Forming and responding to questions appropriately can be a daunting task for any learner of a second language. At Smith’s
This is such an important skill though that it deserves lessons dedicated directly to it. Forming questions that are appropriate to the subject being discussed. Answering questions asked of you accurately and completely. Let's hear about those lessons here!
-Gavin, Smith's School of English Kyobashi
3 comments:
The Questions lesson is one of my favorites at Smith's School of English Kyobashi. It teaches the students a valuable skill in being able to sustain a conversation. What would a conversation be like if there was only one person asking the questions and the other giving the answers? Actually, it wouldn't be a conversation. It would be an interrogation. And if there's one thing that nobody likes, it's to be interrogated.
So the Questions lesson is extremely helpful for teaching the students how to be able to ask the questions that they are so accustomed to answering. After the students have gone through this lesson, it's great to hear them asking me some well practiced questions and then be able to follow up with even more questions. This shows that they are not only listening astutely, but also are able to anticipate the answers and prepare questions to stretch the conversation on even longer.
Forming questions is one of the basic fundamentals that forms the building blocks of the English language. That's why I always enjoy doing this lesson.
The curriculum used in this lesson has an effective positive impact on the student's progress. I find this lesson even beneficial for higher level students. It stimulates thinking and comprehension and usually is a joy to watch unfold.
I especially like the "Guess The Animal"
game. It's user friendly setup is easy to follow for beginner level students and at the same time multi-task challenging for higher level students. Once you get the ball rolling you find students often try to use their imagination by creating their own questions.
The students always seem to enjoy themselves in this lesson. It creates a comfortable fun atmosphere that benefits
everyone. Ultimately I find it produces a confidence boost that students bring with them to future lessons.
I figured that the best way to start off a lesson with the Questions item at Smith's School of English Kyobashi was by asking a lot of questions. I usually break the ice and gain trust within the first few minutes by reviewing the student's previous one point. However, this time I continued to ask more detailed questions than I usually would have in order to get her into the habit of anticipating future questions.
She'd just bought a new watch through an internet auction so I asked her what make the watch was. How much had she paid for it? Why had she chosen that particular watch? What was it made of? And so forth. When the questions continued for longer than she'd anticipated, she reacted slightly startled. I let her recover from the adrenalin rush by giving her some notes to take down. Afterwards, I urged her to begin asking me questions, coaxing her into continuing with follow up questions and then quizzing her to make sure that all the information I had given her had been understood.
We spent quite a bit of time hammering out the structure of her questions until they were both simplified and grammatically correct. Once she'd understood the differences between the corresponding answers to the Who/What/Where/When/Why/How questions, as opposed to the Do/Does/Is/Are questions, she found it much easier to create the proper question required in order to elicit the desired response.
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