Teaching 121- Some Considerations
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This article is based on work originally prepared for our Delta Module One course, and focuses on one-to-one teaching. For an article on Content and Methodology for 121 courses, click on the link. Here we look at:
a) the advantages and disadvantages of teaching 121
b) how the disadvantages can be overcome
Section a : Advantages
1. Adv : Whatever the specific needs of the learners
are, these can be dealt with without risking that the lesson becomes irrelevant
for other learners. The syllabus/lesson content can be negotiated with or even
specified by the learner. A typical
example would be a BE learner who has an important meeting coming up. The L can
be helped to prepare for the meeting in the lesson, planning what they want to
say and how to say it, anticipating other participants likely reactions and
planning how they will deal with them etc. However, even GP learners may have
specific needs which can be focused on more easily in a 121 situation. For
example, I once taught an elderly woman at A2 level whose daughter had married
an American, and whose recently born grandchild was being brought up in the
States speaking English. His (A2 level) grandmother wanted to learn English so
that she could play with him, read to him etc. The course therefore focused on
the language and subskills needed to play children’s games, and to read stories
like The Very Hungry Caterpillar or Where’s Spot?.
2. Adv : Learners who are studying in an English
speaking environment, or eg Business English learners who are using English
between lessons, will be encountering a
lot of ungraded language outside the classroom, which may confuse or puzzle
them and which they may want to ask about. Time can be left for this in lessons
(or the planned lesson can even be abandoned to deal with it), making the
course even more relevant to their immediate needs.
3. Adv : The learner is involved 100% of the time and
has the T’s full attention. There is therefore no possibility that eg confusion
over specific points, or important errors may go unnoticed.
4. Adv : Some shyer learners may lack confidence in a
class situation and learn more effectively in 121 courses because they feel
less anxious. One learner I initially had in a group situation was so nervous
that her stutter became so bad that she would refuse to participate in either
PW/GW or in full class format, which obviously blocked her from making any
progress. When she switched to 121, she gradually relaxed, and started learning
and speaking more confidently and without stuttering.
5. Adv : Very strong and very weak learners may
benefit from 121 as the lesson/course can progress at their own pace. Stronger
Ls do not feel “held back” and therefore frustrated, while weaker learners can
be given the extra time to assimilate each new item, the extra practice and
recycling that they need. In a course that proceeded at “average” pace, these
learners would be liable to get left behind and possibly drop out.
Section b : Disadvantages and Related Solutions
The lack of other
learners can mean that:
6. Disadv : Notwithstanding point 4 above, for some Ls,
121 can be too intensive and therefore stressful.
7. Solution : The T. has to be sensitive to the L’s
ability to concentrate and plan the lesson so that there is sufficient variety
of activity and pace, breaks at regular intervals etc. This will differ from
learner to learner.
8. Disadv : The L cannot compare themselves with others
and see that others find new concepts as hard to understand as they do, make as
many mistakes as they do, etc etc. This may lead to demotivation and to the L.
feeling that they “can’t learn English”.
9. Solution : If the course is geared to the L’s learning
needs as suggested in point 5 above, this problem may be avoided. However, regular
discussion of the L’s progress and reassurance from the T is also essential.
10. Disadv : The learner has no chance to learn from
other learners and may come to be “teacher dependent”, seeing T-input and
direction as the only way to learn.
11. Solution : Techniques which emphasise autonomy
(inference strategies, guided discovery of grammatical areas etc) need to be
emphasised so that the L realises they can “do it themself” without becoming
over-reliant on the T.
12. Disadv: The T has, necessarily to be the “other
person” in all discussion activities. Focusing on participating may mean that
they do not have the opportunity to take notes of what is going on, and
important learning affordances may be missed.
13. Solution : The conversations can be recorded (preferably
on the L’s phone for privacy reasons and
also so that they have a record of it to take away). The recording can then be
replayed and learning affordances exploited. For example : i) mistakes and
errors can be focused on and corrected; ii) correct utterances can be
“upgraded”; iii) the T can focus on language that they themselves used – eg
figurative expressions, turn taking strategies etc and work on them with the
learner.
14. Disadv : If the L is shy or not particularly
confident, they may leave longer silences before responding than the teacher is
comfortable with. The T may therefore “jump in” to fill the silence, which will
mean there is a tendency for teacher talking time to increase and the lesson to
become too teacher-centred.
15. Solution
: The T must accept that
silence may be a valid learning strategy, and allow the L time to plan what
they want to say rather than immediately intervening to “help” at the first
sign of hesitation.
16. Disadv : 121 courses depend very much on T/L rapport,
which can be threatened if the learners are “difficult” - eg
a) the L has very different social/political attitudes to the T.
b) the L is (as often happens) a high-ranking individual in an
organisation, used to being the leader and having their every decision
accepted. This may lead to them imposing methodologies which the T does not
agree with.
c) if this high-ranking L is used to being simply a decision maker whose
assistants do the real work, they may consider that the teach can “learn
English for them” without their needing to make extra effort – eg completing
homework tasks. (See here.)
17. Solutions
for Disadvantages 16 a-c
:
a) Even more than in a group course, the T needs to avoid PARSNIPS topics,
and avoid following up on any comments which they strongly disagree with.
b) Negotiate the methodology. This was the case with a L who I taught
whose company (who were paying) had requested a presentation skills course. On
the first day the learner said he did not want to follow the course I had
prepared but “just wanted to chat”. I resolved the problem by asking him to
follow my programme for two days after which we would follow his idea for
another two days. At the end he could decide which approach he had learnt more
from. He agreed and we completed my two days. One the afternoon of “his” first
day he asked to return to my course, agreeing that it was more effective.
c) Firstly, discuss this with the learner paralleling it with something
else they have learnt – eg learning to drive – and the role of the T/L in that
situation. Secondly, find out whether the “homework avoidance” is genuinely due
to lack of time or just lack of motivation. Whichever is the case, negotiate
the situation and decide with the L how much homework will be done – which may
range from nothing to a more substantial amount. However, ensure that the L
understands that i) the less h/w set will mean more to be done in class – which
will delay the achievement of the objectives set, and ii) if the h/w agreed on is not done it must again be done in the next
lesson – again delaying the achievement
of the objectives set. It is useful if the L signs a “learning contract” with
these conditions stated, and the T should keep a record.
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