Teaching English Abroad University Level

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Elizaveta Pachina TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas There are six factors to consider when analyzing the differences between teaching English to high-school students and university students. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Anh N. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Firstly, one of the most noticeable distinctions between college and high school is the role of self-study. Self-study means self-awareness in learning and is regarded by some researchers as an initiative in thinking and assimilating knowledge. Self-study allows training not only in the classroom but also outside the school. Traditionally,...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences In China, there is the option to teach in either private or public institutions. Both have their advantages and disadvantages. Public institutions such as universities tend to be well resourced with time set aside for lesson planning but are less well paid than their private counterparts. Although this appears to be balanced, as those who work at the universities receive more benefits and a more generous holiday allowance that allows the university teachers to make the most of being in China with ample opportunity to explore. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Emma R. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. To teach at a university...  [Read more]

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Jon ITTT TEFL Information Business English falls under the umbrella of English for Specific Purposes (ESP), and is an area of English language teaching that focuses on the language students need in order to function in an international business setting. It is a popular sector for qualified TEFL teachers to work in and one that can be financially rewarding. Students taking business English classes will generally already have a reasonable level of English language ability and course books tend to be aimed at pre-intermediate level students and above but there are books aimed at lower level students. There are several publishers involved in producing course books for the business English classroom. Two of the main publishers are Oxford University...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas In my years of teaching, the experience of teaching high-school and university students can be somewhat similar. This is because as students who are learning English as a foreign language, all students, regardless of their age group, are likely to face similar struggles in the basic skills of reading, writing, listening, and speaking, albeit to varying degrees. As such, there are teaching strategies that can be used for these disparate age groups, but with some changes in the level of complexity to account for the ages of the students in question. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Sher L. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. That...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Teaching English is a challenging undertaking, and your students are looking to you for guidance. I am writing this summative to the reference to my teaching journey in China at a university. I was a master's student in English language and Applied linguistics at Central China Normal University. One day, I have been offered by the dean of the English department, if I can teach English in the department to some group of Chinese students. It was my first experience of teaching abroad and enthusiastically, I accepted and started teaching English. Therefore, I have taught the English language in various levels, ages, and different nationalities such as Africa, France, Bahrain, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Mongolia,...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences As someone of mixed heritage, I have always had an interest in learning about cultures other than the one I live in America. My father is Colombian and my mother is American, so growing up I felt obliged to learn more about the Colombian background I was fairly unfamiliar with. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Catherine P. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. I never felt satisfied with the amount of exposure I had to my Colombian heritage. My mom never learned Spanish, so around the house, it was easier for my dad to speak to my siblings and me in English. As a result, we barely grazed the surface of the Spanish language and...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas An obvious difference between teaching English to high-school students and university students in the organization. Class sizes at a school are usually limited to about 25 students and we have to check the attendance because it is compulsory. The timetable and the syllabus are fixed. At a university, the groups are often much bigger, and the teacher can arrange the syllabus more freely. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Mara B. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. In my opinion, the greatest difference is the age of the students and how the teacher must adapt to it. Most of the university students are over 18 years old. They are...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences My attachment to teaching starts when I was a child and observing my mom teaching private lessons. I have grown to love teaching. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Roza A. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. My first experience was while I was in my third year of university volunteering to teach my classmates the subjects they were weak at. Then I volunteered in one of the offices of American Corner in my city part of the American Console in Iraq and opened a course there teaching English as a second language. The two earlier volunteering experiences I had were great, mostly because the students were adults and highly...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Over the years, Chinese universities have opened more opportunities for foreign language teaching, especially with the English language. The growth of the Chinese economic market is a relatable reflection and result of these opportunities. As a teacher at a Chinese university, and conveying my expertise, it is visible for me to see many advantages and the disadvantages. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Barbosa J. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. One of the challenging points of teaching a language at a Chinese university is the cultural differences. The Chinese students portray a particularly shy and reserved style of...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Which ESL/EFL students should learn the formal language, and how much should they learn? How much emphasis formal language should have in different students' curriculum depends upon several factors and is an objective consideration, as we'll see below. Teaching English as a formal language, to varying degrees, is standard in virtually all ESL/EFL curricula. Most aspects of English are taught at graduated levels of complexity and at appropriate times. For example, all ESL/EFL students will learn very early on what a noun most basically is -a person, place, thing, or idea. Pronouns might be taught next, followed perhaps only eventually by what a noun adjunct is. Formal language is taught similarly, beginning perhaps...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas When it comes to learning English, some students already have a strong source of motivation. This could be for many reasons, such as a desire to move to an English-speaking country, to be able to communicate with English-speaking friends, or even simply because they enjoy the language and culture. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Julianna W. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. When teaching adults, it is more common for them to be independently motivated, since they are likely taking the class by their own choice. For children, however, they do not necessarily have a choice in learning English. For this reason, they can easily...  [Read more]

Jon ITTT TEFL Information A large number of EFL students study English to pass exams that will enable them to gain a visa for a particular country, go to university abroad or to prove their English ability for a job. The Cambridge English exams are some of the most popular in the world and include exams tailored towards young learners, general English skills, academic English and business English. Throughout your career as a certified TEFL teacher you are likely to have students that need help in preparing for one of these exams so familiarizing yourself with them is an important part of being a successful teacher. These tests are designed for children in primary or lower-secondary education. There are three tests in total and these are:...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas When I started teaching English, I've always experienced imposter syndrome because my major was Linguistics. I had no idea about teaching itself, although I knew a lot about how the language works. To change this situation, I've started working on my teaching skills to build a successful ESL teaching career. In this blog post, I want to share five ways to start ESL teaching career development that helped begin my English teaching career, even though I had no degree in education. As I've already mentioned, I studied linguistics in university and was quite advanced in English when I graduated. Right after that, I jumped at the opportunity to...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences When I chose this topic, I asked myself what a foreign language is. Is it just a language spoken in another country that’s not similar to one’s own? Or does a language spoken in another city or district in one’s country qualify as a foreign language? According to Wikipedia, a foreign language is originally from another country than the speaker. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Nafuna M. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Concerning that definition, the first foreign language I learned was English, I, however, don’t consider it a “foreign” language because it is the first language I learned and it is the main...  [Read more]

Jon ITTT TEFL Information English for Specific Purposes (ESP) is an area of English language teaching and learning that encompasses business English and English for Academic Purposes (EAP) as well as courses that teach English needed for specific jobs and industries. As a qualified TEFL teacher you will likely teach ESP in some form and in this post I’ll look at course books aimed at teaching English to those in certain professions such as finance, law, tourism, medicine and aviation as well as books used for teaching EAP. EAP focuses on the language and skills needed for students to study in English at university level. As with other English teaching, EAP deals with reading, writing, listening and speaking, as well as vocabulary and grammar...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Near the end of my senior year at Oberlin College in America, I was selected to participate in the Oberlin Shansi Fellowship at Beijing Normal University. The main goals of the fellowship were to increase my Chinese language proficiency and to teach English to master’s students in the department of Chinese Language and Culture. Reflecting upon the experiences that I had this past year has illuminated many things that I would like to improve upon as a teacher next year and has reminded me of some of the key moments that inspired me to continue teaching. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Andrew B. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of...  [Read more]

Linda Dunsmore Teaching Ideas Evaluations are the useful tools or techniques that provide insight for modification, planning and in some cases re-designing a course. Student evaluation also provides the opportunity to address issues regarding student learning while the course is still in progress. There are different ways a teacher can assess a student’s language level: a) Tests b) Tutorials c) Evaluation by the students. This post was written by our ITTT graduate Michael O. Students can be tested from time to time during the course. There are different kinds of tests that teachers need to give students and each has its own purpose. These tests can be categorized under the following: This test is done in order to find the appropriate level to...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas There are thousands of English coursebooks nowadays, and one might get confused while trying to choose a coursebook for the students. I have faced this problem as well, trying to choose the coursebook for private classes with a 7-year-old student who has already learned some English before. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Elena K. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. As far as I am concerned, Oxford University Press is known to be one of the best ESL coursebook «producers» in the world. One of their best courses is «Family and Friends» which had been developed into «Family and Friends 2nd edition», a highly-popular course...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas This summative essay will exam the importance of teaching the differences between American English and British English for EFL learners. I will examine the intention behind teaching these differences, and when these teachings should be applied, and to what effect and purpose. This essay will focus primarily on the problems of pronunciation and spelling, which are the two main differences. I am a British citizen, born and raised in London, England, and currently teach at a public high school in Tokyo. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Challis C. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. The most prominent differences in spelling would be...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences I was born in Saudi Arabia and I had to finish my education from kindergarten to high school in Jeddah and other cities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. As a student and a resident for more than 12 years there, I think that I have some experience in the education system in Saudi Arabia. I will try here to explain English learners’ problems in Saudi Arabia with my personal opinion and experience. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Hesham Z. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. It started in 1927. Then, development spanned from 1944 to the present day, the ministry of education recruited all its efforts to provide a good education...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas ESL teachers when they meet their class for the first time should learn what students know and what they need to know. Even for General English in schools or university classrooms where students have more or less the same level of English. There should be some short tests to determine students’ gaps in knowledge, personal objectives or institutional requirements. Especially assessment is needed when teaching Business English. This essay will discuss types of assessments in the early stages of teaching Business English to students. ESL teachers are often hired by companies to improve the English knowledge of employees. Every adult student has a different level of language knowledge due to background and learning...  [Read more]

Linda Dunsmore Alumni Experiences As far as I can remember, I always wanted to become a teacher in a foreign country. The most thrilling part about it was to convey knowledge to others and extend my own cultural awareness. When I heard about TEFL online courses after graduating from university, I immediately thought it would be the best option for me in order to achieve my greatest dream. After the completion of this course, I will move to Tokyo with the strong will to teach English to all different types of students, regardless of their age or current English level. Now that I am almost done with my TEFL online course, this post will take a look at my improvements and achievements so far. I will particularly focus on what I feel is the best...  [Read more]

  Zouhaier just completed his 120-hour online TEFL certification. He enjoyed working closely with his tutor who guided him along the way. He also recommends this course to anyone wanting to teach abroad or enhance their professional portfolio in teaching. Below you can read feedback from an ITTT graduate regarding one section of their online TEFL certification course. Each of our online courses is broken down into concise units that focus on specific areas of English language teaching. This convenient, highly structured design means that you can quickly get to grips with each section before moving onto the next. The content of this unit is good. I have learnt about the important thing the students need to know about learning the vocabulary, the grammar, and the...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Although students may be in the same class, they may not necessarily have the same ability level. This can be seen in all classes; however, this can become very noticeable in a class designed to teach a language to someone who is not a native speaker. It is up to the teacher to notice these differences in ability levels and restructure their lessons accordingly. There are a few different strategies that will help with gaps in ability levels, which consist of the use of different materials, providing the same materials with a different task, paring weak and strong students together, and even doing nothing. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Brook S. Please note that this blog post might not...  [Read more]

Jon ITTT TEFL Information Teaching Ideas TEFL teachers both new and experienced will benefit from having a range of course books to draw on for their lessons. General English course books for young learners differ from those for adults in a number of ways. Obviously the types of topics will be geared towards the interests of younger people but there are also differences in the way the language is presented. Course books for adults will generally have sections with explicit presentations of a grammar point,whereas books for young learners do not usually cover grammar in detail. There are several publishers involved in producing general English course books for young learners. The main publishers are Oxford University Press,...  [Read more]

Federico Riva TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Hello everybody. It’s Liza here and I'm super glad to welcome you to my weekly ITTT live session. Today's session is devoted to international exams and the reasons to take them as a non-native ESL teacher. Before we begin, please let me know if you see me and hear me clearly, just because I want to make sure my equipment works smoothly. We've got this comments section and you can basically communicate with me through that. While we wait for some more people to join us let me know where you are tuning in from. I’m located in the Ural Region of Russia in a city called Yekaterinburg. It's pretty chilly today but really sunny and it means that spring is just around the corner. I...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas In the following essay, I will explain the importance of the English language for three important phases of a student’s future, beyond secondary education. English has become the de facto standard language for communication at a global level. After Mandarin Chinese and Spanish, it is the third most prevalent native language on the planet, as well as the most amply spoken second language and the official language of many international organizations and businesses. It works as a common trade language since it allows two foreign people to communicate, based on its global reach. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Manuel G. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the...  [Read more]