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EFL Students' Pet Hates

Daniel Israel

发布日期: 2019年5月26日

This latest creative writing blog covers a selection of EFL adult students’ pet peeves (in alphabetical order) when doing various activities and more during the learning process. The format is simple: first, the type of English course where it would come up , then the activity or other element, next, the students’ pet hate, which is written from the learners’ perspective, and lastly, the teaching rationale, from the teacher’s point of view.

Type

Business English (B1+ - C2)

Task

1. Elevator Pitch (Writing/ Speaking)

Two stage writing/ speaking activity with a prepared 30 second – one minute pitch including strengths, USP’s and achievements with examples in action (quantified) is pitched in a role-play scenario or just read out.

Students’ Pet Hate

It’s something new and unfamiliar and it involves opening up about myself. It should come as no surprise that it’s distinctly unpopular and out of my comfort zone.

Teaching Rationale

Learners should be able to talk about anything; after all, you never know what to expect in the outside world, do you? Conversely, upper intermediate learners often enjoy the challenge. In the business world, elevator pitches can be used for networking opportunities or job interviews, so this could be valuable to the learner(s) in more ways than one. Scaffolding can help, particularly with lower level learners so they get the gist of what they must do, and which types of language they should use, i.e. adjectives for strengths, comparatives for comparing, superlatives for extremes, and present simple for facts. Finally, if they are unable to think of real examples, they can always make something up. NB: It is not unheard of for some business people to specifically ask to practice giving them on multiple occasions.

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Type

General/ Business English (A2-C2)

Task

2. Formality vs Informality (Writing)

Writing exercises that focus on differences in register. This includes contractions vs full forms, matching such words, one-word verbs vs phrasal verbs and the odd bit of slang, to name but a few.

Students’ Pet Hate

In my country we are very informal, which makes formal writing very difficult. I’m not used to using such formal words and can’t tell the difference between different types of formality.

Teaching Rationale

If a course has a writing component, then formality must be included. In business, writing formal letters or emails is often called for. Becoming aware and noticing different areas of language use is extremely useful for the learner. By doing this, which is in keeping with full immersion, where the more exposure to the target language the better, this also paves the way for autonomous learning, where mistakes in all sort of situations will eventually be automatically self-corrected.

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Type

General English (A2-B1+)

Task

3. Get (Vocab)

A series of vocabulary exercises incorporating both the verb itself and phrasal verbs using get. Get has multiple meaning such as arrive, become, buy, fetch, obtain and receive. Words that combine include the following: a job, divorced, dressed, drunk, even, married, on, up and so on.

Students’ Pet Hate

Get doesn’t exist in my language, so being exposed to it like this opens up a whole new world. The sheer amount of possibilities is mind-boggling, especially as my vocabulary isn’t broad enough. Figuring out all the various nuances on offer can be terribly testing and can lead quite frankly to sheer frustration.

Teaching Rationale

Increasing one’s vocabulary is one of the most common aims for students. Get is used in everyday natural English, so becoming familiar with how to use it in various ways can only be beneficial. Gap fills, writing sentences and using dictionaries (online or otherwise) can all help to activate the language. Nobody said learning a language was easy; it takes a good, positive attitude and plenty of hard work. If students find this difficult, then they can always reread notes/ the examples on the handout and then do online exercises to refresh. Additionally, they can make use of vocabulary notebook techniques such as using mind maps (10-15 words in one day will do) and grids: definitions and a new sentence using the target language; they can always ask the teacher to check the sentences in the next lesson. Lastly, more listening and reading to good quality material will pay off over time.

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Type

General/ Business (A2+ - C2)

Task

4. Improvised Role-plays (Speaking)

A scenario is acted out without a script either by students in groups or, in 1-on-1 situations, a student with a teacher. Often includes useful phrases, i.e. meetings, negotiations, opinions or telephone English.

Students’ Pet Hate

I have no imagination, and, if truth be told, I’m just not good at doing role-plays. I find it hard to think something up on the spot and perform on demand. I really don’t feel comfortable and get quite vexed.

Teaching Rationale

Functional language is very important when helping learners to feel comfortable in different situations. Relevant examples are ideal, but not always easy to use for both students and teachers. It can be worth reading out a similar role-play and carefully scaffolding or even asking the learners to create their own role-play, based on their own situation. This way, it will not seem so abstract and will become more familiar before the production stage. You can always change the subject matter if work matters are too complicated or inessential to something easier to get to grips with. For example, a simple negotiation using phrases would be in a souvenir shop in a foreign country. You can even write some items on the board that students can barter over. Still, there are other ways to do things, and if you decide it is better to abandon the task, you can replace it with a scripted role-play, which, in a 1-on-1 situation, both parties will read out, for example, and will also contain the very same target language.

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Type

N/A

Other

5. Making Mistakes

When learning another language, students make plenty of them. Teachers have different approaches re how to correct errors in class, which range from fluency vs accuracy: correcting at the end of tasks or the lesson vs as and when, using a red pen with essays or not and more. Students react differently to being corrected.

Students’ Pet Hates

I see the teacher writing something down and I know I said something wrong. It makes me feel uneasy and I need to know what it is right away.

I prefer just speaking and finding out about the mistakes later on in the lesson; it really helps my confidence.

I feel demotivated when I see all that red pen all over the page; I tried so hard and did my best.

Teaching Rationale

We all make mistakes; you’re not alone. Teachers need to know what their students can work on, just as they do. It is part of the learning process and can play a vital role in helping learners become aware of any improvements they need to make. Re-reading notes, doing online exercises, and plenty of listening and reading as self-study practice will all make a difference.

Using red pen may be expected by some or detested by others; the latter may have had negative past experiences at school, which this reminds them of. The jury is out in this one. If you feel it has a detrimental effect on the learner, then try another method. Perhaps, using a different colour will help.

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Type

All

Other

6. Metalanguage (Grammar)

Using terminology, which may alienate those unaccustomed to such terms. For example, grammatical terminology does not always exist in the L1 of the learners and may make the grammar seem unobtainable.

Students’ Pet Hates

We don’t have present simple or continuous in Dutch, just one present tense. I must stop myself from thinking in my own language. I wish we did not have to learn these words as they are alien to me.

Teaching Rationale

The most important thing when teaching grammar, for example, is that students understand how to use it by giving clear examples in context, which is intrinsic to achieving this. It may very well depend on the learners' learning background with regards to their expectations towards and tolerance to metalanguage. For example, in some parts of the world, grammar is taught using such terms from a young age and will be familiar and expected to these students, i.e. in some Eastern European countries. For those who have not been exposed to this at school, then it may well be unnecessary to a large degree or, at least, reduced to an absolute minimum. Nevertheless, it can be a useful tool for revision (i.e. categorising/ classifying and comparing verb tenses).

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Type

All (B2-C2)

Other

7. Non-literal-Translations (Vocab)

Sometimes, words or expressions cannot be translated literally into the target language. This can cause confusion and no doubt frustration.

Students’ Pet Hates

I find myself translating from my mother tongue, but, quite often, it does not have the desired effect. It’s a habit that won’t go away, no matter what I do.

Teaching Rationale

Languages are fascinating phenomena. They boast different word orders from each other, expressions are deeply rooted in folklore, slang is ever-changing, and languages evolve over time. For more advanced learners, it may be useful to record figurative expressions in an organised way and perhaps examples of language in the L1 which cannot be translated. With the latter, it may be an interesting writing experiment to attempt to reword and ask the teacher to check it (including an explanation in English of what the meaning in the L1 is).

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Type

General/ Business (A2-C2)

Other

8. Prepositions (Grammar)

This area of grammar caused problems for learners whose L1 uses different words to refer to the same things as in English. For example, on school is translated from Dutch whereas its English equivalent is at school. In this example, the intended meaning is quite different from the result, due to language interference, where Dutch learners would unintentionally be implying that someone is on top of the building rather than on site, which would certainly raise a few eyebrows.

Student’ Pet Hates

I keep making the same mistakes. I must stop thinking in my language. It is so difficult; everyone I know has the same problem.

Teaching Rationale

Error correction exercises, specific prepositions exercises in class and online exercises will help to increase awareness of which kinds of mistakes are being made and why. Humour and memorable examples like drawing somebody sitting on the school as mentioned above will decrease the chance of making that slip. Plenty of listening and reading as ever will also be instrumental in getting rid of such irks.

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Type

General/ Business (B1+-C2)

Other

9. Present Perfect (Grammar)

The present perfect simple as it’s otherwise called, is arguably the most hated verb tense in the history of English grammar. Quite simply, if it doesn’t exist in the learners’ L1, then it will seem very strange indeed.

Students’ Pet Hates

I don’t get it. I never know when the time frame begins and what the result is. Whenever I hear it mentioned, I want to go and run for the trees.

Teaching Rationale

It is important to understand how to use verb tenses. Indeed, if it is previously unknown to learners, then it will take extra effort and a little patience, as they may not get it straight away. Lots of clear, strong and memorable examples in context with plenty of practice are needed, i.e. extra exercises from grammar books and online exercises will do nicely. For more advanced learners, learning grammar through texts is another useful technique, i.e. contrast present perfect vs present perfect continuous. The idea would be to find examples of each in a text and then use the verb to make a new sentence, i.e. I have known becomes I have known my partner now for 10 years. In British English it is used a lot (not usually in American English – they tend to use the present simple instead, i.e. I just got here instead of I’ve only been here for a little while).

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Type

All

Other

10. Tests

The importance attributed to tests where they are given can have a big impact on learners, who, in any case, need to know what to prepare for and how.

Students’ Pet Hates

I hate tests; I remember getting sweaty palms at school. I get very nervous and can’t wait ‘til they’re over.

Teaching Rationale

Tests are important to some organisations and centres to get an impression of the progress a learner has made after a course (summative). Indeed, teachers may prefer formative tests to monitor learners’ progress along the way. It could also be that the grade is unimportant and has no bearing on how he/ she does overall. In this case, it is merely set to find out what has been learned and which areas, if possible, could there still be with regard to room for improvement.

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