These days, to prepare the students for the final, I've been giving students a test in class every day. Though it took only 20~25 minutes for them to finish the test, we still have to spend at least 10 minutes on discussion. I had to tell myself that students need tests either to push them to study or to find out whether they have really learned what they are supposed to learn.
How I wish I could have them read some marvelous stories or articles instead! Last semester Class 313 asked why I didn't want to teach in cram school. My answer was that I didn't like to teach for the sake of tests. I told them about the wonderful experience of teaching the Advanced English Class several years before. In that class, for the first year, we focused on listening, speaking and reading, plus some writing. I didn't teach them vocabulary or grammar. They took care of them at home. In class, they just talked in English about what they had read. All English! Though we met only 2 hours a week, I gave them reading assignments so that they could learn on their own out of class. For the reading assignments I would give them a study guide, which consisted of several questions about the reading material. When we met, we went over the questions and some others which were not included in the study guide. There were no tests. What they did was use English. That's it.
Is it possible to teach regular classes this way?
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