Reading, Writing, Listening, Speaking
If your English as a Foreign Language learners are anything like mine, then many of them don’t like to write in English. But since we wish to empower our foreign language learners with all four of the basic language skills, writing needs to be included in our class lessons. So, how can writing be introduced in such a way as to inspire interest and facility to our EFL classes - that is the question.
One approach that has worked for me is to have my EFL learners write a “travel” piece about the city, region or foreign country we are living in. This exercise is usually called something like, “A Perfect Day in Bogota”. For a longer written piece or an assignment, you could use, “Three Perfect Days in Barcelona” or “A Perfect Week in Quito” or wherever it is that you live.
Generally, learners love to brag about their city. By allowing them to boast about their favorite activities and places in the city, you can not only get them to write with enthusiasm, but glean some insight into their personal likes and preferences. I’ve even gotten more than a few “hot tips” on unique places or events that eventually panned out into some of my own haunts.
Procedure at a Glance
The learners write a description of their favorite local hotels, restaurants or places to eat, interesting sites to visit, unique slants on local festivals, holidays and other events. Preferred night clubs or discos, and types of music along with days and times to go, help to round out the writing.
Instead of insisting on a particular “format” or style, I’ve found it useful to allow a variety of expression in this area. Learners can use “bullet points”, narratives, essays or advert-style formats and writing. Depending on the level of the learners, I may precede the writing lesson with a class on order of adjectives, paragraph structure, the basic five-paragraph essay or a brief study and analysis of travel ads and travel articles or columns from an English language newspaper.
To Be or Not To Be
For a different type of approach, your English language learners could write a poem about their city, region or country. Often these prove to be both insightful and humorous.
Consider this slightly “tongue-in-cheek” example:
“The Feria de Cali”
Waves of December heat
are here to meet and greet
those “Gringos” who dare
our Feria to share,
while dancing to a Salsa beat.
Parades of slender, bronzed beauties abound,
as classic antique cars are found
In ten days the Feria ends
with sugar cane sweet tastes
and aguardiente-filled friends
You’ll sadly leave less heavy
than a pink and green ’57 Chevy.
Okay, so Shakespeare it’s not, but the poetry writing process worked for the learners.
The next time you’d like to “squeeze in” a bit more writing into your English class, try a variation of these ideas. You may be more than pleasantly surprised at the attitude of the learners and what they ultimately produce. Don’t forget to read aloud and post the more interesting examples. If you give the writing as an out-of-class assignment, your learners can include photos, graphics and perhaps “realia” in their writing as well.
Prof. Larry M. Lynch is an English language teaching and learning expert author and university professor in Cali, Colombia. For more information on entering into or advancing in the fascinating field of ELT send for his no-cost pdf Ebook, “If You Want to Teach English Abroad, Here’s What You Need to Know”, send an e-mail with "free ELT Ebook" in the subject line. For comments, questions, requests, to receive more information or to be added to his free TESOL articles and teaching materials mailing list, e-mail: lynchlarrym@gmail.com
Thursday, August 09, 2007
Monday, August 06, 2007
How to Improve English Language Listening Skills in EFL Learners
There are four principal venues that are frequently used in order to develop listening comprehension skills in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners. By integrating these resources, the EFL teaching professional can effectively aid learners not only in listening comprehension skills development but also in multiple aspects of connected speech production. Understanding a listening passage can be made all the more difficult by four key influence factors including: the number of speakers in the passage, the technical difficulty and level of the spoken material in the passage, the speed of the speech and the accent(s) of the speakers in the passage and whether or not there is any external support provided for the listening passage. (i.e., photos, illustrations, graphics, vocabulary review or pre-listening activities, etc.) ref. Brown and Yule, 1983
Speech and Language Modeling by the Teacher
If the EFL teacher is a native or near native English speaker, then the dialogues can be modeled in addition to modeling pronunciation and connected speech examples. If the EFL or ESL teacher is not a native (or near native) English speaker, and this teacher does not have sufficient speech and pronunciation in English to model these aspects for the learners, then other English speech modeling and input sources can be used. Besides, we must not limit learners by thinking they can only learn and improve in a particular way. (M. Spratt, 2005)
Audio-Visual Resources
A valuable audio-visual aspect is provided to English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners by native-speaker-produced CDs and DVDs. Speech and cultural elements can be illustrated or demonstrated using authentic audio-visual materials such as movie clips and documentaries, student-produced recordings and TV programs or commercials, among many others.
Audio cassettes or CD – ROMs
A wide range of CDs and DVDs exist to provide native speech modeling of different speaking, pronunciation, national and regional English accents. Multiple varieties of English are commonly used throughout the world and having examples of these by which learners can be exposed to the differences in spoken English will be helpful in demonstrating pronunciation variables. Online, over-the-air and cable radio broadcasts can be especially effective and are readily available in much of the world.
Three examples of excellent online radio broadcast sites are:
http://www.live365.com/
http://www.archive.org/
http://www.multilingualbooks.com/online-radio.html
Online Audio and Video
Increasingly, institutes of higher learning are making integrated online materials available to learners. These may consist of spoken dialogues, video dialogues, short stories, interactive games, poems, rhymes and riddles, spoken grammar, connected speech examples, movie clips, interviews, documentaries and even pronunciation lists. Learners can log into the website at their institution to receive extended practice materials to complement in-class learning. Many large, well-established universities, institutes and ELT materials publishers are making such materials available online to both clients and the general public. In addition, specialized websites for English language teaching have cropped up in abundance and offer a plethora of materials and didactic assistance for the ELT professional.
Some examples of available materials online include:
Penguin http://www.penguinenglish.com/
Pearson – Longman http://www.longman.com/
Heinemann http://www.heinemann.com/
Oxford University Press http://www.oup.com/
Cambridge University Press http://www.cup.org/
Heinle and Heinle http://www.heinle.com/esl_d/
McGraw – Hill educational resources http://mcgraw-hill.co.uk/kingscourt/
Harvard University – Open Courseware
http://oedb.org/library/features/236-open-courseware-collections
A web search using “online English language teaching materials” will yield a virtual bonanza of materials, planning and resources for the time-strapped English teacher.
Although listening comprehension skills of themselves cannot be “taught”, the English (EFL) teacher can guide the learner’s practice in listening and increment their intensity of study and practice to aid in the development of listening comprehension skills in EFL learners. This can be especially effective when the learners live in one Braj Kashru’s “outer circle” countries (B. Kashru, 1980) where there may well be a quite limited exposure to spoken English available for the English language learners. English teachers should be resourceful in identifying and acquiring materials to augment their classes in proving as broad a variety of listening comprehension materials as possible for their classes. Thus, by integrating any and all available resources, any English language teaching professional can effectively aid learners not only in developing their listening comprehension skills but also in the demonstration of multiple aspects of connected speech in worldwide Englishes.
Prof. Larry M. Lynch is an English language teaching and learning expert author and university professor in Cali, Colombia. For more information on entering into or advancing in the fascinating field of ELT send for his no-cost pdf Ebook, “If You Want to Teach English Abroad, Here’s What You Need to Know”, send an e-mail with "free ELT Ebook" in the subject line. For comments, questions, requests, to receive more information or to be added to his free TESOL articles and teaching materials mailing list, e-mail: lynchlarrym@gmail.com
Speech and Language Modeling by the Teacher
If the EFL teacher is a native or near native English speaker, then the dialogues can be modeled in addition to modeling pronunciation and connected speech examples. If the EFL or ESL teacher is not a native (or near native) English speaker, and this teacher does not have sufficient speech and pronunciation in English to model these aspects for the learners, then other English speech modeling and input sources can be used. Besides, we must not limit learners by thinking they can only learn and improve in a particular way. (M. Spratt, 2005)
Audio-Visual Resources
A valuable audio-visual aspect is provided to English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners by native-speaker-produced CDs and DVDs. Speech and cultural elements can be illustrated or demonstrated using authentic audio-visual materials such as movie clips and documentaries, student-produced recordings and TV programs or commercials, among many others.
Audio cassettes or CD – ROMs
A wide range of CDs and DVDs exist to provide native speech modeling of different speaking, pronunciation, national and regional English accents. Multiple varieties of English are commonly used throughout the world and having examples of these by which learners can be exposed to the differences in spoken English will be helpful in demonstrating pronunciation variables. Online, over-the-air and cable radio broadcasts can be especially effective and are readily available in much of the world.
Three examples of excellent online radio broadcast sites are:
http://www.live365.com/
http://www.archive.org/
http://www.multilingualbooks.com/online-radio.html
Online Audio and Video
Increasingly, institutes of higher learning are making integrated online materials available to learners. These may consist of spoken dialogues, video dialogues, short stories, interactive games, poems, rhymes and riddles, spoken grammar, connected speech examples, movie clips, interviews, documentaries and even pronunciation lists. Learners can log into the website at their institution to receive extended practice materials to complement in-class learning. Many large, well-established universities, institutes and ELT materials publishers are making such materials available online to both clients and the general public. In addition, specialized websites for English language teaching have cropped up in abundance and offer a plethora of materials and didactic assistance for the ELT professional.
Some examples of available materials online include:
Penguin http://www.penguinenglish.com/
Pearson – Longman http://www.longman.com/
Heinemann http://www.heinemann.com/
Oxford University Press http://www.oup.com/
Cambridge University Press http://www.cup.org/
Heinle and Heinle http://www.heinle.com/esl_d/
McGraw – Hill educational resources http://mcgraw-hill.co.uk/kingscourt/
Harvard University – Open Courseware
http://oedb.org/library/features/236-open-courseware-collections
A web search using “online English language teaching materials” will yield a virtual bonanza of materials, planning and resources for the time-strapped English teacher.
Although listening comprehension skills of themselves cannot be “taught”, the English (EFL) teacher can guide the learner’s practice in listening and increment their intensity of study and practice to aid in the development of listening comprehension skills in EFL learners. This can be especially effective when the learners live in one Braj Kashru’s “outer circle” countries (B. Kashru, 1980) where there may well be a quite limited exposure to spoken English available for the English language learners. English teachers should be resourceful in identifying and acquiring materials to augment their classes in proving as broad a variety of listening comprehension materials as possible for their classes. Thus, by integrating any and all available resources, any English language teaching professional can effectively aid learners not only in developing their listening comprehension skills but also in the demonstration of multiple aspects of connected speech in worldwide Englishes.
Prof. Larry M. Lynch is an English language teaching and learning expert author and university professor in Cali, Colombia. For more information on entering into or advancing in the fascinating field of ELT send for his no-cost pdf Ebook, “If You Want to Teach English Abroad, Here’s What You Need to Know”, send an e-mail with "free ELT Ebook" in the subject line. For comments, questions, requests, to receive more information or to be added to his free TESOL articles and teaching materials mailing list, e-mail: lynchlarrym@gmail.com
Friday, August 03, 2007
Learn a Foreign Language in 48 Hours
The Clock Starts Ticking
Starting tomorrow morning, you’re going to practice English, Spanish, French or other foreign language. For the following 6 days, for 8 hours per day, you’ll work on grammar, pronunciation, watch videos and listen to audio materials. You’ll write short notes, grocery lists and play games in the target foreign language. All well and good – BUT – a week from today, is it really reasonable to think you’ll be fluent in English, Spanish, French, Arabic, Chinese or any other foreign language?
Of course not.
Could you learn a lot?
Yes.
Could you manage key words and phrases?
Sure.
Could you conduct a very basic “conversation” with someone in the foreign language?
Perhaps.
Yet many language institutes and foreign language programs give prospective learners the distinct impression that in 48 hours, a weekend or a week, they can “speak” the foreign language of their choice. This is misleading for the learners, but often quite profitable for the language institute or program directors.
How sad.
Learning any foreign language is not an easy, quick or simple affair. Real mastery, if indeed it ever truly comes, may take years of practice and painstaking effort. This need not at all to be a dull, boring affair. Foreign language learners can, and should, enjoy the majority of the process. They should continuously applying their continually improving foreign language skills to chat with friends and neighbors, conduct everyday life tasks, interact with target language-speaking locals on the job, to shop, to sample a variety of foods and in general soak up the culture associated with their target foreign language.
Functional Ability
When considering or continuing the learning of a foreign language, you should pay no heed to outrageous claims of super-rapid foreign language acquisition. Instead, focus on developing functional ability.
You might think, for example, can you:
· Ask for or give directions?
· Tell the time?
· Shop and bargain for purchased goods?
· Conduct a bank or other financial transaction?
· Introduce yourself?
· Order food and drink in a restaurant or on the street?
· Haggle with a street vendor?
· Make “small talk” with a stranger?
By focusing on what you can do in the foreign language, you will shift your view of its acquisition to long term vs. short term progress, enjoying your skills development along the way.
So, starting tomorrow morning, you’re going to practice English, Spanish, French or other foreign language. For the following 6 days, for 8 hours per day, you’ll work on grammar, pronunciation, watch videos and listen to audio materials. You’ll write short notes, grocery lists and play games in the target foreign language. Only this time you’ll be focused on your functional skills development – that is, what you’ll be able to do in your target language.
No, you can’t learn a foreign language in 48 hours, but you can take a few steps forward towards greater fluency.
Prof. Larry M. Lynch is an English language teaching and learning expert author and university professor in Cali, Colombia. For more information on entering into or advancing in the fascinating field of ELT send for his no-cost pdf Ebook, “If You Want to Teach English Abroad, Here’s What You Need to Know”, send an e-mail with "free ELT Ebook" in the subject line. For comments, questions, requests, to receive more information or to be added to his free TESOL articles and teaching materials mailing list, e-mail: lynchlarrym@gmail.com
Wednesday, August 01, 2007
Teach English Abroad: Getting Your Second English Teaching Position
Question: Do you have any advice? With my TEFL and technical degree, I can't get a teaching position at a bilingual school. It's depressing!
Thanks for any help at all!!
When several readers sent in “generically similar” questions like this and the ones below, my response was similar to each. It helped them. Perhaps it will help you too. Sooner or later, we all leave our first ELT position for “greener pastures”. Sometimes we stay. Sometimes we don’t. Often we simply want a better salary or income to help support the better life we were originally looking for. Here are the situations, questions and my response.
“About teaching English abroad; I wanted to ask you a couple of questions.”
“I have a technical degree and years of successful experience but I find myself with a desire to do something different. I visited my dream country on vacation and I fell in love with the country. Now I am giving up a good job in the USA and moving to abroad to teach English.”
“I took the TEFL and have my certification but I am finding that most schools want an Education-related degree and my technical degree seems to be hurting me despite the TEFL. I have found work with private students but I am having a hard time finding full-time teaching jobs in one of my more desired cities. For me it's not only about the money. I just want to teach at a high-level school or university.”
Here’s What to Do
My response: I'm a little surprised at the "difficulty" you seem to be having, but I'd like to suggest a slightly different approach. You're obviously not marketing to target markets that could most benefit from your multiple expertise. If I may be a bit blunt, you need to get off your duff and do some marketing research. Then market to the target markets you find.
- First, write a cover letter which highlights your technical background with your teaching skills. Show how one complements the other. Focus on trade / technical schools and / or technical career faculties in universities.
- Second, write proposals for teaching ESP, that is technical English to businesses and companies in your target areas. Intensive English courses of from one week to one month might work best at first. Use the phone book, chamber of commerce and periodicals for leads on companies to target.
- Third, advertise in large local newspapers using a small but highly targeted ad for teaching business / technical English to high-tech companies and business professionals. Get some decent business cards too - with your full contact information on one side and your services / expertise on the other. I'll bet you don't have good business cards at the moment, do you?
- Finally, you're causing your own problem in part, which is good in that you can then provide your own solutions. Get to work. If you really get stuck and genuinely require additional help, let me know and I'll try to prod you in the right directions again.
"I hope I've helped. What happens to you is up to you - not me or anybody else for that matter."
One final point: Don't give up.
Keep plugging away. If it takes a couple of months or more to saturate the market sufficiently to start getting relevant feedback, so be it.
Do what it takes to succeed.
The opportunities are out there.
Now you just go out and get them.
Prof. Larry M. Lynch is an English language teaching and learning expert author and university professor in Cali, Colombia. For more information on entering into or advancing in the fascinating field of ELT send an e-mail with "free ELT Ebook" in the subject heading for his no-cost pdf Ebook, “If You Want to Teach English Abroad, Here’s What You Need to Know”. For comments, questions, requests, to receive more information or to be added to his free TESOL articles and teaching materials mailing list, e-mail: lynchlarrym@gmail.com
Thanks for any help at all!!
When several readers sent in “generically similar” questions like this and the ones below, my response was similar to each. It helped them. Perhaps it will help you too. Sooner or later, we all leave our first ELT position for “greener pastures”. Sometimes we stay. Sometimes we don’t. Often we simply want a better salary or income to help support the better life we were originally looking for. Here are the situations, questions and my response.
“About teaching English abroad; I wanted to ask you a couple of questions.”
“I have a technical degree and years of successful experience but I find myself with a desire to do something different. I visited my dream country on vacation and I fell in love with the country. Now I am giving up a good job in the USA and moving to abroad to teach English.”
“I took the TEFL and have my certification but I am finding that most schools want an Education-related degree and my technical degree seems to be hurting me despite the TEFL. I have found work with private students but I am having a hard time finding full-time teaching jobs in one of my more desired cities. For me it's not only about the money. I just want to teach at a high-level school or university.”
Here’s What to Do
My response: I'm a little surprised at the "difficulty" you seem to be having, but I'd like to suggest a slightly different approach. You're obviously not marketing to target markets that could most benefit from your multiple expertise. If I may be a bit blunt, you need to get off your duff and do some marketing research. Then market to the target markets you find.
- First, write a cover letter which highlights your technical background with your teaching skills. Show how one complements the other. Focus on trade / technical schools and / or technical career faculties in universities.
- Second, write proposals for teaching ESP, that is technical English to businesses and companies in your target areas. Intensive English courses of from one week to one month might work best at first. Use the phone book, chamber of commerce and periodicals for leads on companies to target.
- Third, advertise in large local newspapers using a small but highly targeted ad for teaching business / technical English to high-tech companies and business professionals. Get some decent business cards too - with your full contact information on one side and your services / expertise on the other. I'll bet you don't have good business cards at the moment, do you?
- Finally, you're causing your own problem in part, which is good in that you can then provide your own solutions. Get to work. If you really get stuck and genuinely require additional help, let me know and I'll try to prod you in the right directions again.
"I hope I've helped. What happens to you is up to you - not me or anybody else for that matter."
One final point: Don't give up.
Keep plugging away. If it takes a couple of months or more to saturate the market sufficiently to start getting relevant feedback, so be it.
Do what it takes to succeed.
The opportunities are out there.
Now you just go out and get them.
Prof. Larry M. Lynch is an English language teaching and learning expert author and university professor in Cali, Colombia. For more information on entering into or advancing in the fascinating field of ELT send an e-mail with "free ELT Ebook" in the subject heading for his no-cost pdf Ebook, “If You Want to Teach English Abroad, Here’s What You Need to Know”. For comments, questions, requests, to receive more information or to be added to his free TESOL articles and teaching materials mailing list, e-mail: lynchlarrym@gmail.com
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
If You Want to Teach English Abroad, Here’s What You Need to Know
How to Qualify
There are essentially two "tracks" for qualifying as an English as a Foreign Language teaching professional (ELT). One is the Certification track, which requires you to study and pass a series of certification program in conjunction with observed, critiqued teaching. There are three levels to this track - I have all three. Each of the “levels” is higher and more difficult than the previous one. The CELTA or TEFL certificates are the first and lowest levels of this route. Next is an INSET or practicing CELTA often conducted in conjunction with your employment at a school or language institute. It could also be a Business English teaching certification frequently called a “Cert. TBE”. Finally there is the Trinity College Licentiate Diploma (LTCL Diploma in TESOL) or DELTA for those who aspire to the higher levels of knowledge and English language teaching application – and are also a bit suicidal. CELTA is an acronym for Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults. TEFL is an acronym for Teaching English as a Foreign Language. TESOL is an acronym for Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. Get used to the jargon, you’re going to need it.
The Academic Track
The second track is an academic one. That is the person gets a teaching or language / linguistics - related degree, then proceeds to an MA or MS degree and perhaps finally to a PhD or other terminal studies degree. This track can be done with little and sometimes no actual in-class teaching. This used to be favored but now is in more of a decline due to its impracticality in North America and Europe. You could have an advanced teaching degree without workable teaching and class room management skills, you see. So it's very difficult now to get a teaching position without actual class room teaching experience. This is one of the reasons you should attend a TEFL program in person, intensive or not.
My Strongest Piece of Advice
My strongest piece of advice is this: You MUST get a CELTA or a TEFL teaching certificate. Without it - with no teaching degree and no experience you can't work. A CELTA intensive program will take only about 5 weeks full time but will pay for itself in less than a semester. Look around in your state or local area, there should be an available program. Be sure to get your English language teaching certification in the USA, the UK or Canada, etc., not in a non-English-speaking country if you can help it. Some countries “frown on” TEFL certificates from programs in non-English speaking countries.
Online TEFL Programs
First, many online TEFL programs are not internationally accredited so you may have problems in many countries if this will be your only teaching credential. An online program may also not have as stringent requisite for observed and graded teaching. As a matter of fact, some may not even have an observed class room teaching requirement at all. You simply won’t be prepared to walk into a class room to teach a group of learners whom you can’t talk to in their native language. Not only will you be (rightfully) scared to death, but may fall completely flat on your whatchamacallit. Any good CELTA or TEFL certificate program will provide you with immediate "hands on" experience in working directly with EFL learners.
Second, online TEFL certifications are NOT accepted in several Latin American, Asian and European countries. For example, the Colombian Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and most high-level schools, institutes and universities WILL check this out thoroughly. You very likely won't be able to work legally with only an online TEFL certificate. Be sure to inquire about this first, before you plunk down hundreds, or thousands, of your hard-won dollars.
Think carefully on this. Otherwise you may well be wasting your time and money.
You MUST Be Properly Certified
If you're going to teach English as a Foreign Language, you MUST be properly certified to get a decent job with a good salary. Without proper certification, you will be exploited by unscrupulous school and institute owners who know you can`t do better than their $2 or $3 per hour salary offers. You can't live off of this unless you work 50 to 60 hours per week in many countries, likely working six days a week too.
Your standard of living will be the lowest.
Forget any travel, you’ll be more worried about eating everyday.
And please, don’t you dare get sick.
Benefits? Are you kidding?
Want More No-Nonsense Information?
In this article I can barely scratch the surface. You can get some additional information by going to www.ezinearticles.com and doing a search there for my name, “Larry M. Lynch”. You will then be taken to my free article postings on English teaching. Finally, don’t get me wrong, I’m not “knocking” any organization’s TEFL program. You just need to scrupulously check and compare what you’ll be getting and if it’ll be accepted where you’re planning to teach. With more than 17 years in the field working on both sides of the interview table, I’ve seen far too many things go wrong which could have been avoided by a more careful scrutiny of TEFL training programs. Yes, most internationally certified CELTA or TEFL certificate programs cost more and are far more difficult to successfully complete to boot, but, as the saying goes, you usually get what you pay for.
Most good CELTA and TEFL programs also provide job
placement assistance.
But that’s a topic for another article.
Let me know if there's anything else I can help you with. Good luck.
Prof. Larry M. Lynch is an English language teaching and learning expert author and university professor in Cali, Colombia. For more information on entering into or advancing in the fascinating field of ELT send for his no-cost pdf Ebook, “If You Want to Teach English Abroad, Here’s What You Need To Know” send an e-mail to the author with "free ELT Ebook" in the heading. For comments, questions, requests, to receive more information or to be added to his free TESOL articles and teaching materials mailing list, e-mail: lynchlarrym@gmail.com
There are essentially two "tracks" for qualifying as an English as a Foreign Language teaching professional (ELT). One is the Certification track, which requires you to study and pass a series of certification program in conjunction with observed, critiqued teaching. There are three levels to this track - I have all three. Each of the “levels” is higher and more difficult than the previous one. The CELTA or TEFL certificates are the first and lowest levels of this route. Next is an INSET or practicing CELTA often conducted in conjunction with your employment at a school or language institute. It could also be a Business English teaching certification frequently called a “Cert. TBE”. Finally there is the Trinity College Licentiate Diploma (LTCL Diploma in TESOL) or DELTA for those who aspire to the higher levels of knowledge and English language teaching application – and are also a bit suicidal. CELTA is an acronym for Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults. TEFL is an acronym for Teaching English as a Foreign Language. TESOL is an acronym for Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. Get used to the jargon, you’re going to need it.
The Academic Track
The second track is an academic one. That is the person gets a teaching or language / linguistics - related degree, then proceeds to an MA or MS degree and perhaps finally to a PhD or other terminal studies degree. This track can be done with little and sometimes no actual in-class teaching. This used to be favored but now is in more of a decline due to its impracticality in North America and Europe. You could have an advanced teaching degree without workable teaching and class room management skills, you see. So it's very difficult now to get a teaching position without actual class room teaching experience. This is one of the reasons you should attend a TEFL program in person, intensive or not.
My Strongest Piece of Advice
My strongest piece of advice is this: You MUST get a CELTA or a TEFL teaching certificate. Without it - with no teaching degree and no experience you can't work. A CELTA intensive program will take only about 5 weeks full time but will pay for itself in less than a semester. Look around in your state or local area, there should be an available program. Be sure to get your English language teaching certification in the USA, the UK or Canada, etc., not in a non-English-speaking country if you can help it. Some countries “frown on” TEFL certificates from programs in non-English speaking countries.
Online TEFL Programs
First, many online TEFL programs are not internationally accredited so you may have problems in many countries if this will be your only teaching credential. An online program may also not have as stringent requisite for observed and graded teaching. As a matter of fact, some may not even have an observed class room teaching requirement at all. You simply won’t be prepared to walk into a class room to teach a group of learners whom you can’t talk to in their native language. Not only will you be (rightfully) scared to death, but may fall completely flat on your whatchamacallit. Any good CELTA or TEFL certificate program will provide you with immediate "hands on" experience in working directly with EFL learners.
Second, online TEFL certifications are NOT accepted in several Latin American, Asian and European countries. For example, the Colombian Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and most high-level schools, institutes and universities WILL check this out thoroughly. You very likely won't be able to work legally with only an online TEFL certificate. Be sure to inquire about this first, before you plunk down hundreds, or thousands, of your hard-won dollars.
Think carefully on this. Otherwise you may well be wasting your time and money.
You MUST Be Properly Certified
If you're going to teach English as a Foreign Language, you MUST be properly certified to get a decent job with a good salary. Without proper certification, you will be exploited by unscrupulous school and institute owners who know you can`t do better than their $2 or $3 per hour salary offers. You can't live off of this unless you work 50 to 60 hours per week in many countries, likely working six days a week too.
Your standard of living will be the lowest.
Forget any travel, you’ll be more worried about eating everyday.
And please, don’t you dare get sick.
Benefits? Are you kidding?
Want More No-Nonsense Information?
In this article I can barely scratch the surface. You can get some additional information by going to www.ezinearticles.com and doing a search there for my name, “Larry M. Lynch”. You will then be taken to my free article postings on English teaching. Finally, don’t get me wrong, I’m not “knocking” any organization’s TEFL program. You just need to scrupulously check and compare what you’ll be getting and if it’ll be accepted where you’re planning to teach. With more than 17 years in the field working on both sides of the interview table, I’ve seen far too many things go wrong which could have been avoided by a more careful scrutiny of TEFL training programs. Yes, most internationally certified CELTA or TEFL certificate programs cost more and are far more difficult to successfully complete to boot, but, as the saying goes, you usually get what you pay for.
Most good CELTA and TEFL programs also provide job
placement assistance.
But that’s a topic for another article.
Let me know if there's anything else I can help you with. Good luck.
Prof. Larry M. Lynch is an English language teaching and learning expert author and university professor in Cali, Colombia. For more information on entering into or advancing in the fascinating field of ELT send for his no-cost pdf Ebook, “If You Want to Teach English Abroad, Here’s What You Need To Know” send an e-mail to the author with "free ELT Ebook" in the heading. For comments, questions, requests, to receive more information or to be added to his free TESOL articles and teaching materials mailing list, e-mail: lynchlarrym@gmail.com
Could Computers and the Internet REALLY Replace TESOL English Teachers?
A Controversial Question
At ELT English seminars, workshops and TESOL conferences, one question I’m frequently asked is whether I think computers will eventually replace English teachers. I flash back to the film “Matrix”. In an early scene, our neophyte hero “Neo” is learning Kung Fu by being plugged in to a computer. Scant hours later, he opens his eye, sits up, and announces, “I know Kung Fu!” The ensuing scenes depict how an older, more experienced mentor (a.k.a. a teacher) follows up by evaluating young Neo’s “skills”. “Show me”, the teacher asks in typical fashion. Now if you’ve been following along with me so far, you already have a clue as to my asnswer to these teachers’ question.
Computers replace a human English teacher?
Are you kidding?
“Ain’t no way, Jose.”
But English teachers, don’t totally relax just yet. What I think we DO need to do is to “re-invent” a portion of the concept of “school”.
Here’s what I mean.
Reinventing the Concept of School
Schools, at virtually any level, will need to be virtually and interactively linked to an extensive array of external resources. This means that the “traditional” board, markers and OHP will need to give way to additional, integrated resources that expand the classroom environment to an almost unlimited degree. I mean the works; audio, video, internet, webcams, IM, TXTing, chat, e-mail, RSS, even real-time multi-media input feeds. The classroom and its students would be linked to additional resources like:
Corporations
Libraries
Museums
Government facilities
Science, technology and medical centers
Industry
Laboratories
Other learning Institutions
In this way, students would more normally utilize learning activities such as web quests, inter-active dynamics and virtual tours to expand and deepen their knowledge on principles and concepts. The learners would no longer be limited to the knowledge, resources and facilities available at the institution where they attend classes. Instead, the world, literally, is their classroom.
Impact on Learning
How would this directly impact learning?
Well, if you’re learning computers, wouldn’t direct access to Microsoft Corp. materials and training be a real boon? Technology students would doubtless derive immense benefit from direct links with MIT (http://web.mit.edu/), Cal Tech (http://www.caltech.edu/), or Lucent Corp. (http://www.lucent.com/) Engineering students would thrive on access to NASA located online at: (http://www.nasa.gov/home/index.html), Boeing (http://www.boeing.com/), Westinghouse (http://www.westinghouse.com/home.html), Dupont (http://www2.dupont.com/DuPont_Home/en_US/index.html) or a host of other high-tech corporations.
Law, Government, Human Rights and Political Science students would be at the top of their game hard-wired into Federal, State and local government databases, or FBI (http://www.fbi.gov/), the London Metropolitan Police (http://www.met.police.uk/), the CIA (http://www.cia.gov/) and ATF (http://www.atf.treas.gov/ ) databases with their accompanying local, regional and national resources. Health majors could be up to date with real-time events in Pathology, Epidemics research, natural disaster response resource information and population health threats through the CDC (http://www.cdc.gov/), medical and health networks or the UN (http://www.un.org/).
The possibilities are almost endless.
So, I agree that the “traditional” approaches to teaching and learning, not only English and other foreign languages, but numerous other fields as well, will continue to evolve to serve the needs of learners, business and educational institutions. With CBL (Content-Based Learning), well-prepared TEFL English teachers, armed with knowledge, skills and continually developing technology, have nothing to fear from computers. Technology is yet another powerful tool in promoting the acquisition of new knowledge and skills, now and in the future.
What do YOU think?
At ELT English seminars, workshops and TESOL conferences, one question I’m frequently asked is whether I think computers will eventually replace English teachers. I flash back to the film “Matrix”. In an early scene, our neophyte hero “Neo” is learning Kung Fu by being plugged in to a computer. Scant hours later, he opens his eye, sits up, and announces, “I know Kung Fu!” The ensuing scenes depict how an older, more experienced mentor (a.k.a. a teacher) follows up by evaluating young Neo’s “skills”. “Show me”, the teacher asks in typical fashion. Now if you’ve been following along with me so far, you already have a clue as to my asnswer to these teachers’ question.
Computers replace a human English teacher?
Are you kidding?
“Ain’t no way, Jose.”
But English teachers, don’t totally relax just yet. What I think we DO need to do is to “re-invent” a portion of the concept of “school”.
Here’s what I mean.
Reinventing the Concept of School
Schools, at virtually any level, will need to be virtually and interactively linked to an extensive array of external resources. This means that the “traditional” board, markers and OHP will need to give way to additional, integrated resources that expand the classroom environment to an almost unlimited degree. I mean the works; audio, video, internet, webcams, IM, TXTing, chat, e-mail, RSS, even real-time multi-media input feeds. The classroom and its students would be linked to additional resources like:
Corporations
Libraries
Museums
Government facilities
Science, technology and medical centers
Industry
Laboratories
Other learning Institutions
In this way, students would more normally utilize learning activities such as web quests, inter-active dynamics and virtual tours to expand and deepen their knowledge on principles and concepts. The learners would no longer be limited to the knowledge, resources and facilities available at the institution where they attend classes. Instead, the world, literally, is their classroom.
Impact on Learning
How would this directly impact learning?
Well, if you’re learning computers, wouldn’t direct access to Microsoft Corp. materials and training be a real boon? Technology students would doubtless derive immense benefit from direct links with MIT (http://web.mit.edu/), Cal Tech (http://www.caltech.edu/), or Lucent Corp. (http://www.lucent.com/) Engineering students would thrive on access to NASA located online at: (http://www.nasa.gov/home/index.html), Boeing (http://www.boeing.com/), Westinghouse (http://www.westinghouse.com/home.html), Dupont (http://www2.dupont.com/DuPont_Home/en_US/index.html) or a host of other high-tech corporations.
Law, Government, Human Rights and Political Science students would be at the top of their game hard-wired into Federal, State and local government databases, or FBI (http://www.fbi.gov/), the London Metropolitan Police (http://www.met.police.uk/), the CIA (http://www.cia.gov/) and ATF (http://www.atf.treas.gov/ ) databases with their accompanying local, regional and national resources. Health majors could be up to date with real-time events in Pathology, Epidemics research, natural disaster response resource information and population health threats through the CDC (http://www.cdc.gov/), medical and health networks or the UN (http://www.un.org/).
The possibilities are almost endless.
So, I agree that the “traditional” approaches to teaching and learning, not only English and other foreign languages, but numerous other fields as well, will continue to evolve to serve the needs of learners, business and educational institutions. With CBL (Content-Based Learning), well-prepared TEFL English teachers, armed with knowledge, skills and continually developing technology, have nothing to fear from computers. Technology is yet another powerful tool in promoting the acquisition of new knowledge and skills, now and in the future.
What do YOU think?
Friday, July 27, 2007
Using Songs as Authentic English Language Texts
In English as a foreign or second language teaching (EFL, ESL), if you ever need to come up with an authentic English text of any kind, i.e., newspaper, magazine, movie clip, etc. that you need to present to the class and you’ve been powerfully influenced by music your whole life you might chose to take the song approach. You'll be okay using a popular song as authentic language text - which it certainly is. I'd go with popular songs, like "Imagine" by John Lennon, which have more appeal. You can get some additional mileage out of the song using cultural aspects as well as some others. Profiling, doing a biography of and discussing John Lennon as an example in this case.
Here are some ways to go about it.
Select and Concept Check the Lexis
Be sure to select at least six to eight key lexis (minimum) from the song. To aid in concept checking you should create a series of short exercises such as:
• a True - False exercise
• a short matching exercise and perhaps
• a fill in the blanks exercise
In each of these exercises you’ll be using the lexis (vocabulary) you've chosen. You might also try to find a few pictures or photos to visually - graphically illustrate both the key lexis and themes or phrases from the song. You can also prepare a re-order exercise using the song lyrics by cutting the lyrics into strips, mixing them up and having the learners re-order the lyrics line strips of the song by listening to it.
Re-Ordering Sequences
Play the song again afterwards to have learners check their re-ordered sequence. Try to have a picture or drawing that represents each of your chosen lexis for you to use to help elicit the key lexis from the learners before they hear the song. For a REAL test of this system (which I regularly use, by the way) is to find and use a song that you think the learners don't know!
You'll get kudos for this one for sure. It’s especially effective when the class is multi-cultural; that is, composed of learners from different countries and diverse language backgrounds. (Russia, Iran, South Korea, Mexico, and so on) Using a snappy but “unknown” song will help to ensure a ample amount of “learning” on the part of your students, in more ways than one.
Finding Unique Songs
So how would you find such songs – easy; just check out songs from other genres, songs sung in other varieties of English and popular songs from past eras aka “oldies but goodies”.
Some suggestions you might consider include:
• country and western
• oldies from the 40’s, 50’s, 60’s and 70’s
• jazz vocals
• soul or rhythm and blues songs (especially from previous eras)
• comedy songs
• Bluegrass songs
• Folk songs
• Ballads
Process Need Not Be Difficult
If you don’t have the time or inclination to do the extra preparation you can just go with the activities I've mentioned for your presentation. The process needn’t be overly difficult at all.
Let me know if you need any further guidance or some actual exercise examples.
I’ll be happy to send you some.
Good luck.
Larry M. Lynch is an Intellectual Development Specialist, ELT Teacher Trainer, expert author, photographer and experienced world traveler who teaches language at a university in Cali, Colombia. He helps language teachers to improve their skills and develop dynamic language classroom teaching techniques. His writing has appeared in Transitions Abroad, South American Explorer, Escape from America, Mexico News and Brazzil magazines, in addition to hundreds of online websites. He is the author of the astonishing new English language teaching system; “The BREAKTHROUGH! English Language Teaching System: Dynamic Techniques & Strategies for Teaching English to Any Learner Anywhere in the World”.
For no-obligation information, questions or comments send an e-mail to: lynchlarrym@gmail.com After today your language teaching will never be the same.
Here are some ways to go about it.
Select and Concept Check the Lexis
Be sure to select at least six to eight key lexis (minimum) from the song. To aid in concept checking you should create a series of short exercises such as:
• a True - False exercise
• a short matching exercise and perhaps
• a fill in the blanks exercise
In each of these exercises you’ll be using the lexis (vocabulary) you've chosen. You might also try to find a few pictures or photos to visually - graphically illustrate both the key lexis and themes or phrases from the song. You can also prepare a re-order exercise using the song lyrics by cutting the lyrics into strips, mixing them up and having the learners re-order the lyrics line strips of the song by listening to it.
Re-Ordering Sequences
Play the song again afterwards to have learners check their re-ordered sequence. Try to have a picture or drawing that represents each of your chosen lexis for you to use to help elicit the key lexis from the learners before they hear the song. For a REAL test of this system (which I regularly use, by the way) is to find and use a song that you think the learners don't know!
You'll get kudos for this one for sure. It’s especially effective when the class is multi-cultural; that is, composed of learners from different countries and diverse language backgrounds. (Russia, Iran, South Korea, Mexico, and so on) Using a snappy but “unknown” song will help to ensure a ample amount of “learning” on the part of your students, in more ways than one.
Finding Unique Songs
So how would you find such songs – easy; just check out songs from other genres, songs sung in other varieties of English and popular songs from past eras aka “oldies but goodies”.
Some suggestions you might consider include:
• country and western
• oldies from the 40’s, 50’s, 60’s and 70’s
• jazz vocals
• soul or rhythm and blues songs (especially from previous eras)
• comedy songs
• Bluegrass songs
• Folk songs
• Ballads
Process Need Not Be Difficult
If you don’t have the time or inclination to do the extra preparation you can just go with the activities I've mentioned for your presentation. The process needn’t be overly difficult at all.
Let me know if you need any further guidance or some actual exercise examples.
I’ll be happy to send you some.
Good luck.
Larry M. Lynch is an Intellectual Development Specialist, ELT Teacher Trainer, expert author, photographer and experienced world traveler who teaches language at a university in Cali, Colombia. He helps language teachers to improve their skills and develop dynamic language classroom teaching techniques. His writing has appeared in Transitions Abroad, South American Explorer, Escape from America, Mexico News and Brazzil magazines, in addition to hundreds of online websites. He is the author of the astonishing new English language teaching system; “The BREAKTHROUGH! English Language Teaching System: Dynamic Techniques & Strategies for Teaching English to Any Learner Anywhere in the World”.
For no-obligation information, questions or comments send an e-mail to: lynchlarrym@gmail.com After today your language teaching will never be the same.
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