An example of what I'm working with.

The level of English ability at my school is low. I can think of four students (out of the 700+ I teach) who have demonstrated an ability to speak in phrases. This is after they've had 5.5 years of English class. Half of those phrasers, maybe, can manage complete sentences. From the rest of my students I receive blank incomprehension, single word responses or incomprehensible weirdness.

Last week I wrote down an exchange I had in a high-level class so I could give you an example of what I'm working with.  Read in horror as I attempt to explain what "sure enough" means (it came up in a story I was using to teach about articles):



ME: [Disruptive student's name]! Was the knight's prediction about the cave accurate?
STUDENT: I don't know.
ME: Let's figure it out. In the last sentence, the knight made a guess about the cave. What did he guess?
STUDENT: ...
ME: The knight thought something about the cave. What did he think?
STUDENT: I don't know.
ME: Read the sentence, it's in there.
STUDENT: "The knight thought the cave might contain something dangerous."
ME: So what did the knight think about the cave?
STUDENT: Dangerous.
ME: Yes, he thought something dangerous might be in the cave. What was in the cave?
STUDENT: Ogre.
ME: Yes, an ogre.  Is the ogre dangerous?
STUDENT: Yes.
ME: Yes, definitely dangerous!  Was the knight's guess correct?
STUDENT: ...
ME: Was the knight right?
STUDENT: ...
ME: Did the knight's prediction come true?
STUDENT: ...
ME: Just say yes or no. The worst thing that could happen is you being wrong but don't worry because we'll all forget about it in 2 minutes anyway.
STUDENT: ...
ME: The knight guessed the cave might contain something dangerous. There was an ogre in the cave. Was the knight right?
STUDENT: No.

Yes, sometimes it's frustrating.  Imagine what a low-level class is like.