Stan_TP3

On Thursday (7/19) I met with my conversation group at 3pm as I typically do before class. On this occasion only Amr, Samer, and Soufiane showed up (which actually worked out in my favor because they are all about the same level). I asked if any of them had tutors. Amr said that he had Brian as a tutor, but Soufiane and Samer did not have a tutor. I told Soufiane and Samer that if they were interested in tutoring I would be happy to work with them. I also told Amr that if he would like additional tutoring time when Brian was not available, I would be happy to work with him as well. They all are very eager to learn and seemed excited about the idea of working with me(I think that building rapport with them through conversation really helped) I explained to them that I have an abundance of conversation hours, but that I was in need of tutoring hours. They suggested I just start using our conversation times for tutoring, starting with today. I asked them all what their goals were in life and in learning in English, what their strengths were, and their weakness. Amr asked about the requirements for being accepted to the masters program at the FSU Film School. I told him I wasn't sure of the requirements. He asked if he would have to pass the TOEFL. Soufiane stated that he believed that in order to attend any American University as an international student that you have to pass the TOEFL. I suggest that we spend the next 45 mins going over TOEFL sample questions, and so we did. The TOEFL questions seemed much different than anything they had encountered thus far. These questions were multiple choice questions on structure and written expression. The format was a sentence with a blank, and a word or words to fill in the blank as the options. We went over the questions together. I had each of them read the question aloud and try each choice in the blank. Then I asked them which they felt was the best answer. Right or wrong, we would go over their responses. I gave samples of ways in which both the right and wrong answers could be used in other sentences. There were also cases in which the vocabulary threw them off. For example, one question compared volcanoes and geysers:

Geysers have often been compared to volcanoes _______ they both emit hot liquids from below the Earth's surface.

1. due to
2. because
3. in spite of
4. regardless of

They knew what a volcano was, but they were not familiar with the term "geyser." So I explained to them what the term geyser was. I also explained to them what the term "emit" meant. Then we read over the question, and choose the correct answer. I then gave examples of how the other choices could be used in a similar sentence. For example:

"Geysers have often been compared to volcanoes due to the fact that they both emit hot liquids from below the Earth's surface."

"Geysers have often been compared to volcanoes in spite of the fact that one emits lava and the other emits water." (here I had to explain what lava is)

"Geysers have often been compared to volcanoes in regardless of the fact that one emits lava and the other emits water."

I explained that the last two sentences were uses of the more negative choices, and if they could learn to identify things like that on a test they could eliminate answers right away.

It took all of 45 mins to go over just a few questions this way, but I think we all got a lot out of it. Overall, I found that the TOEFL questions, or at least the sample questions I pulled from this site could be a bit confusing. However, I think they are a great teaching tool for lessons and tutoring, especially because they apply directly to many of the students goals.