Do you want to be TEFL or TESOL-certified in Pennsylvania? Are you interested in teaching English in Guthrie, Pennsylvania? Check out our opportunities in Guthrie, Become certified to Teach English as a Foreign Language and start teaching English in your community or abroad! Teflonline.net offers a wide variety of Online TESOL Courses and a great number of opportunities for English Teachers and for Teachers of English as a Second Language. Here Below you can check out the feedback (for one of our units) of one of the 16.000 students that last year took an online course with ITTT!
The first unit of my ITTT TEFL course was titled "Teachers and Learners" and focused on the topics of the different roles that the teacher plays in the classroom, the differences between adolescent and adult learners, the differing levels of foreign language proficiency, and what factors affect the student's level of motivation for learning and studying. The first section of Unit #1 talked about the nine different roles that a teacher may play over the course of their daily teaching regime with the first role being the manager or controller role in which the teacher takes control of the class and the class activities that vary in different degrees from the activities that class would engage in if they worked as a collective group or together in pairs of two or three. The second major class role is the organizer role in which the teacher provides the class with instructions and commands regarding the plans for the class and the upcoming activities that they will participate in. The third major role is the assessor role in which the teacher provides his or her students with helpful feedback and constructive criticism regarding their level of English and what areas they can improve in and build on. The fourth major role is the prompter role in which the teacher helps to point the students in the right direction in regards to the terms and phrases that they are learning during that class period. The fifth major role is the participant role in which the teacher attempts to participate in the lesson and activities without being too controlling or overseeing in their interactions with the students. The sixth major role is the tutor role in which the teacher provides a student with one-on-one help and support for the activity that they are experiencing trouble with. The seventh major role is the facilitator role in which the teacher sits back and allows the students to perform the language learning activities on their own and without any interruptions or interference. The eighth major role is the model role in which the teacher acts as an example for the students for the formation and pronunciation of words in the language that they are learning. The ninth major role is the monitor role in which the teacher monitors the class, observes the activities that they engage in, and takes notes on how the class structure could be improved.
The second section of Unit #1 talked about the differences between adolescent and adult learners and described the different factors that influence their behavior and willingness to learn which include the age of the learner in question, their overall level of prior learning experience, their level of motivation and self-motivation, their level of nervousness, their level of language awareness, any behaviour problems that they may have, and their life experience. The second section also talked about the six levels of language learners which can be catagorized as follows: beginner level students who have a very limited knowledge of the English language, elementery level students who can create simple sentences, pre-intermediate level students who posses a high level of understanding but lack in language fluency, intermediate level students who are able to understand many different issues but lack fluency, upper intermediate level students who can communicate on almost any topic but who lack accuaracy, and advanced level students who posses a very high knowledge of English and can begin to study the more subtle parts of speech. The final section of Unit #1 listed the six main reasons for student's motivation to study as being to travel the world, to open more future career prospects, to satisfy an interest in languages, and to make in easier for them to live in an English speaking country.
Over the course of reading Unit #1, I personally felt that there were numerous teaching roles that I regularly displayed during my teaching such as leading my class in English-learning games like "What Time Is It Mr. Wolf" and "Hen and Wolf" (The Organizer Role) and by speaking and practicing the new English words and concepts with my students as they are taught them (The Assessor Role). On that same note, I noticed that some roles such as the Manager role and the Participant role were often lacking in my teaching due to the fact that I am not a very naturally outgoing person and often struggle to place myself in my student's shoes and perform activities with them at their level. It was quite eye-opening for me to read about the different causes for a student's motivation and I will definitely make an effort to reinforce those goals and values during my teaching in the future. I understand that I still have a ways to go as a teacher but I hope that this course will help me to not only improve my teaching for myself, but for my students and their futures as well.
