Signe CO #2

CO #2

Ryan Flemming

6/23/2020

For my second class observation, I observed Ryan Flemming's speaking class. We started with a poll that he had sent the students where he asked them about their goals and interests as well as their desires for the class. I thought it was really helpful how he allowed them to talk without interrupting and correcting their grammar mistakes. Additionally, he spoke about some of the plans for the class and how they were going to work on times speaking using templates. He did speak rather slowly so that the students could understand and he used a level appropriate vocabulary. Mr. Flemming also would have them expand upon their answers to the questions ("Why?") and I think that this is helpful because it makes them have to think in more detail. While the students were giving their answers, Mr. Flemming was writing down some sentences that the students used incorrect grammar with and went over them at the end of the class. One thing that I found very interesting and helpful was that he emphasized that most native speakers do not pronounce words exactly as they are written. He used the example of the word "comfortable." Most native English speakers do not pronounce every syllable; rather they tend to blend the sounds together. i.e. "Comfterble" rather than "Com-for-ta-ble." So, he told the students to really try to listen to native speakers to get a feel for how they actually pronounce things. I think that this was really helpful for them.