I observed Victoria’s reading class last Thursday. She
opened up the class with a pretty casual discussion about the way men and women
tend to interact with strangers in the United States. I see the value here that
this presents to a class of foreign English learners, since they not only get
an opportunity to practice comprehending the spoken word, but also it is an
opportunity to gain a perspective on American culture.
Vicky (as she told me to call her) presented her students
with several different reading activities throughout the class. The students
have been given reading practice textbooks that contain many passages that are
simple and easy to understand to native English-speakers. The class was given five
minutes to read a short paragraph about the Erie Canal, and then had to answer
a few reading comprehension questions, very similar to the FCAT tests I took
growing up.
The activity that appeared to hold the most value was one
where Vicky projected a set of two passages from the textbook about the history
of flags onto the whiteboard. This way, she could underline, circle, and point
out words, phrases, and idioms so that the whole class would be able to notice
them. This was especially valuable since the second passage was a paraphrased
version of the first one, containing virtually the same information, yet
explained using different words. In this way, Vicky as well as the students
could point out the similarities and differences with ease.
Vicky seems quite comfortable in her teaching role. She
seems relaxed and genuine, and it’s clear that her students are better able to
connect and communicate with her because of this. Of course, I must also
consider that her while her mannerisms seem favorable to me, they could
possibly come off very different to someone of a different culture.
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