TP #1 Dana

     Takuya and I have been working together for a few months now. We have mainly focused on a variety of speaking and pronunciation activities, with a few jumps into reading and grammar. Most recently, we have been practicing timed speaking. Taku requested this subject because he felt as though he needed the help for the TOEFL.

     This particular meeting was set at Atomic Coffee. We grabbed our coffee and set up at a small table by the window. I brought out my list of speaking prompts and began our session. I would read Taku a prompt, allow 15 seconds for planning, and 45 seconds for speaking, just like the TOEFL exam. In previous sessions, we worked up from longer times to the standard TOEFL time in order for him to gain confidence in his speech.

      While Taku answered the questions, I would write down errors, suggestions, and positive points within his speech. After the 45 seconds were up, Taku and I would go over the errors and make corrections. Sometimes, I would have Taku answer the same question again if he was having more difficulty than usual. This always helped, and Taku’s answers became more concise and consistent. The timer made him less nervous and his words weren’t jumbled.

      At the end of our meeting, Taku explained how he had trouble reading and concentrating on the TOEFL. Depending on how quick you finished sections of the exam, you were able to skip ahead. Therefore, there would be some students working on the reading portion while others had reached the speaking part. For Taku, he was still reading while students were speaking and he wasn’t able to focus. Therefore, he wanted to work on reading while distractions were taking place so that he will be able to move past this obstacle. And this is exactly what we worked on the next session.