TEFL Richards

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Listening is an important skill in which learners need help in developing their abilities. Listening strategies are so helpful. By giving a learner, tools to listen to the learner can develop more control over his/her listening abilities. Many learners ask “ Teacher, how can I improve my listening?” The truth of the matter is with training from teachers. We can apply strategies in class to help learners overcome the obstacles, which they encounter while listening. The spoken text varies greatly from written text, and these differences can affect the listeners’ understanding. For example, when listening to spoken text the learner must process the information right away, and in some cases, there is often...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Planning a lesson is of key importance to a teacher because it prepares him/her to manage learner behavior and create the perfect learning environment for its students. During the lesson planning phase, a teacher decides upon the goals, activities, resources, timing, grouping and other aspects of a lesson (Richards & Renandya, 2002). This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Pulkesh M. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. The lesson plan may not be a very detailed and descriptive one but its purpose is to enable the teacher to structure the lesson into an effective and engaging experience while keeping in mind the needs of all its...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas I believe storytelling is one of the best methods for keeping students engaged while helping them to understand and remember a topic. Regardless of age, everyone enjoys a good story. There are many ways to integrate storytelling into the classroom. One way is to use a story to introduce a new topic. This could mean a funny or personal anecdote relating to the new subject. It could also mean reading aloud from a book or having students listen to an audio recording. Not only will the story grab the attention of the audience, but it will also be a good opportunity to speak somewhat casually with the students, using a variety of vocabulary you expect them to learn in context. An important aspect of storytelling to...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas “The role of grammar is perhaps one of the most controversial issues in language teaching” (Richards and Renandya, 2002, p.145). From the past to the present, there have been so many changes in methodologists’ views on which grammar items should be taught and how to teach them. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Man C. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. In the past, in a traditional classroom, grammatical competence and explicit knowledge of language rules were emphasized. Grammar teaching held such an essential part in language teaching that other aspects became either ignored or downplayed. People assumed that if the...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas To learn a language, most people would consider it important to understand the structure or rules that govern that language, if one is going to communicate effectively. Grammar can be viewed as the set of rules governing language. Online resources such as Cambridge Dictionary (n.d.), have referred to grammar as being “the study or use of the rules, about how words change their form and combine with other words to make sentences”. While this definition might clarify the meaning of the word, it falls short in terms of justifying the importance of grammar, especially about teaching English as a foreign language. When one teaches English one might have students whose first language is completely different in...  [Read more]

Jon ITTT Alumni Experiences How to motivate and keep the students interested in learning the English language? This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Richard B. To teach at the Kindergarten level the teacher has to be mindful of keeping students' attention and maintaining order. It is important to have structure and routines. To ensure the students are comfortable, happy and engaged while learning and practicing English there needs to be a balance between patients and strictness. To keep their attention, it is good to enlist fun little games to help maintain order in the class. It is important to understand your students. At this level they have a short attention span so a detailed lesson plan is crucial. To make learning fun...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas Effective praise builds a student's character and strengthens their attempts at all tasks they encounter. The keyword to this point is useful. When credit is targeted at the wrong aspect of a student's work, then a negative effect has a chance to take over. So is it normal after all to praise students, and if so, how should a teacher go about the task? This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Richard B. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. First, it is very typical to praise students. It's even encouraged and appreciated. Praise can give the students confidence, make them feel happy, and provide them...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Grammar plays a very important role in learning and teaching a foreign language. What is grammar? Crystal describes grammar as “the business of taking a language to pieces, to see how it works” (as cited in Bentsen, 2017). This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Meral B. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. According to Swan ‘‘grammar is essentially a limited set of devices for expressing a few kinds of necessary meaning that cannot be conveyed by referential vocabulary alone’’ (as cited in Hu, 2012). Ur believes that ‘‘grammar may be roughly defined as the way a language manipulates and combines words (or bits of words)...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas For many years, drilling has been used in foreign language classrooms. This approach to language teaching places an emphasis on repeating structural patterns through oral practice. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Jazmin W. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. When using the technique of drilling, if used appropriately, it can be a very productive and proactive way for students to memorize and retain vocabulary and structural context within a sentence. It could be argued that when learning a foreign language, the thought that repeating phrases correctly lots of times can lead to master that language. Yet, it dials down to a far...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Over the course of this certification program, I learned an abundance of information and methodologies, but none as important as the ESA outline; the ESA methodology is, undoubtedly, the best thing I’ve learned from my TEFL course. The ESA procedure provides a myriad of benefits, engaging learners in a series of dynamic activities aimed to create a seamless and effective educational environment. Due to the adept and fluid nature of the ESA methodology, it is easily the most important tool taught to me throughout this program and something I foresee utilizing often in the near future. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Richard H. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas My first exposure to learning a foreign language was back in the 1950s watching French lessons on the National Education Network, the predecessor of PBS. The only thing I can remember from the experience was the word Ecoute, listen, which I did little of. Latin classes in Junior High, followed by Spanish courses in High School and College did little to help me as an adult. The teaching methods used were both classical, grammar-translation and Audio- bilingualism, both tried and true relics of the past, and in some cases the present. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Richard G. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. In the course after...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas Sometimes, it can be challenging for most of us to focus on specific tasks. It's normal to find your mind wandering when you should be focused on a particular thing. According to a 2010 study 1 by Harvard psychologists Matthew A. Killingsworth and Daniel T. Gilbert, we spend nearly 47 percent of our waking hours thinking about something other than what we are doing. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate MANEL R. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. It's even more challenging for kids to stay focused on one task even if they are interested in it, especially...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas As a teacher of English as a second language, it is our responsibility to do as much as we can to encourage students to learn English as a second language. There are many different factors to be considered when we think about methods or techniques to use to accomplish a high level of encouragement in our classes. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Richard K. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. The first step is to establish what might be the cause of the lack of motivation among the students. There are various factors to consider before concluding. Namely, the students' culture, age, family/social life, their reason for taking the...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Throughout history, several different teaching approaches and methodologies have been tried and tested with some being more popular and effective than others. There are various teaching methods and techniques that are employed to help students learn a new language and this critique explains the advantages/disadvantages and effectiveness of some of the more important approaches. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Thomas C. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. The first technique (dominantly used ‘up to the 1960s’) (Lier and Lier, 2001) is the Grammar Translation (or Classical) method based on the translation of words/passages from...  [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]

Mark Crocker Alumni Experiences Student motivation is very important when it comes to being a successful teacher. As teachers, our results are highly dependent on what we are able to teach our students and students are far more likely to succeed if they are motivated. Student motivation also far exceeds the bounds of just learning English and extends into the other subjects they study and even their daily lives. A well motivated student will be more disciplined, attentive and willing to participate than an unmotivated student. Having motivated students is great for teachers as it means you are able to do your job much more efficiently. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Richard Z. There are multiple kinds of motivation or...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Course materials are the ingredients of the class, that if implemented effectively, make it taste good. A teacher can be amazing at instructing but the materials are what will help the students apply the lecture and know if they understood it. It reminds me of when I was in class, listening to my teacher, oftentimes I was really under the impression that I understood what the teacher was saying. When I did my homework though, I found it difficult to apply that information to the exercises. This was often the case when the teacher explained things well, but the materials weren’t personalized and came from a textbook that has been out of date for the past 5 years. Here we’ll go over how to implement course...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas This essay focuses on what “multiple intelligence” is, a comparison between multiple intelligences and the traditional notion of intelligence, what these multiple intelligence categories (“modalities") are, and their significance in the classroom context. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Stephanie T. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. "Multiple intelligence" was a theory developed by Professor Howard Gardner in the early 1980s to describe the various innate talents that everyone possesses. Multiple intelligence theory was a reaction to the conventional teaching methods that cater predominantly to the book-smarts, those...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas It should be noted that parents play a major role in education, most especially their children’s education. From the very birth of the child to adulthood, they are being taught how to do certain things and those values live with them all through. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Saah H. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Such education is firstly practiced from home and it can be referred to as informal education. The role of parents when it comes to education is undefined as they are the foundation of a good, solid and fundamental education before we bring into the picture the teacher, who in some instances is referred to as...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Parental involvement in every sphere of life has played significant roles in the successful life activities of people, children especially. These roles are not only limited to home but constant involvement in educational activities too. Recent developments in education have heightened the need for parental involvement in that area of children’s development. Consequently, in recent decades, parental involvement in education has been one of the major interesting topics for research and discussion, with a growing body of literature confirming the critical roles parents play in helping both teachers and students succeed academically. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Richard A. Please note...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Jeremy Harmer, in his book How to Teach English, discusses different learning styles of students. He states that everyone responds to stimuli like photos, pictures, sounds, music, and movement, but that some things stimulate student learning more than other things do. Harmer cites Richard Bandler and John Grinder’s neuro-linguistic programming theory which states that everyone has a preferred stimulus (e.g. visual, auditory, or kinesthetic) which they respond to above all others. Students who have a visual preference will remember things better if they see them. Those with an auditory preference are more likely to recall things they hear. Kinesthetic learners are influenced by activity and learn best when...  [Read more]

Ahmed Taha TEFL Information Teaching Ideas This article explains what TBLT is and how it differs from more traditional approaches to teaching. Why has it become such a popular teaching method for languages? Will it continue to be popular or will it be replaced by another approach? PPP now stands for present, practise, and produce. The teacher is in charge of everything in the PPP classroom. As a result, there is a finite amount of room for student behaviour and agency. A linear syllabus is also a part of PPP. So you only get one chance to learn grammatical rules and other aspects of the language. Finally, lessons in the PPP format can become repetitive and boring. So this isn't the most effective method of inspiring students....  [Read more]