Today I observed Ryan's advanced speaking class (level 3). A small group of only five students, the class dynamic was intimate and all the students felt comfortable with each other, and even me, whom they'd just met. Ryan began class by briefly going over the "agenda," beginning with a recap on yesterday's discussion: Marriage.
The students' backgrounds were fairly diverse: one from Columbia, 2 from Turkey, one from Afghanistan, and one from Korea. Ryan led the conversation in a casual, relaxed manner, but was intentional about what aspects he wanted them to focus on: "Before we start, Paulina, could you reiterate your position?" Paulina would then restate her view, and after some time was spent discussing/debating it, Ryan would address another student for another aspect of the topic (ex: transitioning from cohabitation to arranged marriage).
There was a great deal of mutual respect exhibited in the class, despite everyone's contrasting views on the topics, and Ryan only interjected when meaning or pronunciation were in question: "live or leave?" "could you explain that? I don't understand what you mean." Ryan also made a point of commending and encouraging the student when they implemented the correct pronunciation (a big problem word for one student was "girl," which he kept saying like "gull"--but he finally got it right at the end!).
This being the last class of the session, Ryan may have been a little more relaxed than usual, but needless to say, the "marriage conversation" was very interesting and everyone was eager to contribute their opinion (we got on a long tangent when virginity was brought up). Thirty minutes later, Ryan had to bring the "recapping" to end, so that we would at least have time for the recordings.
Each student was given a handout with one paragraph (keywords defined at bottom) and a few minutes to practice reading it aloud to their partner (Ryan partnered with one since they were an odd number). Then each would go out in the hallway one at a time and record (either on Ryan's device or their smartphone, which they could then email to him).
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