The EAP class that I’ve taught since late January has been quite hard work. The class is 100% Arab learners and most of them struggle with writing and reading far more than speaking and listening. Motivation in the class is variable and I have particularly noticed that most of them simply don’t do homework. Over the past couple of months I have set several essays as homework and only a minority of the class completed the essays. One method of rectifying this is to get them to write essays in class in controlled conditions, which is also better preparation by replicating the conditions of their writing exam.
One student in particular is very resistant to writing. He is a bit older than the rest of the class and one of the weakest students. I have had difficulties with him simply not doing writing tasks. On two previous occasions, he has declined to even attempt writing an essay in class. I began by gently explaining to him the importance of writing practice. Our conversations turned more challenging a few weeks ago when he continually refused to do writing tasks, arguing that he finds them difficult and after all he only need to “go up from 50% to 55%” to pass. This line of argument I found particularly irksome. I kept pressing the point that practice will equip him better to pass the exam.
Yesterday, the student again refused to write an essay. We had spent the first hour discussing the topic of GM foods, doing a listening comprehension and debating the pros and cons. Students then wrote an essay either agreeing or disagreeing with a ban on these foods. I asked for a simple 5 paragraph format essay of 300 words and set out the format. I noticed that the student in question had not even written gap fill answers for the listening comprehension – his reluctance to write extended to simple exercises too. He refused to do the essay and, after weeks of trying to accommodate him, I lost my temper slightly and told him: “Write the essay or leave.” He called my bluff and decided to leave. I told him I would be talking to my manager about his conduct and he said he would do the same. Not an ideal situation.
I discussed the incident in detail with several colleagues and my line manager. I learnt that the student has also resisted writing in other classes and the matter has been raised before. He is also taking learner support classes. A colleague told me that he suspects the student has a lot of anxiety and this has turned into a block when it comes to writing.
Having reflected on it, I’m honestly not sure what to conclude – it was regrettable that the student chose to leave the class and perhaps my ultimatum was poor judgement, particularly if the student is very anxious. But was it ill judged and the wrong approach? I’m undecided but am inclined to say it was the wrong approach. On one hand, it was upsetting for both of us but on the other hand, perhaps he needed a jolt such as this to change his attitude.
It’s the first time in years I can remember a student leaving my class in this way. I didn’t send him out; I gave him a choice and he opted to leave. I hadn’t expected that but my ultimatum was delivered in the heat of the moment – decisions shouldn’t be taken in that way but I am human. In a high school setting, sending out a student for refusing to work would be quite commonplace but in the international college of a British university, it is not.
The student met my department head to discuss the situation and did not return to class for some weeks. I’d be happy for him to come back to my class, but I worry that nothing will change regarding his reluctance to write.
The incident has left a bad taste in my mouth and I think on reflection I would not say “Write the essay or leave” again to a student. I would instead talk to my line manager about arranging a meeting to discuss the student’s refusal to write, so that the impact of this can be discussed, leading hopefully to a change in attitude.
Update (May 2020): lockdown happened shortly after this incident and after missing a couple of weeks of classes, the student returned to do online classes. He engaged quite well in class but as usual did not submit any written tasks. He failed his writing exam in April through non-attendance and has another opportunity to pass it in June with the help of a learning support tutor. I’m not surprised he failed to attend and feel I tried my best to improve his writing. Hopefully, the fact that he only has one more chance to pass the exam in June will focus his mind.
This is a really interesting incident; we’ve all been in situations where students show reluctance to participate (in my experience it’s been speaking practice as opposed to writing essays). And what can you do in this situation, as you can’t physically force a student to write. This brings up the factor or motivation and it’s importance in students actions and beliefs in the classroom. Did you get a chance to talk to the student in a tutorial setting? When I was reading your post, my first instinct was that there was some anxiety behind the act of writing itself; perhaps your student doesn’t have a lot of self confidence with their written proficiency or maybe they’ve had a prior bad experience writing an essay that has caused them to build up a resistance to undertaking more written tasks. I feel that this is nothing personal against your teaching, there’s definitely some sort of external factor behind that behaviour.
I completely understand you losing your temper in this situation. Whilst it is obviously regrettable what happened, every teacher has a point that they reach and I wouldn’t beat yourself up about it. I suggest that you take the feedback from the management team combined with your own conversation with the student. Make sure they don’t feel singled out in class; perhaps there’s even something else going on completely and writing is just their trigger?