English Grammar Overview - Parts of Speech - Infinitive & Gerund
And now we'll have a look at both the infinitive and the gerund. Infinitive is the word "to", followed by the base form of the verb. We"ll typically use it after a verb, specifically verbs like "want" or "hope". We can make statements like "I want to go to the beach." We also have our gerund. Our gerund is a verb followed by "-ing", but specifically used as a noun within the sentence. We have a verb plus a gerund: "I enjoy playing poker." The main verb is "enjoy" and, although "playing" looks as if it's a verb, it's actually used as the noun within the sentence. We also can use it with a preposition followed by a gerund: "How about going to the beach?" We could also put it in the front of a sentence: "Smoking is bad for you." Again, the verb plus "-ing" can act as two things within the sentence. We've got the gerund, otherwise the noun in the sentence, "Smoking is bad for you." You've also got the verb plus "-ing" in the present participle form when in its main verb of the sentence. An example there of would be "I'm not smoking."
Below you can read feedback from an ITTT graduate regarding one section of their online TEFL certification course. Each of our online courses is broken down into concise units that focus on specific areas of English language teaching. This convenient, highly structured design means that you can quickly get to grips with each section before moving onto the next.
There are a number of ways to assess a student?s language level, here are three examples; tutorials, evaluation by the students and test.
When using tutorials it can take place with the whole group or individual students, preferably at the end of the wee.
When using the second example (evaluation by the students) the students are asked to evaluate their course by using a questionnaire or guided discussio.
This type of evaluation helps the teacher understand how the students react to the teacher and also help the students to understand of what is happening in the classroo.
The third example are tests, there are many kinds of tests that happens at different stages of the cours.
The five more common tests used are, placement tests, progress tests, diagnostic tests, practice tests and Cambridge Assessmen.
All five of these are used at different stages of a course to test the students? language ability or level, what they know and what they need to learn, what they find difficult, growth et.
Placement tests are used to place students into the correct class according to their language level /abilit.
It usually consists out of a multiple choice, to check knowledge of grammar and vocabulary, and also a spoken interview to test their communication skill.
Progress tests are usually periodically used to evaluate what language has been remembered and what language has been forgotte.
It helps us to focus on language that needs more work and it also encourages lots of revisio.
Diagnostic tests are quite similar to placement tests, but are sometimes more extensive, this test identifies areas that the students struggle wit.
Diagnostic tests are also given at the start of a course, and they help the teacher to prepare lessons and materials that will help students focus and work on the areas that they struggle wit.
Practice tests focus on preparation for external examinations and these tests should follow the format and layout of the external examination, an example is; TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) and IELTS (International English Language Testing System.
The last test or assessment is the Cambridge Assessment, this is the non-teaching department of the University of Cambridge responsible for a broad range of assessments and examination.
These exams are the world?s leading range of certificates for learners of English and are linked to the Common European Framework of References for Languages, examples of different categories; General English, Skills for life and Business Englis.
As mentioned above each testing has its own goal and purpose, a teacher should be familiar with each of them and know which one to use at the proper stage of the cours.
What I have learnt is how important it is to place a student in the correct level according to their ability, if the student is just thrown into a class that?s not on par with their ability, whether it?s too easy or too difficult the student will feel out of place and discouraged to lear.
I have also learnt that the teacher need to plan very carefully when to assess and evaluate their students and that these assessments and evaluations can be very helpful for planning future classes and focus on areas of difficulty for the student.
