TEFL Merriam

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences One of the most useful decisions that a teacher can make is the choice to know his or her limitations. Realizing one's shortcomings does not excuse an instructor from conveying the lesson. Instead, this determination means that a teacher needs to employ supporting tools to help reach the students. One such possibility is the use of teaching aids. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Derek G. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Teaching aids can provide an educator with an active choice for classroom lecturing. When used correctly, an instructor can use teaching aids to stimulate, engage, and develop a lesson plan in a way that he...  [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 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]

Jon ITTT Alumni Experiences Grammar can be defined as the study of the classes of words, their inflections and their functions and relations in the sentence (see Merriam Webster) or grammar is a linguistic tool that determines the rules for presenting sentences correctly. It involves a number of related sub-fields including syntax, phonetics, morphology, and semantics. That is to say, grammar is the system of the language and is the rules that make it possible for us to talk about language. Grammar names the types of words and word groups which could make up sentences not only in English but in any other language. As human beings, we can all do with grammar, even as children. But it is not everybody who is able to talk about how sentences are...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences The purpose of this essay is to explore the concept of grammar by defining it and explaining its role in society. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Ralph D. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Merriam Webster defines it as: "a: the study of the classes of words, their inflections (see inflection sense 3), and their functions and relations in the sentence. b: a study of what is to be preferred and what avoided in inflection .." Concisely, it is the set of structural rules governing the composition of clauses, phrases, and words in any given natural language. ... Thus, Universal Grammar is grammar is the cognitive information...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Establishing rapport with your students is crucial for many reasons. Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary defines rapport as “a friendly, harmonious relationship especially: a relationship characterized by agreement, mutual understanding, or empathy that makes communication possible or easy.” This means that establishing rapport is like laying a foundation for understanding and communication. One of the most fundamental purposes of any language is to provide a way to understand and communicate with other people. Taking the time to establish rapport is simply the first step to laying a foundation for teaching and learning a language. A true teacher does not teach a subject, they teach students. As a...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Confidence - how many times we’ve heard about it. That it’s important, that we should have it, that we should build it, that we should help students or any other people develop it. But what does it mean? This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Iuliia S. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. It’s been always difficult to explain what is it, as it’s something that comes from feelings of well-being, acceptance of yourself, belief in your abilities, skills, your own experience. I would say it’s a ‘self-power’, that lets you move through any difficulties, helps you to grow and become a ‘someone’. The Merriam-Webster dictionary...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas One of the most important traits a teacher can bring into the classroom is confidence. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary Confidence is “a feeling or consciousness of one’s powers or reliance on one’s circumstances” and “ faith or belief that one will act in a right, the proper, or efficient way”. When a teacher is confident in the classroom it will help create a more relaxed and trusting environment. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Sarah Z. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. I have found that when I am confident in what I am teaching I am more flexible in the classroom to be able to truly meet my student's...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences ESL students will receive many formal grammar lessons that will give them a good grounding in proper English sentence structures, when to use who and whom, various verb tenses, the importance of noun-verb agreement and proper punctuation—and much more. Proper grammar will give them a thorough understanding of the elements of grammar and equip them to navigate through formal English-language communication, such as business letters and reports, meetings, emails to clients, and formal assignments in English classes. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Brenda Q. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. But I believe we have a...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Individuals like nurses, doctors, therapists, and teachers who are employed in the helping professions build positive and trusting relationships with the people that they work with by establishing rapport. Rapport can be defined as a friendly and harmonious relationship characterized by mutual understanding or empathy making communication possible and easy (Merriam-Webster, 2019). This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Toni M. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. When rapport is built between two people, they can learn, teach, and influence each other because of the connection and relationship that has been created. Rapport, or a bond,...  [Read more]

Linda Dunsmore Alumni Experiences Songs, what are songs? Merriam-Webster define a song as a short poem or other set of words set to music or meant to be sung OR a single (and often standalone) work of music that is typically intended to be sung by the human voice with distinct and fixed pitches and patterns using sound and silence and a variety of forms that often include the repetition of sections. I will like to emphasize on some major factors that makes songs in the classroom very important in learning a new language and the general upbringing of children. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Banda J. The terms “repetition” and “rhythm” are vital in the classroom, according to psychologists; they claim that “songs...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas British English versus American English always sparks a lively discussion. I have read some articles so far as to compare these 2 languages and gather the information from the online resources. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Zahra J. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. I am Iranian and have many American and British friends and I have been living abroad for about 6 years. As an English speaker as a second language, it took me a while to learn what is British and what is American English. As I have done some friendly interviews, the English spoken in the USA is different from the English spoken in the UK not only in pronunciation...  [Read more]

Linda Dunsmore Alumni Experiences Grammar is the whole system of language. It includes a set of rules known as syntax. Occasionally when working on the computer you may get a message “Error Syntax; code 141” this means you have typed into the computer something that did not fit into the rules. This is not allowed and the computer will reject it and force you to obey the rules. When speaking English we have no restrictions on the structure or form and no computer monitoring us to stop us from speaking incorrectly. We can say anything anyway we choose, well-spoken or poorly spoken. There are some common words which are frequently misused. They are, affect, that, and whom. This essay will look at each of these in an effort to clarify their use....  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences When I first made the transition from primary school to university, I knew that my lesson plans were clearly going to have to change. As I began to come up with ideas for my new job, I was disappointed that most of the content I previously used had no place in the university. Games, such as Hangman and Pictionary, worked excellently in capturing the interests of my young students, but I didn’t think these childish games had any place in a university classroom. I found out weeks later how wrong I was when I used Pictionary at the beginning of one of my courses to ‘preview’ the vocabulary we would be covering in class that day. I discovered that day that games can support a lesson if the educator...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas The Merriam Webster dictionary defines Business English as: “English as used in business”. While concise, this definition is of limited value to a teacher. This essay will attempt to expand on this definition in the context of English teaching. A more thorough examination of business English will precede an overview of teaching business English before concluding with a modified definition. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Christopher B. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. It is important to note that the use of business English is not confined to countries whose primary language is English and multinational companies and...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Phonemics according to the Merriam Webster dictionary is a branch of linguistic analysis that consists of the study of phonemes. In other words, it could be explained as the study of the sound system of a given language and the analysis and classification of its phonemes. Phonemics awareness, on the other hand, is the ability to examine language independently to its meaning and to manipulate its component sound[1]. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Lystra H. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. It could also mean the ability to notice, think about and work with the individual sounds in spoken words and further manipulate the...  [Read more]