Help me with a 6th year English class of weak non nationals!

sitstill

I have a 6th year class with nine kids in it, but they are all non nationals, none of whom have lived here for more than 18 months. They have such little command of the language that they often understand little of what I say.

So, I'm wondering, how on Earth can I approach Paper II stuff with them?(!) They have read "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time" for the single text but for the comparative I have to do "The Plough and the Stars"/ "The Truman Show"/ "The Crucible" with them. I am just at a total loss!

To be honest, I think they really are just aiming to pass the exam but obviously I want it to go as well as possible. Does anyone have any hints/tips/ideas for getting a group such as this through the exam?

Much appreciated!

implausible

you poor creatur, I sympathise. I deal with quite a few non-national students, but usually at J.C. level. As a marker of Leaving Cert Ordinary level, I can tell you that it CAN be done.

First of all, don't even dream about doing 3 texts for the comparative-they only need two. Ditch either The Plough or The Crucible. The latter is fairly complicated but the Daniel Day-Lewis/Winona Ryder film version is v good and not so different from the play. At the end of the day, all they have to do is compare theme (if your theme is love, you can use it for r'ships too) r'ships and social setting. They only need to study 2 out of the 3 modes.

Answers on The Curious Incident can be prepared and learned off. Look at past exams to predict qs. Foreign national students usually pick up marks in this section because they have prepared it.

Don't make the mistake of spending too much time on paper 2, especially poetry. It's easy to do, but not worth it. At the end of the day, the paper is designed to be passed. Out of 250+ papers this yr, only 9 failed.

Speeches/diary entries/letters for part B and practice and hope for the best for the part A. They can prepare some class of short story for the composition section.

It's completely against my English teacher instincts to narrow down so much and 'cheat' (Crucible film), but until a Leaving Cert ESOL or foundation exam is invented, it's what you have to do with that type of class.

Good luck! pm me if more info needed

estebancambias

I got an a1 in this and didn't do anything. I actually got 98%.

Tom Dunne

estebancambias wrote: »

I got an a1 in this and didn't do anything. I actually got 98%.

What has that got to do with the thread?

Please keep the posts on-topic and relevant.

sitstill

estebancambias wrote: »

I got an a1 in this and didn't do anything. I actually got 98%.

Are you talking about your Leaving Cert English result?

How do you know your exact grade? Candidates are only given their letter grade (A1, B2, C1 or whatever) not the exact mark.

StargazerLily

I'd agree about your comparative study - the three you are doing seem quite challenging for an ordinary level class...plus with the language barrier....are you tied to doing those texts? You know another option would be to do 'My Oedipus Complex and Other Stories '- probably wouldn't be that interesting to foreign students but you can get away with studying just one of the short stories so it would cut down on the amount they have to read. Not ideal, I know, but the situation isn't ideal. "Strictly Ballroom" has gone down well with my weak Ordinary level students too so that might be better than the Truman Show if they have very little English.

implausible

sitstill wrote: »

Are you talking about your Leaving Cert English result?

How do you know your exact grade? Candidates are only given their letter grade (A1, B2, C1 or whatever) not the exact mark.

You can view your scripts!

hope the hints helped...

sitstill

Hey guys,

Thanks for your responses, very helpful! Been mulling the situation over in my head over the weekend. I'm going to definitely look at doing 'My Oedipus Complex and Other Stories' instead of 'The Crucible'. I know that I could get away with the 2 texts, but I think I'd like them to have the 3 done, and if I can get away with just doing one story from the collection then its grand.

I'm going to spend from now till Xmas on the comparative and the poetry - is that too long? I think I will need it because we're doing Plough at the moment and they're stopping me to explain every other word **nightmare**

But I think over all I will focus on P1 as I think it is the most managable for them.

Its my first year in the school, hence why I got stuck with this group, and I think in future if I was offered a class like this I'd say no. Also aren't the choice of texts just riduclous?! I didn't pick them, the "senior" English teacher did and he will only take higher level classes so he hasn't got a clue!

implausible

sitstill wrote: »

Hey guys,

I know that I could get away with the 2 texts, but I think I'd like them to have the 3 done
.

It's not a matter of getting away with it sitstill, they are not required to do it! I've marked this level for the past few years and they are only asked to compare two.

Now 'til xmas is a bit long to be honest, for 140/400 marks. The poetry is always the stumbling block for foreign national students, so spending too long on it will not pay off. If they have a general understanding of the 18 or so poems, that's all you can hope for - English-speaking students have difficulty with Keats! While doing the poetry, practice part (c) questions e.g. personal interventions, as this will help them in B questions on paper I. An example would be a letter from Longley to his wife based on An Amish Rug, this would practice their letter writing -one of the most common B tasks.

Good luck!

sitstill

Brilliant, thanks again for your help!