ESL Lesson Plan

... what can you do to help such students?

First of all, it's important to understand that different cultures have different rules about turn-taking. While English-speakers tend to expect another person in a conversation to respond to what was said within a few seconds, Asian cultures generally expect there to be a longer delay. This implies that this is something that Asian students might need more help with, since it might be more of a cultural difference for them than other European students.

While our students do need time to process what is being said and how they are going to respond appropriately, they also need to learn how to respond in an appropriate time-frame. If students are never challenged to respond quickly, we may be setting them up for failure when they try to speak English outside of the classroom with other native English speakers. Will the native English-speakers have time for your students, if they take ten or more seconds to respond to questions? My guess is that in many cases, they will lose opportunities to have their voices heard.

Therefore, one helpful activity that you can do with your students is working on turn-taking in a timely-fashion. Explain to the students that native English speakers expect other people to respond to a statement or question within a few seconds (approximately 2-4 seconds). Then, go around the room and ask students questions. After you ask a question, hold up four fingers, putting one down for each second that passes. This will help your students to see how long they take to answer questions and may motivate them to get out what they want to say more quickly.

It's important to note that it's probably best not to enforce this with all students of all levels all of the time. However, it's a good activity to use for, say, 5 minutes of each class, especially with students who are preparing to study abroad in an English-speaking country.

Do you have any other tips on how to get students to improve their turn-taking skills? Let us know!

Good luck!

Carol Rueckert
Writer, ESL Lesson Plan
E-mail: crueckert@eslemployment.com
Blog: www.esl-lesson-plan.com

"I hear, and I forget. I see, and I remember. I do, and I understand." - Chinese Proverb

*For more ESL Tips & Tricks from ESL-Lesson-Plan, please click HERE!

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About the author of this entry:
Carol, a native English-speaker who hails from the small town of St. Joseph in Minnesota, USA, and lived and worked in China for more than 7 years. During that time, she worked with students that range in age from three to more than sixty years old. She worked in universities, private language schools, grade schools, international schools, as well as private tutoring. Besides teaching, she also worked as a head teacher, an education manager, and a material development manager. In addition to working on this newsletter, she currently writes a monthly column for Time Out Beijing. Carol is also currently working on her MA in TESOL at the Oxford Brookes University in England. Look for her posts on the ESL-Jobs-Forum discussion boards!