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AF Education

专属博客 Liam Carrigan

每一位老师都遇到过这样的学生：不论你如何缓慢地说话，或者你如何耐心地鼓励和推动他们，他们就是不开口。

Every teacher has encountered students like this. The kind of students who, no matter how slowly you speak, or how patiently you encourage and nudge them, they just won’t communicate. 

而在我过去十年的英语教学经验当中，这是最棘手的问题。

Of all the challenges I have faced in the English teaching classroom over the past 10 years, this has proven to be one of the most vexing. 

面对这种情况，最重要的就是别感到太沮丧。学生不情愿说话，有很多原因，当然，我们也有很多应对措施。

It is important in this situation though, not to get too frustrated. There are a multitude of causes for such reluctance among students, and where there are multiple causes, there are of course, also a multitude of potential remedies. 

首先，最重要的是要考虑我们正在处理一个什么情况下的会话困难。“会话困难”是一个很大的话题，要解决这个问题需要考虑许多方面。

First of all, it’s important to consider just what type of speech issue we are dealing with in each particular case. “Speech issues” is a very broad topic base and incorporates a huge range of challenges and disabilities. 

学生结巴或口吃吗？他们处于紧张状态吗？他们有压力或焦虑吗？他们具有自闭症倾向吗？

Does the student stammer or stutter? Do they have a nervous condition? Are they suffering from stress or anxiety? Are they on the autistic spectrum? 

这只是我们必须考虑的许多可能性中的一小部分。

These are just a small share of the many possibilities we have to consider. 

从老师的角度来说，最重要的是要记住这一点：

What is most important from the teacher’s perspective is to remember this above all:

开不了口不是学生的错！

Speech problems are not the student’s fault!

几乎在每个课堂当中，每个学生都的确希望自己能作出和其他同学一样的表现，但总有什么在扯其中一些学生的后腿。

In almost all cases, the student really wants to express themselves and play just as big a part in the lesson as the rest of their classmates, but something is holding them back. 

一旦我们明白到这一点，我们就可以开始探索问题在哪里，以及如何解决它。

Once we understand this fundamental point, we can then begin to explore some possible ideas as to what may be the problem and how best to tackle it. 

在我们开始寻求个别的解决方案之前，我们也需要从老师的角度考虑，有什么简单步骤是可以为“难以启齿”的学生和他们的同学缓和这个紧张气氛。

Before we start looking at individual solutions however, we also need to consider what simple steps we as teachers can take to make the situation less stressful both for the student and their classmates. 

创造一个积极的学习环境听起来像是废话，但这的确是不可忽略的一点。

Creating a positive learning environment may sound like some overly simplistic “buzz words” but this really is an important point to remember. 

导致这些会话困难往往是心理上的因素。可能是某个心理创伤，可能是神经系统的问题或发育障碍，又可能只是极端焦虑。在这些情况下，任何积极的、支持学生的环境，都能让整个课堂截然不同。

Often the underlying causes of speech issues are psychological. It could be a trauma, it could be a neurological or developmental disorder, or it could just be extreme anxiety. In any of these cases, doing all you can to create a positive, supportive environment in the classroom will make a huge difference. 

那么，怎样才可以做到呢？

So, how do we achieve this?

首先，想想你是怎么和学生互动的，特别是在学生发言的问题上。要尽可能地赞扬学生，并给予尽可能多的肯定回应。尽管他们只是说了很少内容，但如果明白到学生是作出了巨大努力的，就应该对他给予肯定。

Firstly, think about how you interact with the students, especially the student with the speech issue. Be sure to offer as much praise and positive feedback to the student as possible. Even if they only say a few words, understand that for such a student this requires a gargantuan effort and should be acknowledged as such. 

另外，纠正学生的时候要小心。一般来说，比起普通的学生，你应该对这些学生更宽容些。

Also, be careful when you offer correction. As a general rule, you probably want to “go a little easier” on these students than you would with regular students. 

我在教学的时候，一般都不纠正学生简单的语法错误或者发音错误。只有当他们说得太离题以致于让人难以理解的时候我才会纠正。

In my case, I ordinarily don’t correct a student with a speech issue when they make a minor grammatical or pronunciation error. I only correct them in the case where they have said something so far from the intended meaning that comprehension becomes very difficult. 

然而，如果你使用这个方法来处理学生的口语问题，那么你则需要对整个班级都采取这个方法，否则被你纠正的学生会觉得你在故意刁难他。

However, if you adopt this tact with your students with speech issues, for that one class you will need to adopt a similar model of error correction with the rest of the class too. Otherwise, it could look like you are singling that one student out specifically. 

对于“难以启齿”的学生，他们很有可能是被其他同学嘲笑的对象，或是被视为异类，作为老师，你也不会愿意分化同学、或者给这些有口语问题的学生增加压力。

As someone with speech issues, there is a fairly high probability that this student is already the subject of some teasing or strange looks from the other kids and you don’t want to do anything that runs the risk of driving a further wedge between them and their peers. 

欺凌也可能是一个潜在问题，你需要留意学生有没有类似的迹象。如果学生突然变得更沉默，或者比平常更内向，或者如果他们抗拒上课、特别愤怒或者沮丧，这些就有可能是被欺凌的信号，你需要着手调查一下。

Bullying can also be a concern and you need to keep an eye out for the signs. If the student suddenly becomes quieter and more withdrawn than usual, if they are reluctant to attend classes or if they show signs of additional anger or frustration then these are all potential indicators of bullying and need to be investigated. 

一个能让发言紧张的学生在课堂上有更多互动的好方法是使用“结对子”的形式。

One good way to get nervous students interacting more in class is to use a buddy system. 

挑选出班上一些比较成绩比较好、比较自信的学生，让他们跟口语有困难的学生结对子。表现较好的学生可以鼓励和帮助那些羞于发言的同学。如果口语较弱的学生碰巧状态不好或者他们难以开口，那么在小伙伴面前出现这些问题也远没有在全班面前出糗可怕。

Identify one of the stronger, more confident students in your class and pair them up with the student who has speech issues. The stronger student can encourage them and offer help and support. If the nervous student is having a bad day and feels unable to communicate then they can also communicate through their “buddy” if the idea of speaking in front of the whole class is too scary for them on that particular day. 

你也应该再三考虑一下，给学生安排什么样的活动。

You may also want to rethink what activities you give to the students. 

在很多情况下，单独发言的活动会让学生感觉自己被孤立和暴露于人前，所以集体活动可能会更好。在小组活动的时候，要注意被你编排到同一个组的学生，确保他们不会让害怕发言的学生更紧张、更厌恶发言。

In such a scenario, individual speaking activities are going to make the student feel singled out and exposed. So team based games are perhaps better. In pair work scenarios, be careful who you pair the student up with. Make sure it is someone who you know will be understanding and supportive and not make the student feel any more nervous and reluctant than they already do. 

正如我前面所说的，让学生在课上发言无疑是教师面对的最大挑战。然而，正如金币是有两面的，按照我的经验，没有比一个老师能看到学生克服障碍大声自豪地说话更让人欣慰的了，不是吗？

As I said before, teaching students with speech issues is undoubtedly one of the greatest challenges a language teacher can face. However, that works two ways. I know from experience that there is no greater sense of satisfaction a teacher can have than to see such a student overcome their barriers and speak loudly and proudly!