Conversation Partners Program/ Volunteers in the language classroom

Last semester I tired to get a conversation partner program going for my students; the rationale being that my adult students get little to no practice speaking English outside of class and very few of them have English-speaking or US American friends.

Therefore, in order to facilitate genuine English conversation, cultural orientation and friendship, I attempted to match volunteers with students. In order to abide by our school’s non-disclosure policy, I gave the students the volunteers’ contact information (and not vice versa) and the students were given the responsibility to contact potential conversation partners.

This basically didn’t work because the students did not contact the conversation partner volunteers either because they were too shy or they just didn't have time.

This semester I’m trying a new approach. I am inviting the volunteers to come to my class to have a sort of discussion night or “English Party” as I’m calling it. This way there is less pressure and the students can pursue more time outside of class with someone they've already met. Also, those who simply do not have time to meet a volunteer outside of class have at least the opportunity to engage in English conversation once a month in class.

This will be an informal gathering, maybe with snacks. Students need unstructured English with native or near-native speakers. This will not be tutoring, rather an evening of conversation. Volunteers do not need any prior teaching or language experience to volunteer. This is an opportunity for students to engage in natural and genuine conversation with Americans and speakers of English. I will have conversation starters ready if the students and volunteers don’t know where to start. If a student and a volunteer would like to meet outside of class for more language practice that remains a possibility and having met in class will hopefully facilitate more exchanges.

In order to collect data regarding the students’ normal English usage I will have the students take the following survey:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/85VZXLZ

At the end of the semester the students will take a post/reflective survey to gauge the effectiveness of the program and measure the benefits of the volunteers’ participation.

This project is at the beginning stages and I will be tracking its progress here.

As a note to teachers of English abroad and teachers of other foreign languages, this sort of program is of course adaptable to your classroom.

More to follow.

The flow of traffic

During a professional development session, we watched a teaching demonstration. The purpose of the video was to demonstrate how to integrate drawings and personal or familial history into the ESL classroom. The primary activity was interesting but there was another strategy the teacher used in the video that I found more intriguing.

After giving directions for the following activity the teacher asked if the students understood by holding up cards of green, yellow, and read pieces of paper. The students then responded accordingly.


This mirrors a stop light;

Red: Stop. I don’t understand. Please repeat.

Yellow/Amber: Slow down. I understand a little. I need more examples or practice

Green: I understand. Keep going.

I made a traffic light like this one and posted it on the wall next to the main white board.

Then I cut out red, yellow, and green pieces of paper for the students to use in class.

The great advantage of this method is when there are different levels of proficiency and comprehension a verbal comprehension check is not sufficient. If you ask the class, “do you understand?” those with greater proficiency will answer, “yes” and those who still have questions may not get the chance to voice their concerns or may be too embarrassed to ask for more explanation.

This comprehension check method allows students to self-assess and equalizes the students’ feedback opportunities.

So, do you understand?

Give me the Green Light.