Language Interference

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Although the English language has been the official language in Nigeria for decades, there are a good number of challenges that learners of English language continuously encounter. These problems are not only peculiar to learners but may also be existent in so-called fluent speakers. One of the most basic problems is mother tongue interference. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Awazie T. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. This is a form of language interference in which a Nigerian's first language/native language/mother-tongue (L1) hinders or influences the acquisition of a new language (possibly L2), in this case - English...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas After spending five years in China as an ESL teacher, corporate trainer and university lecturer I would like to share a few of the most common problems for Chinese learners and ways for teachers to overcome them. I will focus on problems regarding cultural differences, pronunciation and first language interference. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Michal W. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Despite China’s opening to the outside world in recent decades, it is still a very closed society with only anecdotal knowledge of Western culture (by Western they mean American). Lack of access to Western news, social media platforms, and...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Most researchers agree that the learner’s first language influences the pronunciation of the target language and is a significant factor in accounting for foreign accents. So-called interference or interference from the first language is likely to cause errors in aspiration, stress, and intonation in the target language. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Vesna A. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Some Chinese students tend to have difficulty with English sounds because they are deeply influenced by similar Chinese sounds. However, they are very different from each other. A particular sound which does not exist in the native...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences In general, linguists maintain that a first language is acquired, that knowledge is stored unconsciously, and that a second language is learned, meaning that knowledge is gained through a conscious study of the second language’s structure. However, this distinction is not watertight and SLA can involve acquisition to a certain degree. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Nelida N. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. FLA (first language acquisition) does not, however, be learned as no instruction is required. Remember that you know your first language before you start school. There is a critical period, that of puberty, around 12...  [Read more]

Linda Dunsmore Alumni Experiences In recent times, it is safe to say that the English language is one of the most spoken languages and widely preferred L2s according to the Oxford dictionary. For communication to be successful, however, certain criteria need to be met. For instance, one must not only study the forms or shape of things but must also adhere to the formation of words and phrases alike in order to craft well-formed sentences, along with understanding the meaning of each word, phrase or the relationship between two words. Whether they differ or are similar in terms of phonetics and spelling before actually making use of it, it is important to note that anything contrary to this will corrupt the efficient and effective use of the...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences In this essay, I will deal with the pronunciation difficulties of German learners of English. In particular, I will treat some issues at the segmental level. Although both English and German are Germanic languages, the sound inventories of these two languages are quite different, especially the vowels. In the following table, the sounds are listed which exist only in one but not in the other language: This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Gisella F. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Consonants Consonants /θ/, /ð/ tʃ/, /dʒ/ /w/ /x/ /ҫ/ Vowels Vowels Monophthongs Monophthongs /y, yː/ /eː/, /ø, øː/ /oː/ /ɜ/ /ɔ/ /ʌ/...  [Read more]

Federico Riva TEFL Information Teaching Ideas One of the major ideas when writing on the board is that we need to be aware of is that whenever we're using the board to write down information, we should not be talking. Also whenever we are talking we should not be writing on the board. When writing on the board we want our students to concentrate fully on what we are writing down. Speaking at the same time, especially when they can’t see your mouth (as you will write with your back to them) causes unnecessary interference of the message. This will inevitably lead to what's known as ‘dead time’ when nothing is being said. As we are putting information on the board this dead time is not a problem. We can also minimize it by...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas According to the type of activity during a lesson, a teacher could have diverse roles in the classroom. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Eleana V. A teacher can be a manager/controller meaning that the teacher is responsible for managing a class, giving guidelines and explanations in front of his students. He is the person who must stand in front of the class with the aim to control the pace of the lesson, balancing out the flow of the course and giving instructions whenever it is necessary. Some teachers feel comfortable with this role, but others appear quite shy and stressed out because the attention is placed exclusively on them. Another important...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences A language is a tool for people to communicate, so there must be some connections among different languages, include similarities and differences. If we can use their similarities properly and pay attention to differences, different languages can be interlinked. Therefore, the first language not only has a positive impact but also hurts second language acquisition. We call these effects ‘language transfer’. There are two kinds of language transfer, positive transfer, and negative transfer. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Tiffany C. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. If the first language has a good impact on second...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences The personality of a teacher, their attitude towards teaching and their relationship with the students have a major impact on the motivation of the class to learn a foreign language. Being kind, patient, entertaining and with a good subject, knowledge is some of the characteristics of a good teacher. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Vladislava B. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Their ability to interact with the class, to involve all the students equally through the lesson, to correct them without offending or affecting their motivation and to give individual attention when necessary, proves that a good teacher cares a lot...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Being a teacher takes great responsibilities and in order for one to because a business English teacher takes a number of factors to be considered such as who will you be working for and what they expect from you, the type of environment in which you will be teaching as different places have different cultures and it is every teacher’s duty to know the dos and don’ts of an environmental culture you in and in this essay, I will talk about the teacher’s roles in teaching. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Albright M. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. As a teacher, ones bears much responsibility that goes with the contract one...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas I felt confused by it when I saw it the first time but now it’s unforgettable for me. E represents Engage, S is for study and A means activate. During my study of the TEFL course, I initially thought I would have only learned about ESA in one unit but it wasn't the case. I had a high frequency of interaction with it throughout the TEFL course. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Pei dong W. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. The first step is to have a deep understanding of the aim of each part, then the ways we can implement it, following that, we need to figure out some problems may arise from students in the class. Some of...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Successful acquisition of a first language (otherwise known as an L1) has almost a 100% success rate. Aside from a few people that are unable to read or write everyone can communicate fluently in their L1. Successful acquisition of a second language, however, does not occur nearly as often. Why is this so and can anything be learned from first language learning to improve second language fluency. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Rebekah I. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Firstly, it must be noted that among native speakers of a language there is a high amount of variation inabilities to write concisely, to use grammar...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Japan is a country with a long history, deep tradition, and vibrant culture. Within this culture sits the Japanese language. At first, being a spoken language and then adopting the Chinese Writing System, Japanese has grown and changed into what it is today. If you look at all languages, most Western languages originate from a set family, such as Romance Languages (which became today’s Spanish, French, Italian, etc). But Japanese (as most Asian languages) was formed from entirely different roots. These fundamental differences mean that the method of learning these languages has a lot to do with memorization and repetitive practice of the Chinese symbols and the words they represent. Which means it is...  [Read more]

Linda Dunsmore Alumni Experiences Being a teacher is my everyday dream since I was a child. As I believe that the future is mainly based on education and students, how they can make a progress and improve their skills. So I decided to take apart in this great cycle hoping that one day I can leave a mark in student's life. The teacher's responsibility is not only about teaching students and correcting their pronunciation or grammatical mistakes; his/her responsibility includes a lot of roles. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Dina I. Before talking about the roles of a successful teacher, I learned from my TEFL certificate that there are nine basic traits of a good teacher. These traits are divided to four points related to...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Developing Language Skills is a key enabler in the global economy; even as the rise of the Internet, Smartphones and other technology the world is becoming smaller; but as it always has, language can present itself as a Barrier. As English is still the ‘de-facto’ global language thanks to its common business use are it time that TEFL providers adapt to the modern world and embrace new media to not only improve existing techniques but develop new ones and embrace existing online communities? This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Matt F. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. What is New Media? New Media is defined as “products...  [Read more]

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William Noble Destinations Teaching Ideas I have been an online ESL teacher to Chinese students for over 13 years, mostly with primary students but also with secondary and adult students. I am also a father and have homeschooled my daughter over her primary years. Like many teachers, I’ve enjoyed teaching at this level of education as it lays the foundation in English. As it set the foundation, my teaching helped students to overcome common errors in production skills, speaking and writing. Teaching both my daughter and Chinese students at the primary level also helped me also to understand the different expectations between first language and second language students. Since English is very different from China, many Chinese...  [Read more]