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Teach English in Ganchang Zhen - Bazhong Shi

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The question “how to teach… ?’’ is very complicated, because it’s not as simply one question, rather one needs to approach this topic by thinking about many questions (Who to teach? When to teach? What to teach? For what reason to teach? Who is a teacher?, etc). Esl students after learning the alphabet, reading, spelling and word combinations begin to understand the context of what they have just read. Eventually, they move on from basic understanding and are able to determine the important information being conveyed within the reading material. There are different kinds of reading for different purposes, like scanning, skimming, looking for detailed information, etc. The text for reading always must contain known vocabulary and some new words/word combinations. I will describe the PPP structured teaching reading lesson. Before planning the lesson it’s important and necessary to choose an appropriate text,. The text chosen needs to fit the students English language level, otherwise the students will be unable to read the text. Also the text needs to incorporate the topics, style, and vocabulary that was taught in previous lessons. This is critical to ensure that the students will be able to comprehend the reading. Complex expressions are usually substituted with simpler words or word combinations, to aid in students comprehension. In the Presentation Stage it’s needed to pick the key vocabulary. The ‘key’ vocabulary connects the topic and the main theme of the text. This can be unknown or known vocabulary, but it is vital that the connection between topic / theme is understood. After the Presentation Stage there starts the Practice stage. Here tasks should be used to help with the comprehension of the vocabulary. Prime examples of such tasks are matching the words with their pictures or with their definitions, synonyms, etc. Before reading the text it’s necessary to perform the pre-reading activities. These activities help to evoke the students’ thinking, spark their interest and fine tune their predictive skills. Based on the given vocabulary, pictures or even the title, students can present their guesses about the main idea of the text. With short sentences they can express their thoughts and expectations about the text. Later there can arise a task to compare what they thought the text was about to the actual meaning. After this stage students must perform the while-reading task. It is usually difficult to look for specific information while reading the text first time (“first reading” or “scanning”). Such tasks should sound as follows: “Read the text and give the titles to each paragraph” or “Read the text and match each paragraphs with the picture” or “Read the text and fill in with the words from the box”, etc. To engage students with higher interest, there are some communicative tasks, like “jig saw reading”. In “jig saw reading” students have information loss and need to discover the missing information within the texts of the other students. Also, to make students move around the classroom there are tasks, like reading the paragraphs from the walls in the classroom and then putting them in correct order. Also the students can read different paragraphs in groups, very quick, passing the paragraphs one by one, from one group to another, and then by the given clues put them in the correct order. After making sure that the students have been acquainted with the text, it is time for the second reading and to look for detailed information. This stage contains after-reading tasks, like answering the questions, completing the table or checking the true or false sentences while explaining the answer. These tasks are supposed to be completed in pares or in groups with discussion. There is plenty of games for this stage, like “Deictic circle”, mingle activities, “jeopardy”, “hot potato”, etc. Also, these tasks are semi-controlled, which means the answers must be with the students’ own thoughts. The last stage is Production. Students should have already investigated the text with a total comprehension and be able to discuss the given information in details. At this stage all the materials should be closed, and students may discuss it by debating or preparing a project in groups. Also there can be activities such as ‘’hot seat’’ or ‘’invited star’’ and all the students can ask some questions about the topic. This time is totally devoted to the students, with minimal teacher interference. In conclusion, reading is an integral part of studying English and developing perceptive skills. Following such stages, as pre-reading, while- and post-reading activities the students are able to get the information by themselves, in this way teachers are only guiding them with tasks. In helping to guide the student’s though the learning process they are better able to comprehend the readings they are given. Ultimately, this guided self-learning allows the students to better retain and comprehend information. Also It’s important to let students work not only individually on the text but have them communicate with others while completing the tasks. It is essential to not forget to add fun to the whole process of reading!


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