I teach a student who has a good level in English but who gets incredibly tongue-tied because he just gets so nervous about speaking English. In his private lessons with me he is always okay after a little warm up, although he always remains nervous, but he tells me that at the English company meetings which he should contribute to he completely freezes up. It is frustrating for him but also for me, because I know his English really is good enough. I want to help him but continuous positive feedback and other "mental backrubs" don't seem to be helping, and I don't know what else to do.
This question is from Kes, Germany
If you have suggestions for Kes please, contact us. Please include 'Tongue tied student' in the subject line of your message. teachingenglish@britishcouncil.org
Comments
joe
Hi Kes,
The case that you have written about is of course difficult though not rare. I have some suggestions:
1) Since the student is comfortable in your company, why don't you accompany him to a few of the English company meetings till he feels confident enough?
2) When you teach him try to have one or two mock sessions of such meetings with people whom you know but he doesnt know. Do it without informing the student earlier.
People like your student are comfortable with familiar faces. But their discomfort in others' company is only a teething difficulty. They should realise that How we make the unfamiliar familiar is the art of living.
Alison Johnson
It’s always difficult when you have a student who has a good level but freezes when they have to speak English in front of others.
What is your student like in his native language? In my experience, personality is an important factor. If someone is outgoing and confident they’ll be happy to speak even if they make mistakes or lack vocabulary. If on the other hand the person is fairly shy even when speaking their native language it’s impossible to imagine they’ll undergo a personality change when speaking a foreign language!
Also who is present at these meetings? Are they his superiors? If so he could feel uncomfortable, it could also be difficult if the other participants speak English better than he does (or he thinks they do). It seems Kes’s student remains nervous even in a one to one context. So perhaps meetings in general are difficult.
However as a language teacher, not a psychologist, I would encourage this person to be as prepared as possible when he knows he has a meeting, understand the agenda, have ideas and comments written down to refer to and be prepared to speak about a specific topic that concerns him. Spontaneous dialogue is obviously far more difficult for a student like this but at least in a meeting there is (usually) a structure, written information is sent before a meeting so preparation is possible.
Have you done any work on making a presentation in English? Make him feel confident standing up in front of you making a PowerPoint presentation. Use as much business/technical vocabulary as is necessary to get him used to using the relevant vocabulary for him and making him feel at ease.
Maria, HollandEugenia Papaioannou, Greece - EFL teacher
It seems that what troubles your student is awareness of voice projection which results in lack of confidence. I would advise you to do the following:
Next time you have a lesson with him, record part of the lesson without him knowing. Record a discussion between you and him about an issue for 5-6 minutes. Then tell him that part of the lesson has been recorded because 'this is part of a project that you prepare for your students'. Set him a task: to listen to this recording and take notes (for example, if his arguments were strong enough, if he would like to add something that was not said, etc.). Finally, tell him that this recording will be used in other projects that you have with other students.
Do it a couple of times in the next lessons but this time inform him that you will record your dialogue with him and follow the same procedure as before. After a week, talk to him about his contribution to these recorded dialogues and ask him to comment on his part. Compliment him on his good articulation and pronunciation and tell him that he has nothing to fear when he is with other people because he can communicate very well.
If you do it the right way and he does not panic, you will have helped him make a great step towards gaining confidence because when he listens to the recorded dialogues he is likely to overcome the fear of voice projection and he is very likely to overcome his problem.
I have tried this with some of my students who, finally, after 4 recordings improved so remarkably that they volunteered to make a speech in our school annual events! And they did it right!
Is there a possibility for this student to participate in (business) roleplays in a group of 6 or 7 students?
The roleplays are 'real' meetings, each role can be prepared thoroughly. There is a real issue that has to be dealt with and all students have to be actively involved if not the 'chairman' will ask for their opinions/contribution anyway.
As a teacher you interfere as little as possible, as you have told them beforehand that they can help each other out if there are words/expressions they do not know in English.
In my experience very tongue tied or shy students will get more confidence after 2 or 3 of these roleplays especially if they have acted as chairmen themselves.