Submitted by Ken (not verified) on Thu, 03/16/2006 - 5:32am.
Hi Jennifer,
Nice write-up and one I can definitely relate to. I've been teaching EFL in Asia for about five years - mostly to kids but also occasionally to adults. It's definitely a different ballgame with adults and you'd better bring your "A-Game" to the table - my adult students like to hit me with doozies like "What's the difference between a collocation and an idiom?"
A big difference between adults and kids is that the kids usually have to be there, while the adults choose to be there. A kid at a language school in Korea is there because his Mom is making him go, but an adult is using their own money to buy a product - your services; if you don't deliver the goods they will walk.
Contrary to the article's findings, most of my adult Japanese students prefer a teacher-centered approach. I try to get them to do conversations in pairs or groups (to get them more "talk time") but the activity usually quickly grinds to a halt when everyone else eavesdrops on the conversation I'm having with another student. I asked them which they preferred: a big discussion with me serving as the moderator or smaller discussions in smaller groups - they all preferred the former over the latter.
Hi Jennifer,
Nice write-up and one I can definitely relate to. I've been teaching EFL in Asia for about five years - mostly to kids but also occasionally to adults. It's definitely a different ballgame with adults and you'd better bring your "A-Game" to the table - my adult students like to hit me with doozies like "What's the difference between a collocation and an idiom?"
A big difference between adults and kids is that the kids usually have to be there, while the adults choose to be there. A kid at a language school in Korea is there because his Mom is making him go, but an adult is using their own money to buy a product - your services; if you don't deliver the goods they will walk.
Contrary to the article's findings, most of my adult Japanese students prefer a teacher-centered approach. I try to get them to do conversations in pairs or groups (to get them more "talk time") but the activity usually quickly grinds to a halt when everyone else eavesdrops on the conversation I'm having with another student. I asked them which they preferred: a big discussion with me serving as the moderator or smaller discussions in smaller groups - they all preferred the former over the latter.
Ken