Julia TS #16 (Wei)

Julia TS #16 (Wei) 

Date/Time: Saturday, July 25, 4-5 pm  


Location: Virtual (Zoom)


Topic/Skill: Everyday campus life or community scenarios/ Phonetic accuracy, intelligibility, and natural rhythm.



Feedback Provided to the Tutee: In this session, Wei and I familiarized ourselves with the structure of the TOEFL Speaking format sections: Listen & Repeat and Simulated Interview. For the Listen & Repeat section, we worked on shadowing short clips online and chunking each sentence into logical parts. We also practiced note-taking and using short symbols to remember the sentences.



Lesson(s) About Tutoring and/or the Tutee You Learned: I learned that the TOEFL exam has completely restructured and that the Listen and Repeat section (while intuitive to native speakers) is incredibly difficult for second language learners, because the sounds of each word blend together and it takes perfect accuracy to achieve a 5. However, I also learned more about the structure, and that each listen and repeat sentence is scored on the same scale, and the first 2 sentences are easier, the next 3 sentences are medium difficulty, and the last 2 sentences are harder, with 19-20 syllables. Yet if you master the first 5 sentences as they are graded on the same scale, you have a better chance of getting a good score. Teaching or tutoring for a test is also very different than tutoring for language acquisition in general.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Melina CO #1 = Grammar with Prof. James

  Melina CO Blog Post #1 = Grammar with Prof. James Date/Time: January 9th, 2025, 9:00-9:50 am. Topic/Skill: Grammar, Low-Intermediate Level (Simple Present tense instruction and practice). Teacher Presentation: Prof. James first used the whiteboard to write out the rules for and examples of the simple present tense in English. She then showed a video of astronaut Suni Williams in space, using this video as a basis for more example sentences, and for much of the questions posed to the class.  Classroom Management: Prof. James rotated which student she looked to for answers during her instruction.  Materials: Whiteboard, markers, Youtube video.  Student Participation: Students took turns providing answers to the questions Prof. James posed with regard to how to construct a sentence in the simple present tense (identifying the subject, conjugating the verb in the sentence, etc.).  Feedback Provided: Prof. James would correct student mistakes by ...
Read more

Dojun Kim TS #7

Date/Time: 2/26/2026, 9am Location: Zoom Topic/Skill:  Cultural Discussion Feedback provided to the tutee: Word use, vocabulary in practice and context. Talked about how we use the phrase 'scratched car/banged up car' for damage done to a car from minor to moderate, gave him the word for tow truck in American English (initially called a towing car), interchangeable use of bathroom/toilet in American English and context dependency.  Lesson(s) about tutoring and/or the tutee you learned: Mr. Kim told me about how his lunar new year went, telling me about damage to his car that led to them taking the train to see his family. He also talked about what he typically does on weekends; taking his wife and daughter to the mall, where his daughter can play in a kids area with other kids. We then talked about the Superbowl, and I showed him some popular Superbowl ads. 
Read more

Emma Baker TS #12 (Yerlan)

     < Emma Baker TS #12 (Yerlan) > Date/Time:  Wednesday, February 25, 2026, from 2-3 PM Location:  CIES Topic/Skill:  TOEFL Email Attempt #3 & TOEFL Vocabulary Review Feedback Provided to the Tutee:  I went through an entire email prompt for the TOEFL, narrating how I would approach the specific prompt. I think this helped him a lot; we have to conquer the time limit now. We then reviewed some of the A words on the TOEFL vocabulary list. I checked his pronunciation and understanding by having him use the word in a sentence. Lesson(s) About Tutoring and/or the Tutee You Learned:  Yerlan was very receptive to the way I taught the email section today. I utilized the approach my teachers in middle and high school would use when giving us shortcuts for how to maximize our time on exams. I think I need to start stealing teaching methods from my teachers over the years to test if they work in a language context.
Read more