Any tips for inexperienced TEFL teacher

luckylucky

I'm diving into the deep end tomorrow. I don't have any training or experience in teaching, other than having plenty of experience of being a language pupil myself. I've managed to get a job with a language school here in rural Portugal, basically because they are badly stuck and being a native English speaker with a degree - I'm the only option for them at short notice. I also need the work so I'm willing to give it a go and try to learn fast.

I'm going to be taking two classes. 1 is a 1-on-1 90 minute class with an adult and the second is a 2 hour class with a small group of < 6. I think the group is either young kids or teenagers.

So any specific or general tips would be greatly appreciated.

Rosita

As I understand language teaching (I trained in TEFL and teach a language in a second-level school) a learner in class should use/put into practice whatever is being taught before they leave the class.

For example, if you are teaching the past simple: you would create a role play/situation or whatever where people are using the past simple to express something they did in the past.

In the case of one-to-one this is obviously far more difficult to do. You might need to spend the class assessing their language deficiencies (by asking them stuff in various ways and seeing are they able to respond in certain ways i.e. using the correct verb, tense) and addressing them in future classes.

A big problem for TEFL students (and for learners of Irish certainly, and presumably all languages) tends to be using the correct preposition. For example, 'I am going to France' rather than 'I am going in France', baffled a French girl I once taught. So you'll need to watch for that.

Also beware of the idea in language teaching that simply telling somebody 'this is wrong and you shoudl say it this way instead' does not work. They learn by using and practising the alternative method.

If you google ' efl exercises' you might find some useful exercises to do in class.

I hope you are comfortable youself with the differences between the tenses/aspects such as present perfect/ppast perfect continuous etc. as if not you might run into problems with an advanced learner.

You will find it quite a struggle without teacher training, though you'll have the advantage in confidence of maybe not realising how much you could be struggling! Being a native speaker will help but you need to be as prepared as possible beforehand. Above all else have some clear idea what you intend to teach before going in. All of what I have said will become clearer after a few classes.

eager tortoise

My experience of ESL learners is that they tend to be very motivated and as such are quite enthusiastic and eager to participate in whatever activities you set up. Usually, ESL classes follow a slightly more informal, and more active format than traditional 'school' classes. Students sitting reading and writing for long periods of time is typically not a feature of ESL classes, at least in my experience. The emphasis is more on activities such as projects/role plays/dialogues/presentations/songs/walking debates and games.

The best way to think of yourself, IMO, is as a facilitator of the learning that happens in the classroom. Keep the 'chalk and talk' to a minimum and get them doing something. Vary the type of activities in order to keep the lesson interesting. E.g a group discussion on a certain topic/a piece to read/a puzzle or worksheet/a paired activity/a game etc. Note down in advance how long you expect each activity to take, that way you won't be afraid of being left with 'dead air' (my biggest fear when I started out was finishing my lesson too early and not knowing what to do with the time I had left! A few games such as hangman, countdown, stop the pus, pictionary/mini quizzes are all useful in this instance)

Remember too that everything that takes place in an ESL classroom contributes to the students' learning, so long as it is happening in English. Create as many situations as possible for them to practice their English. In ESL there are 4 areas; reading,writing, speaking and listening. Give students a chance to practice as many of these as possible.

Do you know what levels you will be teaching? Typically the terms used are elementary/pre-intermediate/intermediate/upper intermediate and advanced. If you know what level the students are at you can google it for worksheets and other resources.

Best of luck and enjoy it! ESL classes can be great fun

luckylucky

eager tortoise wrote: »

Do you know what levels you will be teaching? Typically the terms used are elementary/pre-intermediate/intermediate/upper intermediate and advanced. If you know what level the students are at you can google it for worksheets and other resources.

Best of luck and enjoy it! ESL classes can be great fun

Well I'm hoping it's fun but have to admit I feel fairly unprepared at the moment. Not a lot has been communicated to me regarding the level of the pupils. I don't think they are raw beginners. I get the impression the adult learner is at least intermediate level but that's only a vague impression. I'm only getting the course material tomorrow morning - the classes themselves are on later that evening so it makes it tricky to prepare.

evolving_doors

at this late stage i'd say to hell with the course material for the first day anyway.. with the 1 to 1 make out a 'needs analysis' form. it kind of acts as a plan and semi 'contract' so if by the end the student is unhappy you can refer back to stuff you've covered in the form

.in it should be..

>General Student Details
>Purpose for learning language (school,college, work, travel, leisure etc..)
>Past experiences with language classes (books used, methods etc)
>what areas they think they are best in .. Listening/Speeking/Writing/Grammar etc..
>what areas they feel they need to work on
>Are they working towards exams Cambridge/Trinity/
>Do any of their friends/family speek english?


if they are intermediate they should be able to communicate this to you fairly well..
A good book for grammar at intermediate level is the Raymond Murphy, English Grammar in Use..If you're ever stuck for a material do phrasal verbs ,,,,turn on , turn off, jump in, jump on, go off go on,, (verb + preposition) even the most proficient language students can find these tricky.. (tell them it's the "secret language of english speakers")

for Class work Cutting Edge is pretty good too (get the teachers book!!)

For the class you could do a general introduction for the first day,,,make a list of a few questions that they can survey each other with, mill about and listen to see what level they're at (you'll soon spot the trouble makers too!!)
Students report back to the class group,, (write some prompts on the board too)

That's my 2cent anyhow, don't try to jump into the schools stuff straight away unless they are fairly insistent..

Let us know how you got on:cool:

See Ye

Here are a couple of websites with free resources, Business English & General Eng. & useful articles on methodology.

A good first lesson is to brainstorm the question words "Who, What, Where etc." then get the learners to prepare 3-5 questions to ask each other and you. What they come up with will help you gauge their level - throw the questions back at them to create a dialogue. Let us know how you get on ?