Applegate, Michigan TESOL Online & Teaching English Jobs

This unit introduces to me a number of more specialized groups of teaching and how to approach and teach the students of those group effectively. 1. Teaching beginners: one of the most rewarding and enjoyable aspects of EFL teaching. A student of this group might fall into one or more of the following categories: the absolute beginner, the false beginner, the adult beginner, the young beginner, and the beginner without Roman alphabet. To teach the beginner students, I need to remember: - Not do to much or to quickly - Be as visual as possible - Never use the students' first language in the class - Give clear and simple instructions - Use choral repetition, pair work, group work, homework - Praise and encourage the students - Not over-correct - Focus on what is easy, not what is difficult 2. Teaching individual students: one-to-one lessons - Advantages: no mixed levels, usually highly motivated, needs can be clearly defined, developing a close relationship with the students, etc. - Disadvantages: loss of classroom dynamics, some activities become impossible to do, the teacher will be the only partner of the student during the stages of the lessons. 3. Teaching children: one of the most rewarding of all student classes to teach - Features of speech which the teacher can learn from a child's parents, to help the children students develop a sense of self-esteem and be less self-conscious about mistakes: + Slower and more clearly pronunciation + Higher pitch and exaggerated intonation + Lots of repetition + Reference to the child itself, its current activity or its subject of focus at the time of speaking + Positive responses to the child's utterances irrespective of pronunciation detail - Factors to notice: + Children's span of attention/concentration is short. The teacher needs frequent changes of activities, which are exciting and fun, to stimulate their curiosity. + Children look to the teacher for guidance and motivation, thus the teacher should keep the activities fun, varied, at good pace, and related to the children's interests. + Make the classroom environment pleasant and welcoming using posters, cartoons, children's own artworks, etc. + Some "Do's" for teaching children: always use English; speak slowly, in short and direct sentences; act out meaning using visual aids or gestures; give clear demonstrations of the expected response; be prepared to make fun of himself/herself and come down to the physical level of the children; get children to draw and colour with the materials which are always made available in the classroom; play simple games; prepare stickers as reward for good work and behaviour. + Some "Don/ts" for teaching children: Using their native language; put an individual child "on the spot" to produce language or a response. - Class discipline/management: it is much easier to start off firmly and gradually relax control than it is to regain control when it has been lost. The behaviour and attitude of the teacher can have a major effect on discipline. Children's misbehaviour in the classroom may be caused by the following reasons: problem at home/outside the classroom, attention seeking, peer pressure, boredom, and lack of consistency from the teacher. The teacher needs to observe to define the reason and deal with it accordingly. 4. Business English/ESP: - While knowledge of business is useful, it is not a prerequisite for a teacher to teach English to business people. The teacher doesn't teach the students business, but English. The teaching can take place in three different ways: one-to-one, in-company group, or in-school group. - Challenges of teaching business people: diversities of levels and ages within a group, students are often tired from their working hours and/or not able to attend the classes fully/regularly, homework may be difficult due to the students' pressure of work, not all learners are motivated to study English. - Define the needs: After testing the students to get an idea of their level, the teacher can give them a "Needs analysis", to know their individual needs, and conduct a "Needs negotiation" to establish priorities of the group as a whole. - Planning the program: Base of the outcome of the "Needs analysis" and "Needs negotiation", the teacher can create a list of suitable learning objectives, situations, language and published materials. After the students have received a draft timetable for the next lessons, the teacher needs to demonstrate the relevance of each topic to their individual needs. Individuals whose needs are not satisfied within the program can be encouraged to do extra self-study. - A mid-course evaluation with individual work should be conducted to know how the learners feel about the course, and prove that individual needs are seriously taken care of. - Materials for teaching Business English: available materials on the market; authentic materials obtained from the company such as faxes, letter, company reports, publicity materials; business magazines and newspapers. The materials used for the class should be typed and professional looking. - A number of things for the teacher to consider during the teaching of Business English are also covered in this unit: before the course, the teacher's expertise, on arrival, during the course, and after the course. 5. The monolingual and the multilingual class: - In a multilingual class the students are from various different nationalities. Since they have no common language except English, they are forced to communicate with each other in English. They also get more exposure to, and opportunities to use, the language. - Monolingual classes usually take place in the students' home country where all of them have the same language, which means that they likely have the same kind of difficulties with English. Also as their cultural background is the same or similar, the teacher can identify certain topics which would be of interest to the group. - The teacher can encourage the students to avoid using their mother tongue in the classroom by: + Describing the rational clearly and get their support from the beginning + Moving around the classroom + Monitoring more overtly + Making the work task-oriented + Keeping speaking activities short until the students have more confidence and increased fluency + Making sure that the students have the English to do what they are asked to + Starting with "open" pair work + Assigning roles