Kim Clauson_ CO 1

                On Friday, November 9, 2012, I had the privilege to meet with Karen, the English language coordinator at the Public Library.  I volunteered to tutor a person who signed up for assistance from the library.  I was accepted to the program and given an incredible welcome package with an abundance of additional resources and websites.  I was also given access to library dedicated to lessons, books, and materials specifically for TEFL/TESOL resources.  It was super exciting!

                Karen suggested that I observe the tutoring class that was occurring momentarily to use the experience as an example of how to approach tutoring.  The class was much larger than what I would be organizing, yet it still offered valuable insight.  Vicki was the instructor and she had about ten to fifteen students that arrived and left at their convenience. 

                Vicki’s lesson was student-centered for the most part, though she did stand up and write additional vocabulary on the board the entire time.  I could tell that she was trying to have the students find the meaning of the vocabulary, rather than immediately give them the definitions.  The lesson was involving the publication “Upfront” which was distributed by the New York Times.  The lesson relied on receptive and productive language functions as students were required to read aloud, find difficult vocabulary, answer comprehension questions about the article, find places on the map, and debate situations that arouse in the articles.  I thought it was interesting because the group began to debate highly political issues, including those that involved the rights of Arabic women, political boundaries, and the United States military.  I felt like the instructor made complications more easily understandable, though perhaps, slightly over-simplified.  There was a Muslim woman who left during the discussion who happened to be wearing a traditional headpiece.  I couldn’t help but wonder if the talk made her feel uncomfortable. 

                One statement that I found to be very interesting was Vicki’s explanation that one goal of the tutoring class was to “Americanize” people by getting them to be free thinkers, and furthermore, to value their opinions.  My friend Luci told me that this was difficult for Asians, especially Chinese students, because she said that most Chinese people don’t have their own different opinions and they are not encouraged to share them.