TRAINER GUIDE 2012

WHAT DOES A TUTOR DO?

The tutor guides the learner in his self-study (auto-apprentissage), validates the learners competence, and helps the learner improve language performance. The words in bold type are key Westmill concepts, and you need to be familiar with them and be clear about their meaning. Notice first that we use the words tutor and learner, rather than teacher and student. The systematic use of this terminology differentiates us from the competition, and stresses the fact that the learner is ultimately responsible for his own progress. The tutor guides rather than teaches. Our objective is to assess the learners real needs and objectives, and then provide the best material for the learner to study before the next meeting (tutorial) with the tutor. Tutorials are generally one-to-one meetings, enabling the tutor to address very specifically the requirements of each learner. Sometimes, however, depending on the individual contractual arrangement, you may find yourself with two learners at one time (a binome) or a small group; in this case all the learners should have very similar needs. To assess the needs and objectives of each student, two elements are generally used. Competence is measured using the Westmill in-test, often in conjunction with an independent test (the TOEIC or BULATS are two examples). Competence measures the learners store of vocabulary, his ability to manipulate the grammar correctly, and his ability to understand spoken English. It is what the learner knows. Performance, and the learners objectives, are initially assessed using the Study Path Interview (SPI), which the tutor will complete with the learner at their first tutorial. The EdP aims to define the learners current ability to communicate using English, and also defines precisely what the learner needs to do in English for his job. A history of the learners language learning experiences is also useful. Performance is what the learner can do in English; what he can successfully communicate to an English speaker, whether or not this performance is always strictly grammatically correct. From an analysis of all this information, the tutor can assess what path the learner needs to follow to reach his objectives. The path is a plan of what the learner needs to learn in order to achieve his objectives. It is individual to the learner, for a number of reasons: The objectives may be quite unique (negotiating with unions in the Irish manufacturing plant, for example) or very standard (answering the telephone and taking messages). The learner may be strong in some elements of competence (good grammatical knowledge) and weak in others (difficulty understanding spoken English). The learner may use what he knows very well, even if he makes technical mistakes (strong performance/competence ratio), or be blocked by a lack of confidence or reflex, and thus be unable to express himself despite many years of English study (strong competence but weak performance).

CONFIDENCE TO PERFORM

TRAINER GUIDE 2012

With the path defined, the tutor can decide which elements of the Westmill programme the learner needs to reach his objectives, and from this a realistic estimate of the learning time the learner requires can also be given. Some contracts give tutors the freedom to decide how long the path, or parcours should be; other contracts fix the learning time available to the learner, in which case the final objectives may not be able to be met in one parcours. Whatever the particular contractual arrangement, the tutor should explain the path to the learner in some detail, as the aim is for the learner to be as independent as possible. Specific modules should be assigned, and an explanation given as to why they have been assigned, how to work with them, and how much time the learner is likely to need to complete them. Revealing this information to the learner, and explaining how each proposed activity will help him reach a specific objective is motivating for the learner and puts the responsibility for regular study back on his shoulders. Few learners, in practice, can adequately absorb the entire path instructions in one tutorial! The tutor must be able to break it down into easy steps, by giving specific assignments which are to be completed for the next tutorial. These assignments will probably include studying a module, but may also require the learner to prepare a document or presentation for the next tutorial. The tutor should ensure that the learner can find the time to do the assigned work properly. The learner may need help in imagining the possibilities: can he listen to audio work in his car on the way to work? Use part of his lunch-hour once or twice a week? Read an English newspaper instead of a French one, and analyse the language of one paragraph? Prepare in English a company presentation he usually does in French? The appointment for the next tutorial is usually taken at the end of the previous one, but check the arrangements in the individual contract. In the tutorial, the learners work should first be validated. Competence is usually easily validated by means of a standard out-test which is available for most competence-building modules, and which is easily administered in just a few minutes. If the learner makes errors during the test, the tutor should avoid just supplying the right answer (which would be teaching), and instead ask the learner to think again and give him indications as to what is wrong, encouraging him to discover the language for himself (this is tutoring). Performance is more difficult to validate, and the activity in most of the tutorial should be devoted to giving the learner opportunities to develop performance. The emphasis should be on making the learner communicate successfully, either orally or in writing, using various tutoring techniques to help him find his own solutions to the difficulties he may encounter. At the end of the tutorial, the tutor must ensure that the next assignments, and the reasons for them, are clear to the learner. In many contracts, tutorials and self-study are supplemented and extended by use of group courses (Communicate) and/or intensive study programmes in England, Ireland or Scotland (ACT).

CONFIDENCE TO PERFORM