Recommendation of Training Method is important as it is a way to help your student improve and attain their goal. Recommendation of training method is done once;

• The student is studying the OLD SPTR MATERIAL
• The student is about to finish his/her chosen training method
• Upon training, the trainer finds out that the training method is not for the student’s level (The current method may be too difficult or too easy for him/her)
• The student asks for trainer’s recommendation of the training method that is suitable for him/her
• Student’s first time training in SPTR (based on the First Timer’s Deck Evaluation Result)

Note: The trainer should consider student’s level, performance on the training, skills she needs to improve and her goal in studying the language before deciding the training method to recommend.

More details

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1K4hjmsaHz5R5JVneyZAbbcZp6XDFE227Btv8XgZs0F8/edit?usp=sharing

Giving Feedback can be a delicate process, but assessing a student’s progress can lead to improvement and growth.

General concept

When Trainers give feedback to someone’s performance, we follow a general concept. Many call it sandwich, other says sugarcoating. Well, whatever trainer may call it, in the field of Education, we named it as 3Ks - and that is the (Kiss, Kick, Kiss). This 3Ks is a representation. 

Kiss - Positive
Kick - negative

So, when giving feedback, we have to tell first the positive things about their performance/ work, before we will proceed to the things to improve and wrap it up with another positive remarks.

Do’s and Don’ts in giving feedback to our students

DO’s

Be specific.

In giving feedback, you have to be clear what are the things s/he is good at and what are the things s/he needs to work on and improve more. Trainer needs a technique to give the important points in the training. Give him concrete instruction to improve his skills.

Ex:

Instead of saying “You have pronunciation lapses” , specify what specific sound s/he has to work on and practice more like “You have to practice more in pronouncing your “L and R”.

Instead of saying “your idea and answer is lacking.” Tell the student to create simple complete sentences one at a time.

Focus on feedback appropriate for the student’s level.

As a trainer, you don’t have to point out mistakes again and again if not a big deal. For example, “The student’s pronunciation of R is not right, however, there is no problem to communicate up to intermediate level, when you can’t pronounce ''R” perfectly. So, point it out once or twice but never tell it again and again. Instead, focus and teach your student critical points to facilitate communication at their level.

Be Sensitive

Always keep the emotional needs of your student into account. Avoid negative and strong feedback. Make it milder. In order for the students to be motivated to continue learning, you should praise the performance and target only the really important points (Not all mistakes.) that s/he needs to know at his level. Don’t forget to respect him and be sensitive.

DON'Ts

Do not correct all the mistakes every time.

Correcting everything in detail could worsen the situation. The students will feel shy to try again and worst when s/he will lose his/her motivation to study if s/he commits 4 mistakes in 1 sentence and you are there stopping him/her correcting every detail of each, the result is s/he will become demotivated and stop learning.

Avoid telling negative words

Avoid telling negative words like “no” , “that’s not correct/right”, “that’s wrong”. Instead, tell them things to improve in a good way. Make negative comments sounds positive. Instead of saying “that’s not right”, say “it could have been better this way when you….”

Don’t give mean comments.

Ex:

“You have bad pronunciation.” - mean / rude and can hurt someone’s dignity.

Instead, tell your student in a nicest way possible. “You have a little pronunciation lapses that needs to improve and practice. Try pronouncing “R” again, good! say “reading” - that’s it.” Aright! in other words : (Give praise though it’s not that perfect yet, at least they try and you see a good improvement.)

Elaborate, Don’t Just Verify

Provide elaborative feedback by giving enough information to clarify a point. While learners should know whether their answers are correct or incorrect, limiting feedback to verification only is not as effective as providing an explanatory feedback. You can provide elaborative feedback in different ways. These ways include the following:

• Describe what the issue or problem is
• Describe how the problem can be solved
• Describe why the particular answer is wrong
• Provide worked examples
• Provide guidance.

Keep It Short And Simple

It’s important to provide enough information without overwhelming the learner and invoking cognitive overload. The key is not to overwhelm the learners by keeping feedback clear, specific and simple. Long and complicated feedback that requires extra information processing will make the learners tired, demotivated, and perhaps confused.

DON’T press if the learner seems threatened.

“Back off” and listen to the learner if you sense the learner feeling threatened or defensive. Continuing without doing this will impede learning and disrupt trust.

when can we give an immediate feedback

• Immediate gain is desired
• The task is complicated
• The task requires immediate practice
• The task requires retention of procedural or conceptual knowledge
• Learners are low achievers.
• Provide delayed feedback when:
• When the aim is better transfer of learning
• The task is relatively simple
• Learners are high achievers.

Here in SPTR, we are not called TEACHER, we are called TRAINERs on purpose. Why? because we are not here to teach, we are here to guide and navigate a student’s learning. We train them for what they have learned. So, let’s be a better trainer to guide and encourage our students to learn!

Important tips;

• If the student can’t answer, type the question on Skype chat box and wait for the student to understand the question and answer. If the student finds it difficult to answer, provide the sample answer on the Skype chatbox and read it. Then, ask the student to answer again.Trainer's output should validate the student's input of learning.
• input ( reading and listening ) is important for SLAs
• In ESL, we follow 70% Student's Talking Time (STT) and 30% Trainer's Talking Time (TTT). Please guide the student to talk and practice. Trainer's role is only to guide the student, not to talk all the time. But in SLAs, if students can understand the trainer’s speaking and if something is worth hearing, it is considered as an input.
• choose words according to the student's word level (vocabulary)
• vary and adjust the speed according to the student's level of understanding
• Convey the purpose of study to the students each time to make them aware of it (state the training objectives)
• Since reading alone is not a guarantee of understanding, the trainers should check if the student understands the lesson (article/ dialogue, etc) Ask the student to do self-study and do comprehension check by asking questions about the topic..
• The word test (vocabulary enrichment) is to make sure students remember the meaning. Take the level of students into account when listening
• Don't ask students the meaning of the word, unless the student is already advanced or proficient in the English language.
• (Mr. Ms.) in which students' names are given honorific titles
• Working with Students as Professionals (Please do not talk informal words and sensitive issues to your student like a friend.)
• Trainers do not use or teach less commonly used words such as slang (Don't do anything except slang classes/trainings)
• When pointing out students' mistakes in class, focus on frequent mistakes. Do not cover infrequent words or content unless the question is from the student.
• Small mistakes like English articles (The/A) doesn’t need to be pointed out because even advanced English speakers sometimes make mistakes.( Trainer should only review this in writing class)
• /r//, /l/, /v/, /b/ and /th/ are difficult for Japanese learners to pronounce. It can't be fixed easily. Once the pronunciation of the word is enough to be understood, there is no need to point this out. It is important for learners to be highly motivated in pronunciation.
• Even advanced English speakers sometimes make mistakes with tense, plural, or -s, so It doesn’t have to be pointed out.
• (The trainer should only review this in writing classes.)
• We don't recommend Netflix as a recommended way to learn English if the word level doesn't fit (It's okay if students are interested. They can also listen until they understand it, or can listen until they understand it over and over again. It's better to use subtitles.)
• ensure student's level of understanding
• It is also important to choose to watch programs with a lot of vocabulary.
• It is also good to try to speak or write various things about the movie.
• Do not engage in personal topics or even start one unless the student opens up. If the student opens up, listen and remain professional in your interaction. Don’t give too much opinion, continue the conversation with limitation.
• We can recommend reading and listening to English on student’s favorite subjects. If students read and listen to the same thing over and over again, their comprehension will increase and they will memorize words.
• But pay attention to the level of words.
• Always maintain eye to eye contact during the training.
• Don't end with a good job, focus on what the student did and praise him/her with a not so obvious exaggerated praise.