Hi
Rod,
I Like the my time/our time/your time
split
Last fall I did a workshop in Korea were the discussions
and reporting were in Korean....and when it was all over the strongest Korean
English speaker would fill us in on what was said.....didn't feel optimal for me
but might have been optimal for them
Christine
1) Remind them of the course title and make everyone
responsible for making others to speak English in the private
conversations.....make it a course task
2) Lean into the groups more often before reporting and ask
for a recap (in English of course) making sure that different people
participate
3) During full class report use something like Michaelsen
Answer Finder...so when my group is called to report...we don't know who will
have to talk....it might keep the stronger English speakers from hogging the
floor...."talking chips" would be another approach
Jim
Hi Christine,
I understand your situation. Although I do not use TBL in my classes, I
have the same problems getting students to talk in English. You mention the
students do not have the knowledge to diagnose medical topics. Is it
possible to have them diagnose why they do not discuss the topics in English?
They could come up with reasons, then they could look at some ways to address
the obstacles they face. This would allow you to have a clearer idea
of why they do not work together in English. It would also give you a way to
introduce diagnostic skills that they could use later on medical topics.
After you have gathered the information, you could then use the same
process you used to have them negotiate their grade weights to negotiate the
terms for using English in class. For example, if from their diagnosis a number
of students have problems comfortably presenting and defending opinions in
English, you could contract with them to give them some ways to overcome this
weakness. You could also have them set the results of using or not using
English. This way, you are not rewarding or punishing them, they are setting the
guidelines. They could use peer or group assessment each class or each week to
measure their English usage in class.
One other thing I have also done is specifically identify three times in
class: my time (teacher time), your time, and our time. During 'my time'
students need to listen. During 'your time' students can use whatever language
they want and talk about whatever they want. 'Our time' is our shared time to
use and improve our English skills. Maybe you could adapt this to give them some
'your time' to form and discuss their opinions in Japanese in their group. They
could then work with another group in English. This would be an 'our time'
activity.
I hope these ideas are useful.
Take care,
Rod
__________________________
Rod Lange, Instructor
Tokyo Denki University
Department of English Language
School of Engineering
On Oct 15, 2008, at 10:01 AM, Christine Kuramoto wrote:
Hi All,
I've made it through the
preliminary TBL orientation and grade weight setting. Now my problem is
how to get them to discuss in English. My class is "Scientific English"
for pre-clinical medical students (116 in 19 teams) and the students are
learning a lot of terminology, so I'm trying to give them tasks that get them
discussing and using their new words. The problem is that they tend to
just discuss in Japanese and then use English only when I call on the groups
to report the reasons for choices.
I'm stuck. I can't
thing of any POSITIVE way to get them discussing in English. I
have to stand over them watching and reminding and can only think of NEGATIVE
ways (i.e. pay a penalty for every time you speak Japanese--I'd be rich!
;-) ). My next class is
tomorrow and I'm wracking my brains for some sort of solution to my dilemma.
Any and all suggestions
welcome!
Regards,
Christine
PS at the moment I'm basing
the tasks on ethics case studies since the students don't have the knowledge
to diagnose, but do have
opinions about what is best in ethical
cases. I'm using the "no right answer," but choose the "best answer"
according to your group discussions-- consensus is the key.
--
*******
Christine Kuramoto, Assistant Professor: Medical English
Kyushu University, Department of Medical Education
Faculty of Medical Sciences
3-1-1 Maidashi, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka, 812-8582 Japan
Phone: (+81)92-642-6186 Fax: (+81)92-642-6188
E-mail: [log in to unmask]