TEFL In The Classroom
Read about bloopers, disasters, and everyday classroom drama here.
Three Tips, Two Blogs And A Handful Of Insight For Non-Native Speaker ESL Teachers
I’ve had the opportunity to work with a number of non-native speaker teachers: one of my CELTA trainers, a later Director of Studies, and a number of co-workers (some who were also foreigners like me, just not native English speakers). In many cases, and in my humble opinion, their teaching skills seem to be greater than or equal to those of many native speaker teachers I’ve worked with.
Of course teaching skill is related to training, practice, and personal ability, and not one’s native language. But non-native speaker ESL teachers often face difficulties when finding work, as do those who are for all intents and purposes native speakers but have family roots in a country which is not English-speaking. Despite their skills and qualifications, they may run into employers who are hesitant to hire someone who is not fresh off the “native speaker boat.”
I worked with one kids’ teacher who had spent several years in the UK, but was from the country we were working in. Her initial plan was not to tell the students her name… this way, they wouldn’t realize that she was from there and spoke their language. I’m certainly an advocate of pulling out all the stops when teaching children, and so could sympathize, but it did not seem a very sustainable solution.
Instead of changing your name, or inventing an alias for your students, check out some tips from Hilal’s ESL Base blog. Hilal is a recent CELTA graduate working in Istanbul; you might also remember her from her TEFL Logue interview in March. Ole, an ESL teacher from Norway working in Costa Rica also shared some thoughts on teaching his second language recently at Costa Rica Classroom blog.
Date: August 13th, 2007 |
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Secretly Famous Students
Do you watch local language television or news where you are? Thanks to DVDs, I don’t. And even when I can understand the local language well enough to get something out of it – if not a full understanding – English language alternatives are plentiful enough that I usually take advantage of them.
One funny result of this, though, is that I don’t realize it if I have a famous student…and I’ve taught a few. One had a recurring role on a local tv show but I didn’t realize it until I happened to see her on that show. She was also apparently a journalist, which is probably what she told the class about herself in the getting to know each other stage. If any of them realized she was also an actress, they didn’t announce it or furtively whisper that to me after class so I would know.
The most surprising secretly famous student, in fact the one who inspired this post, was a white-haired gentleman who didn’t really fit in with the class of teenagers.
Date: August 10th, 2007 |
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Ripped From The Headlines: Good Adult Discipline Strategies?
Some time ago, I lamented the fact that disciplining adult students can be a challenge. Recently though I’ve found two innovative ways of “punishing” adults: police officers who broke rules in Thailand were ordered to wear Hello Kitty armbands…and then there is this:
That is inmates in a Philippine prison dancing to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”. So bizarre for so many reasons, and yet I watched it all the way through. Twice.
Hey, if these strategies are used for police and prisoners both, why not EFL students? …
Date: August 6th, 2007 |
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Surpise! I Can Understand You
Gdog, who has returned home to Canada, continues to give readers their Daily Kimchi fix with stories from Korea. He recently shared a video of his antics surprising some Chinese tourists in Korea by speaking Cantonese with them (transcript provided for non-Cantonese speakers). They were duly impressed and also shocked when his girlfriend chimed in with a greeting.
It reminded me of one of my favorite ways to amuse students: surprising them with what I know of their language. I don’t carry on conversations or anything like that – of course they are there to learn English – but there are a bunch of fun ways to do this.
On occasion I’ve heard students speaking in their own language – generally despite my pleas that they use only English – and I go ahead and mention the theme they seem to be discussing. Sometimes, though, they are in such denial that a foreigner could speak their language that they just think it’s a strange coincidence that I happen to bring up exactly what they were talking about. Chicago also has a fairly large ex-Yugoslav community, so if I have the opportunity to shock (and maybe even awe) some people back there by speaking their language, that will be great.
Date: August 5th, 2007 |
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TOEFL Test Speaking
I had a rude awakening to the world of exam prep around this time last year, when I taught exactly one iBT TOEFL prep course. I got some priceless advice from a couple of overworked yet helpful colleagues - but then it was up to me to sink or swim. (I think I treaded water in the end).
I’ve certainly taken and prepared myself for a number of tests in my day, including a few important standardized ones. However I’ve never done anything like the iBT TOEFL – and have nothing but respect for those who take this test and do well.
What most impressed me was how well-versed some of the students I taught were with the time limits and format, specifically that of the independent speaking part. See some examples here.
Of course it’s not the idea of answering a question that’s hard to grasp…but coming up with an appropriate answer in a second language and explaining it fully using exactly the time allotted. One teacher told me he advised students to pick a common structure for this section of the test and stick with it. It was a basic formula of – restate the question, give your thesis/opinion, say “first of all”…and give the first reason/example, “And secondly”…and give the second reason/example. “For these reasons” … give your conclusion/restate your thesis.
Date: August 2nd, 2007 |
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Fire Safety Vocabulary For ESL Learners
Some ESL learners in North Carolina are getting a special introduction to fire safety vocabulary from the pros: some volunteer firefighters. Among other things – probably of the more academic variety – students had a race to put on fire gear and searched for a staff member in a dark building using thermal cameras. Where do I sign up!?
[Featured on the left is Smokey The Bear, the US forest fire prevention mascot: "Only you can prevent forest fires." More here.]
Kidding aside, if you teach students who are in or going to an English-speaking country, don’t scare them to death but also don’t overlook vocabulary and functional language for emergency situations. English speakers are somewhat likely to find speakers of their language abroad; the outlook for speakers of many other languages in English-speaking countries is not so promising.
Date: August 12th, 2007 |
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The TEFL Logue’s Thoughts Featured At EFL Geek
I’m happy to report that EFL Geek gave me the honor of being a guest author on his blog. Well, okay – I actually got the idea because he offered the opportunity to any reader of his who has something to say that’s on topic and within reason. I simply registered for his site, filled out the guest author form, and my post went into the moderation queue for his approval.
I have to say his site is quite user-friendly as well. I let him know that as far as bloggers go, I probably represent that “least …
Date: August 6th, 2007 |
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Teaching Listening From The Yemen Times And An ELT Notebook
Sometimes I feel like I am idea-d out on new classroom tips and activities to post, having shared many of them here already. So I’m always glad to see the practical tips of others, especially when they appear in my inbox thanks to Google News Alerts. The latest catch is an article about Teaching Listening from the Yemen Times, by Kalyani Samantrya, a professor of English at SB Women’s College in India.
She mostly focuses on the importance of letting students know that it’s okay if they don’t catch everything the first few times around. Learners who hold themselves to incredibly high standards can more easily get thrown off when they reach a part they don’t understand,and then, instead of waiting it out and catching what they can, they give up in disappointment or frustration. She also suggests a number of practical tips - listening for key words and guessing from the context – which students can use to increase their overall comprehension.
I think this makes a lot of sense, and it’s something I make an effort to convey to my students. But students do sometimes become frustrated when it seems all they can do is practice – isn’t there anything else to help them understand more?
Sue at An ELT Notebook addresses this topic thoroughly in a series of posts on listening. I really can’t capture her advice in a short post here, but a few random comments I found straightforward but useful were:
Date: August 6th, 2007 |
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Teaching About Prejudice?
Transitions Abroad is an excellent resource for those who pine about travel, work or study in foreign places. The English Teaching section is especially useful for general advice on job-hunting as well as country-specific advice, links and resources.
One article recently caught my eye because it is not about getting a job – but rather about a topic which may be relevant once you have a job: Teaching About Prejudice. A former social worker who now teaches in the Czech Republic describes how he’s approached the topic and shares what his experience has been with the lesson. Take a look at his “-isms” activity and tell me: would you have a go at this in class?
Would I?
Date: August 3rd, 2007 |
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Electronic Translators: Friend Or Foe?
The sound of beeping and, from time to time, of automated, mechanical “voices” is one that does not trouble me in Eastern Europe, but which played nearly a daily role in my classes in Chicago. This is because in my three years in Eastern Europe, I have met exactly one student with an electronic dictionary (this “statistic” may be a good indication of the technological divide). In Chicago, where I’d estimate that more than 75% of my students were from Korea and Japan, nearly everyone had one.
Nowadays, if an electronic translator is available in your/your students’ language, and is produced in quantities great enough to make the price reasonable, it seems silly not to buy one. However, just as I would caution students against overusing traditional dictionaries in class – and in some cases using them at all – I would also advise them to avoid overusing electronic translators. The opportunity to quickly translate each new word is a temptation which often prevents students from developing skills in inferring meaning from context, which is essential. There are several sides to this debate, though.
Date: July 27th, 2007 |
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