TEFL Jinzhong

This course has been very helpful to me in so many ways. And I am definite that it will continue to help me as I establish myself in efl teaching. What follows are what I have gained from this course in general. teacher. teachers have lots of roles to perform inside the classroom: manager, organizer, evaluator, etc. The teacher’s attitude, personality, and internal and external motivations are also factors in how they perform these varied roles as they teach a class of english language learners. This course helped me understand these varied roles and how I can be effective in each. Being effective in one is not enough in assuring a successful teaching in the classroom. Students. They have language needs and it is my job, as a professional ESOL/efl teacher to provide for those needs. But it isn’t that simple since students are individuals. This course taught me that students have varied experiences, language levels, drives and motivations, ages and groups, etc. and these differences all shape the way they learn the lesson. So it is important that I know who they are, where they are coming from, what they do, what motivates them, what discourages them, etc. because knowing that will help me in tailoring an effective way of teaching them and responding to their individual needs. Grammar Concepts. This course discussed the bigger grammar concepts and rules that are to be taught in class. The ones discussed here are those which are more confusing and complicated than other topics. Through those particular units, I was able to refresh, clarify, and reinforce my knowledge of the language concepts. Yes, as what the course said, the grammar concepts discussed here are not the only ones I’ll be teaching. It’s still important to continually learn and revise my learning since I am not a native speaker myself. And I’ve learned that being a native speaker either isn’t an assurance of being an effective ESOL/efl teacher. Methodology. This course taught me the ESA method of teaching the language. It has its similarities with previous methods that have their own advantages and disadvantages in language teaching. The ESA for me is a simple yet effective process of teaching language since it promotes a student-centered technique. Though it is student-centered, it makes sure that it equally addresses the areas of accuracy and fluency in the whole process. This process also covers all four skills of language teaching: reading, writing, speaking, and listening. The 4 Skills. This course discussed in detail how to teach the 4 basic skills of language: reading, writing, speaking, and listening. What I find one of the most helpful as well are the activities I was taught to use in my classroom, whether they are for reading, writing, speaking, or listening. The units on teaching productive and receptive skills have given me vast knowledge on how to address each of these skills in my teaching. I have to remember that with teaching these skills, it would require different approaches and activities to ensure effectiveness. Lesson Planning. I guess if there’s one thing a single teacher must not forget before he/she faces the class, it is his/her lesson plan. I personally believe that successful teaching-learning process all starts with planning the lesson. Even experienced teachers need this. Planning the lesson helps me see how my class will run during the session. The format of the lesson plan I was taught in this course helps me identify all potential obstacles from the part of the students and the teacher. Knowing these obstacles will help me prepare solutions ahead of time. Without a clear and well-prepared lesson plan, anything can go wrong in the class. Materials. There are a number of materials available for teachers in tesol/tefl. From the use of the board to the list of online websites available, this course helped me understand how these materials and equipments are advantageous or disadvantageous to the class (when overused). I also understand that these will not always be available so it is important that I know how to improvise in such events. Evaluation. Student evaluation is an important process of knowing our student’s language level and their progress as well. Whether they are done before the course, within the course, or after the course, it is vital to note that the information they give about our students will always assist us in the creation and modification of our teaching method as a whole. This course helped me understand these varied evaluation methods and what each is used for. Classroom Management. I believe one of the important roles a teacher assumes in the classroom is being a manager. I must be able to maintain order inside the class regardless of the number or level of my students. It is only possible if I know how to assert my authority effectively without dominating my students. This course helped me understand the details of being an effective classroom manager. There are so many factors involved. The way I talk to my students, the way I carry myself, the age of my students, the group dynamics, and the arrangement of seats. These are just some of them. I know that I cannot be an effective teacher if I don’t know how to manage my class, even if I am an expert in the english concepts.