Teach English in Holywood - TEFL Courses

Teaching and learning english used to be limited to the classroom or a physical space. But technology has been constantly shaping and reshaping the way we live and has made it possible for us to transcend barriers and limitations including education limitations. In the past, teaching and learning english involved the teachers' and the students' physical presence, i.e. they had to meet one another either in groups or one-to-one just to allow the learning process to take place. Although group classes offer the advantage of student interaction which can enrich the learning experience, a lot of students feel that one-to-one lessons are more effective in delivering lessons. They feel that one-to-one lessons give them the opportunity to talk more and thus, practice their spoken english more. In group lessons, this opportunity is dispersed among several students, lessening their talk time. One-to-one lessons also give teachers the opportunity to tailor their lessons to the interests, needs and objectives of their learners. In group classes, delivering 100% personalized lessons becomes impossible as teachers usually have to deal with mixed levels and address the most common needs and objectives of the group members and encourage self-study for other things that their students want to learn which can't be covered in class. Students who participate in one-to-one lessons usually really want to learn english and are thus highly motivated. It's also easier to build rapport with individual learners than with a group of students as the teacher can give individual learners his full attention. Now technology has taken the advantages of one-to-one lessons one notch higher. Both teachers and students can now interact with one another from the comfort of their own offices or homes. Lessons can now be conducted online or over the telephone, overcoming physical space barriers. “Skype is perhaps the best known and most popular voice application for teaching english or any other subject over the internet. Skype, along with the likes of Google, MSN and Yahoo is among the top internet companies to support free voice, chat and video.”1 Busy learners of the english language appreciate the flexibility that online and telephone lessons offer. They don't have to go to school on fixed days and times just to learn english. Most of them can attend their classes whenever and where ever they decide to.2 Online and telephone english lessons also save teachers and students travel time and money. They don't have to spend time traveling to and from school and this helps them save money on fare, fuel, parking fees and car maintenance costs. Technical glitches are probably the biggest drawback of online and telephone english lessons. teachers and students alike can experience intermittent Internet connection or choppy lines. Fortunately, these things don't happen everyday. Students might also find it more difficult to understand native speakers online or over the telephone. teachers then have to speak at a rate that allows their students to understand them. The positive thing about finding native speakers more difficult to understand online or over the telephone is the fact that students are forced to concentrate more during lessons. This ultimately leads to the development of their listening comprehension. In fact, a lot of students get used to their teachers' accents over time and it pleases them to realize that their teachers are getting easier and easier to understand. Another disadvantage of telephone and online english lessons which do not have any video support is the absence of facial expressions and gestures that enrich and facilitate the learning process. Communication in fact, is not just done through the mere use of words. It's a combination of eye contact, facial expressions, gestures and words. It is especially difficult to conduct online and telephone english lessons with low-level learners who have a very limited vocabulary. Fortunately, teachers can make up for these limitations by communicating with learners through the chat box to help them understand their words more fully or sending pictures and images just to support their explanations or define challenging vocabulary. Online and telephone english lessons may have their disadvantages but something good tends to come from these disadvantages. Students are forced to concentrate more and teachers are challenged to use a more expressive tone of voice and be more creative in delivering lessons to facilitate learning. In the end, the advantages of online and telephone english lessons still outweigh the disadvantages. (Please see endnotes below)