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What happens when there is a mismatch between what students want and what they need? How can we get them to actively and enthusiastically participate in activities they say they don't want to do? Sue Swift has a solution...
I once had a client who came to Britain to do a two week, six hour a day, one to
one course at the organisation where I was working. We had a clear statement
from his company of what they expected from the course and, as always, before
his arrival we did an extensive language audit and needs analysis, including
analysing typical reports he would have to read and write, the minutes of the
type of meeting he would have to attend and so on. He was at a lower
intermediate level, with a grammatical, functional and lexical competence which
was clearly inadequate for the high level job which he had. He needed to reach a
level in which he was capable of attending meetings, giving presentations and
negotiating in English, as well as writing complex technical reports. His two
weeks with us would be the first step in a course which would then be continued
on a non-intensive basis on his return to Venezuela. I spent much of the week
before his arrival working on the course objectives and syllabus, and putting
together the course materials.
On the first morning of the course, immediately after meeting him, I explained
how the course would be structured, and how we had arrived at those specific
objectives based on the information we had collected. He then politely, but
firmly, stated “No, I don’t want all that. I just want to talk.”
This left me with a dilemma. First of all, I was convinced that, at his level
and with the specific needs that he had, "just talking" was not going to help
him very much. Secondly, that was not what his company (who were paying and who
we had to report to) had asked for. And thirdly my heart sank at the idea of
trying to plan 60 consecutive teaching hours of the type of chat he clearly had
in mind in a one-to-one situation.
However, it was also clear that if I just refused to take his wants into
consideration, it would have a negative effect on his attitude towards the
course, which would mean that it was unlikely to be successful. There was also
the possibility, however minimal I considered it, that he was right and I was
wrong. On the spot, I therefore proposed a verbal teaching-learning contract :
he would try it "my way" for the first two days of the course, after which we
would switch to "his way" for the next two days. At the end, he could decide
which approach or which activities had led to the most successful learning, and
from then on we would follow that approach for the rest of the course. I also
made it clear that he would have to play an active part in the "conversation"
part of the course, thinking of and introducing topics as well as just waiting
for me to do so. But both of us undertook to "give it all we’d got" for the full
four days, temporarily putting aside whatever doubts we each had about the
other’s methods.
We thus started working on the course materials which I’d prepared, and at the
end of the two days I was starting to see results. But as he hadn't changed his
mind, we then switched. The first morning went well – he was a nice guy and he
had plenty to say about his job, his life and his country. By the end of the
afternoon he seemed to be starting to flag a bit, but he went away with both of
us having agreed to think of various new topics for the second day. The next
morning we kept going, but after lunch he came back and said he'd already made
up his mind how he wanted the course to continue. He felt he had learned far
more in the first two days than afterwards, and could we go back immediately to
the programme that had been planned.
Despite the fact that we had "wasted" nine out of the sixty hours and the
programme had to be adapted slightly, the course overall was extremely
successful. From that point on, the student participated actively and
enthusiastically, showing full commitment to the approach and to reaching the
objectives which had been set. I’m convinced this wouldn’t have happened if I
had just tried to convince him I knew more than he did about his needs and had
imposed my syllabus on him. He needed to experience the difference in order to
convince himself.
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What do you think of this article? Add a comment »
Very well written !!! This
is a situation that each and every teacher will face, at some level or another.
Often, the teacher needs to defend their method (or their school's method) and
success comes with proof. The trick is to use the least amount of time to prove
the method, and make it fun - all the way! I really enjoyed starting my Monday
morning with this article. Thank you Sue, and keep up the good work!
Really, Sue has done us a
great favour, we should have plans and suitable material for teaching, I mean
specific aims along with applicable aids taking into consideration to be more
flexible sometimes with learners, satisfying their wants but not forgetting the
objectives of the target course to be more sucessful and decrease the
apprehension about learning.
Best regards
An excellent article which
encourages me to trust my instincts. I will certainly try this approach should
the occasion arise.
Great work on a very well
written article. I think your verbal teaching-learning contract is a great idea
- and one that I will be using in the future. Thanks again!
I am a teacher candidate
(senior), and I want to thank Sue as she managed to illustrate a situation which
I usually experience with my private students, very clearly. Though they are the
receiver of the service being provided in this circle, they are not mature
enough to choose for themselves but they want to. That is it. We are working
with humans. This is an applicable solution.
I think this is a great way
to approach a situation like this. You don't want your student to lose face -
this can be a really important cultural consideration, particularly for business
people - and here a happy compromise was reached.
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