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Talking can be a powerful tool of self-discovery for a teenager, especially with a sympathetic listener. Many young people with reading difficulties simply haven’t had enough experience using words to express their ideas and points of view, especially in structured or crowded settings. (According to some researchers, students spend, on average, three hours in a school day sitting passively while their teachers talk.) Conversing may be difficult at first, because adolescents are often uncomfortable with an adult they don’t know well, especially those perceived as authority figures.
If conversations are a structured part of each tutoring session, barriers will gradually break down. You might schedule five minutes at the beginning devoted to an agreed-upon subject or explore a casual question such as, “How was the concert last week?” Open -ended questions that require more than a “yes” or “no” answer are the best conversation boosters. During these conversations, you will be able to convey the pleasure of talk while staying alert for opportunities to teach literacy skills, such as listening, creative language use, and articulation of meaning. Good eye contact, positive posture, and an interested expression may encourage the student to ask you questions.
A big help to reluctant learners is the constant reminder that, when it comes to spoken language, there is no “correct” or “incorrect” English, only language that is adapted to different situations. Use the analogy of clothing to demonstrate the point. What one wears to school is determined by certain social and school rules (e.g. standard English), and may be very different from what one wears to a sporting event or a dance club (e.g. non-standard English).
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