In light of the coronavirus situation, here are suggestions for tutoring by phone:
Dear Tutors,
For learners, there are special challenges involved in understanding English speakers and being understood over the phone. So, the need to find an alternative method to continue lessons presents an excellent opportunity to focus on these skills.
If you or your learner are unable to meet in person, conducting the tutoring session by phone or Zoom is a good option.
• Teaching to Real Life Experiences: Our learners experience many challenging English interactions. They often feel anxious and unprepared. For example, what to say at a parent-teacher conference or how to call a doctor’s office to schedule an appointment. At the start of each session, I ask my learner if she has any questions about English based on experiences over the past week, or any upcoming challenges. These are opportunities to teach to the real life and immediate situational needs of our learners. You can incorporate several core skills in each situation.
• Start by asking questions to be sure you understand the learner’s priorities for the situation.
• Prompt the learner to generate a few sentences. Write these down for yourself.
• From there work through several sentences the learner can use. Have the learner write them. (Or email them to the learner if necessary).
• Provide practice. Have the learner read and role play. Listen and make adjustments in the wording for fluency and comfort level.
• Be sure to provide practical cultural information that will help ensure the learner’s understanding of how things are done in the U.S.
• Conversation practice.
• Once a week, I speak by phone with one of my learners. She selects a topic for our discussion from the many available on the following website, then she texts me the topic the day before our phone call.
https://learningenglish.voanews.com/
There are three different levels. Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced. For example, at the Intermediate level, there are current articles available under Health and Lifestyle, Science and Technology, and Arts and Culture.
Each article is printed on the web page and an audio recording is available to listen to as you read along. You can cover vocabulary, grammar (be selective) and give your learner the opportunity to express thoughts and questions.
• Discussion: Our learners might have questions about the current pandemic. The TV news and newspapers may be difficult for your learner to understand so they may not be tuned into important information. You can prompt for these questions.
• Grammar: There are a range of approaches for working on grammar via phone:
• If you are using a textbook with your learner: Two of my learners wanted to own and work through a textbook. One of them is using a grammar textbook. The other is using a textbook that covers a range of skills. We each own a copy of the book. So, it is easy to work together by phone.
If your learner does not own the textbook and if you have a means to scan and email pages of the book, then this is also quite workable. Alternatively, you could copy and snail mail the exercise pages.
• If you are not using a specific textbook with your learner, but have one checked out of the library, then perhaps you can scan and email some
exercise pages. Alternatively, you could copy and snail mail the exercise
pages.
• These web sites have exercise pages you can download and email to your learner.
• Using English teacher handouts:
https://www.usingenglish.com/quizzes/
This website has a wealth of handouts for tutors. These are multiple choice
exercises. On this page you select the topic you want to focus on. Once you
select a specific quiz, select the tab ‘printable worksheet’. Then ‘print this
page’. All of the worksheets are available by selecting the corresponding quiz.
• ESLflow.com worksheets – Excellent!!
This website has hundreds of worksheets for beginner through intermediate
levels. Click the down arrow next to ‘Popular Resources’ and ‘Other Topics’ on
the left. This expands to include many topics to explore. There is a link for a
PDF of each exercise.
Please note there are many other skill areas covered on this web site!
• Writing:
• . It’s often hard for learners to sit down and write a paragraph or two as
homework. This can be done during the virtual session.
• Start with a topic of interest to your learner. It could be retelling
something they experienced recently.
• Depending upon the level of your learner, they can start by saying a
sentence before writing it.
• You can work on grammar, spelling and paragraph structure.
• Reading: The web site www.manythings.org is especially good for reading
skills.
http://www.manythings.org/k/reading.html
There are over 1,000 short articles that are sectioned by topic.
Within each topic there are many articles to choose from. Your learner can select the
topic and article that they’d like to read. Your learner can read it to you (you can listen
for phrasing and intonation).
• Vocabulary that is new for your learner.
• What did your learner find most interesting?
• You can ask questions and your learner can find answers in the text.
This can be an excellent homework assignment. Hearing and seeing the words is a
great way to have that extra English exposure between tutoring sessions. The learner
can read along silently while the audio reads the article. They can select normal speed
(100%) or a somewhat slower pace at 75%.
Best Regards,
Jane Albert
Talk Time for Tutors 