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Is it possible to define the perfect EFL teacher?

TEFL Trainer – Reflective diary Author: Francesco T. What do you think it takes to be a good EFL teacher? Discuss traits, skills, knowledge, formal training, etc. Describe some of your peers and yourself. Is it possible to define the perfect EFL teacher? Defining accurately what makes a competent EFL teacher is something that might not be possible. I have come across very different teacher in my life and found that each of them had some strengths and weaknesses. But when it comes to language learning there are a few key traits we might want to take into consideration to make sure to do our best as teachers. One of those things is to know your students. Not only the age and their level of English, but also their culture, where they grew up, how they have been learning English so far and what languages they are capable to speak. These can be elements that can help us construct a better curriculum and to optimize our classes to ensure to achieve the desired outcomes. Knowing your students is big part of the lesson planning, which contains all the teaching strategies we may think to implement into our lessons based on the type of students we have. That leads me to think about a very important quality that a teacher should possess: adaptability. Read the full article

Youtube: A Tool for Everything

TEFL Trainer– Reflective diary Author: Francesco T. Your experience in teaching with YouTube. What role can videos play in my curriculum? Youtube: A Tool for Everything through the English language. After years of autonomous language learning and two years of pedagogy studying in university, I finally had the chance to bring my knowledge to the table by working in Valencia. YouTube represented an important part of our curriculum as it was involved in many of our lesson plans. Hours of material would be played to our students and subsequently analysed with them. It is a well-known platform that is perfect to find learning resource, to revise grammar rules or just exercise the language. However, the things that were used the most were vlogs entries, speeches (e.g. Ted Talks) or funny sketches, among many others.The latter type of videos was found to be particularly effective when it came to engagement. Other than being entertaining, they can also push the listener to focus even more whenever the topic or what is being said was particularly appealing to them. This is opposed to one forcing themselves to listen to English resources for the mere purpose to hear the language rather than doing something else with it. YouTube is a world-spread service, which means that the varieties of English that can be found on it are numerous. It is particularly good for accents. Read the full article

Analysis of Class Stages

TEFL Trainer – Reflective diary Author: Francesco T. Bloom’s taxonomy offers a useful way of thinking about the different types of cognitive processes that students can use to engage with knowledge. How can you incorporate them into your lesson planning? Analysis of Class Stages: between the PPP Model and Bloom’s Taxonomy A way to incorporate Bloom’s taxonomy into a lesson plan could be done by simply incorporating its stages to each exercise throughout the class so they could match. The first stage, the remembering is something that can be easily implemented in each lesson plan through the addition of a warm up at the beginning of the lesson that help the students recall what has been learned in a previous lesson that is related to what they will be learning in the rest of the class or maybe this part could be dedicated to a warm-up exercise that is aimed at deducing new concepts from general patterns and structures of the language through a small pair or group activity where everybody can share ideas and find possible answers. Secondly, the clarification stage of our lesson (the presentation of new elements of the target language) would employ the students skills to interpret and classify the information they have been introduced to be able to utilize it and understand its function. The natural objective following the understanding on behalf of the students is the need to apply the new information in the target language within set and specific exercises. Read the full article

Searching for an English teaching job

TEFL Trainer – Reflective diary Author: Francesco T. Looking for a job in TEFL Searching for an English teaching job When thinking about working as a TEFL teacher, one thing that one needs to do is prepare and clearly understand the options that are available to us, even before actually searching for positions. This is an important step as it will give us a clear and selective view of what we want and can actually do based on many factors. According to my research, your age, teaching experience and qualifications are the three main factors that will influence your suitability for specific positions, along with citizenship. Your nationality can also be part of the requirements of a specific teaching job. Also, when thinking of our career, we need to have in mind a clear picture of what it is that we are keen on doing and what it is that we actually want to do further on in our career.We need to be certain about what type of class we want to teach to its age group and its size. Asking yourself if you feel more comfortable with teaching small or large group is a fundamental part of the process. It might also be that we might prefer one-to-one tutoring, or even online teaching rather than in-person teaching.The type of class/teaching is as important as the role itself. We might want to go for a teacher assistant position rather than having or own class, especially if it is going to be one your first experiences.I Read the full article

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Challenges of EFL multi-level classes

TEFL Trainer, Reflective diary written by Francesco T. What are the main constraints in the classroom facing TEFL teachers (large multilevel classes, textbooks, curriculum, hours, motivation, special needs)? The challenges of multi-level classes In my experience in teaching English in Valencia, I found out straight away that I was going to deal with a multi-level class, which is something I have always experienced as a student. The class I oversaw ranged from B2 to C1 (with some occasional students aiming at the C2 level) and it occasionally presented some challenges. One of the difficulties was the need to maintain a good level of motivation. A lot of times we find ourselves interacting with a learning group where there might be people who have a better grasp of the subject than the one we have. That could create potential conflict in ourselves, undermining the learning outcome by making us fear the comparison, the mistakes we could make and the impression that the other students might have of us. As a teacher, one of the things I must convince my students of their complete freedom and right to make mistakes in the class and the fact that I, as well, am always learning and can make mistakes. Read the full article

Differences between English in Japan and Sri Lanka

Teaching in Asia Diary submitted by Chloe L., Valencia Differences between English in Japan and Sri Lanka Nowadays English is such a worldwide language as it is used in many different fields for instance in medicine, politics and many more and it is now considered to be a common language. Teaching English is different all over the world, however I will be focusing on how English is taught in Japan and Sri Lanka. Unfortunately, I have never taught in any other countries apart from Spain so I cannot talk from my personal experience. First and foremost I am going to be talking about Japan, at the moment it seems as though students in Japan are not getting the best marks in their exams. “Junior high and high school students in Japan have failed to meet the government’s targets in all four English skills: reading, listening, writing and speaking.” One thing that I have to take into consideration is the fact that Japanese and English are completely different from one another from the alphabet to verb tenses and therefore it must be difficult. According to Namiko Abe, nowadays private conversation lessons are very popular due to the fact that students do not seem to be understanding English after years of studying it at school and the demand for English is always increasing . English is taught in Sri Lanka from grade 3 up until grade 13, however, there are still children that leave the school without being able to speak English. Read the full article

The importance of IELTS/Cambridge exams in Spain

The importance of IELTS/Cambridge exams in Spain Diary submitted by Ruth H, Madrid Did you know that "there are more students taking Cambridge exams in Spain than in any other country in the world..."? In Madrid, it seems to me that there is another English language academy on every street. It’s not quite true, but there is a huge number of students studying English in Spain - in fact, there are more students taking Cambridge exams in Spain than in any other country in the world. IELTS and Cambridge exams are two of the most popular ESL exams available, why is this, and why are they so many English students in Spain? One key cause of the increased requirement for English in Spain was the economic crisis which started in 2009. Spain was one of the worst hit countries and as a result many companies exported their businesses or gave them a more international focus, which lead to an increase in the number of people studying English as they needed the language to cope in a more international business setting. Also as a result of the economic crash, Spain has a very low employment rate, particularly among young people aged 18-24, where it lies at just 50%. This means that competition for jobs in Spain is incredibly high and having a good level of English is no longer enough to make you stand out. It’s now necessary for many jobs, even those which don’t require you to use English in a normal setting. Read the full article

The importance of IELTS/Cambridge exams in Spain

The importance of IELTS/Cambridge exams in Spain Diary submitted by Ruth H, Madrid Did you know that "there are more students taking Cambridge exams in Spain than in any other country in the world..."? In Madrid, it seems to me that there is another English language academy on every street. It’s not quite true, but there is a huge number of students studying English in Spain - in fact, there are more students taking Cambridge exams in Spain than in any other country in the world. IELTS and Cambridge exams are two of the most popular ESL exams available, why is this, and why are they so many English students in Spain? One key cause of the increased requirement for English in Spain was the economic crisis which started in 2009. Spain was one of the worst hit countries and as a result many companies exported their businesses or gave them a more international focus, which lead to an increase in the number of people studying English as they needed the language to cope in a more international business setting. Also as a result of the economic crash, Spain has a very low employment rate, particularly among young people aged 18-24, where it lies at just 50%. This means that competition for jobs in Spain is incredibly high and having a good level of English is no longer enough to make you stand out. It’s now necessary for many jobs, even those which don’t require you to use English in a normal setting. Read the full article

2 Key elements of language acquisition: Fluency and Accuracy

Diary submitted by Damian L, Madrid When should fluency take some priority over accuracy and vice versa? This is a particularly hot issue up for debate with various different points of view over which of the two key components of second language acquisition should carry more weight when teaching; accuracy or fluency. There are many formalists who would put greater importance on learning the forms and rules of a language. However, some activists would argue for the other, saying that one must focus more on learning how to use a language. I think, as with most things, striking a balance is the best way forward and one should only put more emphasis on one over the other in specific circumstances. In this diary, I shall attempt to briefly outline some examples when one of these two components takes priority over the other, and explain why some might argue for this slight imbalance. However, before doing so, I’d like to express why this issue is so important to consider. It is no understatement that many EFL teachers can become plagued by trying to decipher which component should take precedence in the classroom environment. For example, I have at times seen my students begin to disregard the correct structure and grammar when I have allowed my class to become too fluency orientated. On the other hand, however, I too have fallen trap to following an approach which is too accuracy orientated. Read the full article

How do you make necessary components of a class more innovative?

How can I make reading less tedious?   Diary submitted by Gemma J. Valencia How do you make necessary components of a class more innovative? A core component of all the speaking classes I have taught during my TEFL placement in Spain have involved reading. The reading material provided by the school is sophisticated and always geared towards the grammar point being focused on in each lesson. However, as crucial as reading is for the correction of pronunciation and the expansion of vocabulary, I have always found it to be the least inspiring part of my classes. This is further exacerbated if the student does not find the topic of the reading interesting, with the age of the student also impacting engagement with the material. Younger students tend to have shorter attention spans and become restless during this section of the session. To combat this, a creative approach is necessary. An example of innovation in reading practice would be a “cut-up & rearrange” exercise. Students would be given a short piece of dialogue and scissors. They would then cut up different sentences and rearrange them into a new structure. Once it was complete they would then read the new structure aloud. This would encourage a more active involvement with the reading. The student would also have to think carefully about the meaning of each sentence, testing their reading comprehension in a relaxed and fun learning environment. Read the full article

How can I not knock an A1/A2 level student’s confidence by correcting their mistakes?

Error correction and appraisal - finding the balance Diary submitted by Chloe L., Valencia How can I not knock an A1/A2 level student’s confidence by correcting their mistakes? Finding a balance between error correction and appraisal is key when you are an EFL teacher. Giving appraisal can be very beneficial to the students as it can encourage them to do even better and furthermore it can boost their confidence, in some situations this can lead them to try new vocabulary or using a different verb tense. However, like everything in life, you need to make mistakes in order to improve and learning from your mistakes is also important when learning a new language. Error correction is vital when A1/A2 level students are speaking as if you, as a teacher, do not correct them they may continue to use the same errors as they do to realise that it is incorrect. Depending on the student you have, some can be quite shy in general and therefore they often apologise when they make a mistake. I always try and make them not feel apologetic as making mistakes are a fundamental part of learning the language. In the long run making mistakes can be very beneficial for them. Especially when it comes to grammar exercises for example as often they are bound to make mistakes but in these exercises students really understand the contexts in which they ought to use this specific verb tense/ grammar in general. Read the full article

How can I not knock an A1/A2 level student’s confidence by correcting their mistakes?

Error correction and appraisal - finding the balance Diary submitted by Chloe L., Valencia How can I not knock an A1/A2 level student’s confidence by correcting their mistakes? Finding a balance between error correction and appraisal is key when you are an EFL teacher. Giving appraisal can be very beneficial to the students as it can encourage them to do even better and furthermore it can boost their confidence, in some situations this can lead them to try new vocabulary or using a different verb tense. However, like everything in life, you need to make mistakes in order to improve and learning from your mistakes is also important when learning a new language. Error correction is vital when A1/A2 level students are speaking as if you, as a teacher, do not correct them they may continue to use the same errors as they do to realise that it is incorrect. Depending on the student you have, some can be quite shy in general and therefore they often apologise when they make a mistake. I always try and make them not feel apologetic as making mistakes are a fundamental part of learning the language. In the long run making mistakes can be very beneficial for them. Especially when it comes to grammar exercises for example as often they are bound to make mistakes but in these exercises students really understand the contexts in which they ought to use this specific verb tense/ grammar in general. Read the full article

How can I not knock an A1/A2 level student’s confidence by correcting their mistakes?

Error correction and appraisal - finding the balance Diary submitted by Chloe L., Valencia How can I not knock an A1/A2 level student’s confidence by correcting their mistakes? Finding a balance between error correction and appraisal is key when you are an EFL teacher. Giving appraisal can be very beneficial to the students as it can encourage them to do even better and furthermore it can boost their confidence, in some situations this can lead them to try new vocabulary or using a different verb tense. However, like everything in life, you need to make mistakes in order to improve and learning from your mistakes is also important when learning a new language. Error correction is vital when A1/A2 level students are speaking as if you, as a teacher, do not correct them they may continue to use the same errors as they do to realise that it is incorrect. Depending on the student you have, some can be quite shy in general and therefore they often apologise when they make a mistake. I always try and make them not feel apologetic as making mistakes are a fundamental part of learning the language. In the long run making mistakes can be very beneficial for them. Especially when it comes to grammar exercises for example as often they are bound to make mistakes but in these exercises students really understand the contexts in which they ought to use this specific verb tense/ grammar in general. Read the full article

Incorporating Bloom's Taxonomy into your lesson planning

Diary submitted by Pariise D., Valencia, 2020 Bloom’s Taxonomy offers a useful way of thinking about the different types of cognitive processes that students can use to engage with knowledge. How can you incorporate them into your lesson planning? Learning a foreign language can sometimes be a difficult process. Having been in both shoes - as a student learner of Spanish and French as well as in the position of a TEFL teacher - I believe I have learnt how to adapt classes to ensure not only are my students going through the curriculum but truly understanding what they have learnt and applying into their daily life. Using Bloom’s Taxonomy, I am going to describe how I have implemented the six steps within my classes. I will go into brief details of the stages starting from the bottom up. Level one focuses on memory and the ability to recall facts. In many ways one can argue this is the easiest stage of learning. I often challenge my students by playing a game I refer to as ‘vocabulary elimination’ in which students must go around in a circle saying topic related vocabulary. Students cannot repeat words their peers have said. This works as both a great warm up or closer. The game is particularly enjoyed by my 10 year olds who compete enthusiastically. In doing so, not only do they enjoy themselves but expand their vocabulary. The second level is the element of understanding. #lessonplanning Read the full article

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