Source - Bangkok Post (Eng)

Tuesday, August 05, 2008  09:57

I believe that a lot of homework is copied in schools and that students do not understand why teachers give it in the first place. It seems an inconvenience to them, and used by the education establishment to take up their free time. So they believe that a balance can be struck by copying the work five minutes before the lesson starts.

Maybe there is too much emphasis put on homework. I do not give any marks for the completion of homework. However, I do note all those who have failed to complete the tasks assigned, and their grades will be adjusted downward when we reach the end of the semester.

I always point out that it is unfair for me to give two students the same grade if one does his or her homework and the other doesn't.

Likewise, homework is to be completed at home, not in the classroom. In the classroom we call it class work and this is homework, so it has to be completed -  you've guessed it -  at home!

I believe that there are too many grey areas concerning homework, and that once the students understand why they have homework in the first place and what is expected from them, they tend not to copy as much. You will never be able to stop it altogether.

Successful assignments

I assign homework after every lesson, as it is normal that I see my students once a week.

I set homework for three reasons. The first of which is to confirm what students have (or haven't) learned in the present lesson. As there is a break of seven days before I see my students again, I often have them to complete tasks that demonstrate the specific items concerned.

The second reason is to introduce the next subject we are going to study. Here, there is an opportunity for students to get some form of understanding of what they are going to be doing in the coming lessons. Finally, I wish to measure a student's progress and recycle what has been taught previously, so that it is still fresh in their memory at the end of a 16-week semester.

I try never to have students finish something off from that day's classroom work as I want to make a distinction between the two. Students are pleasantly surprised when I tell them not to finish off the work for homework and that we will carry on with it next lesson. They think that after all, it must be due to my poor planning that we are not where we are supposed to be.

Checking homework

The first thing I do at the start of the class -  after normal chit-chat and after one of the students has taken the register -  is go round the class to see if students have  completed their homework. All that I am looking for is that it has been done by everyone.

Having taken names (a very rare occurrence now), I go around the class asking students at random for answers to questions, so I can make sure all students have the correct answers. I tell students on the first day of the semester that they will not lose marks for mistakes they make in their homework. I further explain that the only way they can lose marks is by not doing their homework.

This is quite an enjoyable process (for me, anyway) as the teacher can be very animated when confirming and correcting what the students say, and it is also an opportunity for pronunciation practice as I always repeat the answer after the students have answered, and I can hear many of them repeating after me.

Humour is a good thing in the classroom, and my students have a good laugh at bad pronunciation and incorrect answers, many of them shout out the correct answer when someone makes a mistake.

I also like asking whether someone has copied his or her homework when I walk round to check. We have practised Thai soap opera answers with fake tears, the placing of a hand on the brow and a look of innocence with deep meaningful intonation in their voices.

I believe that if nothing else, most of my students would be able to work on television in one of the many Thai soap operas that are so popular with the youth of today.

Steve Graham is an English language teacher at the Language Centre, Udon Thani Rajabhat University in northeast Thailand. You can contact Steve at steve@steves-english-zone.com , if you have any comments or areas for debate that you would like to discuss.