Teaching Adults:  An Overview of Learning Difficulties

This year, while I was teaching a group of 42 students in a school for adults, some complaints arose, as a group of about 10 learners started to express their dissatisfaction with the subject because they did not understand and they added that they knew they would not succeed in learning the target language.

The reason was that the rest of the learners already knew me as I had been their teacher the previous year, but the ones who complained could not follow my explanations because they came from another school with a different curriculum and background.

At first, I felt overwhelmed because  it was a difficult situation as I did not know what to do so as to confront this problem immediately and, at the same time, not to bore the rest of the class; so I tried to make them understand that whenever a person has to learn a new skill or ability, it is hard word and it requires effort.

I explained to them that the first step to success was to have a positive attitude towards new knowledge and I also asked the other students how and what they had felt the year before when they had been in contact with English for the  first time, so they told their classmates their experiences and the others managed to see that learning a language implies  hard work, but it is not an approachable goal.

Teachers should facilitate the learning process by trying to have a kind attitude towards their students (Rogers, 1983 ). After some lessons and after having practised enough, I evaluated them and both groups obtained outstanding marks.

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References

Rogers,C.(1983).Freedom to learn for the 80’s.Columbus, Ohio: Charles Merril.