This way, he has pictures to look at while listening and it will help him get the gist. First, he'll have to listen to the story and then decide the order of the pictures. Then, he'll have to listen again and take notes.

Another fun activity might be to get a joke (hopefully a funny one) and cut it up line by line. He has to read the lines and try to put the story in order. After the joke is completed, try to get him to retell it. It usually takes about 20 minutes to put a 200-word joke in order so he should be able to remember it pretty well. You can assist as needed..

MES-Member Joined: 22 Jul 2010 Posts: 8

Oh, the idea for the joke activity comes from Peter Watcyn-Jones, I believe. From his Grammar Activities book which I don't have handy at the moment.

MES-Member Joined: 05 Jun 2009 Posts: 2 Location: Brazil

Oooh I love the comic strip idea!!!!Thank you so much!!! The joke one might work in a while but I'm not sure he will respond too well to a text yet... might try it though!

I have actually been using Mark's stuff, the flashcards and the activities pages, of course without unsing the tracing parts but he is responding a bit better. I still have to repeat things a lot but he is getting better at it...

Its really strange, because when he needs to talk, though he has serious problems with sentence formation he expresses himself well.

I have considered doing it phonetically but I worry about him feeling I'm treating him like a child... the look on his face when he first saw the activities page was quite funny. He took it quite well though, considering...

Thanks so much for the ideas! If you think of anything else please keep them coming, I have classes with him 3 times a week so I will need a LOT of actitivies!

MES-Zealot! Joined: 24 Jan 2007 Posts: 129

Hi Marta,
Have you taken a look at Mark's introduction workseets on this site? (Click on the WORKSHEET button on the top of this screen) They are really great at introducing the target grammar point. He uses illustrations so that it should help your student who does not seem comfortable with the written language.

Also I highly recommend creating stories with your student. TPRS is a method that uses repetitive questions to get students to make their own story. Then once you have created a story orally, you can write it down and practice reading. Since your student will already know the story, it is less of a challenge to read it.

For more practice I take the same story and make different versions, adding more details and complex grammar.

simple example of a popular story,

The mice are playing.
The mice see a cat.
They say, 'MAMA'.
The mother cat says, BOW WOW
The cat runs away.

(moral, it is valuable to know a second language)

Version 2.
Two small mice are playing.
They see a big cat.
They yell, "Mama, a CAT!"
The mother cat yells, "BOW WOW!"and the surprised cat runs away.

Version 3
Two small, grey mice are playing in the garden.
They see a big, orange cat.
They are scared.
They yell to their mother, "Mama, there's a cat in the garden!"
The mother cat runs to her children.
She yells, 'Bow Wow!" and the surprised cat runs away.

You will be surprised how much easier reading will be when you slowly add details to a story that it already familiar to the student.