Weeki Wachee, Florida TESOL Online & Teaching English Jobs

When learning English, it is ideal that students are in an environment where they are surrounded by the language in order to practice what they learn in the classroom in realistic situations. The majority of students, however, are likely to be learning English in their native countries where English is not the main language. In the case of many students they can practice with friends or colleagues, but those that are only exposed to the language two to three times a week do not have the opportunity to really use the language as much as possible. It is impossible to recreate the exact environment in which we learned our first language (L1) in a classroom. Nevertheless, many of the methodologies in EFL teaching try to imitate the 'natural language acquisition.' The use and effectiveness of the methodologies inspire heated debates. The grammar-translation methodology has been widely used throughout the world and throughout time. The concept is to learn a language by finding equivalents between L1 and L2. The system is not without drawbacks, however, mainly is that the students are likely to learn about the language instead of picking up naturally. Using this methodology makes it necessary for the teacher to speak in the native language of students. The audio-lingualism system is based on behaviorist theories stating that learning occurs due to habit formation through conditioning. In practice, audio-lingualism is a system that uses repetition drills as a means to condition students into using the language correctly. Language drills for low-level students are still popular today despite having gone out of fashion when linguists argued that learning a language require=s more than just repetition. The Presentation, Practice, and Production method is one in which teachers begin by presenting not only the meaning and form of the language but also the context/situation for the language. Then during the practice stage students practice making sentences in a controlled manner and only after do they use the language creatively. This method is a proven effective system for lower level students but is not as effective for students who have more in depth knowledge of the language because they don’t need as much focus producing. Task based learning is a system in which the focus is on the task given to the students. They must do so using the English language and only once the task is completed and it is necessary, the teacher may use language study to address any problems the students encountered while doing the task. Communicative language learning (CLT) focuses on task completion rather than language accuracy. It is a method in which language functions, like inviting/agreeing/suggesting/etc. are emphasized over vocabulary and grammar. Thus, it implies that students who are exposed to the language enough they would naturally pick it up. Community Language Learning asks students to sit in a circle and come up with a topic to discuss. The teacher stands outside the circle and helps only when necessary. This system allows teachers to center the lesson around the students as much as possible. Even more student centered is 'the silent way' where teachers speak as little as possible. A system of colored rods in which each rod represents an aspect of the English language. The core concept is that if the students discover the language by themselves, they would be able to learn it better than by remembering and using repetition. Nevertheless, teachers have found that it is unnatural for students. The Suggestopaedia approach emphasizes the need for comfort and confidence during the learning process. The teacher-student relationship is similar to a parent-child relationship in which student are assigned new names, given an oral review of the prior lesson, then a presentation and discussion of the new language, and at the end students listen to the teacher read new material while playing relaxing music. The Lexical approach emphasizes the use of words and sentences as more effective building blocks for learnng a new language over focusing on grammatical structure. Jeremy Harmer is accredited with the creation of the method of Engage, Study and Activate (ESA), in which students are motivated and exposed to the language in a manner that allows them to use it. ESA Is a flexible approach ideal for trainee/new teachers and is the methodology this course primarily uses. Elicitation, which is the act of asking thought-provoking questions, is arguably one of the most important components of an EFL lesson. These techniques allow teachers to assess the students' existing knowledge as well as the knowledge they need to gain. This method increases student talktime and decreases teacher talk time. Some examples of elicitation techniques are: Real objects - Use a ball and ask what it is. Flashcards/pictures - put anything on a card such as pictures of cars or situations. Drawings- draw something on the board and ask what it is. Ask for the question - _______? I am 25 years old. Gap fill - I_______rice every day. Lists- what is your favorite food? Go around class and ask each student then write the word on the board. Follow on questions- What scares you? 'going to the dentist' How does going to the dentist make you feel? Concept descriptions- elicit comparative adjectives visually. Students describe objects in relation to one another. Mime- especially useful for action verbs. Mime something and elicit a response from students. Definitions- should be low on the list of techniques to use. Give a simple definition or ask students to provide definitions. Can be done in advance. Points to bear in mind. 1. Use more than one (varied) elicitation technique in order to prevent becoming predictable to students. 2. Take into consideration the students language level when choosing elicitation technique. 3. Show pictures for specific answers rather than drawing. 4. Be aware of the culture in which you are teaching. 5. The language produced by students is often not the language teachers are looking for. Remain positive when offering feedback. Engage, Study, and activate  ESA lessons have the following elements: Engage. Teacher will attempt to involve students in the lesson by peaking their interest.  It is important for students to be involved in order to make the lesson stimulating and fun. Games, music, interesting pictures, stories, etc. are all great ways to engage students. This stage of the lesson is a type of warm up. Avoid teaching in this stage. Study. Start the stage by eliciting as much information as possible from students. Then, present the language by using this information as the board work. Use drills and exercises for improved pronunciation.  The focus of the study stage is for students to become familiar with the construction of the language. Activate.  The activate stage is one in which the students use their knowledge of the language ‘freely’ - the focus is on fluency rather than accuracy. Some examples of activities include role-plays, communication games, debates, and writing a story. Although some lessons may be focused on one stage more so than another, teachers should include all three stages in most lessons. The order in which the teacher presents each stage is not set in stone and gives room for flexibility.  Teachers should base feedback/correction techniques in order to improve the self awareness of students. Positive feedback is arguably more important than negative feedback - which is still necessary in certain situations- because it allows students to find the mistakes themselves. The situations that call for teacher-student correction include 1. the relevance to the lesson 2. regular mistake repetition 3. the mistakes hinders communication. In order to correct students' writing, teachers often use a code; 's' being the code for spelling, for example. The codes that you use as a teacher can be unique to your lessons so long as the students are clear on the meaning of the code and what it exactly you mean to correct.