Reflection of Lesson 2----Back Vowels

Last week’s lesson was really difficult, maybe the most difficult one. During the
last session, the task I made was the six back vowels, they are /u:/,
/u/, /ɔ:/, /ɒ/, /ɑ:/ and /ʌ/. Actually I didn’t feel really difficult when I
pronounce the any of them, but when I taught the Ss, I found the Ss felt
difficult, especially on /ɔ:/ and /ɒ/ sounds.
Both two classes are really nice and kind, but it doesn’t mean I’m satisfied with
them. They don’t follow my tips (maybe sort of ORDER), which is SPEAKING
MANDARIN. So to me, it’s obvious that the Ss didn’t treat me as a serious
teacher, maybe it has both prons and cons. This phenomenon is not really good
for me. That is a result of using too much humours. My style is humourous, but I
need to be serious, since I’ve found really upset thing of speaking in dialect. I’ve
got several Ss, who comes from Xinyang, Henan. It’s hard for me to correct
their Xinyang accent. We may find the following examples: march is pronounced
as 嘛七, Chinese is pronounced as 切逆斯. It’s understandable, because Xinyang is
on the south of Henan province, so the accent is closer to the Southern part of
China, it’s like that people in South pronounce z, c, s instead of zh, ch, sh in
Pinyin. But I’ve found a way to correct them already, what they need to do is
practise more.
Another tough problem is /ɔ:/, /ɒ/ sounds. They are really difficult for Chinese
learners. I’ve used almost the two third of my class time on these two vowels,
but from my point of view, nobody in my classes can pronouce these two well. I’m
not sure why is that, but I decide to let them practise more. So I’ll put the two
sounds in my next class too.
I’m really satisfied with the plan I made for my course, it’s really practical.
My classes become more and more ‘logical’ after these two weeks’ adaptablities.
But some small mistakes can also be found during my teacher, for instance, less
time for practice, not serious academic circumstances, less theory support, etc.
Of course I’ll try to overcome these shortage in my teaching.
Anyway, I’m looking forward to seeing my blokes..