One-to-one classes have become a growing trend. There are a lot of advantages to this kind of instruction, such as more flexibility and customization, among others. However, there are challenges to be met: the student is often required to participate, which might be stressful; there is no comparison of progress with other students; and less variety of interaction, to name but a few. As a result, it might be more difficult to teach a dynamic and varied class, and to keep students motivated.
In this workshop, we aim at discussing teaching tools, environment, the roles of the teacher and how to design and plan the course in a way it meets the expectations and needs of the students and is aligned with the best teaching practices.
3. What are the advantages of one-to-one for
the student?
And for the teacher?
4. - Natural flow of
communication
- Getting to know the
students better and
understand their
language needs
- Monitoring students
more closely
- Personalizing materials
- Tailoring lessons
- Relaxed and informal
environment
- Positive personal
relationship with the
teacher
- Immediate feedback
- Relevant topics and
materials
- Studying at own level and
pace
(Wisniewska, 2010)
5. What are the challenges
for the student?
And for the teacher?
6. - Constant participation
- Less variety of interaction
- Self-consciousness of his/her own mistakes
- Different expectations
- Irregular intervals
- Impossibility to compare the progress with
other students
- Materials can be covered more quickly
- Difficulty in providing variety
- Pressure to teach according to student’s
expectations
- Cancellations at short notice
- No access to the materials you need
- ‘Solitary’ job
- Interactivity with the same person for
some time
(Wisniewska, 2010)
8. The environment
Think of your last experience teaching one-
to-one. Visualize the setting:
• The room
• The furniture
• The light
• The background
• Where you are sitting
18. Speaking
- Speak with customers from other countries
- Speak with my American friends
- Phone my teacher
- Join an online learning community
Listening
- Listen to the
BBC news on
the radio
- Listen to songs
in English
- Watch movies
in English
Reading
- Read online
news
- Read a novel
Writing
- Write emails to my
teacher
- Write a learning
diary/blog
- Write new words in
my vocabulary
notebook
20. Like me!
My God,
not another
workaholic!
Shall we get
down to some
real work
now?
You know
I’m being
extremely
patient..
Now let me
seduce you with
my charm and
personality..
You’re
messing up
my lesson
plan!
What a
relief that’s
over!
Teacher’s
Messages
(Wilberg, 1987)
21. Teacher’s concerns
oWhy isn’t he more responsive?
oWhy doesn’t she make more of an attempt?
oWhy just sit there waiting for me to perform?
oWhy can’t he show me more charm?
oWhy doesn’t she show a bit more
enthusiasm?
Why doesn’t the student live up to
my demands and expectations?
22. Aligning Expectations
• Main reasons for learning English
• Necessity X Desire
• Examples of materials
• Topics
• Importance of skills, grammar, functions
23. • Why should I use this material?
• Is it relevant to my student’s goal?
• Is it culturally appropriate?
• What problems might come up?
• Does the material provide opportunities for
supplementing and extending?
Choosing and Adapting
Materials
What are the advantages of one-to-one?
What are the challenges for the student?
What are the challenges for the teacher?
Teacher: natural flow of communication, getting to know the student better and understand their language needs, monitoring students’ understanding more closely, personalizing lg materials and making them more meaningful, taioring lesson (Wisniewska, 2010)
What are the advantages of one-to-one?
What are the challenges for the student?
What are the challenges for the teacher?
Some words that we could use to describe the students we have. The student whose learning problems are principally phychological and hopes for a magic cure from one-to one
Besides being a friend, there are important roles to be discussed.
Conversation partner: Some students, perhaps particularly those who are at an advanced level, may feel satisfied with just conversation and may use the teacher as more of a language/cultural informant. But although conversation will be an important part of any one-to-one lesson, most learners will probably not feel much sense of progress if the one-to-one lesson consists solely of conversation
Is can be easy to forget that the learner is usually under a great deal more stress than you are: trying to think in a foreign language, trying to listen and understand and work out what to say, not to mention the fear of making mistakes and looking stupid. All those processes take time and mental energy therefore it is unrealistic to expect the flow of conversation to be the same as between two native speakers.
Observer: just be careful - it is easy to jump to conclusions – if your student yawns frequently and looks tired, you may assume they are bored, when in fact there might be other reasons
Feedback provider: direct feedback or delayed feedback
Mentor or guide: helps the student to become independent by establishing good study habits and making the most of available learning resources. Try to anticipate the type of advice your student may need for their work or study
Make a list of ten sentences from your students’ oral or written work, five with mistakes and five without. Bring in ‘fake’ money and ask him/her to buy the sentences which s/he thinks are correct. If it’s correct, the student doubles the money. If it’s incorrect s/he loses it. You might want to set a target total to ‘win’.
Get your student to reflect on how they learn out of class, by asking questions about his/her routine and exploring learning strategies.
Make a chart with the student (collaboratively) with suggestions of what the student could do outside the class to improve each skill
Ask your student to choose a famous entrepreneur s/he admires and prepare a short presentation about his/her life and career, including why h/she admires this person, traits of personality, achievements, what made him/her successful
Teacher’s messages
How to respond to what appears to be lack of motivation in the student?
How to respond to the stereotyped expectations of the student?
How to adapt to the learning experience and habits of the student?
How to learn what this particular student is trying to teach us? (Wilberg, 1987)
in order to provide a complete syllabus and a coherent course
Planning – anticipate how long you will be likely to spend on each session and on each lesson – have a schedule
Personalization – adapt to have personal relevance (job, culture, etc) – adapt to student’s interests
Role reversal – student asks you, you ask him/her
Modeling – model yoursefl at the beginning of a task
Recycling – use different activities that recycle the same language – don’t spend too much time on the same exercise
Supplementing – with new materials and new ideas – turn a grammar activity into a role play, for example
Often schools don’t give a syllabus for one-to-one classes so it is more difficult to record and show progress to the student.