teaching english one to one

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MASARYK UNIVERSITY

FACULTY OF EDUCATION

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH AND LITERATURE

TEACHING ENGLISH

ONE-TO-ONE

Bachelor Thesis

Thesis Supervisor: Mgr.S.Hanuov,Ph.D. Thesis Author: Helena Skalov


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Announcement

Hereby I state that I worked on the Bachelor Thesis by myself. All the sources of

information that I used are listed in the bibliography.

Helena Skalov

Brno 15thJanuary 2007 .


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Acknowledgement

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Mgr. Svtlana Hanuov, PhD. for her

kind help and valuable advice that she provided me throughout my thesis as my

supervisor.


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Content

1. TEACHING ONE-TO-ONE................................................................................ 6

1.1. Individual and group talk............................................................................. 7

1.2. Adjusting to others .......................................................................................71.3. Involvement and proximity .......................................................................... 8

1.4. A basic working paradigm ........................................................................... 9

1.5. Advantages and disadvantages of one-to-one ............................................ 11

1.5.1. Advantages and disadvantages for teachers....................................... 11

1.5.2. Advantages and disadvantages for students....................................... 13

2. LEARNER......................................................................................................... 15

2.1. Motivation.................................................................................................. 15

2.1.1. The spectrum of motivation ...............................................................15

2.1.2. Factors of motivation ......................................................................... 16

2.2. Learners needs .......................................................................................... 17

2.2.1. Assessment tools ................................................................................ 18

2.3. Learning styles ........................................................................................... 19

2.3.1. The Visual learning style ................................................................... 20

2.3.2. The auditory learning style.................................................................20

2.3.3. The tactile / kinesthetic learning style................................................ 20

2.3.4. Multiple Intelligence .......................................................................... 21

3. THE SYLLABUS .............................................................................................. 22

3.1. Syllabus content .........................................................................................23

4. THE PRACTICAL PART ................................................................................. 24

5. CONCLUSION.................................................................................................. 49

6. RESUME ........................................................................................................... 50

7. THE LIST OF LITERATURE........................................................................... 52

APPENDIX


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INTRODUCTION

Why have I chosen this topic? The reason for it is simple - I have a lot of

experience with teaching one-to-one because I have given private lessons for manyyears. I have found many advantages as well as disadvantages of it. The idea of one-

to-one teaching often provokes quite extreme reactions in teachers. They either love

it or hate it. But both students and teachers can profit more from a one-to-one lesson

compared to large groups, which I will specify more later.

I think that teaching one-to-one is really interesting topic but it is not well

explored area and few experts focus on it. I would like to describe it in more detail. It

is suitable for those who are involved in, or wish to begin, such teaching. The thesis

can be helpful indirectly for all the potential students who would welcome and

benefit from the approaches outlined in the thesis.

My thesis is divided into two parts the theoretical and the practical part. The

theoretical part is divided into three parts. The first part deals with the theory of

teaching one-to-one and its advantages and disadvantages for both teachers and

students. Then I will describe the individual and group work, a basic working

paradigm and several big words that are connected with teaching one-to-one, such as

adjustment, involvement or proximity. The confrontation of teaching one-to-one and

in a group is introduced through the whole thesis.

The second chapter describes the learner. It includes the learners motivation,

learners needs and definition and description of learning styles. The last chapter of

the theoretical part deals with the syllabus and its content.

The practical part is centred on my students that I give the private lessons to. I

present their casuistries in which I talk about their previous learning experience, their

motivation for teaching one-to-one and the process of our classes. Then I describe

their perception of learning and I present their results in the questionnaire of learning

styles. I describe the activities that I use to develop their abilities and that are suitable

for their learning style. Last but not least is the fact why teaching one-to-one is

suitable for them and which advantages and disadvantages one-to-one classes have

for these students.


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1. TEACHING ONE-TO-ONE

I have given my private lessons for many years and I really enjoy it. Teaching

one-to-one means that there are only two people a student and a teacher. I feel thatthis is its biggest advantage. I have been teaching at the basic school for a few

months and it is completely different. There are so many children in a class and they

cannot learn so much as in the private lesson.

The definition of teaching one-to-one is: By one-to-one teaching we mean

the instruction that takes place between one teacher and one student. Sometimes it

happens in the context of an independent study or tutorial. (www.utdallas.edu).

I know that the topic of one-to-one teaching provokes personal, sometimes

passionate responses from many English language teachers. There are many teachers

who give their private lessons besides their teaching at schools. It may be because of

money or just because of fun from it. But when I talk to a teacher who teaches at a

basic school about the topic of one-to-one teaching, he or she admits that except of

many advantages, teaching one-to-one is also sometimes difficult. They describe the

teacher role as being blurred between teacher, psychologist and friend. And on the

other side - learners can complain that the teacher is not pushing them to do enough

homework like at school.

This area is not very explored and I have found only few sections on teaching

one-to-one, while there was lots advice on the classroom management of groups.

That is a pity because also skilled and wise teacher can have some troubles in private

lessons. It is somehow assumed that teaching English as a foreign language means

organizing huge groups of students, while the reality is that one-to-one is a normal

and often significant part of our teaching lives. We know from psychology that we

learn the best, for example, when we talk about something to our friends or otherwise

when our friends explain something to us.


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1.1. Individual and group talk

It is true that most of the communication that we are involved in during our

lives is done in pairs. We may often be in group settings but we usually addressindividuals, not the group as a whole.

Communicating with individuals, as opposed to groups, is easier, more

efficient, and more comfortable for at least three reasons:

Feedback attention is focused on one person. When we are communicating with

two other people, our attention is divided between the two and our efficiency of

monitoring the feedback diminishes.

Adjustment possibilities, our ability to adjust to attended feedback, are also

normally reduced proportionately to the increase in the number of people we are

expected to adjust to.

Affective inhibition, or emotional energy, that may cause reluctance to

participate, may also increase with the number of people involved in the

communication. (Murphey, 1991).

I suppose that it is important to say and explain what the communication is.

People often say: We get along because we are able to communicate. Or That

teacher talks a lot, but he does not seem to communicate. So the word

communication is a common word.

King claims that it refers to a process in which a response is evoked by a

message sent and received. There are three necessary elements, according to that

definition: sending a message, receiving a message, and responding to the message.

(1994, p.3)

1.2.

Adjusting to others

Adjustment is a big word in one-to-one encounters. The possibility for greater

individual adjustment in one-to-one is probably its main advantage. Trying to adjust

to a class of twenty different personalities, interest topics, and momentary emotional

fluctuations, and at the same time physically giving eye contact and attending to boy

language, is practically impossible. When circulating and adjusting individually to


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each student, a teacher even then only gives a few minutes to each and may have to

go through enormous change in order to tune in appropriately.

1.3.

Involvement and proximity

One-to-one implies that two people are involved in interaction. It is easy to be

uninvolved in large classroom situations, nearly impossible when someone is talking

to you alone. It is also hard to be uninvolved when you are conveying your own

knowledge, which is the reason why teachers are potentially the greatest learners and

why students can often learn more when encouraged to teach their classmates and

share their information and ideas.

The one-to-one principle of maximally adjusted communication for learning

has further application beyond language teaching. We can watch any ski school class

winding its way down a slope behind its teacher like a snake and if we watch closely

and for long enough we will usually find that the student who is just behind the

instructor does a much better job of imitating and following her path. The other

students skiing further back seem to wander and to be vaguely following but,

because of the lack of proximity, the teacher has trouble communicating with them

and receiving their feedback. (Murphey, 1991).


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Contrastingly, students taking one-to-one instruction may become quickly

tired and frustrated if teachers teach in a conventionally class-intensive way and see

correction and information giving as their major role. This is not to say that one-to-

one cannot be intensive, rather that it is intensive in a different way, hopefully a more

relaxing and humanly interpersonal way.

1.4. A basic working paradigm

In one-to-one teaching the emphasis is on the student providing the content,

and the teacher providing the form. This means a basic paradigm radically different

from the traditional present-practice-produce of much classroom language teaching.(Wilberg, 1987, p.13).

When a new student comes to private lesson, he or she initially presents his or

her needs, why they want to learn English and what they expect. A teacher needs to

know if they studied English anywhere before our first lesson and at what level they

are. These pieces of information can be supported by interviews during our first

lesson.

According to Murphey the central axiom for one-to-one is that throughout

the whole course space needs to be created for student input; there must be

opportunities for continuous re-definition of needs. The basic strategy must not be

intensive, pressurized teaching but rather creating space for learning. (1991, p.6).

The approach involves:

a) creating space for student input and learning

b) structuring this space (formatting)

c) re-presenting student content in appropriate forms (re-formulation)

d) analyzing and making the student aware of language forms (auditing)

All these activities must be carried out within a framework of authentic

communication between student and teacher. It is the relationship between two

individuals which forms the basis for all the teaching and learning activities.


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AD a) Creating space for student input and learning

Create space for learning means both psychical and psychological space,

intellectual and emotional space.

Nowadays more and more teachers are discovering the value of music,

physical exercise, and guided relaxation techniques as stress-reducers in the

classroom.

In terms of activities it is vital to give writing, silent reading and pleasure

listening their place in each days lessons. It is much more difficult for a one-to-one

teacher to keep a low profile and just let the student get on with something, yet this is

just what is required.

AD b) Formatting

Formatting means creating space for the student to input the content of

communication. A format is a framework of communication that offers this space,

allowing the student to determine the content and context of a written or oral text,

independently of textbooks and text-tapes. An example of a format can be anything

that serves the aim of creating space for authentic student input rather than mere

language practice.

AD c) Re-formulation

The aim of teaching is not to teach the student his or her business but to raise

awareness of language forms and their role serving communicative content. To do

this, these forms must be made visible. One way of doing this is to reformulate the

students input. Instead of a haphazard, interruptive correction of the students

language we reformulate it in a structured way for the student. This can be done

orally, sentence by sentence, with the student recording our reformulation of eachutterance. Or it can be done in writing, on the board or in our own time after the

lesson. Either way the result is a model of language tailored to the students

communicative and linguistic needs.

The next step is to make the student aware of the language forms, and able to

audit the language models for him- or herself. This means the ability to identify the

new language it contains and practice it.


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AD d) Auditing

Auditing involves two types of skills:

the identification of language and sonic forms

identification with these forms in speech and writing

Auditing is listening for form, and reading for form, rather than content. The

micro-skills of identification are applied in the macro-skills of reading, writing,

speaking and listening. The objective is to replace the teaching of language by a

teacher with the training of students in the skills possessed by the teacher. These

teacher skills are auditing skills: the ability to recognize, recall, and thus reproduce

language forms.

It is often said that before students are able to hear a sound they must be

taught to speak it. In fact there are many students who are perfectly capable of using,

say, a third person -s but never get into the habit of so doing because it is not

reinforced by natural acquisition through listening. This is because the students still

do not hearit. (Wilberg, 1987).

1.5. Advantages and disadvantages of one-to-one

Teaching one-to-one has many advantages but there are some disadvantages

too. I am going to talk about disadvantages, because there are some as in any way of

teaching, but also about advantages, which prevail, for both teachers and students. I

will specify particular advantages and disadvantages and I will write my comments

on them.

1.5.1. Advantages and disadvantages for teachers

Advantages

Only one level - this means no mixed abilities or fast finishers to deal with.

When a teacher teaches at the basic school, he or she perceives the mixed level of

students knowledge as one of the biggest problem. There are many skilful students

who can work separately but there are also many pupils who need teachers help all

the time and a teacher cannot help them all during one lesson.

As Harmer says One of the biggest problems teachers face is a lesson where the

students are at different levels some with quite competent English, some whose


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English is not very good, and some whose English is only just getting started.

(2000, p.70)

Teachers can learn something too. Students can teach us about their interests,

work and experiences.

There are fewer time constraints. This means we can spend as long as necessary to

address our students needs, and explore areas of personal interest.

Teachers can select material they are sure will interest and motivate the student.

It is not difficult to find any material that the students are interested in but when there

are twenty students with different interests at school- then that is difficult.

When a teacher wants his students to communicate with him, it is very important

and suitable to talk about our common things such as in real life. Kings

consideration of communication explains that: The word communication is related

to other words with the same root: commune, communal, community, for example.

Communication has to do with finding something in common. Human

communication involves sharing meanings, sharing ideas, sharing understandings,

sharing experiences finding something in common. That is the basis of all

communication: two human beings (or more) finding something in common. (King,

1994, p.6)

Disadvantages

The teacher is always on. There are not many situations in our lives when we

spend ninety minutes talking constantly to one person. The teacher has to be really

on and answer various questions and enquiries all the time.

There is a limited range of activities. This means no pair or group work, which

can be a bit monotonous for the teacher, and the student. It is true that many

activities, for example for practicing grammar, are in groups but you can adjusteverything.

Schools often do not give a syllabus for one-to-one classes so it is more difficult

to record and show progress to the student. But I think that the students needs are

the most important and everything should be set up according to them.


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1.5.2. Advantages and disadvantages for students

Advantages

Students have the constant attention of the teacher so they can listen to and speak

more English than they might in a group situation.

Students do not feel ashamed when there are not so many fellow-students like in the

class at school and they are much more open and they speak much more too.

I agree with Harmer who talks about the relationship between a student and a

teacher. Although, the character and personality of the teacher is a crucial issue in

the classroom, by far the greatest number of responses to the question What makes a

good teacher? was not so much about teachers themselves, but rather about the

relationship between the teacher and the students.(2000, p.2)

I also think that a teacher can be easily empathetic to one student than in a

group of students. I agree with King who explains the empathy in this way:

Empathy is based on two Greek words that mean feeling inside. If you have

empathy, you do more than stand beside the other person, you try to get inside the

other person. With empathy, you do not feelfortheir hunger, anger, or pain; youfeel

the hunger, anger, and the hurt the other person is feeling. (1994, p.153)

Empathy is connected with confidence that is in my opinion also very

important in teaching one-to-one.

The trust-performance cycles suggest an interesting parallel - the mutual

dependence of a trusting relationship and effective communication performance.

When the teacher can be characterized as trusting and supportive, communication

practice is generally good. The aura of openness makes possible candid expressions

of feelings and ideas.(Haney, 1992, p.14)

Student can contribute to classes more and feel part of the learning process by

bringing material like books, songs, and articles from local newspapers to class.Especially in one-to-one class it is important what students want and need and there

are no specific materials and course books that Prabhus statement can pitch in.

What a teacher does in the lesson is not solely, or even primarily, determined by the

teaching method he or she intends to follow. (1992, p.103)

If a student brings some material according to that it is possible to practice

grammar or whatever, there is no problem and the teacher can be glad that his

student is really interested in English.


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Their strengths and weaknesses are addressed more consistently and fully without

the competition of other students for the teachers time and they are not pressured by

the progress of other students. (www.onestopenglish.com).

Disadvantages

There is a similar potential for exhaustion as they too can be in constant

interaction in an unnatural way with the teacher.

It can be difficult to measure progress without other students to compare with and

the possible lack of a syllabus.

The lesson format can become monotonous if a teacher lacks the confidence to

experiment with change of pace and type of activity. They might assume a student

would not be open to activities such as dictation, songs, moving around the class,

chants, drilling etc

It is possible to use the energy raisers as warm-ups at the beginning of a

lesson and some other activities also at the end of a lesson to make sure students

leave the lesson in an alert, happy frame of mind. Because as Davis and Rinvolucri

say Discipline problems with school children often stem from their desperate need

to move, stretch and recharge their batteries after long period of sitting. As language

teachers we need to bear peoples physical needs clearly in mind. (1990, p.47)


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2. LEARNER

2.1. Motivation

I think that one of the most difficult things in teaching one-to-one is the

motivation. There are many reasons why children need or want teaching one-to-one.

There is a big difference between what children want and what they need. If they

want to learn English in their free time because they are simply interested in English,

there is no problem but if they need to learn English because they have bad marks at

school, for example, and their parents make them learn, that is a big problem because

children themselves do not want to learn English and they are just bored and annoyedbecause of it.

As Harmer says: Motivation is some kind of internal drive that encourages

somebody to pursue a course of action. If we perceive a goal (that is something we

wish to achieve) and if the goal is sufficiently attractive, we will be strongly

motivated to do whatever is necessary to reach that goal. (1992, p.3)

To teach a student that is highly motivated is more pleasant. But it must be

motivation for a long time and for a good reason. I agree with Harmer who mentionsthat that students who felt most warmly about a language and who wanted to

integrate into the culture of its speakers were more highly motivated (and learnt more

successfully) than those who were only learning language as a means to an end (for

example getting a better job). (2000, p.8)

2.1.1. The spectrum of motivation

Real motivationmight vary from genuine fanatical commitment to a company

on the one hand, to simply taking a break from routine or having a holiday on the

other. In between there is a whole spectrum of motivation that Murphey mentions:

The student who enjoys being the centre of attention, who finds relief and

diversion from loneliness or boredom in one-to-one.

The student whose current communicative needs is not as important as future

ones. For example a student who dreams secretly of abandoning a present job and

going to live in an English-speaking country.


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The student whose motivation is intrinsic, and based on a genuine interest in the

culture of the foreign language.

The student whose real learning problems are principally psychological and

hopes for a magic cure from one-to-one. (Murphey, 1991)

2.1.2. Factors of motivation

Skenham mentions Corders phrase that is in my opinion true, Given

motivation, anyone can learn a language. This brings out the importance of

motivation and the way it can overcome unfavorable circumstances in other aspects

of language learning. (1991, p. 49)

According to Harmer there are some factors of motivation that have an

influence on motivation and students learning. There is physical condition, methods

that we use, success and last but not least the role of teacher. I will specify these

factors and add my opinion on them.

Physical condition

It is clearly that physical conditions have a great effect on learning and can alter a

students motivation either positively or negatively. We can say that the atmosphere

in which a language is learnt is vitally important. Some institutionalized education

can influence negatively and stressful and it can have a negative effect on

motivation. So it is better when the private lessons are as much pleasant and familiar

as they can. The pleasant atmosphere ensures that students are open and they learn

easily.

Method

Also the method by which students are taught must have some effect on their

motivation. If they find it deadly boring they will probably become de-motivated,

whereas if they have confidence in the method they will find it motivating. It is a bigproblem in English lessons at school because even if a teacher tries to make his or

her lessons interesting, it is not so easy as in the private lessons where he or she can

modify the methods right on the students needs. But when I study in various books,

despite various attempts, there is unfortunately no research that clearly shows the

success of one method over another.


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Success

Harmer says success or lack of it plays a vital part in the motivational drive of a

student. Both complete failure and complete success may be de-motivating. I know

that when someone is very good, he or she has no reason to work more and more

hard and when someone knows only a failure, he or she thinks learning and effort is

for nothing. I agree with Harmer that it will be the teachers job to set goals and tasks

at which most of his or her students can be successful.

The teacher

In my opinion a teacher has a big role in students motivation and effort. I do not

agree with Harmer who says that it is not important and significant whether student

likes the teacher or not. I suppose that especially in teaching one-to-one it is

important very much. I am sure that there are further important things such as if

the teacher makes his course interesting, explains clearly, speaks good English,

makes all the students participate, shows great patience or teach English through

enjoyable and interesting classes as Harmer mentions as well. (Harmer, 1992)

2.2. Learners needs

Before we start teaching someone, we need to know his or her needs and the

reason that they want to learn English for. When people want to go to the private

lessons, they frequently have very specific learning goals and needs. They may want

to get a job, need English at school or they may want to move abroad. The other

thing we need to know before starting is what the students want. These two things

are often very different from each other.

The teacher can find out students needs and students wants by asking the

student questions about him and the language (which is what I will be calling needs

analysis).

It is obvious that The needs assessment process can be used as the basis for

developing curricula and classroom practice that are responsive to these needs.

Although learner needs assessment includes both what learners know and can do and

what they want to learn and be able to do, this digest focuses on ways to determine

what learners want or believe they need to learn. (www.jalt.org).


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So the needs analysis is really very important. With a thorough needs

analysis, all other activities in the curriculum development process may be

accomplished.

When the teacher decides how to go about needs analysis with a student, he

or she does it either before a class or during the first class. The teacher asks the

student, for example: How long have you been studying English? How far do you

want/need to go with your English? Which skills do you need/lack most? Which

parts of the language do you find most difficult? Where do you use English? When a

student is answering, the teacher writes down the answers. Here are some forms that

we can use.

2.2.1. Assessment tools

Needs assessments with learners, can take a variety of forms, including

survey questionnaires on which learners check areas of interest or need, open-ended

interviews, or informal observations of performance. In order for needs assessment to

be effective, tools and activities should be appropriate for the particular learner or

groups of learners.

Types of needs assessment tools and activities include:

Survey questionnaires - frequently they consist of a list of topics, skills, or

language and literacy uses. The learners indicate what they already know or want

to know by checking in the appropriate column or box, or they may be asked to

use a scale to rank the importance of each item.

Learner interviews - interviews with learners, either one-on-one or in small

groups, in their native language or in English, can provide valuable information

about what learners know, what their interests are, and the ways they use or hopeto use literacy.

Review of reading materials - an instructor can spread out a range of reading

materials on the table (e.g., newspapers, magazines, children's books, comics, and

greeting cards), and ask learners which they would like to read and whether they

would like to work in class on any of them. A similar activity can be done with

different types of writing. (www.ericdigests.org)


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2.3. Learning styles

When someone tries to learn something new, he or she prefers to learn either

by listening to someone talks to him or her about the information or some peopleprefer to read about a concept to learn it; others need to see a demonstration of the

concept.

As wikipedia mentions Learning Style Theory proposes that different people

learn in different ways and that it is good to know what your own preferred learning

style is. On these sites there is also mentioned the fact that over 70 learning style

models have been proposed, each consisting of at least two different styles.

(www.en.wikipedia.org)Another website mentions how it is important to know our own learning

style. There is written that learning styles are a way to help improve your quality of

learning. By understanding your own personal styles, you can adapt the learning

process and techniques you use. (www.learning-styles-online.com)

Many people recognize that each person prefers different learning styles and

techniques and everyone has a mix of learning styles. Some people may find that

they have a dominant style of learning, with far less use of the other styles. Others

may find that they use different styles in different circumstances. There is no right

mix. You can develop ability in less dominant styles, as well as further develop

styles that you already use well. By recognizing and understanding your own

learning styles, you can use techniques better suited to you. This improves the speed

and quality of your learning.

The basic learning styles are:

the visual learning style

the auditory learning style

the tactile/kinesthetic learning style (www.learning-styles-online.com).


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2.3.1. The Visual learning style

This type of student learns best when information is presented visually and in

a written language format. In a classroom setting, he benefit from instructors who use

the blackboard (or overhead projector) to list the essential points of a lecture, or who

provide him with an outline to follow along with during lecture. This student benefits

from information obtained from textbooks and class notes. He tends to like to study

by himself in a quiet room. He often sees information "in his mind's eye" when he is

trying to remember something. (www.metamath.com).

These learners need to see the teacher's body language and facial expression

to fully understand the content of a lesson. They tend to prefer sitting at the front of

the classroom to avoid visual obstructions (e.g. people's heads). They may think in

pictures and learn best from visual displays including: diagrams, illustrated

textbooks, overhead transparencies, videos, flipcharts and handouts. During a lecture

or classroom discussion, visual learners often prefer to take detailed notes to absorb

the information. (www.ldpride.net)

2.3.2. The auditory learning style

This type of student learns best when information is presented auditory in an oral

language format. In a classroom setting, you benefit from listening to lecture and

participating in group discussions. You also benefit from obtaining information from

audio tape. When trying to remember something, you can often "hear" the way

someone told you the information, or the way you previously repeated it out loud.

You learn best when interacting with others in a listening/speaking exchange.

(www.metamath.com).

They learn best through verbal lectures, discussions, talking things through

and listening to what others have to say. Auditory learners interpret the underlyingmeanings of speech through listening to tone of voice, pitch, speed and other

nuances. Written information may have little meaning until it is heard. These learners

often benefit from reading text aloud and using a tape recorder. (www.ldpride.net).

2.3.3. The tactile / kinesthetic learning style

You learn best when physically engaged in a "hands on" activity. You learn

best when you can be physically active in the learning environment. You benefit


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from instructors who encourage in-class demonstrations, "hands on" student learning

experiences, and field work outside t he classroom. (www.metamath.com).

Tactile/Kinesthetic persons learn best through a hands-on approach, actively

exploring the physical world around them. They may find it hard to sit still for long

periods and may become distracted by their need for activity and exploration.

(www.ldpride.net).

2.3.4. Multiple Intelligence

The Multiple Intelligence is very close to the learning styles but it cannot be

replaced. Dr. Howard Gardner, professor of education at Harvard University,

developed the theory of multiple intelligences in 1983. It suggests that the traditional

notion of intelligence, based on I.Q. testing, is far too limited. Instead, Dr. Gardner

proposes eight different intelligences to account for a broader range of human

potential in children and adults. He suggested that there are at least eight different

types of intelligence:

1. Linguistic intelligence the ability to use and understand language.

2. Logical-mathematical intelligence the ability to understand mathematical

operations, logical reasoning, and scientific thinking.3. Intra-personal intelligence the ability to understand your own thoughts and

feelings.

4. Inter-personal intelligence the ability to understand other peoples moods and

feelings.

5. Musical intelligence the ability to understand and play music.

6. Spatial intelligence the ability to understand the relationships of objects in

space on maps, in the street and so on.7. Kinesthetic intelligence the ability to control your fine motor movements.

8. Naturalistic intelligence the ability to classify, understand and use the natural

world. (www.thomasarmstrong.com).


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3. THE SYLLABUS

Teaching one-to-one has no formal syllabus. There is nothing according to

that we should teach. It can be an advantage but also a disadvantage. Prabhu definesa syllabus as a form of support to the teaching activity that is to be carried out in the

class and a form of guidance in the construction of appropriate lesson plans.(1992,

p.86)

Before we start to teach students, we have to decide which skills we want

them to develop and when. From books that I have studied for this thesis I

understand that just the syllabus organizes what skills we should concentrate on.

Each syllabus can be different. As Harmer says: Some syllabuses are fairly

short lists of grammatical structures or functions. Some are much more detailed,

containing lists not only of language, but also of topic and subject matter or activities

and task.(1992, p.27)

I agree with another Harmers thought about the shape of a syllabus that may

depend according to him on a large extent on the needs of the students who are going

to be taught. The syllabus for a group of agronomists might look very different from

the syllabus for a group of waiters. The level of the students will be vital too since

we would expect a beginners syllabus to be very different from one for advanced

students. The age of the students may have a lot to do with it as well especially

where the selection of themes and topics is concerned. (1992, p. 27)


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3.1. Syllabus content

In my opinion the most difficult thing about learning a language is that there

is simply so much to learn. Learners must know grammar; vocabulary and they haveto be able to make themselves understood. In order to help learners achieve this,

Willis suggests the syllabus designer must first specify syllabus content as

economically as possible. Almost any language course specifies what the designers

believe that learners at a certain stage of language development need to learn and

know. (1990, p.41)

We define language content in terms of functional rather than formal

structural units because these are seen as being more immediately relevant to what

learners will need eventually to do with the language once they have learned it. The

emphasis is on the objectives and not the procedures of language learning, on

purpose not process. It is a need or goal-oriented rationale, expressed by Wilkins in

the following way: The process of deciding what to teach is based on consideration

of what the learner should most usefully be able to communicate in the foreign

language. (1991, p.131)


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4. THE PRACTICAL PART


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The practical part

In the practical part of my bachelor thesis I will describe students who attend

my private lessons and I will write the casuistries about them in my thesis.The casuistries contain

1. The school that they study and their previous learning experience2. Reasons for one-to-one class and their motivation for it3. One-to-one teaching process4. Their skills5. Their perception of learning6. Their learning styles7. My observations from one-to-one classes8. What do I recommend them?

9. Suitable activities

Besides students names, age, school that they study and their previous

learning experience, I describe their reason and motivation for one-to-one classes and

one-to-one teaching process. Then I describe their type of learning style. They fill in

the questionnaire of learning styles and according to the results of the questionnaire I

decide which learning styles they have and what I would recommend them and why.

The first section of the Learning Style Survey deals with sensory preferences

that are divided into three areas here: visual, auditory and kinesthetic (movement-

oriented). The second section deals with the personality types. I divide them into two

parts: extraverted and introverted. The third part of my questionnaire consists of two

parts: global or particular learner. The forth part of the questionnaire tells us if a

student is a synthesizing or analytic type. And the fifth part of the questionnaire tells

us if a student has either a deductive or inductive thinking.

Then I write my own observation from one-to-one classes, the advantages and

disadvantages of teaching one-to-one for each student and then I suggest some

recommendation.

At the end of each casuistry I suggest some activities that can develop skills

that my students are not good at and that are suitable for their learning style and I

describe methods and types of exercises that I use in teaching them.


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CASUISTRY I.

Katka

NAME KatkaAGE 17FIELD OF STUDY Grammar schoolREASON FOR 1-TO-1 Longing for improvementPREVIOUS LEARNING EXPERIENCE Basic school

English Summer CampMAIN PERCEPTION OF LEARNING Visual

1. Katkas field of study and previous learning experience

Katka is 17 years old and she has visited my private lessons only for three

months. She started learning English at the basic school. Nowadays, she studies at

the grammar school. There is a special system of classwork and evaluation. It is

based on autonomous working of children. The different style of evaluation is based

on the continuous tests that are evaluated in percents. They have something like an

exam period during which children have to pass all tests; otherwise they cannot

continue in their study.

She has attended English Summer Camp for three years where she has

improved in English very much, mainly in her knowledge of vocabulary and the

ability of speaking.

2. Reasons for teaching one-to-one and motivation

Katka is not very satisfied with English lessons at school. She has excellent

marks but she feels that she does not learn anything new. As I write in the theoretical

part Both complete failure and complete success may be de-motivating andbecause of excellent marks she stopped learning English because she did not need it

for school and she did not develop at all. But later she has found out that although

she is very successful at school, it is not enough. She claims that she has little

possibilities to speak aloud and she sometimes has a problem with grammar. Because

she feels that she cannot learn it at school, she contacted me for private lessons. She

wants to practice her speaking and conversation and she needs to improve grammar

as well.


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Katka is accustomed to working hard and learning every day. She is very

intelligent and highly motivated. She has many foreign friends from the summer

camp and she wants to make herself understood well. She likes learning English and

she wants to improve in it by herself. These are the factors that motivate her for

learning English in her free time.

3. One-to-one teaching process

Our private lessons proceed in this way. I always ask what Katka needs for

school. She is able to do her homework alone so we rather concentrate on grammar

or a topic that they go through at school. But because she often knows and

understands things that they learn at school, we learn from other textbook, it is

Textbook for Language Schools and we go further in grammar. Katka wants to

practice her speaking, so I always prepare some listening or a topic for conversation.

Because Katka is interested in various topics, I look for various interesting

articles for her. We read them, translate them and we often speak about them. This is

what I write in the theoretical part about in teaching one-to-one there are fewer

time constraints. So I can spend as long as necessary to address my students needs,

and explore areas of personal interest. It is interesting and enjoyable for her and she

can improve her pronunciation, vocabulary and speaking this way.

4. Skills

Katka is very good at speaking thanks to her experience from English

summer camps. She has no problems with listening or reading but I noticed

immediately in the first lesson that Katka has problems with writing. I gave her a

piece of paper with many sentences to be translated and I saw a panic in her eyes.

She explained me that she does not have any affirmed testification about somelearning disorders, such as reading or writing disorder but she admitted that she has

problems with it and she makes many mistakes during writing. We settled that she

need not write everything, only that what she does not know or does not remember.

5. Perception of learning

When we talked about Katkas learning styles, she told me that when she

learns, she has to walk across the room and she has to read it aloud. She can learn inthis way, for example, the history, literature or subjects like that but when she learns,


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for example, English grammar or mathematic, in a word some rules, she need to sit

and concentrate on it completely.

She takes notes during lectures but they are not very much detailed and she

does not need them to be colored. She has her own system how to distinguish the

headlines and notes according to different style of writing and she does not need

colors. She remember things better when she sees them and even if a teacher speaks

to her, she visualizes the things in her mind they are, for example, diagrams or

pictures. These items tell us that Katka is a visual type.

6. Katkas learning styles:

I. How to use my physical senses:

A Total: 33 B Total: 13 C Total: 25

These results tell us that Katka is highly visual type or has visual style of

learning. But she has also kinesthetic learning style that explains her movement

during learning.

Katka prefers seeing what she is learning. Pictures and images help her

understand ideas and information better than explanations. A drawing may help more

than a discussion about the same. When someone explains something to her, she maycreate a mental picture of what the person talking describes. She finds it helpful to

see the person speaking. She watches a speaker as well as listens to what he or she

says.

My commentary:

I can confirm results mentioned above from our English lessons. Even if she

does not want to write a lot, she writes down only things that she does not know and

she remembers them. She does not need long explanations because she has got alogical thinking; she is able to cope with a brief explanation and she understands it

immediately. Because I know that she needs some diagrams or pictures, I use them

when I explain her grammar.

During our conversation she helps with moving her hands and explaining

things in this way; it is caused by the tension to move and it helps her to express

what she wants to say better.


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II. How I expose myself to learning situation

A Total: 9 B Total: 19

Katka is more likely introverted.

Introverts as a whole prefer to spend time alone and work better

independently than in group setting and they are often silent and passive in large

groups. It causes that they do not express their opinions even if they are right.

My commentary:

Katka is certainly an introvert. She prefers teaching one-to-one and a private

tutor but she is also satisfied with a large group because also the others ask many

questions and have different opinions and it helps her sometimes to understand

things better. But when she works in a large group, she admits that she tends to keep

silent and she only listen because she is very shy. Because of these facts I think that

teaching one-to-one really suits her. She feels that she has learnt a lot after our

lessons because she is on all the time and she is not bashful at all because there is

only her and me.

III. How I receive information


These results are very close to each other. Katka is more likely global learner

but she often tends to be a particular learner too.

A global person likes to start with a big idea or concept, then go on to study

and understand the parts. But the result from the total B tells us that it depends on

the situation and on the particular subject.

My commentary:

These results are almost at the same level and I think that this is caused by the

fact that she learns different things in a different way. She is able to cope with some

items by only reading them (such as history or literature) but sometimes she needs to

go deeply to the problem to understand it and set it in her mind. When she reads

something aloud for several times, she has a complex idea about an issue and she can

deduce further contextual things. On the other hand when she learns particular things

about some issue, she remembers it very well and for a long time. I suppose that this

combination is the best.


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IV. How I further process information


In this item appears that Katka tends to synthesize.

It is connected with the previous item. She is able to combine and compound

many pieces of information together and make a rule or just a global view of it.

My commentary:

Katka can connect her knowledge very well and she really enjoys it when she

can put together and combine different subjects and different pieces of her

knowledge. She enjoys, for example, making a project when she has to use many

senses and interconnect many subjects. For example, a project of the United States of

America where she has to look for the information about it, translate it in English and

make a big poster. So we use various articles where she can connect her knowledge

of English and some other subjects that are concerned with an article.

V. How I deal with language rules


This means that Katka has inductive thinking.

It means that she does not need to be taught the rules but she is able to

discover them from her experience of use, from her previous knowledge or from a

new example.

My commentary:

Her intelligence enables her to recognize a rule or a key in a new issue. She

likes puzzles and riddles very much and because she does them very often, she is

very good at them. I suppose that this ability of recognizing the rules or the ability of

generating the rules results from the brilliant ability of doing puzzles and riddles

because she practices her logical thinking all the time.

So when we learn a new grammar, I always try to give her some examples of

it and she tries to guess what the rule is. She likes it and I suppose that she

remembers it better.


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7. My observations from one-to-one classes

I have taught Katka only for three months but I see that she is very quick-

witted and she knows everything in a moment, so she learns a lot during one lesson

with a private tutor. It is obvious that she has a talent for second languages and even

if she is shy, she has no problem with speaking in English in one-to-one class.

Advantages: I suppose that one-to-one classes suit Katka very much. Not only

because of the fact that she is shy in a large group but also because I think that

she cannot develop and improve her knowledge in the large group. At school she

has to wait for other people and it restrains her.

Disadvantages: Katka is aware of her brilliant knowledge of English and she is

satisfied with her achievement but she needs to have some competitor so as she

feels the requirement for learning English more and more and not to stagnate.

8. What do I recommend her?

For Katka, it is important to make her own notes even if she has problems

with writing. This is a good way to remember important details she would otherwise

miss. She should either try to write as much as possible even if there will be many

mistakes or try to write the notes on computer or notebook. It does not mind if her

handwriting does not look neatly but it is important that they are hers.

Katka tends to do things quickly and in an unorganized way. She tends not to

do exercises in the order but jump from one exercise to another like her thoughts

flow. It might be helpful for her to establish concrete beginning and ending points

during doing a task or learning. And a private tutor can keep an eye on it.

Sometimes she is stressed by a lack of time but it is not a problem during one-

to-one class where she can have as much time as she needs, so this is a big advantage

of teaching one-to-one for her.She should continue in teaching one-to-one because it has, in my opinion, a

great influence on her knowledge of English. She seems to underdevelop at school in

the ability of speaking and in knowledge of grammar as well. In the private lessons

she can develop her skills, she is not shy and passive and she can show us how clever

and good at English she is.


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9. Activities

I suggest activities for Katka which can be done during our one-to-one

classes, which suit to her learning style (it means that she can see them) and in which

she can use skills that she is good at (it means speaking and reading) and she can

develop language area that she is not certain of (it means grammar).

I have decided that the best activities for Katka are those in which she can use

her needs for visualizing, her ability of speaking and in which she does not have to

write which stress her. These activities are focused primarily on practice of grammar

but she has to use also speaking, observing and describing pictures and her good

memory.

1) Possible candidates

This exercise is based on using of either or and neither nor that describe

possible or impossible alternatives (also, none of any of ).

Materials: Brief description of the qualifications of four or five people, and jobs they

might be asked to do. You can see the pictures in the appendix III.

Procedure: At first my student watches the pictures. Then I ask her to tell me which

of the people described might or might not be able to cope with each job, using either

oror neither nor.

Either Ali or Anita could cook a meal.

Neither Mark nor Christine could move heavy furniture.

This could also be done orally, or in writing.

Possible questions:

Who could .. ?

1. help move heavy furniture? 6. drive you to the airport?2. sing the high part in a song? 7. teach you to ride?

3. advise you about Universitiesstudies?

8. entertain an Arabic-speakingquest?

4. cook a meal? 9. play in a basketball match?5. entertain a Spanish visitor? 10. paint a picture?

My commentary: I have chosen this activity for Katka because she is a visual type of

learner and she likes when she can see everything that she needs. She has several

pictures that she can describe and compare. She can watch a written example at any

time she needs so it can cross her mind better. She can practice grammar and she cando it orally, without any writing.


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2) Describing changes

This exercise is good for practicing passive sentences in various tenses, oral

brainstorm, optionally, the structure need(s) doing/to be done.

Materials: Pairs of pictures showing a situation or place before and after a set of

changes like those in the pictures in the appendix III.

Procedure: I ask my student to imagine that the second picture is the present and to

describe what has been done. Or let her assume that the first is the present, and

describe what they know will be done (in the second picture). Or she can imagine

that she is midway between the two, and describe what is in the process of being

done in order for the situation in the first picture to change into the second.

Variations: Showing only the first picture of one of the pairs, I ask my student to

guess what changes will be made or, in the case of the untidy room, need to be

made.

My commentary: This activity is focused on the same principles as the previous one.

Katka can practice grammar and she can use her need for visualization. Other

possibility is that Katka must not watch the pictures during the exercise what could

practice her memory that, I think, she would appreciate and enjoy.

3) Are you a good witness?

The students can use the past progressive to describe given past situation in this

activity. The sentences are based on pictures cue (see appendix III).

Materials: A picture depicting a large number of things going on a scene in a street,

for example, or in the living room of a large family.

Procedure: I tell my student I am going to give her a test to see if she is a good

witness or not. She will have to look at a scene and then recall details in response to

questions. I show her the picture for two minutes, and then I hide it and give her aseries of questions to test her perception and memory.

Variations: She can be asked to tell me everything she can remember that was going

on in the scene.

My commentary: From the name of the activity we can guess that this exercise is

focused on the students memory. But she can practice grammar and speaking too.

The main intention is to amuse Katka with this. I think that it is funny and recreative

exercise but it still carries out our obligation about practicing grammar.


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CASUISTRY II.

Alena

NAME AlenaAGE 17FIELD OF STUDY Grammar schoolREASON FOR 1-TO-1 Her improvement

School-leaving examPREVIOUS LEARNING EXPERIENCE Almost noneMAIN PERCEPTION OF LEARNING Auditory

1. Alenas field of study and previous learning experience

Alena is 17 years old. She studies at the grammar school and she has very

good results. She learnt German at the basic school, so she began to learn English as

late as at the grammar school. But I think that she has managed to learn everything

what her fellow students, who has learnt English since the basic school, know.

They have an older teacher who I know that many students do not like

because she is very demanding, hard to please and she wants them to do a lot and to

work hard. But Alena is satisfied with this because she knows that she has been able

to learn so much just because of these great demands. This shows us that Alena is

very careful, hard working and goal seeking.


Alena contacted me two years ago when she began to learn English and she

was confused and sometimes lost in English. She knew that it was enough for

passing this subject at school but she took a fancy to English and she wanted to learn

more and more. Now, she feels that she is interested in English much more than in

German and that she knows more in English than in German, so she would like to sitfor the school-leaving exam in English. This is a big motivation for her. I think that

she is able to pass it without any problems but she needs to learn vocabulary and

grammar.

She is very active. She does many sports, including aerobic, dancing and

skiing. She loves singing. She sings in a chorus and it is connected with English too

because she learns English because of English songs as well. She translates English

songs for her own and she knows their texts by rote. This is also a big motivation forher.


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Our lessons have three parts. All these parts go from Alenas needs. It means

that she has the opportunity to determine the content of our lessons according to what

she feels that she needs and wants, as I describe in my theoretical part. At first, I ask

Alena if there is something that she does not understand at school. We often practice

grammar for some tests or I examine her in vocabulary. She sometimes needs help

with her homework. Then we practice some new grammar that I think she will need

for the school-leaving exam from the Textbook for language schools. And then we

learn themes for speaking part of school-leaving exam.

As I write in the theoretical part of my thesis Nowadays more and more

teachers are discovering the value of music, physical exercise, and guided relaxation

techniques as stress-reducers I try to use this. Because I know that she enjoys

various English activities, I try to prepare some of them for her. If we have time, we

listen to a song and translate it. She likes it and I know that she can learn something

from it too.

4. Skills

Alena is skilful and there are many areas that she is good at. She is quite good

at speaking and listening but sometimes she has a problem with writing.

Her big disadvantage is her laziness. She is able to learn almost everything

but only when she is under the pressure and she knows that she simply has to. So she

needs the private lessons because without them she would not learn anything more.

Also when I examine her in new vocabulary it is because of the fact that it helps her

and she does not have to learn it at home.

5. Perception of learningAccording to what she has told me, she thinks that she cannot learn. She has

no fixed rules how to study and because she has always so many things to do, she has

problems with concentration and even if she studies, for example, history, she thinks

about English or geography or about a text for her chorus. She claims that she cannot

learn at a quiet and calm place. She needs to listen to music that does not interrupt

her at all. She needs frequent breaks and she needs to move a lot during her breaks,

for example, she dances for a while.


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The experience and ability of learning long texts enables her to improve in

learning other subjects. She is accustomed to learn by listening to it and hearing it, so

she cannot remember anything, she tries to sing it. She sets it to music or an easy

melody and it helps her to remember it better. She found it out when she was

desperate by learning something and she began to sing it. Later, when she was

examined, she remembered it and since then she has done it sometimes.

She uses highlight pen but she admits that it is not for better lucidity but

because she wants her notes to be nice and colored. But it is true that she always

notices the colored notes and she remember it. When she learns something, she read

it aloud but if it is something technical or logical she needs to write it down. She is

able to count for a long time but she is not able to read a text for a long time.

6. Alenas learning styles:



From these results it is clear that Alena is mainly an auditory type but she

tends to be visual too.

It means that Alena prefers listening and speaking activities (discussions,lectures, audio tapes or role-plays) and she also relies on the sense of sight and

books, video, charts or pictures help her to learn as well.

My commentary:

This is obvious from the casuistry where I describe her ability to learn

something by listening to it and by her own melodies and songs. It is caused by her

love and desire for music and also by the fact that she has learnt numerous texts for

many years, so she is accustomed to learn things in this way.Teaching one-to-one suits Alena very much just because she has an auditory

learning style. She needs to hear it and she can listen to me during our one-to-one

classes. I can repeat something to her several times and she remembers it.


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These results tell us that Alena is more likely extrovert than introvert.

In learning a second language it means that extraverts enjoy discussion, role-

plays and dialogues. An extraverted person enjoys time spent with people than alone.

My commentary:

Alena is an extrovert at first sight. She always smiles; she is outspoken and

very sociable. Her experience with singing and performing enables her to be released

and not to be shy or nervous. She loves working in a group of people, she is not shy

at all and when she works with some other people, she is a leader. She has no

problems with conversation, role-plays or dialogues. To speak in front of the class

makes no problems for her. And even if she makes a mistake, she is not sad or

stressed by it and she makes nothing of it.

Because she is not shy, she speaks during English lesson a lot and it means

that she develops very quickly. It is the same in our one-to-one classes and even if a

large group of people suits her more, she can learn very much in our lessons as well.

III. How I receive informationA Total: 15 B Total: 9

These results mean that Alena prefers global learning.

Global learners tend to learn in large jumps by absorbing material in a

random order without necessarily seeing any connections until they have grasped the

whole concept. (www.jcu.edu)

My commentary:

As Alena admits, she has no set way how to learn. She is not very nit-picker

and she manages with a global knowledge. She does not want to know any specific

information about a subject at first.

When I teach Alena, I see that she needs to know the whole conception of a

topic at first. She does not need to know any details but she is able to make a total

idea or concept of a piece of knowledge. Only then she is interested in its details.

When she learns something, she can use it in another subject or she applies it in a

different situation.


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These results tell us that Alena has synthesizing thinking.

This is very close to the previous item. As Katka, Alena is able to compound her

pieces of knowledge and she has brilliant general knowledge.

My commentary:

Alena does not know things in their details but she knows almost everything.

She can sell her global knowledge much more than somebody who knows something

very deeply. She enjoys when she can tell me something interesting about history in

English because she can connect her knowledge of history and her ability to speak in

English.



From these results it is obvious that Alena prefers inductive learning.

It is clear that Alena is more inductive learner. It means that she is able to

cope with only one piece of information and she can apply it further. She likes to

apply generalizations to experience, and to start with a particular thing (observations

or data) and she continues with generalities (rules or theories).

My commentary:

Alena cannot learn some theorems but she has to understand it. She needs to

know how she can use it at first. Then she needs to know where she can use it. Only

then she is able to care about its specific using, its advantages or disadvantages or its

exceptions. When she knows the basic rules, she can explore it more deeply and she

begins to connect it with something else. Because I know this fact, I try to regulate

our lessons and my explanations in this way.


Alena has attended my private lessons for two years. She knew hardly

anything when I started to teach her but nowadays, she is able to speak fluently and

she wants to know more and more because she is really highly motivated. Alena is

very clever student but as I said she is sometimes very lazy and she does not want to


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learn on her own. I see that she is really auditory type of learner and I can offer and

realize her learning style in this way, it means in one-to-one class.

Advantages: I think that teaching one-to-one suits her very much. She needs to

learn English also in her free time when she wants to set for the school-leaving

exam. She needs to study English hard and very often. And the other thing is that

she really needs someone who forces her and works with her all the time. Only in

this way she is able to concentrate on learning.

Disadvantages: Alena is really an extrovert and she loves working with people.

She enjoys activities in a large group and she could miss this in teaching one-to-

one.

8. What I recommend her

Because Alena is an auditory learner, she should sometimes learn with

someone. If she cannot learn with a private tutor, she could learn with a study

fellow student. They could review key information and prepare for exams better

because Alena needs to hear it and this would be an easy way to improve her

learning style.

It is not often possible to learn with somebody else, so when she studies by

herself, she should talk out loud to aid recall. She should not be disturbed by anyone

and she should read her notes and textbook out loud.

Because she is an auditory type, it would be good to tape record lectures for

her. Or, create her own audio tapes by reading notes and textbook information into a

tape recorder. And when she would prepare for an exam, she could review the tapes

on her way to school or during her breaks at school.

Alena admits that she has problems with concentration on learning. So I

would recommend her to learn step by step and when she learns a sequence of steps,she should write them out in sentence form and read them out loud. She has to learn

how to organize her learning process. She can make a list of duties or subjects that

she has to learn. She can plan how much time she needs for each duty and she has to

comply with it. She can include breaks, of course. In this way, I also lead our one-to-

one lessons. I always tell her what we will do and how long. I think that it is very

important to do this.


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9. Activities

I try to combine Alenas learning style and areas that she needs to practice.

Alena has mainly an auditory learning style and she needs to hear everything when

she learns. She needs to practice grammar, vocabulary and writing where she often

makes mistakes. She is quite good at speaking, so she could use this ability during

practicing grammar or vocabulary.

I have prepared three activities for Alena that we can do in our one-to-one

classes:

1. In the first one she can practice vocabulary of various topics. It could be suitable

for the speaking part of school-leaving exam.

2. The second activity is good for revising her global knowledge of various

vocabularies where she can practice also her writing.

3. The third activity is a listening exercise in which I combine her need for auditory

instruction and a need for practicing grammar. I think that this practicing of grammar

is very suitable for her.

1) Word clap

This activity is usually played in a group of people but I think that we can do it in a

pair as well.

Procedure: We maintain a four-beat rhythm, clapping our hands on our thighs three

times (one-two-three) and then both hands together (four!). The game should start

slowly, but the pace of the clapping can gradually increase. The idea is to take turns,

to shout out a different word from a pre-selected lexical set (for example, fruit and

vegetables) on every fourth beat. We could play this as a competition and a player

who either repeats a word already used or says nothing has a point minus. And then

the lexical set is changed. It can be: the area of family, shopping, clothes, furniture,nationalities, jobs etc.

My commentary: I think that this activity is very suitable for Alena because of her need for

rhythm and melody. When she repeats some vocabulary in a set rhythm, she remembers

these words better. She likes melody and she uses it in her learning, so she could certainly

enjoy this activity.


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2) Quick revision games - Five things

Procedure:I give Alena a set of slips with five things she has to name.

Examples:

Name five drinks

Name five things that move

Name five things you would be doing if you weren't here

Name five ways to get rich

Name five animals

It means that she has to write these words that makes her problems and she can

practice it in this way and as well as various vocabulary.

Then we would speak about everything she has written. For example: What is her

favorite drink and food? Does she have any pet? Would she like to be rich? Why?

etc.

My commentary: She could use her ability of speaking, she could practice her

vocabulary further and she would practice grammar in this way as well. I think that

this activity is very good for one-to-one class because there is only she and I and she

has to answer my questions and speak all the time.

3) Talking about quantity

This is an exercise in which Alena can practice grammar and then she can check it

with the tape, so she hears it what helps her to remember it better.

Procedure: At first, Alena fills in the gaps with some or any that we have gone

through. (You can see the exercise in the appendix III.)

After doing this exercise, we listen to the tape and check the answers. We discuss

some items that she does not understand and we can listen to it once more.

My commentary: The first step is to fill in the gaps according to what she has alreadyknown and the second step, that is very important for Alena, is that she can hear it

once more either from the tape or from me. I think that Alena appreciate this type of

exercise because the more she hears it, the better she will remember it.


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CASUISTRY III.

Simona

NAME SimonaAGE 25FIELD OF STUDY Faculty of Art, Masaryk UniversityREASON FOR 1-TO-1 Preparing for an exam at university

Longing for speaking fluentlyPREVIOUS LEARNING EXPERIENCE Passively from the grammar schoolMAIN PERCEPTION OF LEARNING Visual

1. Simonas field of study and previous learning experience

This girl is 25 years old. I have been teaching her for two years and I think

that she is really skilful and clever.

After finishing the basic school, Simona studied at the grammar school and

now she studies at the Faculty of Art of Masaryk University. She studies the

European Union there. She is bored with the university education but she is really

enthusiastic with learning languages. She learns German, Spanish and English and I

have to say that she is very good at it.


Simona studied English at the grammar school but German was her first and

more important language so when she began to visit my private lessons, she knew

only few English words and phrases. But she has improved very much and nowadays

she knows quite a lot, she is able to speak and understand in English and she is very

good at grammar.

At first she needed English only for the university study but then she has

taken a fancy to English and now she is interested in it very much.Her big advantage is her enthusiasm and diligence. She is highly motivated

which I describe in the theoretical part. She worked in the USA last summer. She

was really excited with it and she wants to go there again. I see how hard she works

and how much she wants to be able to speak fluently. She is really hardworking and

she wants more and more homework and new vocabulary.


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Time to time Simona needs something to translate for school but it is not

often and we concentrate on further study of English. We use the Textbook for

Language Schools and the textbook English Grammar in Use by Murphey. The

big advantage of teaching one-to-one is a choice of various resources, so I often copy

also exercises from other books for her.

We mainly practice grammar that she needs for an exam at school but she

needs to practice speaking too. So we use books mentioned above for grammar and I

search for other materials for speaking and conversation. They are various

magazines, listening and some speaking activities.

4. Skills

Simona has a very good memory and she has logical thinking, so she is very

good at grammar. Once she has understood something, she remembers it forever. It is

the same with writing. She learns how to write a word and then she has no problem

with it. But she has problem with reading and speaking. She is affected by

pronunciation from German, so she does not pronounce English words very well. But

we work on it. We use various English tapes by native speakers.

As I said, she is very good at grammar, she is able to translate sentences

perfectly but when she is supposed to speak, she is not able to speak fluently. But

just because of a private tutor, she can speak, she is no stressed when she has to

speak in front of me and she has improved it and it is better and better.

5. Perception of learning

When Simona learns, she needs to be alone. She cannot be disturbed by

anybody and she needs to learn in a completely calm and quiet background. Shewalks around the room and she reads it aloud. Sometimes it helps her when she

imagines that she explains it to somebody.

At school, she underlines and colors her notes and it helps her to be

acquainted with her notes and to remember the important information. She needs her

notes to be well-arranged and she needs lots of diagrams or charts.

Simona is really thoughtful student and she needs to know everything into

any details. She always asks me many questions to understand it properly. I knowthat she has to really understand something before she uses it.


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6. Simonas learning styles



From these results it is clear that Simona is visual but she tends to be

kinesthetic too.

It means that Simona relies more on the sense of sight. She has quite a lot

points in the third part too what means that she also has a kinesthetic style

preference.

My commentary:

I have known Simona for two years and I have to agree with these statements.

She always draws various pictures or diagrams when we are learning, for example,

new grammar. She admits that when she learns something, she has to walk and she

cannot sit. In my opinion she is very creative and she likes doing various projects.



These results tell us that Simona is more likely introvert than extrovert.

Simona comes out much more introverted, so it means that she likes to do

more independent work or enjoys working with one other person she knows well.

My commentary:

As I know Simona, I have to admit that she is really introverted. She likes

talking and communicating but only with one or two person. She is very shy and as

she confesses she has always had problems at school with conversation and speaking

aloud. This is no problem in teaching one-to-one and because we have got to know

each other well and we understand one another well, she is not bashful during our

lessons at all and speaking makes no longer problems to her.

III. How I receive information


These results mean that Simona prefers particular learning.

Simona has more likely particular style preference. She focuses more ondetails and remembers specific information about a topic well. Sequential learners


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understand new information in linear steps where each step follows logically from

the previous one.

My commentary:

As I mention in Simonas casuistry, she really focuses on details. To be able

to understand grammar, she needs to know everything and she has always many

questions because she is never satisfied with simple explanation. Even if she has set

rules and I explain it to her, she thinks more and more about it if there is something

that she still does not understand.



These results tell us that Simona has analytic thinking.

Simona is really analytic, she does well on logical analysis and contrast tasks,

and she tends to focus on grammar rules. It means that she likes to learn things step-

by-step, or sequentially. She has to understand something before you move on.

My commentary:

This is connected with the previous statement. It responses to what I claim in

her casuistry. She has very good logical thinking and she needs logical explanationfor everything. As she admits, sometimes she feels that she needs to understand each

part of what she learns.

She cannot go further in grammar until she understands everything about the

previous grammar item.

She is satisfied when she can combine and connect a new piece of

information with something that she learnt before.



From these results it is obvious that Simona prefers deductive learning.

It is clear that Simona is more deductive learner. It means that she likes to go

from the general to the specific. She likes to apply generalizations to experience, and

to start with rules and theories rather than with specific examples.


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My commentary:

When she filled in my questionnaire, she told me that she really needs

grammar rules to talk about something. Without it, she cannot converse. When I tried

to give her an example of a new grammar and I wanted her to make a rule from it,

she knew that there was something new, something that she did not know but she

could not generalize the rule. When I told it to her, she was able to make sentences

and examples immediately.


I have known Simona for more than two years. I know that she is very

hardworking and she is accustomed to study a lot and under the pressure because of

her study at the university.

I think that one

teaching english one to one

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