TEFL Dee Oregon

There are many challenges facing a student of english and these challenges vary depending on their own nationality and the background of their fellow students. These challenges and how they are approached by the teacher can fully ‘make-or-break' their english learning experience and should be handled with sensitivity and awareness. Problems can arise in the students' understanding of the english language itself and how they learn it as well as in cultural issues that may come up in class. Some of these situations may be unexpected for the student and may greatly affect their confidence and ability to learn. The teacher should always be aware of how a student absorbs a new language and this is affected greatly by how closely it relates to the students' native tongue. Some students will be studying english from a native language also Latin based and this can be both a benefit and a hindrance. As a bonus, students may recognize patterns and familiar words from their own native language and they will already be familiar with the Roman alphabet. However, oftentimes, similar words in english have an entirely different meaning in their own language and they can often get “hung up” on these similarities and get confused. Grammar rules that may work in their own language may not work in english and students may have a difficult time getting out of these ruts. Conversely, students who are coming from a native language background that doesn't use the Roman Alphabet are presented with very big challenges as they have to re-learn how to read and write and may even be writing in a different direction than they are used to! The teacher must be aware of all of these differences in their classroom and tailor their lessons appropriately. Where the students are learning english can also have a great impact. Are they learning english in an immersion-type environment in an english speaking country or are they learning in their native country where they will have limited exposure to english outside the classroom? If they are studying abroad, will they be mingling with students of all nationalities and therefore challenging their english at all times? Or will they try to meet students from their native country so they can feel more comfortable and have people that they can relate to in their own language? Some students may come from a country where english is introduced in their previous education and some may not have had any previous english study growing up. These issues will all have a big impact on how they learn english. The complexity of english itself presents many challenges to students of different nationalities. Pronunciation difficulties can be huge, depending on where the student is coming from, such as difficulties discerning the difference between ‘r' and ‘l', when speaking. Taming an accent is a challenge and depending on what background a student has, their accent and difficulties with pronunciation will be different. english contains many confusing words, such as homonyms and synonyms that may take time to master and understand. english may also contain tenses that are not even used in a students' native language and this will no doubt present problems for students of different nationalities. Student motivation and reason for studying will greatly impact how they learn and different nationalities will have different reasons for studying english. Some students may be learning english to give themselves a better chance at a good career or promotion. Some may be studying english so that they can get into an english speaking university. They may not be there by choice and may be enrolled in english classes because of their parents. Some students may just be learning for fun, as a hobby or for future recreational travel. These factors will affect their willingness to learn and the level of stress they may be feeling surrounding their studies. Different students will have different degrees of pressure on them and the teacher should recognize this. At all times, a teacher should be very conscious of the different levels of difficulty and problems facing students of different nationalities and they should always be planning their lessons accordingly.