Commencing tutoring of a student whose English is the equivalent of only hello, good bye and thank you provides a unique opportunity to provide a case study for a new English teacher to see how they too may develop the English skills of their first time English learner students.

The unique aspect of AMES as an educational body is that they have given the tutor total education freedom to teach their students how they see fit. This is both a good thing and bad. Good for the experienced teacher like myself to guide the student gradually but bad for the inexperienced teacher who fumbles their way through. What they do offer is a fantastic array of teaching resources but what lacks is the how element to teaching. This is what I hope to explore in this ongoing case study of my Vietnamese elderly student, Binh.

A disclaimer, while I am an experienced teacher I do not claim to know it all nor be an expert in English as a Second Language – one day that may be the case but for now, and for this purpose, I teach what I know and how I do it, only so those that haven’t the experience may garner more. I welcome other teaching methodologies and comments; more information is always a good thing!

Lesson One – The Needs Analysis

A needs analysis is a break down of the students learning needs, their competency and their current level of English. It also reviews their interests, what they hope to learn and provides the tutor with an overview so they can plan future lessons with greater ease.

Download the From Whoa to Go ESL Needs Analysis

While I will often make my own documentation to support my growing business needs I also do not need to reinvent the wheel so this training analysis utilises the flashcards from one of my favourite ESL websites: Free ESL Flashcards

Most of the training analysis is self explanatory however it doesn’t explain the how part of completing a needs analysis or things to watch for. I will take you through the scenario of my first visit with Binh.

The Introduction

As a part of the AMES policy the first visit is accompanied by a translator, often a family member of the student. In this case, it was her English- fluent daughter Jenny and Jenny’s non-Vietnamese speaking boyfriend, Seymour. And, yes, it was awkward to have them there observing my every move when Jenny’s translation wasn’t required.

We sat at Binh’s kitchen table and after the introduction activity I could tell immediately that Binh was enthusiastic about learning but that she couldn’t say more than hello. Binh often repeated what I said, that is, when I said, “my name is Caz” she responded with, “my name is Caz.” I stopped at this point and indicated with my hand on my chest, and again repeated, “my name is Caz.” I then pointed to her (not with one finger but with my whole hand to prevent insult) and said, “your name is Binh,” to which she smiled and nodded her head.

This agreeance with what I said does not indicate she knows what I’m saying. Asian cultures will often smile and look as though they understand to prevent from being embarrassed. You can spot the difference in the way people smile, if it’s a strained smile it often means they’re missing something or you’re not being clear/ slow enough. You will need to repeat the exercise a few times ensuring you use gestures/ modelling the action you intend.

With any repetition be careful not to overdo it. Usually three times is enough to begin the process of comprehension, after which you can review it in the upcoming lessons.

The Counting, Alphabet and Colour Activities

Before starting these activities I already knew that Binh would not be able to identify the numbers or the letters. From the introduction exercise and the little bit of information Jenny had told me I knew she would only be repeating what I said to her and that was exactly what I wanted.

I wanted to know what her pronunciation ability was and where she needed more help. One of the first things I recognised when counting 0 – 9 was that Binh’s broken, gapped teeth made pronunciation of sounds like th, s, z and x very difficult. I also noticed that she struggled to apply her top teeth to her lip to successfully make the f or v sounds and that she was particularly successful with familiar sounds like those used in Vietnamese, a, b, j, k,  etc.

When it came to pronouncing the z sound I made the sound of a bee and put her hands on my cheek to feel the vibration of the sound. This worked to some degree because she was trying to make the sound but it wasn’t until Jenny jumped in with explanation that she was successful. Had Jenny not have been there I wouldn’t have pushed her too much further, instead, I would’ve opted to review and repeat in future lessons (which I’ll do anyway).

I didn’t move on to the second or third part of either exercise. I just said each number or letter, elicited from her to repeat each item and then repeated each one two more times, only if the pronunciation needed extra work did I stop to work on correcting her.

I decided not to move on to the colours or objects for Binh because I could tell that her comprehension wasn’t advanced enough and I didn’t want to overwhelm her. This is the reason why a needs analysis has to cover a flexible range of expected ability, there needs to be room to fluctuate what you’re teaching to ensure you can assess and teach simultaneously.

Another aspect we didn’t cover in detail were her personal interests or hobbies. Again, had Binh been more advanced in her abilities we would then focus on what she likes. I made the decision that she needs to cover a few bases first and then we can branch into English that focuses on things like telling the time, shopping, travelling on public transport and things she needs to know about everyday life. Once she’s reached a basic level of comprehension we’ll be able to draw on more of her interests.

The Writing Activity

In this exercise I didn’t follow the needs analysis again but I did want to see what writing skills she has because I knew she’d completed up to year 10 of schooling in Vietnam and I know that Vietnam uses the alphabet to phonetically write their language.

I went through numbers 1 -5 and spelled each number using the alphabet flashcards. In doing so she was able to identify the number, how to spell it and then I went through the process of asking her to write them down. At first I could see Binh wasn’t making the connection between the word and the corresponding number. In this instance she asked her daughter to clarify.

Some teachers may have a problem with this, if they were taught, as I was, that only English must be used. Only- English works if a student is at a basic conversation level but when a student has rudimentary ability I think it’s important to use whatever language skills are needed to gain meaning. I would rather Binh understand what she is doing so that comprehension is deeper and more constructive.

What I’ve learned over the years is that very small children can learn in an English-only environment but they learn better when that lesson is followed with a translation lesson by a local teaching assistant. For adults with little to no ability to speak or read, particularly in a small class or tutoring environment, I think it’s okay to utilise translation but it’s important not to rely on it.

I recognise too that learning English in an English-speaking country is very different to learning English in ones own native country. Where Australia offers a plethora of learning opportunities for language immersion, it also doesn’t have a ready off-switch like learning in your own country. I remember learning Chinese. My tutor spoke Chinese most of the time but we used a book that was English and Chinese and when explanation was required she reverted to English to help me.

Another thing I noticed later on was that although Binh wrote the letters exactly as she saw them, that is in capitalisation, she then wrote beautiful cursive writing when Jenny helped her translate the words to Vietnamese. It shows she’s capable and I will have to think of a creative way to utilise her natural ability.

The End of the Lesson

At around the one-hour mark I began to see the common traits of information overload: forgetting words we’ve just learned, sleepy eyes, difficulty focusing, resting her hand on her head and some frustration with herself. It was time to stop for the day.

I left my alphabet and number cards with Binh so she could practice throughout the week but decided to not leave the find-a-word I had made for her from Discovery’s Puzzlemaker site because the words were simply too advanced and it can be utilised in a future lesson.

What’s in Store for Next Week?

Based on the results of my needs analysis, I think it would be useful to find a teaching resource that is in both English & Vietnamese.

It will be the first time that I’ve used such a resource but I believe without Jenny accompanying each lesson I think Binh’s comprehension will suffer. Binh’s ability to speak English is no different to what mine was for Chinese, the only difference is that I can’t speak Vietnamese so I will have to rely on resources and if needed, a Vietnamese – English dictionary.

Now that Binh and I have commenced her alphabet and numeracy comprehension, next week I will review them and build her knowledge slowly. I will also look at an introduction exercise that covers ‘hello, how are you?’ in more depth with the use of images.

Do you remember your first lesson? Did you use a needs analysis?