FSU TEFL 120

  Tutoring Session #20 Date/Time: Wednesday, March 27 th   3-4:30pm  PM Location: Fine Arts Building Topic/Skill: Review of Tutoring, Goals, Future Language Development Feedback provided to tutee: I provided feedback overall of the student’s English Language usage Lesson(s) about tutoring and/or the tutee you learned: I learned more about the various pronunciations of Chinese characters in different languages. We also discussed Geena’s goals going forward.

  Tutoring Session #19 Date/Time: Monday, March 25 th   3-4:30pm  (new notebook) Location: Student Union Topic/Skill: Speaking Feedback provided to tutee: We discussed video game related vocabulary, COSTCO, and using an article before using an adjective to modify a uncountable English noun Lesson(s) about tutoring and/or the tutee you learned: Using English “counter words” with uncountable nouns is confusing. It’s hard to determine what the rules for using articles with adjectives are or what patterns exist for them.

Date & Time: 3/21/24, 3:00-4:00pm Location: CIES  Topic/Skill: speaking, spring break trips Feedback provided to the tutee: Over spring break, Aras went to New York City for the first time, and said it reminded him of his hometown in Turkey, both with huge skyscrapers. He told me about his visit to the Museum of Natural History, the Empire State Building, and Central Park. His hometown is known for its chaotic traffic, and New York’s heavy traffic also reminded him of home. When he told me he had taken the subway rather than a car to commute during his stay, I mentioned how cool that seems as I have never been on a subway. He was shocked! I explained that there were no subway systems in Florida because of Limestone, aquifers, and high water tables; therefore, Florida basements are rare but Florida natural springs are by the dozen! Lessons Learned: I’ve never experienced a very strong feeling of homesickness while being in a city that looks like where I am from, but I can rat...

  Tutoring Session #18 Date/Time: Wednesday, March 20 th   3-4:30pm Location: Student Union Topic/Skill: Personal Life (Speaking) Feedback provided to tutee: I corrected my tutee’s grammar errors. Lesson(s) about tutoring and/or the tutee you learned: We discussed why Geena chose her college major, countries she’s visited and the process of attending college in Korea.

Date & Time: 3/20/24, 12:00-1:00pm Location: CIES  Topic/Skill: Speaking, pronunciation, understanding subtle jokes in contextual-charged texts Feedback provided to the tutee: We practiced the Z sound again, this time, while learning the word “Azalea.” We spoke about how nice the weather has been lately, perfect conditions for blooms around campus, like the azaleas right outside the CIES building. In talking about recent weather, I mentioned that this morning was “chilly” and Wei asked what I meant, I explained that chilly is between comfortable and cold temperatures. I had a newspaper with me, with a headline that read “FSU baseball makes it out of the swamp alive, topples #8 Gators,” I thought this headline was very clever (I used to be sports editor of the yearbook and a writer for the newspaper, so I especially appreciate the thought behind the headline). Lessons Learned: I watched in real-time, the joke behind the headline not land, and realized how much cultural and reg...

Date/Time: March 18th, 12:00pm Location: CIES building Topic/Skill: Sport expressions Feedback provided to tutee: Sultan and I observed games of ping pong played in the lounge downstairs and I provided various sport expressions and terms commonly used in English culture. Lesson(s) about tutoring and/or the tutee you learned: Sports are a great example of something that almost needs no linguistic understanding to comprehend. Excitement, disappointment, anger, and suspense are very raw human emotions that can be understood almost regardless of the language used. 

Date/Time: March 15th, 2:00pm Location: FSU campus Topic/Skill: Parsing online language Feedback provided to tutee: Sultan and I browsed Twitter and the like to look at examples of internet and meme culture slang. I taught various idioms and language patterns that these newer forms of communication are riddled with. Lesson(s) about tutoring and/or the tutee you learned: Language as its used online is paradoxical in the way it is both idiom rich but also somewhat universal - a wide variety of cultures seem to take part in and replicate English speaking meme culture. The result is a sort of premature understandability; even if someone doesn't know the dictionary definitions, they can understand the message.

Date/Time: March 14th, 3:00pm Location: Greenway Topic/Skill: Environmental Culture Feedback provided to tutee: I told Sultan the various names of various local flora and fauna, and we discussed how groups culturally identify with these things. Lesson(s) about tutoring and/or the tutee you learned: No matter the region, everyone has their own attachments to nature. These can be a powerful force for inspiration and education.

Date/Time: March 13th, 4:00pm Location: Campus Topic/Skill: Pedestrian communication Feedback provided to tutee: Sultan and I discussed cultural differences when it comes to acknowledging (or not acknowledging) passersby's on the street. I gave him my impressions of it, as well as my doubts and desires for change. We practiced on unwitting students walking by, hopefully without their knowing (haha). Lesson(s) about tutoring and/or the tutee you learned: Sultan has adapted quickly to his host culture, especially with something as common as walking by others. This can probably be expected across the board.

Date/Time: March 12th, 1:00pm Location: Starbucks Topic/Skill: Ordering food/drinks Feedback provided to tutee: Sultan and I went to a Starbucks and gave attention to how people ordered their food and drinks, paying attention to common polite sayings and the order the interaction tends to go in. I gave my insight as to what these different tones and phrases indicate. We then practiced this ourselves. Lesson(s) about tutoring and/or the tutee you learned: Its interesting to consider how rapidly our world is changing, and what impact this has on what is being taught today. Being able to order a drink for example has obvious value, but will it in 5 or 10 years, or will it all be automated? Definitely something to consider more broadly going forward as a teacher.

Date/Time: March 11th, 2:00pm Location: FSU campus Topic/Skill: Conversation Feedback provided to tutee: Sultan and I talked candidly about life on campus and school life in general. I offered ways to rephrase commonly expressed feelings in ways that sound more natural and native to an English speaker. Lesson(s) about tutoring and/or the tutee you learned: Much of our experiences are universal, yet language habits cause us to express these things differently. It seems quite possible however, and even beneficial, to overcome these barriers together through a shared linguistic experience. I think this bond can greatly facilitate language teaching and learning as well.

Date & Time: 3/18/24, 4:00-5:00pm Location: CIES  Topic/Skill: Speaking, Guess Who game Is your person facing to the right or to the left? Has your person ever dyed their hair a different color than they might have been born with?  Is their hair up or down? Is their hair in a ponytail, bun, or braid? Feedback provided to the tutee: There were questions I asked Ye-won about her person that she didn't understand what trait I was referring to. I then defined “facial hair” and “bald” for her. She understood all the different hairstyles and the differences between beard, mustache, and goatee when asked individually, but did not know that facial hair is the umbrella term for the latter.  Lessons learned: I had fun trying to come up with more complicated questions than ‘Is your person a boy or girl?’ I found it interesting to push myself to find synonyms for simpler words to try and stump her, that intersection is where we learned facial hair and bald.

Date & Time: 3/18/24, 3:00-4:00pm Location: CIES  Topic/Skill: speaking, reviewing masters programs, discussing our spring break adventures, and debriefing St. Patrick's Day.  Feedback provided to the tutee: Wei shared what she did over spring break. She was referred by a friend to apply to the sports management master program at FSU, who led her to an advisor, where she learned about grad-TAship when tuition is covered and a stipend is included. I also have always noticed that she has had a difficult time getting personal pronouns right; in most of our meetings, whether she was talking about a man or woman, she often only used “he”. Recently she started correcting herself, but today was the first time I noticed she repeatedly used “she” pronouns right on the first try, multiple times in a row! We also learned about where Irish culture is celebrated on St. Patty’s Day.  Lessons Learned: Mental health support is so important for ELL students. Being able to be an acad...

Date & Time: 3/7/24, 3:00-4:00pm Location: CIES  Topic/Skill: pinpointing struggles: we talked about some words that Aras struggles with specifically. He admitted that he feels his pronunciation of “water” was unnatural. He also finds the -bl- blend in “problems” a difficult one. He also pointed out that he would like to review English tenses that are more complex than conjugations (“I was playing with my dog” was is the addition of a verb, rather than just changing the ending) Feedback provided to the tutee: For fun, we found some words that are difficult for Turkish speakers to pronounce, like deteriorate, anemone, squirrel, and Massachusetts.  Lessons Learned: I learned that he has experienced great and poor English teachers, a mix of Turkish and American English teachers. His poor experiences with teachers, he recalls most of his practice was just from watching TV. He has a Turkish step-father [who has lived here for 30 years] whom he lives with, and an American-bo...

  Tutoring Session #17 Date/Time: Monday, March 18 th   3-4:30pm Location: Student Union Topic/Skill: Speaking: Spring Break Feedback provided to tutee: We discussed vocabulary relating to spring break as well as the usage of date vs day. I also started pointing out dropped prepositions. Lesson(s) about tutoring and/or the tutee you learned: I learned about holidays in Korea.

Date/Time: March 7th, 12:00pm Location: CIES building Topic/Skill: SAT test taking Feedback provided to tutee: Sultan and I discussed how he will soon be taking the SAT as part of his admission process to get into FSU. I told him what the test was like when I took it, what my experience was, and how to prepare. I reminded him to look into the details since the test often changes, but that he should do well with his strong English skills, as even subjects like science often come down to reading comprehension. Lesson(s) about tutoring and/or the tutee you learned: Standardized testing seems to be regarded the same all over - when I was growing up I found it impossible to study for, as it was simply too big and covered too much, and Sultan seems to feel similarly. Not that there aren't things one can do to improve one's scores of course, but like many big 'tests' in life it is more about the culmination of your experience up to that point, and cramming is of little use out...

Date & Time: 3/6/24, 12:00-12:50pm Location: Chick-fil-a  Topic/Skill: Speaking and reading integrated; analysis and advice Feedback provided to the tutee: For this hour, we continued to analyze an anecdote that she had read in class. She said that when the passage was read aloud, it was read quickly, so she wasn't able to understand or retain much of it. We spent some time dissecting it again until she understood the lesson to be learned from the passage.  Lessons Learned: Wei also came to me with a question about making friends. She shared an odd experience with 2 acquaintances who invited her to hang out. She asked me what I thought about the interaction, if it was typical of American hangouts, and if the person who invited her had been rude or not. We came to the conclusion that it was a difference in communication styles, but she and I did agree that the person had been rude, Wei was just unsure how to take it/process the interaction.

Date & Time: 3/4/24, 3:00-4:00pm Location: CIES classroom Topic/Skill: speaking, continuing to review application materials. Feedback provided to the tutee: Wei showed me some emails that she had sent to a professor. She wanted to know if what she had written was an appropriate response to message the professor that she had interviewed with. She expressed concerns to me about the possibility of her not getting accepted and thinking of where she will apply next.  Lessons Learned: It is pretty neat how much of a relationship a tutor and tutee can form. We were able to offer each other advice as we are both nervous, on a precipice, as we apply to new programs.

Date & Time: 2/29/24, 3:15-4:00pm Location: CIES  Topic/Skill: Aras Needs Assessment Feedback provided to the tutee: In our needs assessment, Aras explicitly asked that we work on tenses and pronunciation. His goal is to complete his track at CIES to begin earning his bachelor's in economics at TCC.  Lessons Learned: We had a good amount in common; we both read in our spare time and are visual learners. He is the same age as my sister, and like my sister and I, he and his younger sibling are also 3 years apart. This will be his second session at CIES and he is at a level 5 [of 6, to pursue a community college degree].

Tutoring Session #16 Date/Time: Wednesday, March 6 th   3-4:30pm Location: Student Union Topic/Skill: Speaking/Writing Feedback provided to tutee: We talked about Geena’s birthday. Geena also asked for help with word choice on a paper she was working on.         Lesson(s) about tutoring and/or the tutee you learned: It is difficult to find synonyms for food.  

Date/Time: March 6th, 12:00pm Location: CIES building Topic/Skill: Academic writing Feedback provided to tutee: I read over the second draft of Sultan's paper and gave feedback on a few small areas, such as punctuation, sentence variation, and audience consideration. We also looked at the journal article he was using as his primary source as well as another article for a future paper to discuss things he had questions about (usually advanced vocabulary terms). Lesson(s) about tutoring and/or the tutee you learned: Paper writing, like note-taking, is a skill all its own, and while it is made more difficult by doing it in one's second language, the core focus is still on the activity itself, namely, answering your research questions properly, organizing your ideas well, etc. Making sure it "sounds good" is certainly the hardest part of doing it in another language.

Date/Time: March 5th, 12:00pm Location: CIES building Topic/Skill: Needs assessment Feedback provided to tutee: Sultan and I discussed his goals and needs going into this new session. I also asked him about Salam and how he doesn't use English much out of class, to see if they could work on that together. Sultan is more advanced as an English student, and being from the same country he's the ideal person to help Salam, if they put their minds to it. Lesson(s) about tutoring and/or the tutee you learned: It's hard not to speak one's native language when possible! That will certainly be a challenge teaching abroad when all of the students in the room share a native tongue most of them would rather be using. Hopefully my interest in learning their language can help bridge that divide and make it more of a two way street.

  Tutoring Session #15 Date/Time: Monday, March 4 th   3-4:30pm Location: Student Union Topic/Skill: Speaking Practice Feedback provided to tutee: We discussed the common phrase “guess who/what” and how to respond to it. I created more tongue twisters focusing on R, L and Z sounds. Lesson(s) about tutoring and/or the tutee you learned: I learned about Geena’s favorite movies.

Date/Time: February 29th, 12:00pm Location: CIES building Topic/Skill: Grammar Feedback provided to tutee: Sultan showed me a humorous assignment from his grammar class featuring a music poster of a European pop duo called Lets Eat Grandma . He was having a hard time understanding the "issue" grammatically, so I asked him questions to try and get him there on his own. He eventually came up with the answer of adding a comma. Lesson(s) about tutoring and/or the tutee you learned: Even commonplace grammar lessons taught to natives have their use in ESL teaching. Sultan's instinct to try and understand the expression normally (as in eating something grandma made, not grandma herself) reflects the descriptive nature of our attempts to understand something that is seemingly far-fetched, but prescriptively true!

Date/Time: March 2nd, 11:00 am  Location: CIES Building Topic/skill: We started by looking at photos to describe similarities and differences between photos. Next, we read a few AR books and I asked her questions about the book to check for her understanding of it.  Feedback: I provided linguistic support when she couldn't remember any vocabulary words. I also asked her questions that were open-ended so she had to think of how she wanted to respond and force her to think of vocabulary words that she wanted to use when describing something. After asking her questions I went back and asked her questions about her AR books to check if she could remember the details of her books after thinking about something else.

Date/Time: February 28th, 3:00 pm  Location: CIES Building Topic/skill: We completed the needs assessment. We discussed the challenges when learning English and what he specifically wanted to focus on learning more vocabulary. Feedback: Use more videos to practice listening as well as incorporate speaking with the responses in order to improve both of these areas. This will also help improve confidence level when having to interact with people in English.