The
training program for food sellers (2nd batch) in Songkla was
conducted on 9th of April, 2012 at the Non-formal education center
in Songkla. This is the second program for another group of food sellers which
was attended by around 30 participants and I was invited to conduct Basic
English conversation lessons for two days (9 and 10,
April). The classes were held at the Non-formal Education office in Songkla
with the patronage of Aj Somjit who is a supervisor there. Unlike the first
batch of food sellers, the composition of the second batch was different in
several aspects such as age and occupation. This group consisted of school
students who had attended the class on their parents’ behalf. The parents were
busy with their work so that they had sent their students to study in the
class. However, I observed the students’ proficiency in the target language was
better than the adult participants in this group.
According to the schedule of the program, I
had to teach them some language functions such as ordering food, taking a food
order, and food serving which I planned to teach them through role-plays. As
is often the case with many Thai learners of English, pronunciation of some words
and phrases became problematic for some adult learners. Due to mispronunciation
of a certain word by an adult student, the whole class burst into laughter
which sustained for a few minutes. The participants were exposed to pair and group
activities in which they could use the target language to a certain degree with
their peers. A language is best learned by using it. Therefore, a teacher should
maximize the opportunities for learners to use the target language. Mistakes
should be allowed at the initial stage and gradually the learners should be
provided with corrective feedback.
As I indicated earlier that this batch consisted
of different learners such as food sellers, shop owners, hawkers, and school
students. Among these different participants, I found a fortune-teller who uses
a card pack to tell the future happenings of people. I have never met a
fortune-teller in my teaching career to date even though I have taught adults from
different walks of life. Therefore, I consider my encounter with a fortune-teller
is an important event. From her speech, I came to know that she has traveled
to many countries in the world and she has many friends all over the world. She
stated that she could explain to a foreigner what would happen to his/her life in
the future in English but she could not write English. This reminded me a short story called "An Astrologer's Day" written by one of the celebrated Indian writers, R. K. Narayan.
R. K. Narayan
R. K. Narayan
My class for food sellers lasted for two
days (9 and 10 April) and during the two days, I enjoyed a lot
teaching to them. I wish I had more time to help them improve their English language
skills. I video-recorded the classroom presentations of the participants and
publish some of them below so that those learners can watch how well or not
they speak in the given situations. I hope the videos will provide them with a
feedback.
Another pair of students role-play the same situation described above
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