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Jack TS #4


For my fourth tutoring session, I worked with Mohammed on a presentation about the history/etymology of English words. Mohammed was to present it in class the next day and he wanted some help putting the finishing touches on it. We reviewed the grammar and usage of the presentation and did a little more research to make sure the historical facts were correct. This was different for me as etymology is something we do not necessarily review in TEFL class. I offered what limited knowledge I had about prefixes and their languages of origin, explaining that words spelled similarly are pronounced differently because they come from different languages. We definitely had to do more research then I am used to as I am accustomed to helping my tutees review for their classes (more top-down processing) instead of creating brand new material (bottom-up processing). This was a challenge I am glad I got to take on, though, because I may encounter tutees who need more help with work that requires bottom-up processing instead of top-down. Learning to teach for each of these two approaches is important as they appeal to different learning styles and are both parts of effective language learning.

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