Teaching Syllabus

1. Introduction to TESOL Online Course 2. Course Curriculum Overview 3. Module 1: Introduction to Teaching English as a Second Language 4. Module 2: Language Acquisition and Learning Theories Welcome to the TESOL online course provided by ITTT (International TEFL and TESOL Training). Our comprehensive program is designed to equip you with the necessary skills and knowledge to teach English as a Second Language effectively. Whether you are a seasoned educator looking to expand your teaching expertise or a newcomer to the field, our course caters to individuals at all levels of experience. The TESOL online course covers a wide range of topics essential for teaching English to non-native speakers. From language acquisition theories to practical classroom management techniques, each module is...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas English is the widely used language in the world that used as an official language in a majority of countries, as the main business language and as a universal language for education and tourism. Based on their interests and responsibilities people decide what type of English they should learn and try to find the most suitable course for their personal goals. From another perspective, as English teachers, our obligation is to create a course that consists of materials that help students to reach their goals and allow us to present English in a structured and the most appropriate way. As a result, the problem of syllabus design that meets students' expectations appears. The main aim of this essay is to define what...  [Read more]

Mark Crocker Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas Syllabus design is one of the most important parts of developing a business English course. In order to formulate a syllabus, a lot of factors have to be kept in mind. These include the purpose of the course, the language proficiency of the students, the field in which the students specialize, as well as the aims, goals and objectives that you intend to achieve by the end of the course. The syllabus design should represent a logical step by step process to take the students from their present level of proficiency to their desired level. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Hina I. Your course syllabus could take various forms. It could be a ‘structural...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas In the existing literature on language education, the terms CURRICULUM and SYLLABUS are sometimes used interchangeably, sometimes differentiated, and sometimes misused and misunderstood. Rodger (1989:26, cited in Richards, 2001:39) makes a distinction between a syllabus and curriculum. According to Rodgers, syllabi (or syllabuses), which prescribe the content to be covered by a given course, form only a small part of the total school program. The curriculum is a far broader concept. The curriculum is all those activities in which children engage under the auspices of the school. This includes not only what students learn, but how they learn it, how teachers help them learn, using what supporting materials, styles,...  [Read more]

Linda Dunsmore Teaching Ideas So you’ve got your TEFL certificate in hand and landed your dream teaching job abroad. Once you’re at the school, it’s time to prep for your classes. More often than not, teachers are expected to create their own course syllabi for their different classes. Here is our guide to writing your first TEFL syllabus. This post was written by our ITTT graduate Zirui P. The syllabus of a course is the frame of what the course is. It tells the students and the teacher what is being taught in the course as well as in what order it is being taught. This is especially true in language learning, as different types of syllabi will indicate what is being learned. There are many types of syllabi for language learning. Depending...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas Although courses may vary in length, subject matter, level, or approach, a systematic process, a syllabus is essential to plan and structure a course to achieve instructional goals effectively. Teachers will need to design, modify, revise or evaluate a syllabus or rethink and re-examine their syllabi throughout their career. Being a systematic process, syllabus design follows a set of steps and requirements, as outlined in the following paragraphs. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Soundous D. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Before starting the syllabus...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Teaching business English presents teachers with a degree of freedom that is perhaps not enjoyed by those teaching in, for example, State Schools that have curriculums set by the education arm of Government or other international organizations. Some teachers may relish having the opportunity to design their syllabus while for others it may be something rather daunting. Regardless, gaining experience in the field of syllabus design will likely prove invaluable for a teacher in their personal career development. Several considerations are required when designing a syllabus for a course in Business English and these will be discussed throughout this essay along with the methods and resources necessary for their...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Designing the syllabus of a course is one of the greatest challenges a teacher has to face and undertake way in advance to the actual implementation of the said syllabus – and before the actual beginning of any language course. When a teacher starts to plan a syllabus, he/she may not even have an exact, clear and set idea of what is expected of him/her and the students to achieve and complete during and by the end of the course. Still, planning is essential as it can save a lot of time for everyone involved, eliminate many problems, and provide the teacher with a framework and a starting point for plans and modifications. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Zalán Palotai-K. Please note that...  [Read more]

  In this episode, Linda takes on the pronunciation of the word "bicoastal". Enjoy the episode! 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. Unit 3 covers Course Development. The unit covers level testing and needs analysis as a starting point to creating a syllabus for a course. It is useful to be aware of the constraints in syllabus design: school/employer, resources, cultural issues, students, etc. Various assessments of students' progress and abilities...  [Read more]

  This video covers the differences teachers encounter when teaching monolingual and multilingual classes. Monolingual students all have the same native language. Multilingual students have different first languages. Watch this video to find out how to deal with these types of classes as a teacher. 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. This unit mentioned the ways of how to develop a syllabus and the types of exmaninations or tests that should be...  [Read more]

  There are certain words that need backshifting when using reported speech. In this video we look at backshifting places in reported speech. This video is specifically aimed at teaching reported speech in an ESL setting. 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. This section covers two very important areas of grammar which are conditionals and reported speech. Conditions are commonly used in English and a good grasp of how they work is needed to master...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas As a teacher of English, one may need to identify some areas that are essential in teaching even though the syllabus doesn’t mention them. For instance, what to teach is suggested but not how to do that. Having taken courses in pedagogy and didactics in Sweden (in the Swedish language) was and still is highly appreciated, but I may consider the TEFL and CTEYLS courses more satisfying when it comes to investigating ways and possibilities of designing a syllabus in teaching English. Another consequence of studying these courses is that it may as well result in better understanding and improving methods of preparing the French language as well. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Bassem F....  [Read more]

Linda Dunsmore Alumni Experiences Upon completing the teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL) for business English (BE), the best things I’ve learned would have to be the section that covered ESA (engage, study, activate), including boomerang and patchwork lessons, and how the engage, study, activate methodology is the core of a great teaching syllabus. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Kinsey K. The best thing I’ve learned from my TESOL business English course would have to be “Engage, Study, Activate” within the business English environment. I have seen ESA in the previous 120-hour TEFL course and my 50-hour TEFL young learner course, however, I had not seen it applied in a way to be used for the business...  [Read more]

Mark Crocker TEFL Information Alumni Experiences I have had the privilege of teaching English for 5 years in an Asian university setting, and I am now preparing to move to another country to seek employment. It is quite possible that I will teach English in a business setting in my new country, which is why I took the Certificate in Teaching Business English course. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Todd M. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Teaching English has been an absolute joy as I have met many interesting people and learned so much through living in another country. However, the part of English teaching that I struggle with most is...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences For any work to yield the best results, it has to be efficiently executed for which meticulous planning is a must. Teaching is a very responsible work which decides the careers and hence the lives of students. Teaching is not just a routine job that can be done impromptu. Hence it has to be planned. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Eshita P. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. A teacher teaches different classes each day. Each class has its syllabus which has to be completed within the stipulated time like an academic year, trimester, or semester. A teacher has to plan how he is going to complete the syllabus within the...  [Read more]

  Before we move on to the planning of a lesson for speaking skills, something that we need to look at first is the idea of the accuracy versus the fluency of speaking. Accuracy relates to the correct usage of grammar and vocabulary, whereas fluency relates to our ability to continue speaking without any interruption. Now, ultimately within a whole ESA lesson or within language learning itself fluency and accuracy are equally important. Within an ESA lesson, however, depending upon which stage we're at in that lesson, then we're either focusing on accuracy or we're focusing on fluency. Remember in the ESA lesson, in the study phase, this is where we're looking at the target language where we're doing our language learning, so it's very important in this stage that we focus on the...  [Read more]

Linda Dunsmore Alumni Experiences Upon completing the 50-hour Teaching English to Young Learners Course, the best things I’ve learned would have to be the section that covered course development, including ESA (engage, study, activate), testing/assessment, and how they all come together to form a syllabus and ultimately an English language course. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Kinsey K. I have seen ESA in the previous 120-hour TEFL course and my 50-hour Teaching Business English Course, however, I had not seen it applied in a way to be used specifically with the young learner in mind. Whenever a teacher is planning a course and a syllabus, the teacher needs to be able to ensure the material is at the appropriate level...  [Read more]

  And now let's look at the pronouns. Simply put, pronouns take the place of a noun. We have various types of pronouns. They are personal pronouns, which can either be subject or object. We have reflexive pronouns, relative pronouns and possessive pronouns. With our personal pronouns, we have to decide whether it's the subject or the object. The subject is the doer of an action, whereas the object is the one that receives the action. Subject pronouns are: I, you, he, she, it etc. Object pronouns are: me, you, him, her, etc. In the sentence "Greg hit Pete," the subject of the sentence is "Greg", therefore I would say "He hit Pete," or I could put a pronoun in for the object of the sentence, where "Greg hit Pete", now, I go into "Greg hit him." With our reflexive pronouns, these are...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas The Business English Teacher needs to consider how to structure and develop a course for students. Because students in a Business English setting are working professionals, they typically will have specific needs and learning objectives that a teacher will have to cater to. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Jan S. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Knowing how to structure and develop an ESL class for adult, Business-English students involves first finding out what motivates the students to learn English, and also what their English ability is upon entering the course. This involves two steps that can be undertaken simultaneously....  [Read more]

Shirin Sophy TEFL Information Alumni Experiences It is often argued that exams probably are one of the integral parts of every syllabus, and a course appears to be left open-ended and aimless without a propitious final examination. While many people totally believe in academic achievement assessment through formal examination and the element of competitiveness it introduces, opponents persuasively argue against this notion and refer to the devastating impact, and the strain students are inevitably exposed to as a result of rigorous and lengthy exams. In this article, several types of assessment are overview, but first, let's have a look at some examination methods. Oral exams, when a particular student is asked to respond to a...  [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 Teaching Ideas Many teachers of the English language, both young and old at secondary school level are faced with the uphill task of designing a course structure. They often find designing a progression as a real Herculean task. As a secondary school student, I took English language courses with teachers who in most cases used just the prescribed textbooks page after page. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Buh Mariette M. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Today as an amateur teacher for almost a year now, I have discovered that most teachers shy away from designing a scheme of work because they find it difficult and painstaking. Breaking the...  [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 Teaching Ideas Are you new to teaching English abroad? Don't fear! These 5 keywords will help you increase your confidence in the classroom as a teacher and help you to lead effective English lessons! Linda Dunsmore Teaching Ideas Are you not sure what to do this winter with your EFL students? Don't worry we've got you covered! Try these 7 amazing winter and Christmas ESL activities your students will absolutely love! Linda Dunsmore Teaching Ideas Check out these 7 activities for teaching reported speech in the ESL classroom that will help your students learn this tricky...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences The ITTT 120-hour online TEFL course is intended to provide the novice ESL teacher with the fundamentals for building an ESL teaching career. The course is divided into a total of twenty individual units. Half the units are concerned with the process of teaching English to non-English speakers. The other half of the syllabus is concerned with class content – i.e., what gets taught during an ESL class. Each unit is made up of a didactic section, a self-review section, and then a quiz – and the quiz gets submitted electronically to ITTT. An average grade of 75% or better is required on the quizzes. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Ray S. Please note that this blog post might not...  [Read more]

  In this TEFL/TESOL review, trainee Pam describes her experience with ITTT's four week in-class course in Phuket, Thailand. She outlines the program of the first week of the course. Pam talks about why she chose to do the course in Phuket and she gives a brief synopsis of the week's program. 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. I didn't like how the norm-referenced test was not explained in the unit reading. Some of the questions were confusing...  [Read more]

  This TESOL review video was recorded by ITTT graduate Floyd. Floyd is from the USA but is currently living and working as an English teacher in Japan. Floyd took the 120-hour online course with tutor support as well as the teaching business English course and intends to take the Diploma course with ITTT in the future. 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. In this unit, I learned about the usefulness of games in the classroom, and their value as an...  [Read more]

  Margaret from Indonesia took the 120-hour online TEFL/TESOL course and had a great experience. She learned a lot about grammar, classroom management, and lesson planning. In her TEFL review, she recommends our training courses to anyone who is interested in becoming an English language teacher. 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. This unit provided a great overview of what will be taught in this course. The detailed Course Content was of...  [Read more]

Mark Crocker Alumni Experiences Business English is a powerful tool that can build bridges and connect individuals or groups of people to help them reach common goals. Having one common language as a means of communication is also a great help when starting or building a project. However, teaching business English is a specialism within English language teaching and thus requires a great deal of forward planning and some specific knowledge and skills. Here are the most important things I have learned during my time teaching business English in Brazil. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Lea D. This broad statement encompasses many things, including the teacher’s knowledge of each individual student’s overall goals,...  [Read more]

Linda Dunsmore Teaching Ideas Check out these 7 activities for teaching reported speech in the ESL classroom that will help your students learn this tricky English topic in no time! Linda Dunsmore TEFL Information Are you traveling and don't know how to find the time to get TEFL certified? Worry no more! Here are 4 tips for getting your TEFL certificate on the road and for staying motivated to study! Linda Dunsmore Destinations Teaching Ideas Are you interested in teaching English in Japan? Our TEFL alumni Kaavya shares three differences in Japanese schools that every teacher needs to be aware of before heading...  [Read more]