Questions
Chris has been working at an ESL school in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for six months now. Prior to this job, he worked as an English teacher at an international school in Thailand. At his current school, he teaches the same group of students every day, so he has a great opportunity to watch their skills develop over time. When he first started, they were pre-intermediate students, able to put together a few sentences to form simple paragraphs. Their speech was broken but understandable. Now they are firmly at the intermediate level. Their writing has improved in style and complexity, and they are able to write good, structured paragraphs. Their speech is more fluid, and while it is still obvious that they are ESL students, they are able to carry on basic conversations.
Coming from an English literature background, the adjustment to an ESL classroom has been an interesting one for Chris. One of the most remarkable differences has been the speed with which his students advanced during his first few months of teaching. It seemed that every day they were learning new words, using new tenses appropriately, and improving their syntax and diction. However, he has noticed a troubling trend in the past month or so. Some of his most advanced students have become visibly frustrated with their progress. To him, they seem to be doing quite well, especially compared to where they were when they began his class, but they seem exasperated whenever he introduces a new topic or grammar point, and some have complained that they can't learn any more. He asked some of their previous teachers if they had seen this sort of loss of enthusiasm, but they all indicated that those students had always been eager learners. Chris was beginning to wonder if there was something wrong with his teaching style.
Question
Considering their level and the changes that Chris has observed in his students lately, what is likely affecting his students?
a. Rough Tuning
b. L1 Interference
c. The Plateau Effect
d. Fossilization