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Classroom Techniques and Resources
Getting Beginners to Talk
192 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 1993
About the author
Jim Wingate
11 booksJim Wingate is a professional teacher, trainer, storyteller, actor, writer and healer, and tells traditional stories to 20,000 people per year in six countries. He is the author of 40 teaching books and has been plenary speaker at 43 international conferences in 23 countries so far.
He shares simple ways successful teachers use to build rapport and to work in harmony with learners. These include relaxing yourself before each lesson, making effective contact with your learners at the start of each lesson, observing your learners’ energy during each lesson, and changing the dynamics of each lesson to work with rather than against your learners.
He works 6 lessons a day with 60 pupils per lesson, for 26 weeks per year, teaching and doing storytelling. He has worked in Switzerland in German and French speaking schools and international schools, in cities, towns and villages, with 4-17-year-olds of all abilities. And has also worked enabling self–development in communities in Northern Ireland, Israel–Palestine and the Celtic countries.
He lives in mid-Wales which was the setting for his first novel "The Dragon Wakes" published by Y Lolfa in July 2003.
He shares simple ways successful teachers use to build rapport and to work in harmony with learners. These include relaxing yourself before each lesson, making effective contact with your learners at the start of each lesson, observing your learners’ energy during each lesson, and changing the dynamics of each lesson to work with rather than against your learners.
He works 6 lessons a day with 60 pupils per lesson, for 26 weeks per year, teaching and doing storytelling. He has worked in Switzerland in German and French speaking schools and international schools, in cities, towns and villages, with 4-17-year-olds of all abilities. And has also worked enabling self–development in communities in Northern Ireland, Israel–Palestine and the Celtic countries.
He lives in mid-Wales which was the setting for his first novel "The Dragon Wakes" published by Y Lolfa in July 2003.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 25, 2020
3*
I consulted this book in preparation for a conversational course I'll be giving, and it gave me some solid advice and ideas, even though it's geared towards a wholly different type of situation. It is, of course, as a whole not up to date with the most recent scholarship and practical teaching methods, but considering the fact that it's from 1993, it's not terribly outdated, either; in fact, one of the very first pieces of advice is to keep the lessons focussed on current topics the students can relate to. The general teaching goal is to enable them to lead the lives they lead right now in a different country and language. Many of the suggested activities, especially in the beginning, stress the importance of non-verbal communication - pantomime, reactions, etc. A novel approach to me, but one that I very much like. I do think that the book holds on to it for a bit too long in its attempt to take the stress out of language-learning, but then again, it is meant to be applied to groups of small children, not a single adult like the one I'll be coaching.
I consulted this book in preparation for a conversational course I'll be giving, and it gave me some solid advice and ideas, even though it's geared towards a wholly different type of situation. It is, of course, as a whole not up to date with the most recent scholarship and practical teaching methods, but considering the fact that it's from 1993, it's not terribly outdated, either; in fact, one of the very first pieces of advice is to keep the lessons focussed on current topics the students can relate to. The general teaching goal is to enable them to lead the lives they lead right now in a different country and language. Many of the suggested activities, especially in the beginning, stress the importance of non-verbal communication - pantomime, reactions, etc. A novel approach to me, but one that I very much like. I do think that the book holds on to it for a bit too long in its attempt to take the stress out of language-learning, but then again, it is meant to be applied to groups of small children, not a single adult like the one I'll be coaching.
August 3, 2011
Part one in the book gives you basics for setting up a communicative classroom. It is good for a refresher or good to help you learn the basics of communicative theory. It is very basic, but good. Part 2 gives you some ideas on classroom activities. The ideas need to be built upon so don't think everything is ready to go. This book is quite old and their are other ideas out there. If you have a creative streak this will help you with some ideas. I liked the theory part for sure.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews