Teaching Strategy w/ TEFL Teaching

Lucas10101

Hi,

I’ll be pursuing a TEFL course reasonably soon, and 1 thing I’ve noticed among all the courses is their emphasis on Lesson Plans. Can someone here give me an example of one, just so I can have some idea as to what they’re expecting, are they difficult to create. Again, the emphasis here will be on TEFL teaching, so it would be different to other teaching maybe.

Also, for teaching practice, I’m completely out of my domain. I’ve only turned 19 years old, and obviously have no teaching experience or anything. Apart from the usual, “be confident” advice, that’s not an issue for me. The issue would be the methods and modes of teaching and basic ideas that I just don’t have or haven’t read. While it’s all well and good doing a 4 week intensive TEFL course, where they tell you, but I’d like to know methods and basic ideas now, so I can have some idea before going into the classroom.
So basically, what advice could you give, not about public speaking, but about teaching strategy and what fundamental principals that are integral to teaching that I should know, that you’ve gained on post-degree teaching programmes.

I appreciate all responses and help.

Thanks.

madziuda

Hey OP,

Been working in TEFL for a good few years now and all I can say is : you've made a great choice It's a hugely rewarding and exciting career

As for lesson plans - at first yeah, writing them is pretty difficult and time-consuming but as you get used to the methods and techniques you get into a routine and planning shouldn't be much of a problem.

The plan below has been written in accordance with the CELTA guidelines so it may give you some idea of what exactly is involved in planning and actually conducting an EFL/ESL lesson
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dcpfmfbg_8cqgp75g9


As for methods and techniques? There are plenty of those - different schools will require you to use different techniques (Callan, ADE, communicative, total physical response etc etc) but the one that's most popular now is the communicative method. If you google it, you'll find plenty of info on it

My personal advice when it comes to teaching ESL students is very simple: don't patronize them. I've seen a good few TEFL teachers who treat their often adult students as if they were children and, take it from someone who has been taught by a teacher like that, it's ineffective, and frankly bloody annoying

Oh and a good idea is also to read up on your prospective students' languages/countries of origin. This helps to avoid misunderstandings that could well ruin the atmosphere in the classroom - i.e. some Italians are very straightforward and would use imperative tone not because they are rude but because it is natural for them in their mother tongue.

Anyway, hope this helps:)

M

Lucas10101

madziuda wrote: »

Hey OP,

Been working in TEFL for a good few years now and all I can say is : you've made a great choice It's a hugely rewarding and exciting career

As for lesson plans - at first yeah, writing them is pretty difficult and time-consuming but as you get used to the methods and techniques you get into a routine and planning shouldn't be much of a problem.

The plan below has been written in accordance with the CELTA guidelines so it may give you some idea of what exactly is involved in planning and actually conducting an EFL/ESL lesson
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dcpfmfbg_8cqgp75g9


As for methods and techniques? There are plenty of those - different schools will require you to use different techniques (Callan, ADE, communicative, total physical response etc etc) but the one that's most popular now is the communicative method. If you google it, you'll find plenty of info on it

My personal advice when it comes to teaching ESL students is very simple: don't patronize them. I've seen a good few TEFL teachers who treat their often adult students as if they were children and, take it from someone who has been taught by a teacher like that, it's ineffective, and frankly bloody annoying

Oh and a good idea is also to read up on your prospective students' languages/countries of origin. This helps to avoid misunderstandings that could well ruin the atmosphere in the classroom - i.e. some Italians are very straightforward and would use imperative tone not because they are rude but because it is natural for them in their mother tongue.

Anyway, hope this helps:)

M

Hi, thanks for the comprehensive response.

I looked over the Lesson Plan, and I've gotten a much better idea now, so I appreciate that, but that's a very long thing to write, surely real Lesson Plans used day to day, are shorter but just as useful?

I was always wondering for TEFL, do you speak much slower than your normal voice, or do you speak relatively normal, but not too fast?

madziuda

Lucas10101 wrote: »

I looked over the Lesson Plan, and I've gotten a much better idea now, so I appreciate that, but that's a very long thing to write, surely real Lesson Plans used day to day, are shorter but just as useful?

lol of course

with time teaching becomes your second nature so the full plan is in your head rather than on paper. It's always useful to have some tangible notes handy though!

that said, a full comprehensive lesson plan will be required from you during the course (is it CELTA or ACELS?)

Plus, if you don't mind me asking, where do you plan to work after the course? In Ireland or abroad?

None of the schools I worked for in Ireland wanted me to submit lesson plans but in Poland where I work now I need to provide my DOS with them on a weekly basis.

Also, in some countries (Poland included) during the first two years of your career you are 'on probation' - meaning you get surprise inspections from the department of education every once in a while:) And inspectors usually want you to have a lesson plan ready

I know the same system is also in operation in a couple of other European countries. As pesky as it is, it's just a way (an effective one at that!) of weeding out incompetent/lazy teachers and providing students with the best quality education

Lucas10101 wrote: »

I was always wondering for TEFL, do you speak much slower than your normal voice, or do you speak relatively normal, but not too fast?

depends on the level you're teaching. With beginners and elementary students you need to speak quite slow (not as if you were speaking to someone mentally challenged though!) but most importantly you have to choose your words very carefully so that they are of the right level of difficulty.
With intermediate + students you should speak at a normal pace:)

Lucas10101

I keep wondering about this ACELS thing that everybody talks about. I want to use TEFL to teach abroad only. I was told by TEFL international, that the reason they don't have ACELS recognition is ONLY because it's Irish recognised, but as I don't want to work in Ireland, I don't mind doing the qualification with them as they have tonnes of other international recognitions. I plan to work and do the course in Spain from January.

How have the hours and pay been for you, and is it reasonable with the living expenses of that country?

madziuda

Never worked in Spain so can't really say what's it like to be a teacher there, but as for the cost of living and job opportunities, you may want to check out www.tefl.com

at the bottom of that page you have a handy little cost of living generator - shows you the cost of basic products and services in over 80 countries around the world.

In Irish language schools you'd be paid about 20-25 euro/hour
In Poland as a native speaker you'd be paid about 60 PLN/hour which is just under 20 euro - this is excellent money if you take into account the fact that the cost of living here in much much lower (e.g a pint is 5 PLN = 1,6 euro, a loaf of bread is about 2PLN = 0.4 euro)

As for hours - well, don't count on 40 hours a week if you plan on staying in Ireland - most jobs are for a max of 20 hours per week.

In other European countries the demand for TEFL teachers is greater so you can get as many hours as you want.

As for ACELS - not a good idea. CELTA or TRinity certs are your best bet - they are internationally recognized (while ACELS is specific to Ireland only) and are ACELS accredited. The courses are the same in length and (more or less) in price

Lucas10101

Thanks for that link and info, very useful indeed.

There are so many different types of TEFL courses and different qualifications around, I've found it fair difficult to finalise my decision on one.

One of those that seemed promising was:

http://www.teflcourse.net/tefl-courses-information/

What do you think?

madziuda

OP, whereabouts in Ireland do you live?

The problem with the course you sent me a link to is that it has no name to it, if you know what I mean. CELTA and Trinity certs are recognised worldwide, and while it's true that some schools abroad will be perfectly happy with the mere fact that you're a native speaker, most (esp those offering higher wages and better benefits) would be suspicious of a teaching cert they have not heard about. With CELTA or Trinity you're safe - everyone has heard about them and there's a certain 'veneer' of prestige about them

If you're from the Dublin area, I'd recommend the course held at the International House
http://www.ihdublin.com/ihdublin/Main/CELTA.htm

They're also organising CELTA courses at UCC and in Ennis as far as I know

Beau

I was thinking of doing a foundation level course with http://www.phoenixtefl.com/ because they are coming to my town soon.

So is it worth doing at all? Its only €200 and I'd hope to use it while travelling.

Lucas10101

Thanks for the reply. I contacted them about what you said, and here's what they had to say:

"Thank you for your email.



I see from past communications that you have had a chance to explore our accreditation and reputation in the field as one of the largest providers of TEFL/TESOL certification. Our accreditation and affiliation includes external monitoring through one of the former heads of the Trinity College and we have an excellent success rate with our graduates.



It is true that CELTA is widely recognized as well. Our intensive course is similar to that of the Cambridge CELTA is as much as it is a 4-week course with observed teaching practice as per the industry standard that employers look for. However, the "A" of CELTA refers to "Adults" and is therefore a course specially targeted to the teaching of adults but the TEFL/TESOL course covers other target groups such as young learners and is in that way more encompassing and comprehensive.



If, likewise, you’ve had a chance to browse the two websites I mentioned earlier, you will see that our programs are recognized around the world. Once you have applied and been accepted, I would be happy to send you contact details of past graduates of our courses that can also give you their perspective, since it useful to have the input as well from someone who has actually completed the course.



If you’d like to apply for one of our courses, please visit the following application page: http://www.teflcourse.net/application_form1.cfm .You are welcome to apply at any time there is no obligation involved and you will receive further relative information on the basis of your application.

Best,"

They seemed to be avoiding the question a tad bit I thought.

ldee

beau,
phoenix is good for a 'taste' of what tefl is like. The people who run it are very nice etc but it won't count for much on the CV. If you're travelling in asia it may help but it won't help for jobs in for example uk/ireland.
I was told by a lot of teaching schools to only do courses that are give you the 120 hours.
hope that helps.