STARTBODY

Teach English in Hebian Zhen - Xinzhou Shi

Do you want to be TEFL or TESOL-certified and teach in Hebian Zhen? Are you interested in teaching English in Xinzhou Shi? Check out ITTT’s online and in-class courses, Become certified to Teach English as a Foreign Language and start teaching English ONLINE or abroad! ITTT offers a wide variety of Online TEFL Courses and a great number of opportunities for English Teachers and for Teachers of English as a Second Language.

One of the challenges of teaching English as a second language is becoming familiar with the culture of the students you are teaching. If you travel to another country to teach, you’ll more than likely have the benefit of teaching students from the same nationality. However, if you are teaching students who travel to your country to learn English, you’re likely to be addressing students from a variety of countries in a single classroom. Teaching a class with students from multiple nationalities presents a special dynamic that offers a challenge to teachers. I was fortunate to teach ESL in Japan for five-and-a-half years, and over time I learned how Japanese students react and behave in the classroom. Of course, every student is different, but there are similarities in how and when Japanese students react when they don’t understand something. Additionally, most all Japanese students share a similar educational background of studying English with generally three years in junior high school and another three years in high school. A good deal of the studying emphasizes grammar rather than conversation, therefore, a large number of Japanese students are seeking to improve their speaking abilities. When the homogeneous nature of the class is removed, and the makeup of students comes from a variety of countries, lessons must be prepared and taught in a different way. I learned this when, after my time in Japan, I taught at a school in California and had classrooms with a mix of students from countries such as France, Germany, Brazil, Mexico, Sweden and South Korea as well as Japan. The educational background of the students in the class was as varied as the diversity of the countries from which the students had come. When this happens, a teacher must pay close attention to individual students understanding of the lesson and the lesson points. It is not an easy task, and at times there can be a lack of consensus concerning the material being taught and how well it is being understood. While this problem is challenging, it is not impossible to address, and, as with most challenges in teaching English to non-native speakers, preparation and time provide a solution. During the course of the lesson, a teacher must carefully gauge how well and how fast each student understands the lesson. It is possible that half the class may comprehend the main points of the lesson, while the other half is lost. This can be particular true when it comes to grammar and vocabulary, and while the flow of the lessons needs to continue at a regulated pace, a teacher should design lessons with built-in time for additional examples and explanations for students that may need it. One good method is to select students from different countries for pair work. In some ways it’s a similar method taught in this course of putting lower level students with higher level students and letting the students help each other. One difficulty that can be hard to resolve is that students from countries such as Japan and South Korea may want a class that emphasizes conversation, while students from some European countries may want more grammar, including a thorough explanation of grammar rules. As with any class – multinational or homogenous – it’s not possible to tailor a class that would be perfect for every individual student. Those types of expectations can only really be met in private lessons. However, a balanced can be reached, but it is essential that the teacher and/or the school make it clear what will be taught in the class. This is how I addressed the situation while teaching in California, and while some students were a bit disappointed, they understood that a balanced lesson, which stressed grammar as well as conversation, was a reasonable approach. In these cases, the key to keeping students happy was to ensure that when the lesson was focusing on grammar, that it was a really good, well prepared and appropriate lesson; and when the lesson focused on conversation, that the it also was a well-thought-out lesson. Over time, making adjustments for the characteristics of an individual classroom become easier, and amending lessons to suit multinational classrooms is just another factor any good teacher will learn to accomplish.


ENDBODY