Transcript TEFL/TESOL Certification Course
TEFL/TESOL Certification Course
Paris, France Summer 2013 Christina Lantero
University
• Located in the 5th Arrondissement, next to the Church de Val du Grace and a few blocks from the Luxembourg Gardens • Classes held at The American University of Paris five days a week from 9am-5pm • United TEFL rented out the classrooms during the summer months
Housing
• Independent housing: 3 students • Recommended Housing by program
Course Work Info:
TESOL/TEFL Language : Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages or Teaching English as a Foreign • 120 hour TEFL/TESOL certification through TEFL International Paris, France • Planned curriculum, chapters, and lessons • Prepared extra-activity material • Taught interactive communicative EFL classes to adults and teens • Evaluated peer/experienced teacher performance • Selected course books • Studied methodology and English grammar
Teaching Experience
• EFL Instructor at TEFL International Paris, France • Taught EFL classes to adults and teens: in person and online • Prepared comprehensive and Level appropriate lesson plans for single, double and group lessons
Course Schedule
• 4 week course • Week 1: mainly observation; grammar review; learning lesson formats (ESA); learning techniques, textbook review; language simulation • Week 2-4: Observation, teaching, continuation of instruction on how to teach EFL learners
Class Make-up
• Three female university students from Ireland • One 28 yr. old male from UK; previous occupation: restaurant manager • One 30 yr. old female from UK; Previous occupation: nurse • One 50+ yr. old female from Australia (resident of France) previous occupation: unknown • One female university student from U.S.A.
• One 24 yr. old female from U.S.A.; occupation: middle school band/music teacher • Instructor: 50+ yr. old Female from Ukraine; spoke 5 languages total
Teaching TESOL/TEFL Students
• Using lots of gestures • Conscious of personal regional accent and dialect differences • Awareness of cultural differences • Be flexible with all lesson plans and over plan all lesson • Engage, Study and Activate • Build off of prior/background knowledge
Teaching Beginning Students
• Thought this would be the hardest!
• Struggles: differences in cultural backgrounds, not knowing whether information was completely new or student was still processing, many exceptions to the rule • Strengths: using gestures, speaking slowly and clearly, incorporating creativity into the lessons **Keep in mind the types of students you have (motivation levels)
Lessons for beginning students:
Present Simple Tense for: “work”, “live” and “have” (75min lesson) Regular Past Simple Tense (45-60 min) Materials: Video clips Posters White boards Agendas Stories News articles Workbook pages
Teaching Intermediate Students
• Hardest in reality for me!
• Struggles: range in learning levels, accommodating all students, knowing all of the gaps in student learning prior to lessons • Strengths: flexibility, creativity, supplemental materials
Lessons for Intermediates
Types of Questions: who, what, where when, how Different types of verb tenses: Present: simple (perfect or passive), continuous Past: simple (perfect, continuous (perfect or passive) Debates/Controversial Issues Materials Video clips Articles Graphic Organizers Workbook pages Song lyrics Whiteboard Audio tapes
Teaching Advanced Students
• Struggles: creating lesson plans that still challenge, building academic vocabulary, accent and pronunciation differences • Strengths: creativity with lesson plans, pacing, gestures, diversity of materials, flexibility of class sizes, tailoring materials to students’ interests
Lessons for Advanced
Grammar and accent identification and correction Study on strong adjectives Academic writing styles Current Issues in Media: self-esteem Lots of discussion and critical thinking!
Materials: Newspaper articles Video clips Jeopardy game Magazines Poster supplies
Teaching Online Students
Strengths: adapting lesson plans, patience, pacing, and creativity Struggles: technology, ability to use and provide materials, student use of online translators, moving around the classroom and allowing partner/group work
What I learned about English during the course...
• phonemic alphabet/symbols • reviewed all grammatical rules • more about intonation and stress • Differences in regional and standard English (between U.S. UK, Ireland, and Australia!) •
Spoken and Written!
• Manner/Place of Articulation
What I learned about teaching during the course:
• ESA model of lesson planning • Flexibility • Online teaching strategies • Time management skills • The many roles of a teacher • TTT vs. STT • How to supplement materials along with the textbook and workbook curriculum • How to differentiate to accommodate all learner • Importance of wait time • Creativity, prep, and positive feedback go a long way!
• How to combine textbooks and workbooks • How to create unit plans for multiple lessons
What I learned about diversity and culture:
• Respect • Sensitivity to all students backgrounds and learning styles • Feelings of being completely immersed in a new culture and language • Blog entries and observations written about living in a different culture
Future Implementation:
• English and grammatical • Creative planning with Supplementary materials • Differentiation • Multi-cultural education • Sensitivity to all students backgrounds and ELL students • ESA lesson formatting • Professionalism in the work place • Flexibility and Time management!
Questions or Comments?
Thank-you for listening!