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TEACHING OLDER LEARNERS
18th July, 2005
Teaching Older
Learners
We discussed teaching
older learners and came up with the following thoughts.
Teaching older learners
will become more common in the future as prosperity and travel opportunities
spread. As more younger Chinese start spending extended stays in foreign
countries, so grandparents will have more motivation to go abroad and learn
English. English may also become a pastime for retirees as disposable incomes
grows. We thought that we may find ourselves teaching courses dedicated to
older learners in the future.
None of us could think
of a course book available in China which is devoted to older learners. We
also could not think of any textbook giving any advice and an Internet search
yields very little
Teaching older learners in China should be fun because they are more self
confident and like chatting far more than their younger counterparts.
Advice to Teachers
* Avoid reading and
writing skills unless the learners really want/need to learn that. Being able
to read instructions and notices while travelling abroad may be very useful
for some learners though.
* Be more relaxed - they are not business executives who need to do a
presentation next month!
* Don't be too demanding - let them chatter in Chinese but encourage the use
of English.
* Adopt a slow pace to the lessons and the course as whole but keep it fun.
* Review everything in every class - plan ahead how you will review language
without making it boring.
* Use prizes such as little things bought from Jenny Lou's.
* Use songs - nursery rhymes or simple folk songs should be fine. [Beatles
songs always work well with EFL learners - ed]
see: www.songsforteaching.com/esleflesol.htm
for more ideas.
* Keep lessons short -
45 mins - but have flexible lesson plans with disposable materials so you can
leave them to carry on a game or activity after you have left the room.
* Use a lot more Chinese in class than you would with younger adults or
children.
* Use a loud voice to make sure misunderstandings are in fact language
problems and not their poor hearing!
* Hold classes in the morning - many older Chinese people like getting up
very early and going to bed before 10pm.
* Stick to things they are familiar with. Keep to a routine and don't
confront them with too many new things at one time.
Topics
* Avoid talking about
the Cultural Revolution or politics unless they bring it up and are all happy
to talk about that.
* Changes in China and their hometown and talking about the past
* Cooking classes in English (cooking food from the teacher's native
culture).
* Teach them the English word for things they do every day.
* Language for (and lessons about) travelling abroad.
* Different etiquette norms for different parts of the world which may be
different from China.
* Eating habits and how to behave in restaurants etc in 'the west'.
* You and your hometown/country!
* Families and names for different relatives and words describing personal
characteristics.
* Hobbies - such as kite flying etc.
* Games - card games, board games, team games
* Body parts and medical conditions/aches and pains
Materials and
activities
* Lots of visuals
* Games and disposable materials which they can use together outside class
time
* Bigger fonts
* Lots of posters to remind participants of past lessons
* Role plays and other plays
* Ask them to bring things such as old photos or memorabilia from times past
to talk about in class
Teaching older learners
in China will have its challenges but is also likely to be very rewarding and
interesting to the native speaker teacher. Their self-confidence and
willingness to chat and speak up will make up for the challenges.
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