Teach English in Dongfeng Zhen - Baoji Shi

In the world of teaching business English, teachers can either find themselves teaching individual students on a one-on-one basis or teaching an entire group of students in a classroom. This essay will discuss the advantages and disadvantages for teaching individual students in a one-on-one setting, how they differ from teaching a group of students in a classroom setting, and how to overcome the common issues we encounter while teaching individual students. When teaching individual students, the advantages for the students and the teacher are numerous. For the students, they receive all the feedback and attention they need. Since the teacher can focus all his attention on one student, the student can get a decent amount of language practice, which would not have been possible in a classroom setting, because teachers will often make sure that everyone in the class has an equal chance of participating. Furthermore, in a one-to-one setting, it is easier for the student to ask the teacher to focus his lessons on practicing a specific language skill in which the student needs the most (for example, speaking), over other skills that are less relevant to the students’ need (such as reading and writing, for instance). Such demand would not be possible in a classroom with a dozen of other students. As for the teacher, the greatest advantage of teaching individual students is how easy it is to calibrate the lessons to the students’ needs, allowing the students to practice the skills they need the most by selecting materials that suit them best. In contrast, material selection for an entire group of students is much harder, since students in a group often have different personalities, interests and varying levels of language proficiency, which makes selecting course material a rather dauting task. Finally, the last advantage for both the student and the teacher is how easy it is to monitor the student’s progress in individual lessons and adjust the lessons at the students’ own pace. In contrast, in a classroom setting, without the use of formal examinations such as progress tests and achievement tests, it is hard to monitor the progress of each student and adjust the pace of the course accordingly. However, despite these numerous advantages, there are also a few downsides when it comes to teach individual students. The most obvious disadvantage is the fact that there is no pair work in individual lessons. It is an important downside because there are few resources available for teaching individual students, and most published resources assume the possibility of using pair work or groupwork in its communicative activities. One of way to solve this issue is to learn more about our students’ interests and personality through conversation or writing practice and calibrate the activities to suit our students. Another disadvantage in teaching individuals is the possibility of having a personality difference between the student and the teacher, which could make the interactions rather awkward. In the case of the teacher having a personality difference with the student, the teacher will need to remain professional and try to find a common interest with the student to make the interactions more tolerable. Although personality differences between the students and the teacher can occur in a classroom setting as well, it is much easier to mitigate the issue in a group setting, since the teacher can always divert his attention towards other students, rather than the one with whom he does not get along, which is not possible in a one-on-one setting. Finally, one last disadvantage of teaching students in one-on-one setting is how students can easily get bored of always interacting with the same person. This issue is arguably the easiest one to solve compared to the previous ones; by varying the course material and the activities based on our students’ interests, we can make sure that our students are always engaged in our lessons. Furthermore, if one takes a closer look at a typical classroom, students often interact with only two or three other students out of their own volition, based on either compatible personality, similar background or shared interests. Without any interference from the teacher, the students might instinctively interact with the same person continually throughout the course. In other words, I believe the chances of a student getting bored of only interacting with the same person is rather low if he sees his conversation partner (in this case, the teacher) as having a compatible personality, or similar interests. In conclusion, teaching individual students in a one-on-one setting is a unique and enriching experience. Its advantages are numerous for both the student and the teacher. For the student, he can have the entire lesson centered around him, while receiving all the attention and feedback he needs from the teacher. As for the teacher, it can be rather easy to plan the lesson and select the course material if he knows his student’s personality, interests and language level. Although there are a few disadvantages to teaching individual students, none of them are impossible to overcome. It is important for us teachers to appreciate the advantages such learning environment can offer, while overcoming the challenges that arise from the same environment. I believe maximizing the strengths of any learning environment, while learning to work his way around any issues that might arise, is essential to become a full-fledge teacher.