Esl Teacher Definition

Elizaveta Pachina TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas Words are an essential part of the structure of English sentences. If we want to speak English as a foreign language, we need to know new words and even progress. Considering a student who needs to know and learn new words as a teacher, we have to answer this question "What impressive ways do you have in teaching ESL vocabulary?" This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Yasemin A. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. First, they notice a new word with help; Secondly, they recognize the name at first with help, then later on their own; and lastly, they can both...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Whom a student is defined within about same parameters by different sources. The Collins COBUILD Advanced Dictionary also has two definitions of the word student. The Merriam Webster dictionary (online) has two definitions of students which are as reproduced below: This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate PAUL D. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. For this summative assignment, the second definition by the Merriam-Webster and Collins COBUILD Dictionary will be used. Using the second definition as just stated, a beginner student will be one who is new to the subject and is just beginning to start learning, and in this respect, learning...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Throughout this course, it was mentioned that language does not happen in isolation. It is a product of the various aspects of culture, values, and context that make up the environment in which the language is used. Language can be used in vastly diverse and varied manners, and within different contexts have unique meanings. In the same way, slang and idioms are created based on specific contexts that exist within a society or group within a culture. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Temi O. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Proverbs, idioms, and slang can often speak volumes about the culture that one is encountering. Growing up...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences According to the Merriam Webster dictionary, a teacher is defined as one who teaches or ones whose occupation is to instruct. A good definition however in today’s society I believe that the teacher’s role has more meaning and is not that simple. And as the years go by it has continued to grow. Before starting my career as a teacher I highly agreed with the first definition but after spending a little over six months inside of the classroom I realize how much more a teacher role can be. The role of a teacher not only fosters the growth in students academically but also provides mentoring, role modeling and several other components. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Rorie-Ann H. Please...  [Read more]

Mark Crocker Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas Kinesthetic learners are learners that learn through objects that they can touch and explore. They also learn best by discovering and experiencing and particularly enjoy physical activities that involve getting out of their seat and moving around. Unlike visual and auditory learners, kinesthetic learners can be tough to accommodate in the classroom because of their need to be physically active. Since they need to be active in their learning, they may get bored very quickly if you allow them to simply listen and look at your visual aids or video presentation. As teachers, we must always be versatile and understand how to incorporate different types of learners. Luckily, there are...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Lewis (1993) claims that “Lexis is the core or heart of language” (p 89). Indeed, it is one of the basic steps of mastering a foreign language. Vocabulary knowledge is what makes verbal communication between people possible. Most teachers face problems when teaching new items. They feel the need to use techniques to have an effective lesson. Over the years, teachers have tried to find the most effective and practical strategies to teach vocabulary. They have been applying several methods like fill in the blank definitions, pre-teaching unfamiliar words and stressing high-frequency words. This essay will just focus on three strategies that can help teach vocabularies such as using visual aids, highlighting...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Anyone who has ever been in a classroom knows how much students enjoy playing games. Playing games is exciting and a great time for the students to get to know each other better as well as feel more at ease with the teacher. Consequently, a good English Teacher should know how to use games I order to achieve goals like reviewing previously learned vocabulary, enhancing spelling skills, practicing grammar points, promoting a nice and positive attitude in the classroom and many more! This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Xenia P. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Students of all levels and ages usually like playing games in the...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Language textbooks are a good source for language learners and teachers, especially new language learners or teachers who may not know exactly where to begin. However, while textbooks are a valuable resource, they do not teach students everything they need to know when it comes to interacting with native speakers of the target language. This is because all native speakers use some level of slang in their everyday speech, in the classroom, and even in their workplace. For this reason alone, ESL students need to begin learning common slang they may hear. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Justin W. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT....  [Read more]

Mark Crocker Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas Did you say games in a classroom? Is that even possible? Many people around the world cannot imagine or accept that education can be fun too. However, it is very important to motivate, entertain and vary the class activities in order to avoid class boredom. Entertainment in class is also important because it helps to establish rapport in the class (it creates a relaxed, fun and motivated environment) and it works as an evaluation tool (gives us information about the student's’ knowledge). One particularly telling definition of games was explained by Diane Ackerman, a famous American poet and essayist, who stated that “Play is our brain's favorite way of learning”. This post...  [Read more]

Mark Crocker Teaching Ideas One of the first things you should learn during a TEFL certification course is that delivering interesting lessons goes a long way to keeping your students happy and motivated in the classroom. And, if your students are stimulated by your lessons they are likely to progress quicker, which also makes the teachers job that much more satisfying. So what exactly makes a TEFL lesson interesting? There are many things you can do to make your lessons stand out, but one of the main ways to pique the interest of your students is to focus on things that they can actually relate to in their own lives. In this post we show you 5 great activities based on movies that you can use in the classroom, because everyone loves a good...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Most if not all courses make use of materials, regardless of the topic being taught. In ESL courses materials are crucial to the learning processes from the beginning to the end of a student’s education in English. Whether the materials used are authentic, non-authentic, realia, or media, they aid the students by testing, reinforcing, and improving the learner’s knowledge. Course materials also provide learners with a reference other than the instructor in the case of dictionaries and other reference materials. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Ryan R. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. The term “course materials” refers...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas To answer the question of what is effective classroom management it is firstly important to define what is meant by “classroom management”. ITT defines classroom management as: “the skill of organizing and managing the class, having a friendly, relaxed manner and maintaining disciple” (page 2, unit 5, ITT course content – which is also referenced throughout the below essay) To best answer this question, we shall now break this definition down into 3 parts before providing an overall conclusion at the end of the essay. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Joe S. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Classroom organization and...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences This academic discourse will examine the concepts of motivation in an ESL classroom, through the lens of some motivational theorists such as John Schumann and John Keller. According to Kreitner ( 1995 ), “Motivation is the psychological process that gives behavior purpose and direction”. Dalton E (1974) stated that “ Motivation refers to how urges drives, desires, aspirations, and strivings or needs direct, control or explain the behavior of human beings. From the definitions quoted above, one can conclude that without motivation, there’s inertia at the level of human ability and energy. There are four kinds of motivation: intrinsic, extrinsic, instrumental, and integrative. This post was written by...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Vocabulary lessons are quite easy to teach and students love them because of the many exciting games teachers usually implement. In this article, we want to share several unusual ideas for building strong English vocabulary that will definitely help you in your classroom. You can approach any age group with this activity asthere are always visual-spatial types of learners. Plus, it is scientifically proven that the human brain creates strong connections between hands-on experiences and abstract concepts like words. So, if you want to help your students remember new words better, offer them spelling those words with PlayDough or plasticine. You can also use water colors, markers and any other materials for this...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas For a class to be interesting and beneficial to both the teacher and the students, quite a lot of things have to be taken into consideration. Smooth sailing of the classes and success of the students in acquiring the English language can largely be attributed to the teacher’s character and/or behavior. The confidence of a teacher has great meaning as it gives birth to students’ confidence in learning English. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Tendai K. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. The Cambridge English Dictionary defines confidence as the quality of being certain of your abilities or of having trust in people. The last...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Vocabulary, as one of the three main elements (The other two are pronunciation and grammar) of a language, is essential in language acquisition. Teaching vocabulary is always being a great concern for any English language course. Quite a lot of teachers are really focused on how to make a vocabulary lesson more interesting and memorable for students. New vocabulary has to be introduced in such a way as to capture the students’ attention and place the words in a practical way. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Haiqiong L. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Vocabulary learning can be often seen as a laborious process of memorizing...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Learning English has become a necessary extra-curricular activity for many students in China. Since China has become a global giant as a result of her rapid economic development, many parents have picked up the momentum in raising their children’s proficiency in English. From learning and studying the TESOL and Young Learners’ sessions, there are three areas of hurdles observed. They are learning environment, technical differences, and students’ mindsets. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Angela W. Although English is taught to children since pre-school years, many students do not have the exposure to this foreign language outside of the classroom. There is no encouraging learning...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences The Oxford dictionary defines punish as “inflict a penalty or sanction on (someone) as retribution for an offense, especially a transgression of a legal or moral code”. Using this definition, the short answer to the question, “should a teacher punish students for bad behavior?” is yes! This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Bevan S. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. However, there are many facets to the dynamics that exist in a classroom that should prevent a teacher from having a 'black or white' approach to the question of punishment in the classroom. When students exhibit bad behaviors in a classroom setting, it usually...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Teaching is a professional activity performed by the teacher through a major basic process. The goal is to help a good learning approach. It is one of the works that can be judged, its quality, and mastery through analysis and observation. After evaluation, performance can be improved and improved. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Moustafa M. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. The definition of teaching skill is the performance of teachers, based on the ease, accuracy, and art of what is acquired by human, and learn from the point of view of the motor and mental, while saving as much effort and cost as possible, and it is...  [Read more]

Linda Dunsmore Alumni Experiences We must up our game as ESL teachers in the 21st century – both figuratively and literally. I use games to engage students and promote learning in my classroom for a wide range of learning objectives. Below is a short list of icebreaker games that I regularly use in my classroom, and I will discuss the learning target(s) that each game aims to facilitate and deliver as well as the context in which the game is used. Since I work with high school age and adult students, the games are geared for English Language Learners in these age groups. As learning communities become more globalized and data give more information on how people learn, one major challenge I find with gamifying learning in the ESL classroom is...  [Read more]

Ahmed Taha TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas As an English teacher, who is best? Native speakers of English or non-native speakers? Given the widespread belief that native speakers make better English teachers than non-native speakers, Jennifer Jenkins writes, "we will begin by analysing why this should be true." Is it true that native speakers make better teachers by definition, or just that they have a better understanding of English as a second language? To begin, here are two researchers who argue against the notion that a native speaker is a better teacher: Teachers of English are expected to teach English as a subject, not as a broad linguistic phenomenon, but as a subject that stands...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Teachers of Foreign Language classes, in which students are not very successful at learning the language, usually find themselves in situations, in which their teaching abilities are placed under scrutiny and they are required to provide viable explanations for their student's failure. As no one likes to be placed under a microscope, the teachers often find a culprit and it is usually the students’ level of motivation. The students themselves, however, are almost always said to be bursting with talent and ability (Chambers, G.N, 1999). This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Olivia L. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. If this is...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences The status of English as a global language or lingua-franca owes to several diverse factors. As the world has become increasingly globalized, the demand for learning and teaching English has increased drastically and continues to grow. People from all over the world come to seek opportunities in education in the EFL/ESL industry. In this essay, I will attempt to explore the challenges of teaching EFL as a non-native speaker. A further aim in this summative essay is to conduct a general comparison between native and non-native English-speaking teachers (known as NESTs and NNESTs). I will look at this from the perspective of the EFL classroom in Taiwan and will discuss the challenges non-native English-speaking...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences To start with, TEFL is an abbreviation for Teaching English as a Foreign Language to speakers of other languages. This means this was a requirement to teach at a school, and teaching itself is fun and I could learn something new which were the reasons why I chose to study the TEFL. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Joshna C. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Firstly, the major requirements to teach at an international (formal) school, or in a learning center would be to have a Bachelor's degree along with the TEFL/TESOL certificate. However, some schools are slightly different from their standards and the vast majority of...  [Read more]

Estefany Garduño Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas As an ESL teacher, you have probably found students looking for help to develop their English skills in a particular domain of their professional careers, or they look to increase their knowledge by focusing on language in context instead of grammar structures. Although this is a great opportunity to increase the ESL teaching experience, many of us say: “Oh, sorry, but that is not my expertise area, but I suggest asking this another teacher.” This article will guide you to give the first step with private students and Online English Courses, learning advice to help any student even if you do not have experience teaching English in their professional area. The term ESP...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas In January, I stood in front of a class of breakthrough English students at a university in Bogotá, Colombia. I’d never taught students in an ESL classroom before, but I was pretty confident having seven years of experience under my belt and a degree in literature. I was naive. I began the lesson with the class that my co-teacher had lent me for the first time. The objective of the lesson was to practice using past tense through storytelling; five minutes into it, I called on a student with his hand in the air. “ What up, My Nigga!” He said it and I almost lost all of my composure on the first day while I should have been thinking about building rapport. This post was written by our TEFL certification...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Learning is a complex process, especially when it comes to learning languages. This is because each language learning experience is unique since it is dependent on the situation, motivational factors, and the experiences of the learner. The very first language experience that any human being has is very early on in their childhood. Typically starting around the age of 1 or 2 years. The other languages they may come across during their lives and pick up from school, work, books, movies, or language classes will always be a much different experience than the language they had originally learned by being exposed to it and surrounded by it. Of course, some individuals are exposed to more than one language during...  [Read more]

Federico Riva TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas In this blog post, we will look at five strategies you can use t boost your effectiveness within the class and also as a general way of increasing your online business. Ideas covered include the use of gamification and individualization. This idea isn't new but not many teachers appear to try to apply it to their online classes. There are several reasons why you should try it. (Especially as the majority of online classes are for young students). First we should define gamification: We may define it as a teaching strategy that involves play, integrated with clear learning objectives and outcomes. It can help to engage students with content...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Recently there was a debate on whether technology should be used in the classroom. It intern created these questions; is it profitable in the long run? Is it worth the money for parents? Are we as educators feeding into the technology movement? Breslin, McKeown, & Groves (2012), states “technology refers to methods, systems, and devices which are the result of scientific knowledge being used for practical purposes.” It is important to note that some students are already interested in and engaged in using technology. Mareco (2017), pointed out “Technology is entwined in almost every part of our culture. It affects how we live, work and plays and most importantly learn.” As a result, it creates...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences As the term beginner students refers to the level of students knowledge, I have decided to focus on beginner level in different age groups. Therefore, this essay will be divided into teaching beginner young students and beginner adults. My definition of a beginner student is the following: regardless of age, this is a learner with very little or no previous knowledge of the English language. However, there are certain things we should aim to know about every age group: This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Aleksandra Đ. As young students can be divided into two groups – learners ages 5-9 and learners ages 9-13, I would like to further divide this particular section, as the approach,...  [Read more]