Thursday, May 4, 2017
Nicole CP 4
Since I've had trouble setting a meeting with my first conversation partner (as she was away traveling) I have begun meeting with another partner. Ellen is from Iceland and has come to America to study and play her sport. She has really enjoyed her time here but is actually thinking about moving back home. We spoke about some of the reasons and it's interesting how different the school/professional systems are. Apparently - Ellen is looking at maybe studying medicine. To do this in America she would need her Bachelor's degree then attend medical school. She says if she goes home she doesn't need to go to an undergraduate institution and she can take a test and go straight to medical school. I find it extremely interesting. I then shared how I did the four years and then an accelerated 18 months for a Master's degree. She has a great point though - it she knows what she wants and she can do that in a shorter time period while being closer to home she definitely should consider moving home.
Wednesday, May 3, 2017
Taylar TS #16
Date/Time: April 19, 2017; 12-1PM
Location: CIES
For our last session, Abdulghaffar was in his final week of class at CIES and had a presentation in the next period that he wanted to practice. His presentation was 7 minutes long and his topic was smoking. We focused mainly on pronunciation and the flow of his presentation. After the first go through, I focused mainly on critiquing his structure, because his hook was confusing and required a little bit of tweaking. Once we worked that out, he went through his presentation again, and this time we focused on specific pronunciation of words. Abdulghaffar was having trouble with the correct pronunciation of "quit" which he was pronouncing as "quite" and "perfume" which he was pronouncing as "parfum." He also had trouble with his conclusion, which he would once again add new information to and it didn't really sum up his presentation. Once we worked out a good conclusion, he presented it one more time and it was much better! His pronunciation of the words was much clearer and coherent, although he does have a thick accent which effects his pronunciation in general. All in all, I believe Abdulghaffar has improved greatly throughout our sessions and, through a little bit of explanation, is able to grasp grammatical concepts very well. I think his greatest area for improvement is still his listening skills, but overall he has a relatively good grasp of the english language and is very eager to learn!
Location: CIES
For our last session, Abdulghaffar was in his final week of class at CIES and had a presentation in the next period that he wanted to practice. His presentation was 7 minutes long and his topic was smoking. We focused mainly on pronunciation and the flow of his presentation. After the first go through, I focused mainly on critiquing his structure, because his hook was confusing and required a little bit of tweaking. Once we worked that out, he went through his presentation again, and this time we focused on specific pronunciation of words. Abdulghaffar was having trouble with the correct pronunciation of "quit" which he was pronouncing as "quite" and "perfume" which he was pronouncing as "parfum." He also had trouble with his conclusion, which he would once again add new information to and it didn't really sum up his presentation. Once we worked out a good conclusion, he presented it one more time and it was much better! His pronunciation of the words was much clearer and coherent, although he does have a thick accent which effects his pronunciation in general. All in all, I believe Abdulghaffar has improved greatly throughout our sessions and, through a little bit of explanation, is able to grasp grammatical concepts very well. I think his greatest area for improvement is still his listening skills, but overall he has a relatively good grasp of the english language and is very eager to learn!
Taylar TS #15
Date/Time: April 12, 2017, 12-1PM
Location: CIES
Ever since our first meeting, Abdulghaffar has made it very clear that his biggest struggle with English is the listening component. Prior to this session, I gave Abdulghaffar some tips when trying to comprehend dictations and presentations, including shorthand notation and placing less emphasis on trying to capture every word. He told me that while this did help some, he still trips up on the vocabulary he doesn't know. He also told me that he is preparing to take the IELTS test instead of the TOEFL. Keeping this in mind, I told him to look up some audio practice in the British accent to better customize himself to the accent. I found the BBC News' website geared specifically toward ESL education and practice and thought it was perfect for Abdulghaffar. We did a few of the exercises together in our meeting, which included him listening to level appropriate newscasts provided by the BBC and then answering a series of comprehension questions. Because Abdulghaffar struggles the most with vocabulary during dictations, I thought it would be beneficial for him to have some of the new vocabulary before the audio starts so he doesn't get tripped up by it during the audio and lose focus. Most of the questions provided in the activities were comprehension based, so I also asked him some definition sentences for the vocabulary and had him create some sample sentences.
Location: CIES
Ever since our first meeting, Abdulghaffar has made it very clear that his biggest struggle with English is the listening component. Prior to this session, I gave Abdulghaffar some tips when trying to comprehend dictations and presentations, including shorthand notation and placing less emphasis on trying to capture every word. He told me that while this did help some, he still trips up on the vocabulary he doesn't know. He also told me that he is preparing to take the IELTS test instead of the TOEFL. Keeping this in mind, I told him to look up some audio practice in the British accent to better customize himself to the accent. I found the BBC News' website geared specifically toward ESL education and practice and thought it was perfect for Abdulghaffar. We did a few of the exercises together in our meeting, which included him listening to level appropriate newscasts provided by the BBC and then answering a series of comprehension questions. Because Abdulghaffar struggles the most with vocabulary during dictations, I thought it would be beneficial for him to have some of the new vocabulary before the audio starts so he doesn't get tripped up by it during the audio and lose focus. Most of the questions provided in the activities were comprehension based, so I also asked him some definition sentences for the vocabulary and had him create some sample sentences.
Taylar TS #14
Date/Time: April 5, 2017
Location: CIES
For this session, Abdulghaffar wanted to focus on composition and essay structure. We went through the basic structure of essays (introduction, body, conclusion) and he gave me a few of his essays to review the structure. Abdulghaffar has the most trouble with conclusions, and often introduces new ideas or examples into his concluding paragraph. I worked with him to better organize his essays and explained the purpose of the concluding paragraph to wrap up the entire essay. He also was preparing for a final project, in which he had to prepare survey questions to ask students. We went through each question together and fixed the grammar and vocabulary of each to make sure they were grammatically correct. The biggest issue with his questions was the improper use of vocabulary and articles. He often included too many articles or the wrong ones, and often used the wrong verb form (is vs. are) when using plural forms. I then gave some sample responses so Abdulghaffar knew what to look for.
Location: CIES
For this session, Abdulghaffar wanted to focus on composition and essay structure. We went through the basic structure of essays (introduction, body, conclusion) and he gave me a few of his essays to review the structure. Abdulghaffar has the most trouble with conclusions, and often introduces new ideas or examples into his concluding paragraph. I worked with him to better organize his essays and explained the purpose of the concluding paragraph to wrap up the entire essay. He also was preparing for a final project, in which he had to prepare survey questions to ask students. We went through each question together and fixed the grammar and vocabulary of each to make sure they were grammatically correct. The biggest issue with his questions was the improper use of vocabulary and articles. He often included too many articles or the wrong ones, and often used the wrong verb form (is vs. are) when using plural forms. I then gave some sample responses so Abdulghaffar knew what to look for.
Taylar TS #13
Date/Time: April 20, 2017; 12-1PM
Location: CIES
For our last session, I wanted to work on Aziz's composition skills. Prior to our meeting I gave him some prompts to choose from that were sports related. They included topics like illegal doping among athletes and how improved technology is effecting sports. He wasn't able to actually write an essay due to his final week at CIES, so we just discussed the topics and I showed him how to do research for it. We then talked about his future plans for his Masters degree and different strategies for him to use when studying. Aziz's English skills are very advanced, especially his listening and speaking skills. The only issue he has is with vocabulary, but once he is introduced to a new word, it does not take him long to add it to his vocabulary. I have no doubt Aziz will be incredibly successful with his Masters education.
Location: CIES
For our last session, I wanted to work on Aziz's composition skills. Prior to our meeting I gave him some prompts to choose from that were sports related. They included topics like illegal doping among athletes and how improved technology is effecting sports. He wasn't able to actually write an essay due to his final week at CIES, so we just discussed the topics and I showed him how to do research for it. We then talked about his future plans for his Masters degree and different strategies for him to use when studying. Aziz's English skills are very advanced, especially his listening and speaking skills. The only issue he has is with vocabulary, but once he is introduced to a new word, it does not take him long to add it to his vocabulary. I have no doubt Aziz will be incredibly successful with his Masters education.
Taylar TS #12
Date/Time: April 10, 2017; 12-1PM
Location: CIES
Since Aziz is going into Sports Management, he asked me to provide more vocabulary regarding sports and business, so he can be more prepared for his Masters education. I compiled a list of vocabulary words including words like "amateur," "referee," "intercollegiate," and "franchise." I had him go through the list and define as many as he possibly could. We then went over each one individually, and I asked him to provide some sample sentences for each. He knew just over half of them, and for the ones he didn't, I provided example sentences and googled some examples of the words (like for "franchise," I googled the New England Patriots and explained how they were considered a franchise in football).
Location: CIES
Since Aziz is going into Sports Management, he asked me to provide more vocabulary regarding sports and business, so he can be more prepared for his Masters education. I compiled a list of vocabulary words including words like "amateur," "referee," "intercollegiate," and "franchise." I had him go through the list and define as many as he possibly could. We then went over each one individually, and I asked him to provide some sample sentences for each. He knew just over half of them, and for the ones he didn't, I provided example sentences and googled some examples of the words (like for "franchise," I googled the New England Patriots and explained how they were considered a franchise in football).
Taylar TS #11
Date/Time: April 28, 2017; 4-5PM
Location: 1911 Jackson Bluff Rd.
For our last session, I wanted to be more interactive and make sure Christian had fun! His spelling is still his most difficult area, but compared to his first week, his grasp of the alphabet is so much better! For this lesson, I bought various toys and candy from the dollar store, like cars, batman figurines, farm animals, and dinosaurs, and put them into a bag. I had Christian reach into the bag and, without looking, pull out one of the items. I asked him to tell me what it is and how to spell it. I was amazed at how much his spelling has improved because he was able to spell the majority of the items without much help from me. I still had to prompt him, but compared to the first week when I had to suggest what letter should come next, he was able to tell me which letter it was when all I had to do was ask what comes next. I was very pleased with his improvement and was so happy to see that our sessions had been working. To take it a step further, I pulled out the One Fish, Two Fish book that we had read together from a couple weeks prior and read it with him again. Instead of just identifying the fish and their colors, I went through the reading, word for word with him and had him repeat after me with each line. He was able to follow along much better than the previous weeks and his pronunciation was also improved. Overall, I think Christian's skills have improved greatly in our time together. He still struggles with phonics and spelling, but his breadth of vocabulary and ability to identify words based on pictures or dictations is much more skilled than most students in his situation. All in all, my only regret is that I won't be able to continue having sessions with him to see him improve even further.
Location: 1911 Jackson Bluff Rd.
For our last session, I wanted to be more interactive and make sure Christian had fun! His spelling is still his most difficult area, but compared to his first week, his grasp of the alphabet is so much better! For this lesson, I bought various toys and candy from the dollar store, like cars, batman figurines, farm animals, and dinosaurs, and put them into a bag. I had Christian reach into the bag and, without looking, pull out one of the items. I asked him to tell me what it is and how to spell it. I was amazed at how much his spelling has improved because he was able to spell the majority of the items without much help from me. I still had to prompt him, but compared to the first week when I had to suggest what letter should come next, he was able to tell me which letter it was when all I had to do was ask what comes next. I was very pleased with his improvement and was so happy to see that our sessions had been working. To take it a step further, I pulled out the One Fish, Two Fish book that we had read together from a couple weeks prior and read it with him again. Instead of just identifying the fish and their colors, I went through the reading, word for word with him and had him repeat after me with each line. He was able to follow along much better than the previous weeks and his pronunciation was also improved. Overall, I think Christian's skills have improved greatly in our time together. He still struggles with phonics and spelling, but his breadth of vocabulary and ability to identify words based on pictures or dictations is much more skilled than most students in his situation. All in all, my only regret is that I won't be able to continue having sessions with him to see him improve even further.
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