TEFL Course Opt PDF

TEFL Unit 1
Teaching English as a Foreign Language
BBS | Baxter International TEFL School

Unit 1: Welcome to TEFL
TEFL means Teach English as a Foreign English teachers. This has led to a
Language. surprising 80% of English teachers in
It is estimated that there are 1.5 billion non-native regions being non-native
English teachers themselves.
people worldwide learning TEFL and
95% of secondary school students in • Some of the biggest European cities
continental Europe are learning English. such as Rome, Prague or Madrid, host
For you, as a soon to be qualified TEFL between 3,000-5,000 native English
teacher, this means that you have endless speaking teachers, working anytime
possibilities of getting job, practically of the day across private language
anywhere in the world. institutes.
Here are some interesting facts regarding • Madrid alone is home to over 400
English Learning around the world: different language schools, with English
being the predominant language on
• More people learn English worldwide offer.
than French, Spanish, Italian, Japanese,
German and Chinese combined. • The estimated worldwide demand for
TEFL teachers has been set at a shocking
• The largest English-speaking 5 million and constantly growing.
population and largest ESL community
is China. There are more English • Recent figures have revealed an
students in China than native English astonishing worldwide count of more
speakers in the US. than 1 million foreign TEFL teachers.
• English is the most studied language in • Around 100,000 students decide to

the EU. 94% of students in the general pursue a TEFL certification every year,
upper secondary education system does not even get close meeting the
study English. general demand for EFL teachers.
• Only 527million out of the 1.5 billion • 20,000 English teaching jobs are
English speakers worldwide are native posted online monthly. Most qualified
speakers. teachers accept an offer within a month
of job seeking.
• Studies have estimated that at this
So, you will get a job once you have a TEFL
rate, by 2020, the English-learning
community will rise to 2 billion. certificate!
The TEFL market
Is there much demand for English

teachers?
• Approximately 250,000 native English
speakers are working as teachers in
over 40,000 schools and language
centres in countries all over the world.
• There are not enough native English
speakers to meet the demand for

2
Workbook Exercise 1: teacher spoke at length about their expert
topic.
What are the reasons people want to That is not TEFL teaching! Let’s have a look
learn English? Write your answer in the at a TEFL class in action!
workbook.
http://www.teflvideos.com/now_showing.
Then we will look at these videos to get php?idxvideo=50
some answers and then we will look at the
workbook solution. Teflvideos .com j Games and activities
jTeaching Grammar with board races
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_
uDBdhs6UIA • What makes this classroom
environment different to other class
https://www.youtube.com/ formats you may have experienced?
watch?v=eEzbE0hAR9A
• Who’s doing most of the talking?
• What is the teacher’s approach to the
class?
• How do you think the students are
feeling in this context?
We hope you noticed from the video that
the focus was on student activity. The
teacher was a guide and then the students
were active.
A TEFL teacher does not dominate the
classroom. A TEFL teacher does not love
the sound of their own voice. A TEFL
teacher aims to speak for maybe 25%
to 30% of the class. A TEFL teacher is
a conduit by which language learning
is facilitated. A TEFL teacher facilitates
Personality traits of a TEFL learning.
teacher. Students learn by having fun in the
classroom. Students love an element of
Being a TEFL teacher needs a certain type competition. A motivated student is a
of personality. student who will learn!
Students practice English as much
Workbook Exercise 2: as possible in a TEFL class. The more
opportunity students have to practice, the
What type of personality does a TEFL more they will learn! Listening to a teacher
teacher need? Write your answer in the speak and speak and speak does not
workbook. provide practice.
Here are some other videos of a TEFL
What are TEFL classes like? class.
You probably remember from school or https://www.youtube.com/

university many classes that consisted watch?v=lpE7Wi-F0ZA
of the student making notes while the

3
1. What is the age level? Workbook Exercise 4:
2. Does this age level appeal to your
teaching expectations? Why? Imagine you are a Green Monkey Teacher:
What is the normal daily routine you might
3. Are the activities suitable for this expect?
age group? Why?
https://www.youtube.com/ Workbook Exercise 5:
watch?v=5cCjLO1mQ6Y
Youtube j Search ‘Life English Class, Imagine you teach corporate classes in
complete lesson ’ j Video uploaded by Madrid. This means that you teach in
Mark Kulek the students´ place of work. What is the
normal daily routine you might expect?
4. What is the age level?
5. Does this age level appeal to your The Role of L1 in class:
teaching expectations? Why?
6. Are the activities suitable for this Firstly, what is L1? L1 is language 1 and
age group? Why? that means that it is the native language of
your students. Here in Spain, L1 is Spanish.
Answer: If you are teaching in Dublin or London,
then a classroom could contain 15 L1s!
1. What is the age level in each of the As a general rule, always speak English
classes? in class. We want students speaking
The first video displays a group of in English and so they need to think in
children, possibly aged 3-4, and the English. If they know that you will speak
second extract shows a group of teens L1 to them, they will become lazy and
aged 13-14. regularly speak L1 with you.
2. How are the activities different from We need the classroom to be an English
one age group to the next? language environment, and you will
only get that by speaking the maximum
The young learner class plan involves
amount of English.
a lot more physical movement and
interaction than the teens class. Also, teachers speaking in L1 may not
Teenage students, however, are actively fully understand L1 and in fact may
involved in engaging class discussions inadvertently teach incorrectly. Remember,
and interactive activities language learning is full of subtlety and
nuance and it is too easy to mistranslate or
misunderstand an item of language.
TEFL Teacher Daily Schedule:
TEFL teachers teach by showing and by
A TEFL teacher’s schedule can vary greatly. explaining in English. A large part of this
course will be devoted to how we teach
without speaking L1.
Workbook Exercise 3:
Imagine you are teaching in a primary Types of TEFL positions:

school. What is the normal daily routine
you might expect? There are three principal teaching formats
you might come across as a TEFL teacher:

4
General English, Young Learners and • Exam preparation
Business English. There are a wide spectrum of
• Young Learners certificates and language examinations
This is one of the fastest growing areas both locally and internationally
of EFL teaching, parents all over the recognized. These classes are aimed for
world are sending their children to students who are looking to achieve a
Language Schools and English-based language certification in English. From
programs from very early ages to the most popular certificates such as
guarantee they develop a solid bilingual IELTS, TOEFL, FCE, CAE, CPE, to more
base. specific exams such as IBEC, ILEC or
TOIEC.
• General English
This class format is aimed at students • EAP- English for Academic Purposes
who wish to improve their general These lessons focus mainly on skills
knowledge, understanding and practical applicable to academic uses of the
use of all four skills: reading, writing, English language, some of the skills
listening and speaking. The technical and learning outcomes involved
skills put into practice using day-to-day could be essay writing, preparing and
elements. Most school students are giving presentations and synthesizing
familiarized with “General English”. information. These are generally aimed
at university-level.
• English for Specific Purposes
English learners have become
increasingly conscious of their language
needs and objectives. Therefore,
specialized English courses have
emerged to meet the demand for
courses that focus on certain sectors or
areas of English language use: Medical,
Legal, Engineering, Pharmaceutical,
• Business English Hospitality, Financial or Marketing
This is the most widespread form of English courses are some examples
subject-specific English. This class among many others.
format often involves teaching English
in a corporate context or class context,
focusing mainly on communication
skills for trade and commercial
purposes, office staff and professional
etiquette, and general interactions
and terminology relevant to the
multinational corporate world.
Expert TEFL positions
When you acquire experience in General

English teaching you may be offered the
opportunity to take on the following class
formats:

5
Listening.
Listening is a demanding skill as it

requires learners to follow along to what
they´re hearing. Normally, there isn´t an
opportunity to listen twice which can make
it even more demanding. To help students
develop their skills in understanding the
main idea, and details teachers should
listen to authentic language.
Reading.
This can often be students´ best skill. They

can use a dictionary if necessary and read
at their own pace. However, students still
need help to be able to read quickly, and
The Four Skills to understand the main idea of what they
are reading first (if they´re looking up
Being able to use all four 'macro skills' every word they may lose sight of this).
is an aspect of knowing a language. We
include both productive skills (Writing and
Speaking) and receptive skills (Reading and Writing.
Listening).
Writing is not just about being able to
Students normally have different level form sentences. Students need to be able
of ability in the different skills. This may to follow the conventions of the English-
mean you have to focus on one skill more speaking world, and know how to put
than others. Students from traditional together a complete text (Such as an essay
classroom settings may be very good or email).
at reading and writing, but might find
listening and speaking difficult.
The Role of the Teacher
Speaking. Maximizing student talking time (STT) is
vital. This means teacher talking time (TTT)
Students need to develop accuracy in their has to be minimized. To ensure students
speaking (Using correct grammar and practice as much as possible our teaching
vocabulary). Not only this, but they also should be clear and efficient.
have to develop fluency, which means to
speak confidently without any unnatural This different classroom dynamic can
pauses. cause teachers to worry they are not doing
their job. That´s not true and there are
Pronunciation is an important part of plenty of reasons to support it.
speaking. A student may have fantastic
vocabulary and grammar, but they need • Isn´t it very lazy? Back when you
to be able to be intelligible! This involves were in school did you enjoy or
producing sounds correctly, and for respect classes with teachers who
sentences to have a natural rhythm, stress were constantly talking? When you´ve
and intonation (fall and rise in pitch). planned an engaging lesson focused

6
on them, students will appreciate the Yes, but teacher talk time does not mean
work you have put in, students are enthusiasm. Teacher talk time, can in fact,
always looking for an opportunity to use be boring. When students get to express
English themselves. themselves and talk to each other, they
will like you and the class much more.
• Shouldn’t a teacher convey knowledge?
Yes, but where possible have the Final Video: Look at this video and make
students work out the rules themselves, notes on the following:
it will be much more effective. If there is Which of these do you think will happen in
too much teacher talking time, students class?
will get confused. English is not the
students´ first language and is they • The teacher does very little speaking.
have a class where they understand • The teacher gives a lot of explanations
nothing, it will affect their level of in class.
confidence in their own abilities.
• The majority of listening the students
• Shouldn't I provide listening practice? do will be to the teacher.
A wide range of material should be
practiced with students, with a wide • Students interact with each other.
range of speakers. This material can be • Students physically get involved.
on DVDs, CDs and even the internet.
• Students speak one at a time
Students get bored with listening to the
teacher speak out loud and anyway, https://www.youtube.com/
they will quickly get used to your accent. watch?v=i6HqaY13z7I
They need to hear different accents so
they can survive in the real world when
the time comes!
• Shouldn´t I engage students with my
enthusiasm?

7
TEFL Unit 2

Unit 2: Measuring Level and Progress
1. Introduction to Language Levels Levels of Students
2. Proficiency Exams
Students are described as being at
3. CEFR particular ‘levels’. This determines how
4. Measuring Speaking and Writing strong or weak their language skills and
Levels knowledge are.
5. Other Types of Tests
Levels are…
6. Criteria for Accurate Testing
Language levels are what describes a
Introduction to Language Levels student´s ability to use English. Someone
who can understand simple texts, and
The following video will show a class of carry out basic conversations on limited
students speaking in English about their topics is said to be an ‘elementary’ learner.
emotions. Think about the student´s level If a learner is capable with discussing
of language as you watch, and bear in abstract ideas without hesitation and can
mind the following questions: manage complex authentic texts, they are
said to be an ‘advanced’ learner.
1. What are the key features of a
student´s spoken language that can
assist you into deciding their level? Levels are not…
2. Is there a similar level of English seen
Language levels do not refer to year levels
among the students shown here?
in primary or secondary school. Language
http://www.teflvideos.com/now_showing. levels and school levels are not related in
php?idxvideo=11 any way. For example, a student in year 8
teflvideos.com → Speaking → Teaching may be either an advanced or elementary
Feeling and Emotion learner. Language level does not refer,
either, to age of intelligence. A young child,
Here are our thoughts: for example, of 7 years old may be an
1. When assessing the level of spoken advanced English learner; while an adult
English of an individual, you would listen with a PhD in Psychology in their first
for: language just may not happen to have
much English!
• Grammar: Are there any errors? How
serious are they?
• Fluency: When speaking, is it at natural
speed without hesitation?
• Vocabulary: Is there a variety of
language, used correctly?
• Pronunciation: Are sounds intelligible?
Is stress and intonation used effectively?
2. The levels are broadly the same, but
perhaps the activity is too easy for their
level.

2
Jagged Profile Beginner to Advanced
It is seldom the case that students have The following labels are used traditionally
the same ability in all their skills. A jagged by language schools and course book
profile can be seen when a student shows publishers.
various levels. You will see that many →→ Beginner A0
students are stronger with reading and
writing, as they have had more practice on →→ Elementary A1
these skills from traditional classrooms. →→ Pre-Intermediate A2
Alternatively, when students learn English
by ear through friends, family, or media, →→ Intermediate B1
their speaking and listening skills will be at →→ Upper-Intermediate B2
a higher level.
→→ Advanced C1
→→ Proficiency C2
Language Levels and their description
Various scales can be used to define Example Beginner class:

language level. So far, no universally
accepted standard has been established. https://www.youtube.com/
Various countries and schools have watch?v=S2lFmQcXsM4
individual preferences when it comes to (Up to minute 3.00)
language levels.
How does the teacher speak?
You may wish to download a level
equivalence table here: Is the language used broad and expansive?
https://umadvising.wordpress. Do you have any criticisms of the class?

com/2010/11/05/toefl/ How is it a good class?
The teacher speaks very slowly and
articulates very clearly
The language is very limited and strictly
restricted to the vocabulary being taught
Perhaps too many phrases are introduced
at one time
Students participate by working in pairs. It
is never too soon for students to speak in
pairs!
Example Elementary class:
Minute 6.52 to 11.20

https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=UUg5xjM_Qss
The teacher is teaching basic classroom
vocabulary

3
Example Pre-Intermediate Class: Example Proficiency Class:
https://www.youtube.com/ https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=mlrhVPdQuu0 watch?v=WcQdpMbE4Xk
Minute 40.00 to 45.00 approx. Look at this example of 2 students doing
Slow speech with hesitations the Cambridge Proficiency speaking exam.
Students use simple vocabulary and Note the fluency, pronunciation,

simple structures vocabulary and structure that they use.
While it may be difficult to notice a huge
But students can hold independent difference from the advanced level, the
conversations using simple grammar and themes they are speaking about are much
structures more difficult and abstract.
Example Intermediate Class: Proficiency Exams:

This is an excellent class, we will
watch it all. Proficiency exams are exams that measure
all the language skills of students and are
https://www.youtube.com/ usually quite long. The main proficiency
watch?v=ScvoDJzq2hQ exams are:
More complex subject matter Cambridge Exams: These exams cover all
the levels and consist of multiple exams. At
Less-common vocabulary the higher levels, the total exam time can
be 4 hours or more.
Example Upper-Intermediate Class The exams are as follows:
https://www.youtube.com/
Starters Mid-Elementary A0-A1
watch?v=3sv620BxbDQ
Movers High-Elementary A1
Teacher speaks quite quickly
Flyers Pre-Intermediate A2
Students can easily communicate and
interact with the teacher and each other KET/KET
for Schools: Pre-Intermediate A2
Watch first 5 minutes
PET/PET
for Schools Intermediate B1
Example Advanced Class:
First/First
https://www.youtube.com/ for Schools Upper-Intermediate B2
watch?v=5nGESyDgmdw Advanced Advanced C1
Look at this example of 2 students doing Proficiency Proficiency C2
the Cambridge Advanced speaking exam.
Note the fluency, pronunciation, IELTS:
vocabulary and structure that they
use. This is an English proficiency test. This
is owned by the British Council and
Cambridge ESOL. Results of this test
determine immigration and university

4
entrance for Ireland, New Zealand, the UK http://www.cambridgeenglish.org/
and Australia. images/168619-assessing-speaking-
An overall score (scale 1-9) is given to performance-at-level-b2.pdf
candidates, along with an individual score
for the four main skills we discussed Workbook Exercise 6:
earlier. Analyse this piece of writing. What
level of English is it? Why?
TOEFL:
By the arrival of the second global war
This is an American exam in an academic in 1939, the recession was well and
setting. This is used for university entrance totally over. Economies around the world
within the U.S. A scale of 0-120 is used. were booming and unemployment had
practically disappeared. However, what
CEFR: is not clear totally is whether the strong
economic performance was due from
Common European Framework of genuine real growth, or from the demand
Reference (CEFR) is developing as the created by moving to war economies.
international standard for ability, in not
only English, but in all languages. It is valid Workbook Exercise 7:
in the European Union and is also used as
Analyse this piece of writing. What
default measure in other countries.
level of English is it? Why?
It consists of 6 levels in total- -A1
(Elementary) to C2 (proficient) I studen . Lik teecer, very neece. Kulur bloo
https://rm.coe.int/168045b15e has a like.
summary of the CEFR levels. It is most
definitely worth reading! Workbook Exercise 8:
Analyse this piece of writing. What
Measuring Speaking and Writing level of English is it? Why?
Levels:
Last weekend, I went to London. I visited
It is relatively easy to measure Listening, Oxford Street and eat fish and chips. My
Grammar and Reading Levels. Assuming friends with me, we stay in a very good
that an accurate test has been set, then hotel near the palace. I loved my journey
the student answers are either right or and really will like to return next year. But
wrong. However, measuring the level of maybe I don’t have the money.
Writing and Speaking is more complicated
as there is no right or wrong answer.
Examiners, or level assessors need a guide
as to how to grade a level. Here is an
example of the IELTS writing framework.
https://takeielts.britishcouncil.org/sites/
default/files/IELTS_task_1_Writing_band_
descriptors.pdf
Here is an example of Cambridge First
speaking exam assessment.

5
Other types of tests: Written Feedback
While testing and assessment are often When students take part in an activity or
used interchangeably, testing is generally have finished a project, you can provide
considered to be more formal than brief written feedback. This feedback is
assessment. taken very seriously by students, and
they often show it to other classmates
Exercise 9: Think of your own education.
or family. It is important then to provide
What types of assessments and exams did
plenty of positive comments as not to
you receive or do?
discourage the student. You can suggest
Why do we assess students English level? with language such as ‘Just think about...’
If parents or employers are paying for the or ‘Have you considered…’.
classes, they want a progress report.
Students may be preparing for official EFL Tests:
English exam. They want to know if their TEFL contains a variety of formal
English is improving. tests.
They want to know their progress.
Placement Test
The purpose of placement testing is to

ensure new students are assigned to the
correct level in a school. As a teacher, you
probably won’t have much contact with
placement tests. Placement tests are given
by the head of studies to the new student.
Your job as a teacher is to make sure that
the students in your group are of roughly
the same level so the group will work. If a
student has a higher or lower level than
the group you must recommend a level
change to the academic director.
Progress Test
Spoken Feedback This is made to test how much of the
course content the student has learned.
This is a very efficient and far more Progress tests occur regularly throughout
personal way of giving feedback. Things the course, usually at Christmas and
such as ‘Excellent’ or ‘Yes’ are great ways Easter.
of incorporating personal feedback to the
classroom. After a activity, it is good to
give more detailed feedback. Always begin Achievement Test
by giving an overall positive comment,
before offering corrections or suggestions. This occurs at the end of a course. It can
It is important to evaluate all aspects of also be called a ‘final test’ or ‘end of course
their learning, such as fluency, grammar, test’
vocabulary and pronunciation.

6
Criteria for accurate tests:
We must look at the following when
designing an accurate test:
1. Validity: A valid test will inform you
of exactly what you need to know. For
example, if your students have been in
a conversation class, then asking them
to write a story is not a valid test of their
progress.
2. Reliability: A reliable exam will
give the same results consistently to
different people at different times, even
when given by a different examiner. If
two students have the same level, then
they should get the same score in the
level test. Care must be taken to ensure
that there are not 2 possible answers.
For example: Is fruit: a) yellow b) black c)
white
3. Sufficient Material:
It is important to have enough material,
with a lot of variation when assessing
the speaking skills of a student. This
will allow you to make a more accurate
judgement on their level. Students need
time to relax into the test, and so the
speaking test should last at least 2-3
minutes.
Video:
The following video shows a speaking
activity done with students.
php?idxvideo=26
teflvideos.com j Speaking j Using Video
for Conversation
Think about:
• Do all the students have the same
level?
• What level do they have?

7
TEFL Unit 3

Unit 3: Lesson Planning
Introduction causes a teacher to analyse the learning
and teaching process and so give a better
A lesson plan helps you create a strategy class.
for what you are going to teach and how A plan also helps you to go through new
you will put that strategy into practice. language points and understand any
It helps you to concentrate on what tricky questions that the students might
students are going to achieve within the ask you in your lesson. Researching and
timeframe of a lesson and how you can understanding the topics will help deal
best support their learning process. with those questions from confused
students that you may not have known the
Exercise 10: As you watch the following
answer to yourself, had you not prepared.
video, think about these two questions:
https://www.youtube.com/ During the Lesson:
watch?v=VoF5JexKjwk
The lesson plan acts as a guide. It doesn´t
YouTube j Search ‘Owen School Tianjin have to be incredibly in-depth. A standard
j Uploaded by ‘mandarin english’ j format for a lesson plan could be a list or
3:30-7:30 many bullet points. This can be very useful
• What was the purpose behind to quickly refer to while teaching your
beginning the class with a song? lesson.
• What resources has the teacher come
to the lesson already prepared with?
A lesson plan is important for the following
reasons:
−−The teacher knows and has
summarized the aims and target
language for a lesson
−−The teacher can give the class with
confidence
−−The teacher anticipates any problems
or threats to the learning of the class
and prepares solutions beforehand
−−The lesson occurs with a logical After the Lesson:
sequence. The students learn the target
language then practice it All lesson plans that are a success, along
with any materials made for them, should
be kept. Think about how the lesson went
When to Use a Lesson Plan
afterwards. What went well? What went
less well than anticipated? Why? What
Pre-planning the class: changes should be made to the lesson
plan?
A lesson plan is a useful weapon in
developing good teaching skills. The Always keep your lesson plan. Reuse and
intellectual process of lesson planning recycle them.

2
Planning your Lesson: Lesson Materials:
You must always consider your students. A few things worth checking before
What level do they have? What are their entering the classroom…
objectives? How old are they? −−Will you be using a textbook?
Lesson Objectives: −−Are you going to be using pictures,
worksheets, role-cards or flash-cards?
By the end of the lesson, what will your
−−Will you be using audio equipment?
students have achieved? The aims should
be succinct and clear. i.e. −−Are these ready? Batteries for
equipment, worksheets printed out?
−−Students will have learnt and
practiced six words related to cutlery. −−Does the quantity match the number
of students?
−−Students must practice listening for
main idea and detail and then have a −−Does the computer and projector
debate work?
You should base your class around what
the students will know and have learnt Types of Lesson:
when the class is over. Emphasis is placed
on being pragmatic. Do not expect your Grammar:
students to all 5 conditional tenses in
one class! A teacher who says “Today I A lot of lessons introduce different
am going to teach the future in English grammatical structures. You need to think
will have a difficult class. The future in about how you will present that structure
English includes will, will Vs going to, and how your students will practice it. You
present simple, present continuous, future should:
continuous, future perfect simple and
−−Think about the meaning of the
future perfect continuous. All In positive,
structure
negative and interrogative!
−−Think about pronunciation of the
Your aims might place emphasis upon:
structure – are students going to be
−−a function able to understand and say it?
−−a topic or vocabulary area −−Know the form of the structure and
−−a grammar point how the parts are pieced together
−−a skill −−Think about what your students can

do with the new language
−−Lesson Stages: Divide your lessons
into separate stages. Example structure: Past simple tense,
positive regular verbs.
The class might start with listening to the
teacher, then a reading text then finish Form: add “ed” to the root infinitive
with the class doing pair or group work. Meaning: To talk about finished past
This method of dividing the lesson plan actions.
into separate parts makes it a lot more
Pronunciation: Which verbs use the /d/, /
manageable and easier. This topic will be
Id/ or /t/ sound for the “ed”. i.e. rented,
covered in more depth later on within the
played, cooked
unit.

3
Practice activity: describe your last be to get students using 6 words related
holidays. to describing appearance. (tall, beautiful,
Functions: A function is putting theoretical thin etc)
language learning into practical use, using Skills Lessons:
it outside the classroom. For example:
−−Explaining Speaking, listening, reading and writing are
referred to as the four skills (sometimes
−−Interrupting
called macro-skills) in learning English
−−Agreeing language. Other sub-skills can be
−−Greeting pronunciation, grammar etc. Lessons
generally focus on one of these aspects.
−−Thanking
Some example objectives for skills classes
−−Giving advice could be:
−−Warning Reading: For students to comprehend
−−Giving opinions the details and core idea of a restaurant
review
−−Making suggestions
Listening: For students to listen to an
If your class is based on making
audio and answer general and detailed
suggestions, students need to be able to
questions about social media.
use the various phrases used to make
suggestions such as: How about, what Writing: For students to able to write an
about, why don’t we , In my opinion we email to a friend inviting them to visit and
should….. Students should know if these suggesting things to do.
are formal or informal. Speaking: For students to be able to speak
to each other in English and exchange
Vocabulary:
information about their future plans
The objective is for students to learn and
practice a collection of words (usually Stages of the lesson
related by topic, e.g. travelling, sports,
hobbies). When planning a vocabulary This is probably the most important lesson
class, you need to think about: you will have as you will be introduced
to the concept of PPP. That means
−−Can you teach the word with a
presentation, practice and production.
drawing or image?
−−If not, how will you explain the
meaning of the word? Antonyms,
synonyms, give examples of use?
−−make the meaning of the words as
clear as possible so students do not
mistake similar words for each other
−−encourage students’ pronunciation
and help their spelling
−−come up with practicing activities for
newly taught vocabulary
The objective of a vocabulary class could

4
Warmer or Lead-in: Practice:
The first activity is often called a warm-up Sometimes also known as the controlled
or warmer. They help relax your students practice, practice involves lots of repetition
and often involve speaking, physical to help students confidently produce
activity and group games. language. Examples are drilling. using
Firstly, we start with a warmer. This flashcards or gap-fill exercises.
relaxes the students and gets them into The students are put in a situation where
an English-speaking frame of mind. For they are using the language taught, but
example, you could secretly assign each in a way controlled and restricted by the
student the role of a famous person, and teacher.
have the other students ask questions
about last weekend and what they did. The Production:
other students have to guess the identity
of the famous person. Sometimes called free practice, production
A lead-in is similar to a warmer except it encourages flowing language speaking,
leads the students into the topic of the like a conversation in real life. This can
lesson. It is directly related to the topic of be good for giving students confidence.
the class. Examples are group discussions, debates
or role-plays.
Presentation: The students are put in a situation of freely
producing language themselves, based on
The presentation part of a lesson is when the lesson being taught.
the teacher introduces the language to be
taught in that lesson. It is the only part of Error Correction and Class Review
the class where the teacher speaks more
than the students. Having said that, the During the production stage, you the
teacher must try to elicit the language teacher walk around the class, helping
from the students instead of just telling students if they get stuck and making
them. you teach the new target language. notes of any mistakes they make. Before
If you are teaching vocabulary, you need to you end the lesson, write the mistakes
plan how you will teach what the language on the board and correct them with the
means, how to pronounce it and how to students.
form the language. If you are teaching Then give them a brief summary of what
grammar, you need to show how it is used, they have learnt in that class.
how it is formed and what it means.
Are there any exceptions to the PPP lesson
An important rule to presenting new plan structure?
language, is presenting it in context.
Beginner and lower level students
Don´t specify the specific grammar rule or
will struggle to produce the language
word until the students have familiarized
themselves, so you will need to have more
themselves with it. Show them the
practice activities until they are able to
meaning of the rule or structure in a fun
produce.
way that entertains them before going
through the science and rules of the word. Also, teaching children uses a different
structure of class, based around stirrers
You can do this by miming, by showing
and settlers.
pictures, by drawing pictures, by explaining
using synonyms or antonyms.

5
Lesson Plan for Receptive Skills for this. If the students perform a variety
Lessons: of activities, they will be motivated and
happy.
A reading or listening lesson can be Vary the interaction patterns
divided into:
• Text preparation which gets students Vary the way students interact in the class.
interested and ready to read or listen They can listen to the teacher, then do pair
work, class debates etc.
• Text: Students read or listen and
answer gist and details questions Vary the skills
• Post-text Students respond to what
they just read or listened to and do a Try to include as many skills as possible
related production activity in one class. A class with a mixture of
grammar, writing, listening, reading
and speaking will be an effective class,
Lesson Plan for Productive Skills although it would be difficult to use all
Lessons skills in one class.
A speaking or writing lesson is divided into: Quiet time

• Preparation: This gets students ready
Throughout the lesson you want to place
to speak or write
emphasis on getting your students talking
• Practice and production (when (STT – Student talk time). But sometimes
students complete the main speaking or you need to allow the students to absorb
writing task) what they have learnt. They can review
• Feedback (where the teacher leads what they have done, write a summary etc.
discussion on the success of the activity)
Timing and interaction
Tips for Giving Good Lessons: Indicate on your lesson plan how much
time you think each activity will take. The
Vary the activities presentation part of the lesson, where
the teacher does most talking, should be
Be aware of your students’ abilities and over by maximum one third of the class.
interests. People have different learning This will give students maximum time to
methods so your class must try to cater practice and produce the language.
Lesson Planning checklist
−−What language are the students

learning, or practicing?
−−What level do the students have?
−−What are the lesson aims?
−−What do the students know already?
−−What could go wrong?
−−How could I solve prevent these
things or solve these problems?

6
−−What might I need? (worksheets,
pictures, print outs, props, realia)
−−Is there enough variety in the lesson?
−−How long will each section take to
cover?
−−How will I utilise the board and the
classroom?
Exercise 11:
Watch this video with a full lesson

plan with Presentation, Practice and
Production. It is 8 minutes long, but well
worth watching!
Tefl Videos/Teaching Techniques /Lesson
planning PPP
What level do you think the students have?
Is it a well-defined and structured class?
Did the students have fun?
Did the students learn?
What homework would you give the
students?

7
8
TEFL Unit 4

Unit 4: Classroom Management
Giving Instructions: Concise imperatives:
Giving clear instructions is vital for A concise imperative is a short instruction.

students to understand what they have Teachers often use long and complicated
to do. Teachers must give instructions sentences when they instruct, such as:
correctly for the class to work smoothly. • So, if you don´t mind, I want you to
How interesting or exciting your activities stand up, just stand straight up is what
are will be completely irrelevant if your I´d like you to do.
students don’t know exactly what to do.
Use concise imperatives, and avoid phrasal • This is going to be some pair work,
verb and colloquialisms to keep your so everybody finds a partner and work
language clear and understandable. together for this.
This could quite easily confuse students
Exercise 10: as they won’t understand the instructions.
Don´t worry about seeming impolite, just
Watch this video of a teacher working with get straight to the point, while smiling and
young adults. looking relaxed. Just say:
• How do the students know what they • Close your books.
are supposed to do? • Work in pairs, please.
• How does the teacher arrange the
classroom? Colloquialisms and Phrasal Verbs.
php?idxvideo=105 Phrasal verbs or two-part verbs often
have a meaning that is unrelated to the
Teflvideos.com j Teaching Techniques words of the verb. For example, we often
j Giving Instructions j Good instruction use the verbs: “go through” and “put
from 01:55-04:52 (note connected speech away”, but using these verbs in class will
is when we speak at a natural level and probably cause confusion. often have a
join the sound of words together) metaphorical meaning, they have two-
parts in the verbs, examples include; ´go
through´ and ´put away´. Students are
very like to have misunderstandings with
these verbs.
Put your pens away: Put your pens in your bag
Go through the text with your partner: Read the text with your partner
A more literal instruction may be more effective:
Colloquialisms are also difficult for English learners to grasp. If you tell students to
´settle down´, you may get blank stares from your students.

2
Exercise 13: Quiz on Instructions continues to talk, simply say, ´Juan, look
here please´.
Which of the following instructions will c) Show: Demonstrate activities
students understand? Why will they not whenever possible. Show students
understand the other ones? rather than explain it to them. Doing the
a) ´Give me a shout if you get stuck´ first question together in class is always
a good idea. Use a strong student to
b) ‘If you don’t understand anything,
demonstrate the activity when you are
ask me.’
using games and activities.
c) ‘Who wants me to re-cap on the
d) Check for understanding. Watching
game plan?’
students faces often reveals if they have
d) Try to work it out as you go.’ understood your instructions. Asking
a simple question to check whether
Instruction Techniques students are likely to do an activity
wrong. For example, if in a role play, one
student is a guest, and one person is the
receptionist, ask the guest “Do you work
in the hotel?”
Board Use.
The board is your key tool in your teaching

toolkit. It may be your only teaching aid,
along with some pieces of chalk in less
well-equipped schools.
Use the board:
• To ensure clarity
• To focus the students´ attention.
• To visually stimulate students (visually
There are several key techniques, as well orientated students will love it) in place
as instructions which will make sure your of photocopies (which is also kind to the
students are following what you say and environment).
are paying attention.
a) Signal use: Before you instruct, use Ideas for the board
a signal to attract the attention of the
students. For young students, you can Exercise 14:
use a gesture such as putting your arm
in the air, or putting a finger in front Think of some ways you could use the
of your mouth. Older students may board to improve your lesson, or to get
respond to words such as Ókay´ or your message across.
´Thanks´. The board can be extremely useful when
b) Make eye contact. Make eye contact teaching new vocabulary and language
with all students before you speak structures. You are able to use substitution
any more. Wait silently, if a student tables, mind maps and time lines.

3
Substitution tables
A great way of showing students how words work together is by using substitution tables,
it helps them to see
Example 1
Apples orange
Bananas small and green
Oranges are big and green or red
Grapes long and yellow
Kiwis small and green or red
Example 2
John felt ill and been to her doctor
I has too much time on their hands
They have great friends. I am so lucky
Mary hurt himself
We’ll be looking at much more of these when we’re talking about teaching grammar and
teaching vocabulary.
Exercise 15:
Design a Substitution table to teach the present simple interrogative, using free time
activities as the theme. You should have 3 columns. One for the auxiliary verb, one for
the subject and finally one for the verb plus object.
Exercise 16:
Design a 3-column substitution table from the following words. Use punctuation to help
you!
1) should not depend 9) Educated youth

2) are 10) the body and mind of our
young population.
3) a curse. 11) more people in your country
than jobs.
4) Unemployment 12) It

4
5) They 13) remain
6) is 14) weakens
7) idle after completing their studies. 15) There
8) on the government to provide them
with jobs.
Exercise 17: Exercise 18:
Choose any topic and design a substitution

table to teach it. Draw a timeline for each of the following
sentences. Can you identify the tenses?
Time lines
a) By the time I arrived, the party had
These are a great way of illustrating already started
tenses. You could a timeline to illustrate b) What will you be doing this time
the following sentence ‘Yesterday I went tomorrow?
shopping”. This is the past simple. It might
c) My flight leaves at 12.00 next
look like this:
Thursday.
d) I had been living there for twenty
years when I finally got a passport.
e) I have never visited Asia.
* f) I like football.
Mind maps
Mind maps are diagrams to used to help

Pre sent
categorise vocabulary. You can brainstorm
Here is a timeline to describe the present with your students for words, which can
continuous. I am eating ice-cream. then be organized into a mind map. Below
there is an example which may be useful
for brainstorming describing superlative
Timeline for Present Continuous
adjectives into various categories
~~ ~~
Pre sent

5
Here is a mind map related to food. Exercise 19:
Draw a mind map for the following

superlative adjectives.
categories good, bad, big
Fantastic, terrible, enormous, disastrous,
brilliant, huge, wonderful, gigantic
Exercise 20:
Choose any topic and draw a mind map
Using the Board
Look at this blackboard. Does it seem well-

organised to you?
beach
hotel
bus aparthotel
camp site
skiing
air b and b
boat train
sight-seeing
swimming
musuems
Exercise 21: Tips for the board

Rewrite the board in a more 1. Write clearly and neatly (it´s not a
understandable format. race).
Think about the following: 2. Write in a straight line, this may take
• On the previous screen is this the some practice.
layout you presented? 3. Don´t obscure the board while
• How does it compare? writing.
• Which version, if the layout was 4. Too much information at one time will
different do you think would be most clutter the board.
effective in a classroom setting? 5. Don´t write everything in cursive
• How would this layout help students? (joined) or capitals, especially for
students who typically don´t use the

6
Roman alphabet. E.g. DAVID COMES Problems to overcome with pair
FROM LONDON. and group work:
6. Don’t speak to the board. Students
won’t understand you. Turn around, Some teachers are often reluctant to let
look at the students and then speak to students work in pairs or groups, despite
them. the many advantages. Why do you think
they are reluctant?
Organization of students:
Noise Levels can be high:
Teachers talked, and students listened in
traditional classrooms. The interaction Is this not good noise? The sound of
in TEFL classrooms (and most modern many students speaking English is a good
classrooms) has changed. Students are thing, considerably so if the students
active participants in the classroom, they are in engrossed in what they´re doing.
are not sitting there passively listening to However, to make sure you do not disturb
the teacher. another class, it is a good idea to make
sure the students sit close together and
Different methods can be used to
aren’t shouting.
encourage student interaction.
• Pair Work: The teacher divides the
Where do I start correcting the
whole class into pairs. Every student
works at the same time alongside their amount of mistakes I hear?
respective partners.
Ensure the students are ready for the
• Group Work: The teacher divides the activity. While they´re talking, walk
class into groups, usually of between around and listen to the class, monitoring
three to five in each group, these groups what they are saying. After the activity is
then work together. As like pair work, all completed, you can discuss some errors
the groups work simultaneously. you have heard while listening, and
• Mingling: Mingling involves students correct their mistakes. Remember that it is
actively getting out of their seats impossible to correct all the mistakes you
and walking around the classroom, will hear.
conversing with other students. The
teacher can organize this activity by Pair and group work gets out of
setting tasks or questions the students
control:
must complete before taking of around
the classroom. Ensure the students have a clear idea of
Why pairs and groups? Working in pairs what they have to do. Be strict in making
and groups has many advantages over the t hem speak English, not L1. At the end of
whole class working together, for some each pair and group work have a ´round-
activities. up´ stage, this is where you will assess
their work and how they have completed
Exercise 22: the tasks.
What are the possible advantages of Moving students

working in groups and pairs.
Students sit in rows facing the teacher in

7
traditional classrooms. However, moving
the students around can work really well
• Students need to learn to
communicate with a variety of people.
• It gives energy and pace to the class.
• It´s fun for the students.
There are lots of ways of moving students.
Students can arrange themselves in a huge
variety of orders: in order of how long
they have studied English, height, shoe
size, their birthday. Anything you can think
of! This does however also depend on the
size of the class.
To create new pairs when students are
Groups
sitting down, the simplest way is to ask
one person at the end of the line to move
This is especially helpful for situations
to the other end, resulting in everybody
where the teacher is not to be the focus
being in a new pair.
of the class, great for activities such as
project work (discussing a topic, or working
Configurations on a class magazine). The teacher is able
to freely monitor and help the students by
moving from table to table.
Circles and Horseshoes
Groups
This configuration is excellent for class
debates, and presentations where group
involvement is desirable, it´s easy for
people to move around and creates the
feeling that everyone is equal.
Circles and Horseshoes
Buzz Groups
In buzz groups, frequently one person a

group will leave the group and then join in
a new group. This will be occurring for all
groups simultaneously.

8
Buzz Group Facing Pairs
Students are seated next to each other in

pairs, this immediately increases the level
of student interaction.
Facing Pairs
Wheel Shape
In this method, inner and outer circles

move like a wheel to change pairs. There
is the possibility for everyone to exchange
information as everyone is moving around.
Wheel Shape
Classroom Atmosphere
New teachers often worry, particularly

when teaching children or adolescents
about how they will manage their
behaviour. Prevention is the best cure, so
there is no need to worry. There are many
different things you can do to prevent
discipline problems from starting in the
first place.
Be Disciplined: From the first day, you
should establish a code of conduct. The
teacher and students can work together
to establish some basic rules that must be
followed by everyone. These can be a wide
range of simple rules such as; no chewing
gum, arriving on time, doing homework,
etc.
Put these rules up in the classroom so
everyone can see if it is possible. It is vital
that the teacher sticks to the rules if they
expect students to follow the rules as well.
The consequences of not following the
code need to be made clear as well.

9
Positive attitude: Come to your class a big risk of students not responding if
with a positive attitude. Teachers who you are not careful and just walk in and
are grumpy will have grumpy students. start talking to the class. Be prepared
Students will pick up on and lose interest with student-student activities. Within
in studying if they detect that you dislike two minutes the class will be buzzing,
your job. They will fail to admire and students will be talking, you´ll be out of
respect their teacher. the spotlight and you´ll be able to see this
really work.
Be prepared, be interesting: Make sure
you´re well prepared and you have Ice-breakers or warmers are activities at
interesting lessons ready. Use materials the start of the lesson which get students
such as films, music, realia that interest talking. Here are two examples of classic
your students. Have a variety of activities ice-breakers (there´ll be a lot more shown
included in your lesson and have a few during the course).
extra activities up your sleeve just in case Find someone who...: Create a handout
you finish early. Don´t allow students and with about 10 statements. Base these
opportunity to become restless and bored. statements on the age and level of the
Be fair: Everyone should be treated fairly class. For example:
by the teacher, they should receive an Find someone who...
equal amount of attention by the teacher,
and should be treated equally when it ... is married
comes to classroom conduct. ... has two brothers and one sister
Roles in the Classroom

... doesn’t like basketball
Classrooms used to be totally dominated ... likes ice cream
by the teacher and a lot of learning was
by rote. The teacher-student relationship
was considered very important, but the Give one handout to each student, tell
student-student relationship wasn´t even students they have to move around
considered. the classroom and ask other students
questions until they find someone who
Encouraging students to work together
answers ‘yes’. They have to write the name
in pairs and groups is a key aspect in
of that person on the handout. The activity
the modern EFL classroom. It increases
should last for 5-10 minutes. After you can
student talking time, and also gives
ask students to tell you some interesting
students and opportunity to practice
things they have found out.
real communicative activities (you´ll
be learning about many examples of • In our class 4 people like ice-cream.
these throughout the course. You need • In our class 2 people don´t like
techniques and skills to help develop basketball.
the atmosphere in a classroom, and to
encourage a spirit of teamwork amongst The aim is for students to speak English,
your students. have fun and get to know each other
more.
Warmers: Opening the classroom door
on the first day to see a group of new kids Ball game: For this activity, everyone needs
or adults can be very daunting, for both to stand in a circle, you will also need a ball
experienced and new teachers. There´s or a soft toy. Give the ball to one student

10
and have them throw it to another student memorized. Some students will be
in the circle. Whoever catches it says their embarrassed if they are stopped and
name and throws it to another student corrected. Other students will want to be
who does the same. When everyone´s corrected on every single error they make
said their name once or twice, students in every class.
then have to call out the name of who they
A technique for correction will need to be
are throwing the ball to. If the students
developed, this will be dependent on when
already know each other, ask everyone to
the error is made and the type of error
call out one something else instead of their
made.
name, some examples include;
• Their favourite animal.
Principles of correction
• The city they´re from.
• The student should be given a chance
• Their hobby.
to correct themselves first.
Changing the exercise´s timing can make
• The aim of activity will influence how
it more fun for the students as they may
and when you correct.
have to try move the ball around the
circle as fast as possible. For students of • Correct students from the beginning
a higher level it is possible for whoever when introducing new language.
throws the ball must ask a question and • Don´t stop the flow by correcting
whoever is catching the ball must answer while doing a communicative activity.
the question. Listen, discuss and correct errors at the
end of an activity.
Correction of Errors
You’ll be looking in detail at when and how
to correct errors later in the course.
It´s extremely important to build a positive
atmosphere in your classroom. Students Video: TeflVideos.com/teaching
should feel relaxed enough to talk. This is techniques/Effective Error Correction
very important where there is a pair and Techniques
group work. Make notes on the error correction
A positive attitude towards student errors techniques used in the video.
is necessary. You will need to incorporate Timing: Imagine you are in the following
the positive attitude and a technique for scenario: An activity you have come up
correcting students´ errors (mistakes are which was expected to take a few minutes
called errors in language teaching) into has really taken off. Your students are
your teaching. talking and are really enjoying it. What
If your students constantly repeat the will you do? Will you stop the activity and
same errors without correction they continue on with the lesson? Allow them to
can become ingrained or learned by continue the activity?
the student, these are very difficult to There isn´t any one answer in this
‘unlearn’. This is true for students of all situation. However here are some options
ages. you could do;
Errors may be a good thing as it can • Stop the activity immediately.
show students are experimenting and
trying to use their English, they are not • Wait until the activity comes to a
just repeating set phrases they have natural end.

11
• Announce a time limit. Exercise 23:
• Ask students how much longer they
want to finish the activity. Watch the following video and answer the
questions.
Classroom management will undoubtedly
involve you making some key decisions http://www.teflvideos.com/now_showing.
similar to this one. The important part is php?idxvideo=77
to realize that you have a few different teflvideos.com j Games & Activities j
options, and have reasons for whichever Activities: Games j 00:00 – 03:32
decision you make.
• To put the students into groups what
• The students are finally opening up to techniques did the teacher use?
me so I´m going to let them continue.
• How does the teacher keep the
• The next activity is even more students engaged?
important/better so I´m going to stop it
• To show the students what to do, what
now.
techniques from the module did she
• I´m going to give the students a time use?
limit so they will have the chance to
continue but I am still in control of the
situation.

12
TEFL Unit 5

Unit 5: Teaching Grammar
Introduction but as you go along, you will make
connections. You should start by
In this module some of the things you will analyzing language you hear, searching
learn include: for patterns in the language. If you
hear a student saying “Tomorrow I will
• How to teach grammar structures in
be see my doctor”, ask yourself ‘why is
an effective, engaging and interactive
that wrong?’. Also, become more aware
way.
of how you and your fellow native
• How to concept check students speakers speak.
understanding of new grammar
• You can help your students to
structures.
understand and use the language. To
• How to help students put what they help you in your job you should have
have learned into practice by designing access to resources such as grammar
activities. books and dictionaries. Often good
textbooks provide a concise summary
Exercise 24: of a section in the reference section. A
good grammar book is essential. You
In the following video, you will watch a need to understand the rules before
teacher working on a specific grammar you can create lesson plans to teach
point, the Present Perfect. them!
Answer the following questions while you • If a student asks you a question that
watch the video: you can’t answer, say you’ll get back
• What about this lesson, do you like? to them. Then research the grammar
and answer the student. Sometimes,
• Do you have any ideas to improve this a student will ask a question on a
lesson? grammar point that is too advanced for
http://www.teflvideos.com/now_showing. them. In this case, explain to the student
php?idxvideo=6 that they are not yet ready for this
grammar point.
teflvideos.com j Grammar j A Mingle
for the Present Perfect
This module will introduce you to a lot of
ideas on how to engage your students
during grammar teaching, it will also give
you ideas on how to allow your students
plenty of opportunities to practice it.
Is it necessary for me to know everything
about English grammar before I can begin
teaching it?
• It is not expected of you by your
students to be a walking, talking
grammar expert. You do not need to
know everything about grammar.
• You are now learning the basics,

2
Methods of Teaching Grammar: depends on the full support of the school
administration, and the English level of the
There are various methods of teaching teacher.
grammar. TEFL teachers occasionally incorporate
The Communicative Approach: Those who CLIL in their classes with theatre.
support the communicative approach The Task-Based Approach: According
believe that language is a tool which is to this approach by working together
used to communicate meaning in real on real-life tasks students will learn
life. Due to this belief students will learn effectively. These tasks can include such as
most effectively through using language in things as letter writing to the city council,
activities where they must communicate producing a class newspaper designing an
with each other. advertisement etc.
Life-like contexts are used to present Rather than plan a language point in
grammar, and where possible, students advance, the teacher deals with language
practice with role-plays and games. The issues as they come up.
communicative method is the method
recommended by this TEFL course. Lesson TEFL teachers regularly include tasks in
plans should be designed around the PPP their classes by giving students projects
approach. that they must work on in groups and
present to the class.
The Structural Approach: Supporters of the
structural approach think that language is Eclectic Approach: Most teacher´s don´t
a system of structures which are governed only follow one methodology devotedly.
by rules. There is a focus on analyzing The eclectic approach is the name given
and constructing written sentences, to to a teacher´s approach to teaching
supporters of this method, learning a using a variety of different activities and
language is an intellectual exercise. techniques, this approach is derived
from a range of methodologies and
The language is thought through teaching approaches. Having said that,
controlled practice of simpler structures, the predominant methodology is the
and then moving onto increasingly Communicative Method.
complex structures.
Translation is often used and mistakes Presenting Grammar
should be avoided. This method is
sometimes called the Grammar Translate The fundamental principle of language
method. It is not generally used in modern teaching is that the ability to express
teaching, although some elements of meaning in real life needs to be shown to
it, such as dictation, can be useful in your students in the classroom. The most
classrooms. effective way to do this is to present the
CLIL: CLIL is an acronym for Content and target language in context in a clear, life-
Language Integrated Learning. Rather than like scenario.
teaching a language by itself, this approach Don´t walk into the classroom and say,
involves teaching a subject such art, math, for example: “Today we’re going to look at
science, thorough English rather than the the use of gerund versus verb + ing. Build
language by itself. a real-life context instead, normally using
This method is used most often in primary visuals, which show where we are, and
or secondary schools, where its success who the speakers are.

3
Let´s look a how you could teach the • The activity is taking place now
Present Continuous for an action now. • Elicit the structure. Ie He is : What verb
is that? Playing the guitar. How do we
Creating a context
form the verb?
• Picture of an office party with people • Present the structure of verb to be
doing various different things. plus bare infinitive plus ing.
• Elicit from the students what is • Write examples of sentences on the
happening (office party) board.
• Point to various people and ask the • Drill again if it is necessary.
students questions ( What is the woman • Prompt students to provide new
in the red dress doing? sentences.
• When the students answer with wrong
answers, elicit correction and have them Exercise 25:
repeat individually and as a group
How would you present the following
• Student: She dance Teacher elicits grammar point to students?
from students and if unsuccessful, says
“She is dancing”, then asks student too Past Perfect Simple
repeat the sentence.
Practicing the new language
• Repeat the process with various other
people from the picture. Referring back to the Present Continuous:
• Using contexts and situations to learn Divide the students into pairs of A and B.
is very effective, because: Each student has a list of activities and
they must act out the activity and the other
• Students can relate to the situation, student has to say what the other student
this helps stimulate their interest and is doing. Ie “you are standing on one leg”.
helps keep them motivated.
The production stage of the lesson could
• The situation helps allow them to involve students in pairs imagine it is
figure out what the language means. Saturday evening at 9pm. Say 5 sentences
• It helps show students that grammar is about what they, their friends or their
helpful in real-life situations, not that it families are doing.
is taught for its own sake. Have other examples ready also. Ie
• Students can learn a grammatical Imagine it is the 20th minute of a football
structure without even realizing they are match or It is 5 minutes before your
doing so. The shift in focus from formal wedding ceremony.
grammar study to problem-solving,
or information exchange. This makes
learning less ‘painful’ for the students.
Presenting the grammar
It is now time to present the target

language.
• Teacher elicits from the students
about when the activity takes place.

4
Exercise 26: I managed to open the door.
How would you get students practicing the The meaning of this sentence is: I opened
Past Perfect Simple? the door but it was difficult. You concept
questions need to address this meaning
Concept questions: and check their understanding.
How do you know if students have Useful concept questions:
understood you? Especially when teaching
what a grammar structure means. Of • Teacher: Did I close the door? (no)
course, one way is to ask them something • Teacher: Was it difficult? (yes)
along the lines of ‘Do you understand?’
Unhelpful questions:
or ‘Is this clear?’ With these type of
questions, there is a problem, as most These questions are unhelpful as they
students are unwilling to admit that they don´t concept check the meaning of
don´t understand something. They´ll be ‘manage to’, they check understanding of
much more to simply answer ‘yes’ to the other elements of the sentences.
question. • Did I open or close the door?
It´s your job as a teacher to check • Did I open the door or the window?
if students have understood, rather
than simply asking them is they have • Who opened the door?
understood. You should typically try to avoid using the
To check understanding, we use concept structure which you are checking if they
questions, rather than asking ‘do you understand. For example ‘Did you manage
understand?’ These questions are to open the door?’ would not be a very
designed to highlight the meaning of the useful question.
new language to the student.
I´ve been to Sydney
When thinking of concept questions to
ask students, you should first ensure that The meaning of this sentence is:
you understand the concept yourself.
This sentence means: She’s talking about a
When teaching a particular structure, first
life experience. The exact timeframe is not
identify the concept for yourself and then
important.
construct your questions based on the
concept. Useful concept questions:
You can ask students concept questions • Is she talking about now or the past?
anytime during the lesson. It is important (the past)
when you think your students´ haven´t • Was it important in her life? (yes)
understood the meaning.
• Is it important when she went? (no)
When writing up the structure on the
board you can also write the concept Unhelpful questions:
questions on the board as a reminder to These questions do not check the meaning
the students´. of the present perfect and are irrelevant.
Examples of concept questions: Let´s • Did the speaker like Sydney?
examine some of the structures which you
may end up teaching in class, and some • Would she recommend it to her
concept questions you can use to check friends?
your students understanding.

5
What concept questions would you use What concept questions would you use
when teaching comparative adjectives of 1 when teaching the third conditional?
syllable?
Timelines
We have already seen timelines in a previous unit. They are an important element of
teaching tenses.
Creating a timeline: When creating a timeline, draw a horizontal line from left to right
to represent the past and future, and then draw a vertical line to represent the present
time.
x Represents when an action or event occurred
a wiggly line Represents a continuous action
very small vertical lines Represents a habitual action
Timeline Quiz:
Take a look at the time line shown here. Which statement do you think it refers to from
the following list?
Timeline Timeline
* ~~~ ~~~
Present Present
Mary is playing football. Mary is playing football.

• I left Moscow last month. • I left Moscow last month.
• I was walking to work when a car hit • I was walking to work when a car hit
me. me.
• Mary lives in London • Mary lives in London
• I’ll give him the news when I see him. • I’ll give him the news when I see him

6
Timeline While free practice is ongoing the teacher
will not participate in the activity and will
stand back and monitor the class. After the
class, the teacher deals and corrects any
mistakes made.
: Drilling:
A drill is a mechanical repetition of a

sentence which contains new grammar.
It has no focus on structure or meaning.
Present So why should we include drilling in a
language lesson?
Mary is playing football. Drills are used to allow students the
opportunity to practice getting their
• I left Moscow last month. tongues around examples of the new
• I was walking to work when a car hit language.
me. Students are able to repeat the sentence,
• Mary lives in London without feeling self-conscious, they have
the opportunity to repeat the sentence
• I’ll give him the news when I see
out loud together, the students are not
him
focusing on the meaning of the word, but
rather how exactly they say it. Individuals
Types of practice: are chosen at random to repeat the
sentence.
Let´s look at ways students can practice
the grammar which they´ve learned. Drills are very important with low level
students. Often, they don’t have sufficient
Controlled Practice: During the controlled knowledge to independently produce
practice stage, the teacher controls a lot English, so they need drills to have more
of what the students will say. This stage practice opportunities.
involves a lot of repetition, the main aim
is to ensure the students will produce the There are various types of drills:
structure correctly and confidently.
Firstly, the teacher drills the target
language, following this the students
should produce more examples of the
target language from prompts. While
students are producing the language the
teacher will listen and correct any errors
made.
In the free practice stage of the lesson
the idea is for the students to practice
the new target language in a much more
life-like scenario. It is to reinforce the idea
that they have the opportunity to integrate
their new language into the language
which they already know.

7
Repetition Drill Controlled practice:
Students repeat what the teacher says. While drills have their own place in
Structure: Why don’t we learning the pronunciation of a word or
phrase. It is very important that you move
Function: Making suggestions on to meaningful practice after drilling.
T: Why don’t we go to the restaurant? To have meaningful practice, students
Ss: Why don’t we go to the restaurant? need to think and not just repeat what
they are saying. However during this
T: Why don’t we play golf? practice, the teacher is still able to control
Ss: Why don’t we play golf? the language used by the students.
Let’s look at some examples.
Substitution drill
Example 1
Students need to make a change to the
sentence. Structure: Second Conditional (if + past
Structure: Why don’t we simple tense + would + bare infinitive)
Function: Making suggestions Function: Talking about future situations
the speaker thinks are improbable.
T: You want to go play basketball.
After the structure has been introduced,
Ss: Why don’t we play basketball?
and their understanding has been
T: You want to watch a movie. checked, students will complete a
Ss: Why don’t we watch a movie? substitution table. This can be done either
orally, or written:
Single word prompts: If I visited Mongolia, I (eat)
Students are prompted to make a change If I visited Mongolia, I (visit)

to a sentence. If I visited Mongolia, I (drink)
Structure: Why don’t we Then
Function: Making suggestions If I visited Kazakstan, …….
T: (Holds up a picture of a shopping If I visited The Congo, ……..
mall).
If I visited The Carribbean, ……….
Ss: Why don’t we go shopping?
The language is controlled, but, students
T: (Holds up a picture people playing have the opportunity to be creative; to
tennis). think and decide what they’d eat, visit or
Ss: Why don’t we play tennis? drink in Mongolia, Kazakstan, The Congo
or The Carribbean.
Example 2
Structure: Future Perfect

Try this controlled practice activity after
you´ve presented the structure and
checked meaning.

8
• Give the students a list of things they students practicing their language.
have to do before the following Sunday What makes a good game?
evening. Ie I have to wash the car, visit
my parents etc. Each student in the pair It is a good idea to have the following
has a different list. characteristics:
• Then, in pairs, the students take turns A time limit – Give the game a bit of an
saying what they will have done before edge by putting the students under a bit
next Sunday. i.e I will have washed the of time pressure, however it must be a
car. I will have visited my parents. realistic limit.
• Then give the students a similar writing a) A time limit puts the students under a
activity. certain amount of pressure.
In this activity, there is a lot of repetition b) Have either the students or the
and the language is controlled. The teacher be the judge. The judge will
teacher should listen for mistakes and rule on any points of disagreement and
immediately correct any errors. decide who is the winner.
c) Students love to be competitive so
Exercise 29: always have a winner. But, mix groups
and pairs up so that the same students
Prepare a Practice activity to teach Adverbs don’t always win.
of Frequency.
Example: Desert Island Game
Practice: The role of the teacher Structure: Conditional form type 2.
Controlled practice activities frequently The teacher provides a brief summary of

happen immediately after you´ve the situation:
introduced the new language. After you There is a shipwreck; the person is trying
ensure that the students understand the to salvage some objects from the sinking
meaning of the language, you should allow ship before swimming to a desert island.
them an opportunity to practice the new The students have to decide which ten
form. items they would save, and why. The
The teacher needs to: following structure must be used by the
students:
• Ensure there is a practice situation
which is beyond the simply repeating ‘I would take a/some _____, because...’
new words or phrases. The class is split into two teams with a time
• Carefully listen to students and limit to decide what items to bring. After
encourage them to be accurate. making their decisions they have to read
out their decisions. The opposite teams
• Ensure that any errors heard are are able to criticize their opponents´
corrected. choices. Points are awarded by the
judges for good decisions and a winner is
Production Activities: declared.
Games: Students love games! Games in an Role plays:

EFL classroom provide an element of fun
In role plays students are given an
competition and help promote teamwork.
imaginary role which they must act out in a
They are also an excellent way to facilitate
given situation. It is possible that they are

9
using grammar which has been presented Debates and discussion:
in class recently, but this language must be
integrated into what they already know. Real-life problems are presented to the
Role plays are generally carried out in pairs students, who, in groups must come up
or in groups. A customer ordering food in with a solution. They may have to discuss
a restaurant is an example of a role play. their options and reasons with each other,
One student is the customer and another or defend their reasons and justifications
student is the waiter. Role play cards from opposing teams. The class can vote
are needed for role plays to work most on the best answer after the activity.
effectively. Often, students do not show Very often you tell students to defend a
the other students their cards. position they don’t agree with. That’s ok!
Example Role Play cards: It’s all part of debating.
Student A: You are the waiter. The

customer will ask for steak. You must ask
do they want it rare, medium or well done.
They will also ask for baked potatoes, but
they are off the menu, Offer something
else instead.
Student B: You are a customer. You want
to order a well-done steak and baked
potatoes.
Information gaps:
In this activity, one student has

information which the other student
doesn´t have. This information must be
Production: The role of the teacher:
transferred between the two in some
Walking into a classroom during a free
way, due to this real communication takes
practice activity you may think that teacher
place. Examples of this include filling in a
is not doing anything during this part of
form for another student, or following set
the lesson. It´s not so! The teacher plays
instructions.
a vitally important role during this part of
Dilemmas: the lesson.
The teacher must move around the
Dilemmas provide a good opportunity to classroom monitoring and listening to the
practice modals of obligation. Real-life students. Allow students the opportunity
problems are presented to the students, to work out any language difficulties they
who, in groups must come up with a are having themselves, but if they ask for
solution. The class can vote on the best help you can step in and help. Your role is
answer after the activity. to encourage them and to ensure that the
An example of a dilemma could be: You activity is going as planned.
saw your colleague taking drugs at lunch You are also constantly looking out for
time. This person works in a potentially any errors made but you shouldn´t stop
dangerous chemical environment. What students to correct them immediately.
should you do? Wait until after the activity has finished.

10
Grammar Teaching • Don´t worry if students are making
Do’s and Don’ts mistakes, unless students try out
language and make mistakes, they
won´t learn. Mistakes have a key role in
What to do: language learning.
Ensure you have a clear knowledge of • Don´t try to teach a huge range of
the area of grammar which you will be grammar in one lesson.
focusing on with your students. If you • Don´t talk too much during the lesson.
don’t know it, you won’t be able to teach it! Allow students to ask questions and
• Create a situation (context) which guide them to the answers.
makes the meaning of new grammar • Don´t get stuck on grammar
structures clear. terminology. Your students don´t need
• Don´t tell the students the language, to know what it´s called; they need to
elicit the information from them. know when and how to use the new
structures.
• Focus on form i.e. How do you make
this language pattern? Exercise 30:
• How do you say it? (pronunciation)
Teaching Grammar Video
• Provide plenty of opportunities for
students to practice the new language. http://www.teflvideos.com/now_showing.
php?idxvideo=68
• Ensure there is a few different types of
practice e.g. teflvideos.com j Grammar j Eliciting the
Second Conditional
• Practice: You control the language and
correct any errors. Answer to the following questions as you
watch the video:
• Production: The activities are more
open and you correct any errors in • Which verb structure is being practiced
language afterwards. in the video?
• In this video, what stage of the lesson
What not to do: is ongoing?
• Don´t give a lecture on grammar to • How does the teacher deal with the
the students. correction of her students?

11
TEFL Unit 6

Unit 6: Teaching Vocabulary
Introduction: • practice their already known words
• learn new words
Words are very important in being able to
understand and express meaning. Students • remember new words
tend to want to learn more and more new
vocabulary and appreciate it if you make an Learning a New Word:
effort to teach them new words. In the fol-
lowing unit, we will cover:
Exercise 32: If you were learning a
• Activities to help your students practice new word in a new language, what
their new vocabulary
would you need to find out about the
• Methods for presenting new words
word?
• How to ensure your students under-
stand the meaning of the new vocabulary
Passive and active vocabulary:
Exercise 31: Watch this video and
answer the following questions: All speakers (not exclusively language learn-
ers) understand a lot more words than they
• Are the children enjoying the lesson? actually actively use. This is because some
Why? words are more important than others. So,
you don´t need to spend the same amount
• What´s the vocabulary topic?
of time teaching and presenting them all.
• Is the teacher teaching new language You have to discern between the two differ-
or practicing already learnt language? ent types of vocabulary.
https://www.youtube.com watch?v=gXx- Active vocabulary: These words are ones
uHzSUu-Q students need to use and understand. Nat-
YouTube.com j Search ‘Teaching colours urally, an English learner should use words
to very young learners’ j Uploaded by like “hello” and “thank you” when writing
‘Marco Brazil’ and speaking English and not just under-
stand their meaning. When teaching, you
Vocabulary can be sufficient for commu- will recycle these words so students have
nicating a whole message, so that even a lots of practice with them.
student with no grammar or language skills
Passive vocabulary: These are words the
can communicate what they are trying to
students need to be able to understand but
say.
won´t necessarily have to use. This means
“Today. Cinema. 6 clock.” they require less time. Often the word only
needs to be understood as a section of a
This is why there is an emphasis on teach-
text and the meaning can be discerned by
ing vocabulary in lessons. As we will see
the context.
later on in the course, teaching vocabulary
is especially important in reading and lis-
tening classes. Vocabulary terminology
Your role as the teacher is to discover new Word family: Word families are related
ways to help your student: words which have the same root.

2
For example: prayer – praying – prayed dren’s’ book is based on a lexical set. For
/ play - player – playing – played example: animals, family, the classroom etc
Watch this video teaching vocabulary word Collocations: Words which are normally
families. http://www.teflvideos.com/now_ used together in English such as “strong
showing.php?idxvideo=45 coffee” or “heavy traffic” may take some
time for English learners to familiarise
TEFL Videos/building vocabulary with word themselves with. Students can sometimes
formation try to create their own versions and end up
A lexical set: A set of words related by topic, sounding strange. Students must put the
as introduced in most workbooks. Class- time and effort into learning the right com-
room words = board, chairs, pen, pen- binations to speak naturally.
cil-case, desk, teacher, books, chalk. You Examples of collocations are: a burning
will see this is especially important when desire, a high wind, to spend time, a stiff
teaching children. Each chapter in a chil- drink
Exercise 33: Make collocations from the following table.
real man
pretty ends
handsome family
solve time
loose world
extended facts
relevant woman
spend a problem
Idioms Synonyms: Synonyms are words with

similar meaning. It is a very useful tool for
A sentence or group of words with a specif- teaching vocabulary. Introverted has a sim-
ic cultural meaning or reference, different ilar meaning to shy.
from the meanings of the separate words.
Two words with similar or the same
Exercise 34: Write idioms. Each idiom meaning
should use one word from the list.
Prefixes: Prefixes are a letter or collection
bark, court, burn, cry, weather, kill, blue, of letters at the beginning of a word that
salt, horse, wool alters its meaning. They often give the word
the opposite meaning although not always.
Antonyms: Antonyms are words with op-
posite meanings. It is a very useful tool for Examples: (il)legal, (pre)history, (re)
teaching vocabulary. Evil is the opposite of act
good.

3
Suffixes: Suffixes are a letter or group of Important Questions on Teaching
letters added to a word to give it a different Vocabulary:
meaning.
Examples: invent(or), help(ful),
excit(able)
Exercise 35: Match the examples to

the terms
Word families, synonyms, idioms,

antonyms, prefix, suffix, lexical set,
collocation
Light/dark tidy/messy
Movement, shipment, placement
Children/child/childish
Dark sky
Kick the bucket How many words should I teach in a lesson?
A lot of students tend to be hungry for more
Messy/untidy blatant/conspicuous vocabulary, especially at lower levels. This
can be both a good thing and a bad thing.
Table, chair, sofa, armchair
Will the students remember all the words
Unhappy, uncomfortable, unusual you teach them? Not if you teach them too
many words. While it can be tempting to try
Exercise 36: Match the examples to to push them and give them a list of new
the terms words to learn, the likelihood is that most
of the students won´t remember the words
Word families, synonyms, idioms, ant- for the next lesson if there are too many
onyms, prefix, suffix, lexical set, colloca- of them. If you want the words to become
part of your student´s active vocabulary,
tion six-seven words or less is a good amount
Good/ bad rich/poor for one sitting. Choosing smaller but more
in-depth word groups is the best way to
Long journey cement words in your student´s minds.
Nose, ears, cheeks, eyes, eyebrows How do I choose which words I want to
teach? The words you are teaching should
Anticlimax, antiseptic, antiaircraft
feel like the next logical step to the stu-
Behave, behaviour, behaving dents. Introduce the new words by making
the students feel like these are words they
Ambitious, cautious, childish will need. This could be because it will be
At the drop of a hat useful when outside the classroom or
placing a food order or renting a car etc. If
Normal/habitual you´re planning your lessons from a text-
book, these choices about which words to
boring/monotonous
teach and the order, are often made for

4
you. However, you can still analyse the • Encourage guessing from context
words for: • Draw a picture to illustrate meaning
• Practicality – How easy is it to teach? At • Show realia (props)
the lower levels, you might choose words
that students will find easier to learn • Act out or mime the word
• Popularity – How much will the word The best way of describing the meaning
come up in English? Is it particularly fre- of a word is by using words that are less
quent? complicated than the word you are teach-
ing. Start by breaking down the meaning of
How much detail do I go into when teaching the word into key points or components to
a new word? When students learn a new ease comprehension.
word, they must know how to spell it, how
to say it and how to define it. So, what do For example, the word “Lightbulb”
you do if you are to teach a word with mul- • They give light
tiple meanings? Only teach one meaning at
a time. If you were teaching the word “row” • You find them in lights and lamps
as in the action of arguing, would you also • You have many of them in every house
teach your students about the verb to “row”
How would you explain the word “subma-
a boat, or the noun of a “row” of seats? Not
rine” to your students?
in one lesson.
• It is a type of boat
The best way generally for teaching a word
is by using it in context and then defining it • It goes under the water
through the context. Your student will meet • It is usually used by the military.
the same word a lot of times and each time
build up their knowledge about the word
and how it can be used. Concept questions
Whenever you are teaching a word, there

Teaching techniques is a risk that your students will confuse the
word with something similar. You need to
There is a myriad of different ways to teach ask concept questions to test student un-
vocabulary. As you have hopefully learned derstanding.
by now, it is much more effective to elicit
words from students rather than tell them For example, if you are teaching the word
a word. “cushion”, your students may think this
refers to pillows also. To clear up confusion,
Exercise 37: List as many different you have to ask concept questions.
ways of teaching vocabulary that you Example:
can think of: Teacher: “What do I have on my sofa?
They are usually square and about this
• Show a flash card big (teacher uses hand signals)
• Use an antonym Class: A cushion.
• Use a synonym Teacher: Will I find a cushion on a bed?
• Put the word in context (“You might Class: No
wash yourself in one of these”, “you will Teacher: What will I find on a bed?
have to walk along one of these to get to
work”) Class: A pillow

5
Activities and Games for Teaching Gap fills exercises: This consists of se-
lecting the most appropriate words to be
Vocabulary:
inserted in the gap in the sentences. This
Brainstorming: Write a key word in the activity is generally very adaptable and can
middle and then elicit the new vocabulary even work for beginners and children pro-
around it. You can use this as a lead-in to vided the context is clear enough. Putting
the lesson. in too many spaces can prove a challenge
for some of the lower levels. A good way of
Underlining: After the class has read keeping the activity clear for children is by
through a text, ask them to underline a using pictures alongside the gap fills. If the
number of words that they already knew words that need to be inserted are particu-
before the lesson and recognised when larly alike, then multiple choice gap fills can
reading the text (for example, ten words). be good for drilling grammar. It´s also a
Split them into groups or pairs and ask method of gauging skill level, that appears
them to review each other´s handiwork. If frequently in international exams so it can
one of them does not recognise an under- be a good idea to give your students some
lined word, the person who underlined the experience of it.
word explains it to them.
Matching word games: This is played by
Memory cards: Create a number of vo- matching up the beginnings and ends of
cabulary cards for your class. As the class words together, similar to a game of dom-
learns new words, add new cards. Shuffle inoes. It´s a great activity for spelling and
the deck consistently so that new words helping students recognise syllables. It can
appear as frequently as old words. A card also be used on compound words (grand/
can include collocations, antonyms and a father or basket/ball).
variety of different grammatical forms and
meanings. Example sentences are useful Pictures and words can be another format
for when the meaning of a word changes for this game. Particularly for lower levels
according to the context. the visual aid can be a good way of remem-
bering the word. The basis of the game is
Mix and match: Here the students match lining up words on one side of the paper
up two columns, one with new words and and pictures on the other, muddling the
vocabulary and the other with definitions. order and then asking the student to match
The columns are mixed up for the students them up with lines.
to solve. If the students are struggling with
this one, it can be a good idea to write ex- Antonyms and anagrams: These words
ample sentences. can be used for other activities such as
antonym dictation or matching up tasks.
Memory games: “In my bag” is a game In an antonym dictation, the teacher dic-
where the students and teacher arrange tates “heavy” and the learners write “heavy”
themselves in a circle. The teacher starts by along with any antonyms they can think of
thinking of a word beginning with A (and so (light, for example).
on through the whole alphabet). For exam-
ple: The teacher mimes putting something Anagrams are another good way to get
in a bag “Antique” and then passes the bag your students thinking. If you´re teaching
on. The student to the left of the teacher animal names you could write for example
says “Antique, Brazil” The student to the “niol” for lion, or “checink” for chicken. This
left of the teacher “Anteater, Brazil, Crayon” is a good way of reviewing vocabulary and
and so on. The student who cannot remem- should be made competitive to galvanise
ber the vocabulary is the loser. the students.

6
Word searches: In a word search, the stu- students then take turns flipping over two
dents have to find a certain number of at a time. If the card is a word card then the
words in the square of jumbled letters pro- card has to be read out by the student, if
vided. You can choose whether you want to it is a picture the students should say the
give them the words they are looking for or name. If the two cards match up with each
just tell them the topic or number of words. other, the student gets to keep them and
Word searches are very easy to make. Just have another turn. If not, the cards have to
get a large square, divide it into smaller be returned to the table, face down and in
square sections (depending on how big and their original position. When all the cards
therefore hard you want your word search have been used, the group or pair counts
to be) and then write in the words that will their cards and the person with the most
be your answers. They can be diagonal, wins.
horizontal or vertical, again, depending on Watch a video with various vocabulary
how hard you want the word search to be. teaching techniques:
Keep track of where the answers are and
then fill up the rest of the word search with http://www.teflvideos.com/now_showing.
random letters. php?idxvideo=87
Hangman: Think of a word you have already Tefl videos/vocabulary/teaching vocabulary

taught your students and draw some un-
derscores on the board representing each Vocabulary notebooks:
of the word´s letters. The students take it
in turns to guess a letter. If they guess cor- It is important that your students go over
rectly, one of the underscores is filled with the words they learn again and again.
the correct letter, if not, then you draw a During your teaching sessions, recycle and
part of your hangman. The learners win revisit the vocabulary you teach them. Your
the game if they can manage to guess the teaching lessons won´t be every day so an
word before the hangman is completed. (If even better way of helping your students
this theme seems inappropriate, then use a to learn, is by helping them to help them-
clock counting down, a man walking down selves. Have the students record their new
some steps into the sea or your own theme) vocabulary in notebooks.
I-spy: I-spy is a classic guessing game you A good way of encouraging students to do
are probably familiar with already. Look this is by letting them have control over
around the classroom and find something how they arrange their notebooks. Remem-
to “spy”. Once you have the target acquired ber, everyone learns differently, so help
say to your class “I spy with my little eye, students cultivate their own learning style.
something beginning with (the first letter Ask the students to keep track of all the
– in this example, B). After one of the stu- new words they are taught in each lesson
dents correctly guesses the teacher was in their books.
spying the blackboard, it is his or her turn Before starting the vocabulary notebooks,
to be the “spier”. show the students that the objective is their
Pair cards: This is best done in pairs or small learning by any means their heads can con-
groups. Create a number of cards, one stack ceive. This free rein will intimidate some
with pictures and the other with words that students so make some template methods
correlate with them. Shuffle the cards and for composing notebooks available to the
place them all face down on a table. The students too.

7
Five Steps to Teaching Vocabular concept questions. If anyone looks slightly
confused, personally ask them some con-
Success:
cept questions and try to clear up their con-
Elicit: Always try to elicit the word from the fusion.
class. This can be done with pictures or by
miming actions and asking the class. It is Drill: Model the word and then repeat it
important to not just tell the students the to the class asking the students to join in.
word straight away. Make sure everyone can pronounce the
word correctly.
Present: If you have tried everything and
your class are still clueless, now is the time Writing: Only now should you write the
to present the new word to them. word on the board. Highlight the form
and punctuation. If teaching a collection
Concept: Check that all the students have of words, write them all up together at the
fully grasped the meaning by asking a lot of end.

8
9
TEFL Unit 7

Unit 7: Teaching Reading and Listening
Introduction: Reading:
Reading and listening skills are often over-

Exercise 39: Write some examples of
looked but are vital for English students to
learn if they want to interact with the world what you read on a regular basis.
of English speaking.
Reading is important as it helps students
You may already have some ideas how a
reinforce information already studied.
reading lesson should work, so see what
Also, reading can be done every day and at
you think of this video.
home. Students don’t need to come to class
http://www.teflvideos.com/now_showing. to read in English. Students who regularly
php?idxvideo=89 read are exposed to more vocabulary and
teflvideos.com j Reading j Reading Skills assimilate more easily, irregular grammati-
cal points such as past participles, gerunds,
Exercise 38: Watch the video and phrasal verbs and idioms.
make notes to answer the following
You should always encourage students to
questions: read in English outside class. Recommend
that they buy readers, which are books
• What is the structure of this reading
written at different language levels.
class? Make notes
Research has shown that reading helps stu-
• Do you have any criticisms as to how
the class was given? dents learn languages quicker as they are
unconsciously absorbing vocabulary and
Reading and listening skills are also known structure, while reading an enjoyable book.
as receptive skills because they involve re-
ceiving and internalising information. They English is the language of information and
work in tangent with the productive skills, the Internet. If they have access to it, they
speaking and writing. can read English language content at any
time. You need to give them the confidence
and skills to access English-language con-
tent.
We use different skills in reading depend-
ing on what we read. You can perfect these
real life reading skills with your students in
the classroom.
Skimming and Scanning:
We use different skills in reading depend-

ing on what we read. If you read a bus time-
table, for example, you quickly go over the
text until you find what you are looking
for. If you are reading a book, you will read
every sentence.

2
Skimming: Skimming is rapid reading to Generate interest: Think of a way to
gain the gist of a particular text. This is make the students interested in the text.
useful when you don´t have much time Bring visual aids or realia to arouse curi-
to read a large amount in. When reading osity in the topic and get students to talk
a newspaper for example you might skim about what they already know. Letting the
through the articles, or look at the headlines students start reading a passage with no
to decide which ones you want to read. warmer can make them disinterested.
Activities to help skimming skills are: Pre-teach: Go through the text, pick out
• Read headings and sub-headings words you think the students might struggle
with. Think about how you could pre-teach
• Read the title
the words before the text so the student’s
• Read the introduction or first section don´t struggle when they come to them.
• Look at pictures or graphics This step is only necessary if you think that
not knowing the word will be too much of a
• Note words or sentences that are disruption to the student´s understanding
highlighted in bold or made to stand out of the text.
• Read the first part of every paragraph Read for the gist: This should be some-
• Read the conclusion thing that will help the students under-
Scanning: Scanning is when you are search- stand quickly the general meaning of the
ing the text for specific detailed informa- text and not the details. It is important stu-
tion. You are looking for a specific piece dent’s don´t think they have to understand
of information and you have that in mind every single word. You want them to read
when going through the text. You ignore in order to answer one or two “gist” ques-
non-relevant information. tions, which confirm the general idea or in-
tention behind the text.
Activities for developing scanning are:
A typical gist question could be: Is the fol-
• Selectively reading through and
lowing text about cooking dinner or baking
skipping sections of the passage
cakes? When does he like to do this?
• Anticipating how any information you
need will be presented in the text and Feedback to gist task: As the gist task is
what clues can help you find the infor- generally quite simple, you can go through
mation the answer as a class, asking one of the stu-
dents to call out the answer.
• Use any pointers you can find like
headings and subheadings, that will Read for detail: Set the detailed reading
help you find which parts contain the task. In this section, use a lot of in-depth
information you need questions to make sure the students have
read carefully through the text. Typical de-
tailed reading tasks include short and long
Stages of a reading lesson: answer comprehension questions, filling
tables and true/false questions.
Choose a text: Choose a text you think
will capture your student’s interest. If the Avoid any questions that repeat the lan-
students are interested and familiar with guage used in the text. In this way, you are
a topic, they will try even harder to under- really checking the comprehension of the
stand it. Even if the class is beginner level students, as they won´t be able to refer
at English, if, for example, the text is about back to the text and get the right answer
fashion and the students love fashion, they without understanding the meaning.
will try their hardest to understand it.

3
An example of this could be: If the text says can afford to listen more to the details. Re-
“Gold and silver is mined in the area” then member to let students read the question
the question could be “What metals are ex- before listening to the recording too.
tracted?”
As with a reading class, the structure of a
Feedback to detail task: First ask students listening class following the following struc-
to compare their answers. This makes ture.
them more confident and gets them to dis- Choose an audio, generate interest, pre-
cuss the meaning of the text for when they teach, listen for gist, gist feedback, listen for
share their answers with the whole group. details, details feedback, follow-up.
When everyone´s ready you can elicit the
answers from the whole class. Difference between Listening and Read-
ing Lessons: In a reading class, students
Always get a personal reaction from you will have time to write long answers. In a
students by asking what they. They will all listening class, they can only give short an-
have personal responses to the topic. Do swers. As a result, the typical activities of a
they agree or disagree with the text? Did listening class will be some of the below:
they like it?
ÂÂ Ticking off items you hear in the re-
Follow up: After the reading exercises do cording “Listen to the conversation and
some follow up activities. You can reuse the tick the problems Jim is having during
ideas and new language from the text. his “worst day ever””
Exercise 40: Can you think of what ÂÂ Answering yes/no or true/false

questions
follow up activities you can do in a
reading class? ÂÂ Following instructions such as draw-
ing a picture, following a map or con-
necting a word to -part of a picture.
Listening:
ÂÂ Filling in charts or timetables e.g.
Now consider the other skill, listening. “Listen to Elena’s schedule and put in
when she will do what”
Exercise 41: What do you listen to in ÂÂ Multiple choice
your everyday life?
Teaching Listening:
A listening class is very similar to a read-

ing class. Don´t just spring a whole listen-
ing exercise on your students without first
warming them up. If you go straight into
listening without a warm-up, they will not
understand very well.
As a student will read a text a few times to
understand it, you should play recordings
a few times to help the students process it.
The first time the students hear the record-
ing they listen for the gist or general ideal
of the audio. The second time the students

4
Songs: Songs are very useful for providing • Final sing-along
listening material. They can be used for en- • Follow up activities about the song
forcing grammatical structures and vocab-
(Perhaps a topic raised in the song etc)
ulary and stimulating discussion. Children
absolutely love songs. Teenagers also enjoy Some ideas for song tasks for the detailed
songs, but it’s a big help if identify the type listening might be:
of music they like first. As long as its han-
• Pronunciation work
dled intelligently, adults thoroughly enjoy
listening to songs, though they may not • Reordering lines of the song that have
want to sing it! been shuffled
Always listen to a song and read the lyrics • Gap fill of the song’s lyrics
before you use it in class. Many songs use
• Finding the wrong words in a handout
slang which may confuse your students.
of the song´s lyrics
More importantly, many songs include vo-
cabulary or address themes that are inap- • Sing-a-long
propriate for language learning.
• Putting pictures in the order of the
Stages of a song lesson: song
• Elicit from the class the topic or name
of a song with story or visual aids
Exercise 42: Watch this video and de-
scribe the stages of the class.
• Play the song the first time so the stu-
dents get the gist http://www.teflvideos.com/now_showing.
• Feedback as a class on the task php?idxvideo=75
• Play song again for more detailed teflvideos.com j Listening j Teaching
analysis and tasks with Song
• Students compare their answers in Watch the video to see an example of this.
groups or pairs Describe the structure of the class

5
TEFL Unit 8

Unit 8: Teaching Speaking and Writing
Introduction: Even in a writing class, we try to maximise
STT. That might seem surprising, but when
Writing and speaking are both productive you think about it, what could be more
skills, this means that students are required boring and demotivating than spending an
to create the language themselves. This is entire class writing in silence, with no other
contrast to the previous lesson on Listening activities! Not to mention the fact that the
and Reading, which are passive skills. students could do this at home themselves!
We’re going to look at why speaking and Writing classes should be dynamic and in-
writing is important, how to plan speaking teractive, with maximum student participa-
and writing classes and what activities we tion.
can use in class.
Exercise 43: Watch this Speaking class video
Exercise 44: What activities and tech-
and answer the following questions: niques can teachers use to maximise
1. How many students speak, and how student speaking in class?
often do they speak? Warmers and lead-ins:
2. To whom are they speaking to, any
why are they speaking? Beginning the class with a speaking activity
helps establish the class atmosphere, and
3. Rather than simply ask students to
discuss a topic, why does the teacher relaxes students. They will be much more
make use of this task? willing to hold conversations.
http://www.teflvideos.com/now_showing. Warmers are simple, quick, fun activities

php?idxvideo=39 that get the students speaking to each
other in pairs, groups or mingling.
teflvideos.com j Speaking j Task-Based
Learning: Creating a Utopian Society A Lead-in is a warmer that is related to the
class you are going to give. For example, if
Differences between Speaking and the lesson is about sport, then give them
Writing: a handout with some pictures of less well-
known sports and ask then to speak about
Speaking is usually unplanned and sponta- them.
neous, whereas writing is often planned in Don’t give the students your opinion or tell-
advanced. That means that writing should ing them what you know. It is an opportuni-
contain few errors, while speaking often ty for the students to speak.
involves, pauses, errors, self-correction,
mumbling and repetition. Writing is expect- Don’t be surprised if the warmer is so suc-
ed to be economical, to the point and with cessful that it takes up the entire class, or at
no repetition. least much more time than you expected!
From time to time, let that happen, but in
Similarities between Speaking and general, stick to the lesson plan!
Writing Lessons:
Elicit:
We will look later at issues related to each
of speaking and writing classes, but for the One of the golden rules of TEFL teaching is
moment we will look at activities which “Elicit, don’t tell!” You always want to extract
should be included in any class. knowledge from students and encourage

2
them to speak. If you are always telling stu- and then students will also be much more
dents everything such as ‘kings live in cas- confident to discuss their answers with ev-
tles”, or “to form comparative adjectives, eryone. Also, students learning from each
use the comparative adjective plus than”, other is every bit as effective as learning
students will regard you as an expert and from a teacher.
will be reluctant to speak.
Mistakes teachers make that reduce
Instead, continually question the students.
Show them a picture of a king or queen, STT:
and ask them questions such as who is this,
where do the live? Exercise 45: What mistakes do teach-
For comparative adjectives, show them pic- ers sometimes make that reduce STT.
tures of an old, rich person and a young,
poor person and elicit sentences from the Teaching Speaking:
students comparing them.
Speaking is very important for student
Get students to work together: learning. Fundamentally, language is an
oral function. By learning to speak the
When each person has a book, handout language, students gain confidence. Even
or even a pen, asking these students to holding basic conversations allow students
working together won´t work. Instead, you to interact in English, enjoy the experience
can ask every second student to put their
and become more motivated. You should
books/materials away. Or you can give
always encourage your students to speak
one handout to each group. Then ask each
and not worry about making mistakes. The
group to choose one person to do the writ-
important thing is to communicate suc-
ing. While completing the writing task, for
example, the students will be communicat- cessfully, and more correct vocabulary and
ing and speaking. structure will come with time and practice.
Speaking is a difficult skill to learn. With
Get students to compare answers: reading and writing, the student can take
their time to prepare their answers, using
When you have finished an activity, before dictionaries, if necessary. Speaking is spon-
going through it as a class, you may want taneous and cannot be planned in advance.
to ask students to compare their answers
Students need to use correct vocabulary
with a partner. Plenty of meaningful com-
and grammar while pronouncing intelligi-
munication will take place during this time,
bly!
However, the more students practice, the
better they become, so encourage and mo-
tivate student speaking.
We have already looked at some gram-
mar, vocabulary and listening classes. You
can also have a fluency class. Tell the stu-
dents in advance about the objective of the
class. They will be happy after a full class of
speaking! A fluency class objective could be
to speak about current music and famous
pop stars.

3
This lesson may contain no new language, Stages of a speaking lesson:
although you can use this as an opportuni-
ty to introduce some vocabulary or expres- In general, a speaking class will have the fol-
sions, but only to help the students speak lowing structure. First start with a warmer.
about the topic. Then put the students into groups or pairs.
Exercise 46: Watch this video on using Give the students some material to work
off. Start off with simple questions and as
“have to” for obligation. What are
the class continues, the students can speak
your comments on the good and bad
about more complicated or abstract ideas.
points of the class?
Exercise 48: Here are the stages of
Tefl Videos/Speaking/expressing obligation a sample speaking lesson. The topic
with an info gap fill is ‘shopping’. What order should the
http://www.teflvideos.com/now_showing. following stages go in? Number the
php?idxvideo=12 steps 1-6.
Speaking challenges d. Students in groups discuss chal-

lenging questions. Should you shop
Oftentimes teachers report difficulties with
locally or go to supermarkets? Do super-
speaking lessons. Sometimes students feel
markets have a duty to society and the
that the class has no aim. With a grammar
environment?
or vocabulary class, for example, students
leave the class knowing that they have e. In pairs, students look at pictures
learnt something concrete. With fluency of stores in their town, and then speak
classes, they may feel that they don’t know about their experiences of them.
if they have learnt anything. To solve this f. Groups speak about their ideas with
problem, tell the students at the beginning the whole class.
of the class that they are going to practice
g. Students in pairs say if they agree
speaking. Be careful not to do too many
or disagree with the comments about
fluency classes in a short space of time.
stores and say why.
While the classes can be great fun, you can’t
ignore the other skills. h. Students read comments people
have made about these stores and
Another problem can be that the students
make notes. For example: Mary: I do
won’t speak in class. Imagine the situa-
most of my shopping in Tesco’s because
tion where you open the class by saying
it’s cheaper there than the small grocery
something like: “Today we are going to
store down the road.
speak about how sports people earn lots of
money. This would probably fall flat, with i. Students in pairs answer questions
at best one or two of the more confident like: Where do you buy clothes? Where
students participating and the rest staying would you buy a lightbulb?
silent.
Exercise 49: Think of a speaking topic,
Exercise 47: What techniques would and write the stages of the class, simi-
you use to get students speaking? lar to exercise 48 above.

4
Speaking Activities: Here are some 2. Each pair holds a conversation and
ideas as to some speaking activities ranks the items
you can use in class. 3. Combine pairs to make groups of
four, have them compare responses
Debates: Choose an interesting (but not too and agree on a ranking.
controversial!) topic and have students hold
4. Join groups of four to make groups
a debate. The key to debating is that the stu-
dents don’t necessarily have to agree with of eight. And repeat the process.
the position they are defending. It makes 5. Finally, hold a group discussion so
it all the more challenging and educational that the entire class can agree on the
when the student has to try to find reasons ranking.
for making a certain argument.
So, assign roles to students, give them Finishing Sentences:
preparation time, and after the debate,
hold a vote to see what decision will be 1. Students work in small groups or
made. Then, open up the conversation by pairs.
asking students what they really think. 2. Write the first halves of slightly
During the debate, make note of errors provocative sentences on the board, for
made and correct the errors at the end of example ‘I think taxi-drivers should’ or
the class. ‘School teachers are too”
Pyramid discussion: This is a great way to 3. Each pair or group must work to-
generate conversation by ranking items gether to finish the sentences.
from best to worst, or cheapest to dearest
etc. For example, you could give students a 4. Pairs then compare sentences with
list of car brands, or fashion brands to rank. each other.
1. The class is divided into pairs. Give 5. Students share with the entire class
them a list that they have to rank from what they wrote. People are invited to
best to worst. give comments.
Questionnaire
You can design a questionnaire based on any topic, it may end up looking something like
this:
Name Best holiday Worst holiday Most expensive holiday

5
ÂÂ Allow the students to produce the your students interested in the topic
questions themselves, don´t write out and they will start talking.
the whole question. ÂÂ Show a real-life example of what
ÂÂ Students mingle, asking questions they´re going to write near the begin-
to each other, and then taking notes. ning of a lesson. This will motivate the
students.
ÂÂ The findings are discussed as a
whole class. ÂÂ Allow the students to analyse and
study the example. This will help them
understand the layout of the writing
Teaching Writing: piece, and any special language or
phrases used in it.
Learning vocabulary and writing is not
enough for students to learn how to write ÂÂ To help ensure students feel con-
letters, emails, reports etc. There are many fident that they will be able to write a
piece correctly, allow them to complete
writing conventions that must be followed.
a controlled practice piece before writ-
Using contractions and slang in a report will
ing. This can be a piece with missing
not have the desired effect! So, even if stu-
words, or sections in the wrong order
dents know grammar and vocabulary, they
which must be righted.
will not be able to follow the conventions of
correct writing if they have not practiced it. ÂÂ Before writing the final version,
students should write a draft and then
While speaking errors may be acceptable receive feedback.
for a language learner, writing mistakes
convey a lack of preparation and laziness. Exercise 51: Here are the stages of a
So, students really need to practice writing. writing class for writing a CV. Put the
stages in the correct order. Number
Also, writing is very necessary in the real the steps from 1-8.
world. Students will need to send emails, fill
in forms, write their CV and apply for jobs. a. Students study the structure of a
If students spend their time in class just sample CV
doing gap fill exercises, they will not learn b. Students write the final version of
to write correctly. their own CV
Exercise 50: What writing should your c. Students write a draft of their
own CV
students be able to write? Divide your
d. Students speak about a variety of
answer between writing tasks for
pictures related to looking for a job.
lower level students (Elementary and
e. Hold up a CV and tell the students
Pre-Intermediate) and writing tasks they´re going to compose one
for higher level students (Intermedi-
f. Students study the special language
ate, Upper-Intermediate, Advanced in the CV.
and Proficiency. g. Students complete a fill in the gaps
exercise based on an example they pre-
Stages of a writing lesson: viously looked at
h. Students compare a summary test
The stages of a writing class are as follows: of the person’s career and compare it to
ÂÂ A warmer or visual lead-in will get the CV. Students look for factual errors
in the C.V:

6
Exercise 52: Write the structure of a One way of doing this is to encourage stu-
writing class where the students have dents to keep a diary about their daily life,
in English. Read it regularly, and write com-
to write an email where they thank ments on the content without correcting
someone and then arrange to meet mistakes.
while apologising that Saturday eve- Chain Writing is a wonderful way of encour-
ning is not possible. aging students to write, often with hilarious
results.
Exercise 53: Watch this video of a writ- ÂÂ Put the class into pairs.
ing class. What are the good points ÂÂ One person from each group is
and the bad points of the class? writes.
ÂÂ Tell the students the first line of a
TEFL Videos/ Biz letter/Product Writing How story (e.g. ‘When I was 6 I got lost in the
to write a Business Letter woods.).
http://www.teflvideos.com/now_showing. ÂÂ Tell the students to write the second
php?idxvideo=91 line of the story.
Making writing fit for purpose: Students ÂÂ The students pass their story to the
need feedback on their writing. Firstly, stu- next group, who will then write the next
dents need to know if their writing is effec- line.
tive. If they sent that email in real life, would
it have the desired effect? Very often, the ÂÂ This continues until the stories
register of the piece is important. An email reach the original groups, who then
to a friend should be written informally, write the ending. (This story usually
while a business report should be written becomes more outrageous in most
formally. groups. If you have a small class, the
writing piece can go 2 or 3 times around
The organisation of the writing is import- the group.
ant, especially in official exams. An essay
ÂÂ Ask groups to then share their story
style question must be organised into para-
with the entire class.
graphs, with an introduction, main body
and summary. Exercise 54: Watch this video. Why is it
Other issues affecting writing are the obvi- a good class?
ous ones of correct grammar being used,
spelling and punctuation. http://www.teflvideos.com/now_showing.
php?idxvideo=97
It can often useful to practice writing fluen-
cy without correcting errors. This will help teflvideos.com j Writing/Writing skills
students gain confidence and lose their We will look at correcting writing errors
fear of making mistakes. later in the course.

7
TEFL Unit 9

Unit 9: Teaching Pronunciation
Introduction do so. You may focus on one or two sounds,
or stress (a feature of connected speech).
In order to successfully communicate, stu- Don´t spend too much time on pronunci-
dents must possess accurate pronuncia- ation. Students find it tiring and difficult,
tion. This skill, for reasons we will look at therefore is better to allocate 10 minutes
later, is often neglected. But students with every second day, for example, rather than
bad pronunciation will never be under- an hour once a week.
stood, regardless of their level.
Integrate pronunciation into every class:
Exercise 55: Whenever you teach new language (vocab-
ulary, functional language, or grammar),
Watch this video and answer the questions.
demonstrate to students how to correctly
pronounce it. Have them repeat it a few
php?idxvideo=17
times. This will help them to remember the
teflvideos.com j Pronunciation j Using sounds and shape their mouths must be to
Poems to Teach Sentence Stress form the correct pronunciation.
1. What feature of pronunciation is the Listen for pronunciation errors when stu-
teacher´s main focus? dents are speaking in class. Assist them in
2. Does this have as much importance pronouncing it correctly either during or
as being able to correctly pronounce after the activity. It is important that they
individual sounds? learn, from the beginning, the importance
of pronunciation.
Why students need assistance with Hear, then see: Traditionally, in language
pronunciation classes, the word or sentence would be
written on the board and students would
It can happen that students spend years in
read it out. This was the method, if in fact
school learning English, but are still inca-
pronunciation was even dealt with at all.
pable of producing sentences with under-
Students would then read it out off the
stable pronunciation.
board.
Exercise 56: Students should first hear the teacher pro-
nouncing the word or sentence, then the
Why do think students sometimes have
students should repeat it. After repeating a
poor pronunciation in English, despite
couple of times, the teacher can then write
having spent years learning the language.
the word or sentence on the board, and the
Classroom Pronunciation students copy it.
You will notice a great difference in your Exercise 57:

students´ confidence and ability to com-
Why do we hear, then see?
municate just by focusing on pronunciation
in the classroom. English Varieties and Accent:
These are the two main ways in which you
Teachers sometimes worry about which
can deal with pronunciation in class.
version of English is best to use. The more
Teach pronunciation separately: It is easy international you sound the better. Most
to devote part of a class to teaching pro- students will use their English with other
nunciation, and is recommended that you non-native speakers. So, sounding Austra-

2
lian or American or whatever is not very sound /u:/; “book” (put, look, could) has the
useful. phonetic vowel sound /ʊ/ and “door” (short,
port, fork, sport) has the phonetic vowel
This doesn’t mean that a teacher should
symbol /ɔ:/
change their accent. That would sound
false. If your school feels that students need So as they don’t feel left out, let’s have a
exposure to a certain accent, then so do so look at some consonant sounds. The pho-
via videos and audios. By all means, soften nemic sound ð is used for the “th” sound
your accent and speak slower and articulate in Clothing, breathe, booth and scythe. Not
clearer than you would when speaking with to be confused (as it often is by language
other native English speakers. But don’t try learners!) with the /z/ sound in “boos, size,
to change your accent. breeze”.
Avoid strong accents or different grammat- A very useful website is http://phonemic-
ical structures that you use in your local chart.com/
region. Here are some female names written in the
While teachers from northern England will phonemic alphabet. Look at the samples
say a sentence such as: “I was sat in my chair below:
when the phone rang”, this is not standard /’dʒeɪn/ Jane
English and you cannot teach it. (I was sit-
ting in my chair…..) /’meərɪ/ Mary
Similarly, a teacher from Ireland might say /ru:θ/ Ruth
“I am after seeing a fantastic movie”, but /dʒəʊn/ Joan
you cannot teach it. (I have just seen…..)
Teaching Sounds: Exercise 58:

Every language has different sounds that Can you identify these common male
language learners find difficult to pro- names from their phonemic spelling?
nounce. The most famous one in English is
the “th” sound, which doesn’t exist in other /’dʒɒn/ John
languages. English language learners must /pæt/ Pat
learn to touch their tongue to the back of
/’deɪvɪd/ David
the top front teeth to make the sound.
/’dʒɔ:dʒ/ George
Sound is produced by forcing air through
your nose and mouth from your lungs. This /’təʊnɪ/ Tony
flow of air is then changed by using your
teeth, lips and tongue to create different Exercise 59:
sounds. Can you identify the following words from
The Phonemic Alphabet: English has a sep- their phonemic spelling?
arate alphabet for the different sounds in /’pen/
the language. Here is a link to the entire
British English alphabet, all 44 symbols of /ˈrʌb.ər/
consonants and vowels. Letters are not /ˈmɑː.kər/
the same as consonant and vowel sounds.
/prəˈdʒek.tər/
For example, the “oo” spelling actually has
3 different sounds. “Shoot” (Luke, pool, /ˈtel.ɪ.fəʊn/
fool, cooed, wooed) has the phonetic vowel /steɪ.plər/

3
Phonemic Symbols in The Classroom: They be. In class, either show the students your
are useful tools to have in the classroom to mouth or draw a diagram on the board of
help your students with pronunciation. You the mouth, lips, tongue and teeth.
don’t need to teach every word with them,
but just target certain sounds that are caus-
Pronunciation Activities:
ing difficulties in student pronunciation.
Having said that, in some countries, such as Practice Activities.
China, the teacher is expected to know pho-
nemic symbols, and teach them. a. Minimal Pairs are words that
contain one different sound.
They are useful when comparing different
pronunciations that are causing difficul- For example, bet and vet, best and vest,
ties. For example, when teaching the dif- ban and van are minimal pairs for the /b/
ference between pen (e) and pan (æ), it can and /v/ sounds (good luck with this in Spain!
be useful to elicit a list of which words have In Spanish, the /v/ sound doesn’t exist).
which sound. ((e ) X, pen, men, send, bread). Drill the words, then write the words on the
((æ) axe, man, pan. board in two columns, say a word out loud
I strongly recommend you buy a copy of and the students must run to the board
“Ship or Sheep”, the definitive guide to En- and touch the word you said.
glish pronunciation. Or, you could ask the students to work in
pairs, where one student writes down some
Teaching Pronunciation to Students: words, pronounces them and the other stu-
Before teaching a sound, research it and dent writes down what they heard. They
learn where to put your lips, teeth and then check their words against each other.
tongue and what shape your mouth should Pair the students up.
b. Pronunciation Maze: Create a board game. Students must play through the maze
by ending up on squares with particular sounds. For example, to practice the sound /
ei/ (as in ‘pain’), you could mix these sounds up with other sounds.
Pain Gain Rain
Age Paper Taste
Shade Wait Bait
c. Card Games:
You can play memory games or snap, where the students pair the cards with the same
sound at the start of the word: /j/
Yolk University
or the same vowel: ɒ
Hot Cot

4
Word Stress 3. Most two-syllable verbs stress the
second syllable. (Decide, begin)
Native speakers are not even aware of it,
but they say some syllables in a stronger 4. Words ending in “ic” or “sion” or
way, with more emphasis than others. This “tion” stress the penultimate syllabus.
is called word stress. For example, the word (Geographic, television, revelation)
“window” has the stress in the first syllable 5. Words that end in “cy”, “ty”, “phy”,
(ˈwɪn.dəʊ). The verb “attend” has the stress “gy” and “al” stress the ante-penultimate
in the second syllable (/əˈtend/). In phone- (third last) syllable. (democracy, geolog-
mic spelling, the symbol ´ is often used ical)
before the stressed syllable.
6. Compound nouns stress the first
General Rules of Word Stress: While there part. (Bedroom, software)
are always exceptions, the following are
general rules with regard to word stress. 7. Compound adjectives stress the
second part. (old-fashioned)
1. One syllable words, obviously don’t
have word stress issues 8. Adverbs stress the root word. This is
sometimes the first syllable and some-
2. Most two-word nouns and adjec- times the second one. “Slowly” stresses
tives stress the first syllable. (Table, the first syllable. “Unless” stresses the
happy) second syllable.
Exercise 60:
In what syllable is the stress in the following words? Explain your answer.
Word Syllable with Stress (1st, 2nd etc) Reason
Sunny
China
Attack
Democracy
Seafood
Meditation
Shortly
Hotel
Photography
Rock-solid
Airplane
There are more rules regarding word stress, but to be honest, it is not necessary to learn
them. The best way for students to learn pronunciation is to practice saying them, or look
up the pronunciation in a dictionary.

5
Syllables with No Stress: The “schwa” is • /aɪs/
a common vowel sound in English. The • /raɪs/
mouth is completely relaxed and air ex-
hales with almost a grunt sound. It Is rep- • /praɪs/
resented by the ə phonemic symbol. The In general, students find it a lot less diffi-
second syllable in the word “station” is a cult to combine the various sounds when
schwa. The first syllable in the word “about” beginning at the end, so to speak!
is a schwa. There is almost no sound, just
an exhalation of air. Drilling Words in Class:
Here are other examples with the schwa. When introducing a new word to your stu-
dents, you have to model and drill it. You
taken, London, supply, about, postman,
can do this by using your hand to beat the
common, survive, butter, tomorrow, level,
stress part of the word.
difficult, doctor, afternoon, sugar, present,
harmony, standard, summer, minimum, This is a routine we suggest:
Secondary Stress: Many multi syllable • Have the class listen by holding your
words have a secondary stress. It is a stress hand to your ear.
that is not as strong as the primary stress, • Clap your hands, or lightly tap on
but there is some stress. For example, the the back of your palm to identify the
word “organization” has its main stress on stressed syllable.
the fourth stress, a secondary stress on the
first syllable, and a schwa on the final sylla- • Have the entire class say the word
ble. The word “accumulation” has a schwa while you tap the stress.
at the end, the main stress on the fourth • Ask a random selection of students to
syllable and a secondary stress on the say the word individually.
second syllable.
Stressing the sentence
Clusters of Consonants
Sentence stress means that words within
English in unusual in the amount of words the sentence are stressed. It gives the En-
with up to 4 consonants together with no glish language its rhythm.
vowel. These are called consonant clusters.
Let’s analyse the following sentence.
Language learners find them difficult to
pronounce. I asked you to get me some apples.
For example The sentence stress is as follows:
• strong I asked you to get me some apples.
• prince Exercise 61:
• plants Mark the word stress in the following sen-
• squirrel tences:
• Tempt a. My dog is called Nemo.

b. I watched the match yesterday.
The best way in assisting students is to
model and drill the word backwards. c. Cows eat grass.
For example. To help students pronounce d. I am from Ireland.
the word “praise”, practice the following: e. What’s your name?

6
Contrastive Sentence Stress Exercise 62:
By emphasising distinct words in a sen- How many contractions in English can you
tence, we can change the meaning of a sen- think of?
tence.
We will use the example sentence: He flew Intonation
to London
In English, we use intonation to express
a. He flew to London. meaning. Pitch or intonation can rise or fall
Not she or they or you. more than once during the same sentence.
b. He flew to London. Students have to be taught that the most
He didn’t go by train or car. important intonation comes after the final
sentence stress. Identify whether the pitch
c. He flew to London. of your voice goes up or down at the end of
He went to London, not Paris each of the following sentences.
or Rome
1. What’s the time?
Contractions 2. I like chocolate
Contractions are a major element of speech. 3. Is that your house?
We join words together and omit letters
Answer:
and replace them with an apostrophe. It
makes speech flow easier and sound more 1. Where´s the bus stop? Down
natural. Students who don’t contract during 2. I´m a doctor. Down
speech will sound stilted and strange.
3. Is this our football? Up
For example:
1. I´m from New Zealand Exercise 63:
2. Something´s wrong From the above example, can you identify
the rules of pitch and intonation?
3. I couldn´t find my phone
4. He’s a great footballer. How to Teach Intonation:
Don’t confuse apostrophe s for possession Some teachers use their hand to indicate
for a contraction. It’s a different language the pitch at the end of a sentence. Others
construct. “Mary’s car is new” is not a con- write the stress on the board with an
traction. “Mary’s a fantastic student” is a upward or downward arrow.
contraction of the verb to be. Pitch with Question Tags: If the pitch at
the end of a question tag goes down, the
speaker is looking for confirmation, but not
expecting an answer.
If the pitch goes up, the speaker is looking
for an answer.
You love me, don’t you?
Yes, I do.
You love me, don’t you?
Of course, I do. I’ve loved you since the first
day I met you.

7
Activities for Practicing Pronunciation: Exercise 64:
Music and chants: hugely help students http://www.teflvideos.com/now_showing.
with pronunciation, word and sentence php?idxvideo=82
stress. The teacher can beat their hand to teflvideos.com j Pronunciation j Teach-
the stress of the sentence. For advanced ing Pronunciation: Minimal Pairs
students, you could ask them to invent new
words that follow the same rhythm and The following video shows a student learn-
structure. ing and practicing two contrasting sounds.
Find Your Partner Mingle: Create sentences Think about the following questions as you
with the same rhythm and stress. For ex- watch the video.
ample: 1. What is the main difference be-
a. I like to play football tween both sounds
b. I went to the dog-track 2. What is the importance of this dif-
ference
c. Have you eaten dinner?
3. What reasons might students have
d. Did you find John? for showing difficulty with distinction
Give sentences to the students at random.
They must mingle and find students with a
sentence with the same rhythm and stress. 1. The teacher is teaching long and
Low level students will have to have the short vowel sounds (e.g. ‘keys and ‘kiss’).
stress marked for them. High-level students 2. Vowel length creates different words
should be able to identify it themselves. with different definitions, therefore is
very important to achieve.
3. If the particular distinction simply
does not exist in their first language,
students can have significant difficulty
understanding and repeating particular
sounds.

8
TEFL Unit 10

Unit 10: Correcting Errors
Introduction: The more students master functions and
register, the more natural their English will
Correction is an extremely powerful tool in sound.
the classroom. It is extremely important. The difference between errors and mis-
How will students improve if their mistakes takes: You may have noticed that we have
go uncorrected? It also shows to students been using the word “error” and not mis-
that you´re listening to them and trying to take. This is not an accident. Generally,
help. It is good when students make errors. we refer to a mistake as occurring when
It shows they´re willing to attempt some- the student is tired, or has lost concentra-
thing new. It also allows you, the teacher, tion. The student knows the language that
a chance to help guide them in the right di- should be used, but has used it incorrectly.
rection. Native speakers make mistakes too!
Exercise 55: An error occurs when a student tries to say
something that is beyond their ability, they
Watch this video of how a teacher deals haven’t learnt yet, or have begun to learn.
with students’ errors. Take note of how Why correct errors? As stated earlier, stu-
the teacher corrects errors and what tech- dents won’t learn if their errors are not cor-
niques are used. rected. In fact, almost all students want to
teflvideos.com j Teaching Techniques j be corrected. They know they are making
Effective Correction Techniques j 02:08 – mistakes, and will become frustrated if the
02:30 teacher keeps saying “well done” or ignor-
ing their errors.
Non-Grammatical Errors: It´s possible to
be right or wrong in a variety of areas of On the other hand, many students have
English, this can be things such as pronun- had a negative experience of error correc-
ciation and choice of vocabulary, as well as tion. In most school environments, giving
grammar. Pronouncing ‘very’ with an initial a wrong answer can sometimes lead to a
/b/ sound, or calling a computer “an ordina- rebuke from the teacher and possibly ridi-
tor” are errors just as much as grammatical cule from classmates.
errors. It is our job as a TEFL teacher to create a
Other errors can include functional errors. relaxed atmosphere in class that encourag-
“Please, can you me give pen” sounds es students to participate and is tolerant, or
strange in English. We ask for something even inviting, of errors. Remember, errors
by saying something like: “Could I have the mean the students are trying, and that is
pen, please?”. Students need to learn the nothing but good!
functions of making requests, giving in-
structions, inviting etc Create a relaxed environment:
Students also need to learn about the reg- The techniques such as warmers, pair and
ister of words and the difference between group work help students become relaxed
formal and informal language. “Could you and lose their fear of mistakes. Students
possibly give me the ball, please” is not may fear being made fun of by their class-
correct. Neither would “Hey, boss, what’s mates. You, the teacher must have a class
up dude?” correct English in the context of rule that forbids laughing at, or criticising
speaking to an employer. other students. If it happens in class, shake

2
your head and show that this is not allowed. (I wish plus past perfect). This structure
You might put a behaviour contract on the is too complicated for an intermediate
wall with “We laugh with each other, never student.
at each other.” If students break this rule,
3. If an error relates to an area that
just pointing at the line in the contract will
you are currently studying, or have
have the desired effect.
already studied, or you could reason-
Correct in a positive way: Always smile when ably expect the student to know, then
you correct the students and then praise correct the error. If you are studying
them when they say it correctly. We’ll see the present perfect and a student says,
later that by eliciting rather than automat- “I have live in Italy all my life”, you must
ically giving the correct answer, students correct this error immediately using the
will quickly learn that errors are ok and will interruption method.
not feel intimidated.
When do we Correct errors?
Do we correct all errors?
If it is a fluency activity, then the teacher
In a word, no. If a teacher corrects all errors, makes a note of the errors made and after
the student will lose all confidence and stop the exercise, writes the errors on the board.
trying to speak! Here are the general guide- The students are then invited to say what
lines for which errors to correct. the error is. If they do not know, the teacher
1. If the error blocks communication, tells them. Similarly, if the error occurs in
then you must correct the error, or at the free practice part of a lesson, the teach-
the very least, discover what the student er makes a note and corrects on the board
is trying to say and allow them to com- afterwards.
municate. “I drive to class every day by
We also correct warmer activity errors after
auto” is an error that you could let pass,
the activity. Never interrupt students in a
as it is clear what the student is trying to
warmer to make a correction.
say. “My uncle drives a camion for work”
is an error you would have to clarify, as Errors that take place during the practice
“camion” is the Spanish for lorry, and (controlled practice) stage must be cor-
non-Spanish students would not under- rected immediately if they directly relate to
stand the meaning and communication purpose of the lesson. For example, if the
is blocked. lesson relates to vocabulary of sport, and
2. If the error relates to an area that instead of saying “basketball”, your student
you have not yet covered, then, as long says “basket”, that error must be immedi-
as you and the students understand ately corrected.
what the student is trying to say, then If your lesson objective is the vocabulary of
don’t correct it. If an intermediate level sport and a student says, “Mary play bas-
student says, “I wish I begin learn En- ketball”, the error is in the present simple,
glish when I was 5 years old”, don’t third person singular. This error is not re-
correct the error. It is clear what the lated to the lesson objective, so you should
student wants to say. The structure of ignore this error if the students have not
“I wish”, which throws everything back learnt the present simple third person, or
a tense is complicated. “I learnt English if they have, you could put the error on the
when I was 5” (past simple) becomes “I board afterwards, and elicit correction from
wish I had learnt English when I was 5”. the students.

3
How to correct errors: Example: Student: Last weekend I play a
football match.
Correcting speaking techniques: Teacher points to the board prompt
There are three different types of potential Student: Played

responses to an error a student makes in Teacher: Full sentence please.
class.
Student: Last weekend I played a foot-
Self-correction: Students correct their own ball match.
errors after being prompted by the teacher.
c. Half a rule; You can state the first
Peer correction: Another student corrects half of a rule and the student finish the
the error. sentence.
Teacher correction: The teacher tells the Student: He eat pizza every day.
students the correct form.
Teacher: I eat, you eat, he …?
First you should allow a student the op-
Student: Eats
portunity to correct their own errors. Then
allow other students to suggest the correct Teacher: Great. The whole sentence
form. If the students don’t know, then the again?
teacher should correct the error. Student: He eats pizza every day.
Self-correct techniques: d. Finger highlighting
This allows you to show students the
After eliciting or giving the correct answer,
words in a sentence without having to
always get the student to say the word or
sentence fully. write it. Use your fingers to represent
each word in a sentence (have the back
a. Up to the error: This is a fantastic of your hand facing the student, starting
technique as it allows you to correct
on the left).
nearly every error. Repeat the sentence
back to the student up to the point of Student: I have 2 brothers and sister.
where the error occurred. Use rising
Teacher: I (pointing at thumb) have
intonation in your voice when you reach
(pointing at index finger) two (pointing
the error so that the students know that
you expect a response. For example: at middle finger) brothers (pointing
at piano finger) and (pointing at little
Student: It is annoying. He is always play finger) what’s this? (pointing at thumb
loud music. again).
Teacher: He is always...?
Student: one
S: Playing
Teacher: Great. The whole sentence
T: Good. Full sentence please? again?
S: He is always playing loud music. Student: I have 2 brothers and a sister
b. Board prompt. Write a prompt on e. ‘I don´t understand’
the board and point to it when students
make an error. Students often forget to If an error blocks communication, a
pronounce the “ed” for the past tense or useful expression is ‘I don´t under-
past participle. Write “ed” on the board, stand’ or ‘Can you say that a different
and point at it when the error occurs. way?’

4
Student: Today, there is a lot of water. Exercise 56: In each of the situa-
Teacher: Sorry, I don’t understand. tions below, what advice would
Student: Water. A lot of water.
you give to the teacher?
Teacher: Can you use a different word? a. I had a great class, it was so satisfy-
ing. The students learnt loads, I’m sure.
Student: I mean rain.
I corrected at least 50 of their mistakes.
Teacher: Good! So, tell me again. That’s 12 per student, in 1 hour! In fact,
2 of the mistakes were advanced phras-
Student: Today, there is a lot of rain.
al verbs, and 3 were related to inversion
Teacher: Oh, yes. Unfortunately, that’s and cohesive devices. That’s advanced
true. level grammar to a pre-intermediate
class. If that’s not value for money, I
f. Facial expression
don’t know what is! The only funny thing
This works particularly well when a is that it’s difficult to get them to speak. I
whole sentence needs to be reformu- have to look at that.
lated, or when the meaning of the sen- b. My warmer activity took longer
tence is unclear. than expected in today’s class. I think
Student: Rest break? it’s because they made lots of mistakes,
and by the time I corrected them all, we
(Teacher looks puzzled) couldn’t get to the end of the activity.
Student: When is break? To compensate for this, I didn’t correct
any errors in the practice section of the
Teacher: In 5 minutes class, even though they made mistakes.
g. Use fingers to show past, present I wanted to give them a break from
or future: being corrected. Then, in the production
stage, which was a role-play, I decided
Point behind you when students don’t to do on the spot correction so that the
speak in the past, and say the word students got it right.
“past”. c. I don’t believe in peer correction.
Point in front of you when students How can it be any good? A language
don’t speak in the future, and say the learner helping another language
word “future” learner is bound to be a disaster.
Wouldn’t they teach each other the
Point down to the floor and say “pres- wrong answer? I always tell students the
ent” when the students don’t speak in answer when they make mistakes. After
the present. all, I’m the teacher, I’m the expert. I’m
Last week I visit my family. paid to teach them. It’s my job.
Teacher points behind themselves and

Correcting writing errors:
says “past”
Visited While there are differences between cor-
recting writing errors and speaking errors,
Full sentence? the general principles are the same. We try
Last week, I visited my family. to avoid telling the student the answer. We
elicit the answer.

5
Some teachers think that errors should be simple, then only correct errors in the past
crossed out and the correct answer writ- simple.
ten in. But this makes life too easy for the
students. We want to make them think and How to elicit when correcting writing:
learn. Cross out the error and write the
correct form. If we elicit the answer, then In class: Always give a positive comment to
the student is much more involved and start off. If the student is advanced, then
participative, we are making the student point at the section of the writing with the
think about the language and learn the con- error and say: “something here isn’t fully
struction of it. Finally, eliciting avoids the correct”. Give them the chance to self-cor-
all-knowing teacher syndrome. Students rect the error.
have to work things out themselves rather If the student has a low level, then point
than get the answer from an expert teach- at the error and give them a clue such as
er. “spelling” or “word order”.
Be careful with using a red pen when cor- At all times, tell the students the answer if
recting writing. In some cultures, a red pen they don’t know it.
is perceived as being critical. Just to be on
Outside class: Teachers normally use a cor-
the safe side, choose another colour that
rection code when correcting homework.
contrasts with the colour of the student
The student receives the writing back and
writing.
with the help of the correction codes, tries
As with correcting speaking errors, you to further improve the writing. The student
should not correct all errors. It is very de- then hands in the writing piece a second
moralising for a student to receive a cor- time. This time, the teacher will normally
rected text full of corrections. Always praise write the correct answer, although some-
good writing. Also, tell the students that you times teachers will send a piece back for a
will only correct a certain type of error. For third writing! Tell the teacher the correction
example, if you have just taught the past codes in advance.
Typical Correction Code
G Grammar WO Word order
Î nsert word ? Unclear
WW Wrong word T Tense
P Punctuation Sp Spelling

6
Exercise 57: Correct the following L1 transfer: Transfer means when a part
piece using the correction code. of, or something from a student´s first lan-
guage is transferred into English. It is a very
I travel on a train high-speed last week. common source of errors.
There is 5 long wagons. it went on 300 kilos A German language learner for example,
per hour. It was glorious happy. may tell you that he sat on a bank in the park.
The German word for “bench” is “bank”. L1
Exercise 58: Correct the following transfer is very obvious in pronunciation.
piece of writing with the correction Students will almost always have an accent
code. which is influenced by their L1.
Tonight, I will going to nice restaurant. Pizza Exercise 59: Why have the following
macaroni I will consume maybe 2 pizza if I errors occurred?
am hangry.
a. A French speaker says: “I went to
Causes of errors: Scotland on holidays and the people
were very sympathetic”.
It is important to understand what causes b. A Spanish speaker says: I have 29
errors. Understanding this can help you ad-
years.
vance student learning.
c. A Polish speaker says: At university, I
Language levels: If a student doesn’t have
the language knowledge, then they are lived at the academic.
going to make mistakes. Beginners always d. An Italian speaker says: I had dinner
go through a stage where they´re unable with my parents. There were 25 of us.
to produce much language. They may only We had a great time.
be able to repeat parrot-like, or copy down
words and simple sentences. e. A Spanish speaker says: I went on
Elementary and Pre-Intermediate level stu- an excursion yesterday. We were 12
dents are getting to grips with basic gram- people.
mar and basic verb forms. You cannot Teacher-induced errors: Sometimes, stu-
expect them to be able use complex struc- dents will copy the teacher and produce
tures. sentences that are incorrect.
Intermediate students have somewhat Teacher: Michel, ask Marie where does she
mastered basic structures and are begin- live.
ning to form complex phrases. The gener-
Michel: Marie, where does you live?
ally still have problems with word order as
well as not being able to use complex gram- This type of error usually doesn’t last long.
mar and vocabulary. As soon as the student learns the correct
structure, this type of problem usually dis-
Overgeneralization: This means students
appears.
have learnt a rule and apply it to all relevant
situations, without taking exceptions into
account. For example, students may add Types of errors:
“ed” to all infinitives to form the past tense.
I.e. “Yesterday I eated pizza”. This is a good There are seven main types of errors: Gram-
indication as it means that the student has mar, vocabulary, appropriacy, spelling, pro-
noticed a new rule and is trying to apply it. nunciation, punctuation and function.

7
Exercise 60: divide the seven types of l. Yesterday, I have gone shopping.
errors between writing errors, speak- m. Only 3 people assisted class this
ing errors or possibly both types of morning.
errors. n. My / əʊ’tel / was very expensive.
Sometimes it can be difficult to distinguish
Exercise 61: Identify each type of error between types of errors. If a student says,
“Last week I play a football match.”, we don’t
a. Please, open door now. know if that is a pronunciation error or a
b. I love the gardan in the Spring. grammar error. Either the student knows
they are speaking in the past simple but
c. I take the autocar to work every day. didn’t pronounce the “ed”, or they forgot to
d. Can you help me please. conjugate the verb in the past tense
e. Wow, this interview is rocking. I Exercise 62: Watch this video and
would, like, so love to get this job!
write 3 good and 3 bad things about
f. /A:ks/ John for the butter please. the class.
g. Where is the house’s back door?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUY-
h. I say old chap, could you possibly
qCGcRoOw
be so good as to serve me a pint of your
best beer? Video: Watch this quick video with good,
bad and very bad error correction tech-
i. mary is the best player on the team
niques
j. I am learning buisness English.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-
k. You want coffee? jvZ0hD_wyo8

8
9
TEFL Unit 11

Unit 11: Finding TEFL Jobs
Introduction: when you´re not teaching. Conversation
clubs and other activities may allow you the
The demand for English teachers is huge. chance to contribute to the school commu-
Once you complete this TEFL course, you nity, but you may also be required to attend
will get a job. It is as close to guaranteed as parent-teacher meetings.
possible! Government school contracts often tend
As we have seen already, English is the In- to be on a longer-term basis, usually for an
ternational Business language, and people entire academic year. Institutions run by
need it for work, holidays, internet etc. the government often to have a lower wage
than at private schools, although that is
Teacher demand is enormous and growing
counter-balanced by the stability on offer.
as a huge amount if school students are
Some countries, such as China, offer incen-
now leaning English. There many schools
tives to teachers such as accommodation
which like to employ foreign teachers to
and sometimes even airfares.
teach English, particularly spoken English.
Colleges and universities: Similar to gov-
ernment schools, classes are normally
Types of Job Available:
scheduled at the same time every week, and
These three main types of positions are you will most likely be teaching the same
most considered by TEFL teachers when students throughout the entire semester, if
searching for paid employment. not academic year. Universities may need
you to teach English for academic purpos-
Mainstream Schools: Countries such as es, to help students with their studies. This
Japan and South Korea have a government may consist of teaching students how to
funded project to recruit and allocate for- correctly read academic texts, give presen-
eign teachers. They primarily consist of pri- tations, write reports, etc.
mary and secondary schools.
Normally contracts will last for one or two
Colleges and Universities: Generally these semester with the dates being established
are government-run institutions. English by the academic calendar. Salaries in gen-
classes are compulsory in many countries eral tend not to be very high, although that
when undertaking undergraduate courses. does vary from country to country. In Spain,
Private language schools: Commercial insti- salaries at universities are up to double
tutions which offer class to all age ranges, those of private language schools. Some-
they are often after work/ school hours and times, universities may provide on-campus
on weekends. accommodation and airfares.
Mainstream schools: What are some of You may be required to spend more time
the main advantages and disadvantag- in the office when you´re not teaching, but
es which you can expect while teaching contact hours teaching are often lower.
at a mainstream school? One appeal of a Private language schools: Classes tend to
mainstream school normally run by the be offered at times which suit potential stu-
government is predictability. Classes are dents, this can be after work/ school hours
timetabled and occur regularly with the and on weekends. There is a huge variety
same students. The teaching load is often in the quality of private schools which is as
comparatively low, however you may be you´d expect to see. Some have excellent
expected to stay on school premises even support and resources and are profession-

2
ally run, while other schools priority may before you go over this includes things such
be simply making money. In private lan- as contracts, visas, etc. Research about the
guage schools there are contract positions company beforehand and be certain that
available, however a lot of private schools the program and visas are completely legit-
employ teachers casually to meet the ever imate before going. Teaching should never
changing demand for students. It is fairly be done on a tourist visa. It is illegal.
common for teacher to be working for sev- Generally, you will be able to live comfort-
eral schools at the same time. ably. Usually internships have a salary for
Flexible work arrangements can be tricky TEFL teachers about the same as a local
if it is required for you to have an ongoing teacher´s salary. Always, accommodation
position for a work visa, some schools have is provided.
a preference to employ teachers already in Volunteering: Working as a volunteer may
the country to avoid these issues. For private be an extremely rewarding experience. Vol-
language schools there is a bit of a trade- unteering can also be a big bonus to your
off as they normally offer a higher hourly resume. Dedication is needed when vol-
rate compared to government schools, but unteering. The rewards can potentially be
there is less job security. Normally, accom- massive, both in terms of your learning,
modation and other benefits are not pro- and in your contributions to a community.
vided by private language schools.
Working conditions and living arrange-
ments vary hugely. It depends on the coun-
Non/low-paid positions: try and if you are in a rural or urban envi-
ronment. As a rule, volunteer organizations
Internships: There a number of organi-
want people who are willing to commit and
zations for teacher training that organize
provide stability. This means some organi-
internships for teachers in places such as
zations may need you to sign up for a con-
pre-schools, schools and universities. In-
siderable time period.
ternships are a great way to get started in
TEFL because they offer short-term con- Obviously, you won´t be making any
tracts and as much support as needed. money! However, you may receive a small
They provide a work placement including allowance to live on, but some organiza-
in-country training and support. tions also require you to pay to participate.
In this case, you will need some savings to
You normally teach in a real school, but
live off.
with much more support and guidance
than would normally be provided or even
expected if you were working independent-
ly.
When it is your first time teaching overseas
this can be extremely helpful. New TEFL
teachers can often find starting out to be
intimidating, but by going through an in-
ternship program you can be sure of a good
school and lots of support.
We recommend you ensure the program is
reputable and well established (as with any
teaching placement) before committing to
the program. All paperwork is organized

3
Finding work: www.transitionsabroad.com contains a lot
of articles, written by experienced teacher
For finding employment opportunities in which provide an insight into finding work
TEFL there are three main ways I can look in different countries and regions. It is a
for them. great source of information about condi-
The Internet: A huge portion of schools tions, regulations and typical job positions.
use the internet to recruit teachers to work http://www.eslbase.com/advice/ is another
for them. Combined, every month there is good source of country specific informa-
about 20,000 TEFL positions advertised on tion.
the internet.
There are 2 main websites for international Using recruitment agencies:
TEFL recruitment: Tefl.com and Dave’s ESL
café. You will have no problem finding a job Recruitment agencies and job placements
off these websites. services are companies which look after
If you already know where you want to your paperwork, set up employment for
teach, then most cities have their own re- you at a school, and support you while in
cruitment websites. In Madrid, Lingobon- the country (the level of support can vary
go is the website of choice, while in Paris, from company to company, and country to
FUSAC is a great place to find private stu- country). Agencies such as these are very
dents. In any case, a quick google search of popular in North Asia and the Middle East.
the city you want to work in will give dozens In Japan, a few well-known agencies include
of local language schools. Westgate, TEFLOne and Interac.
Agencies: A great number of agencies and It is really easy to get in direct contact with
job-placements services have sprung up, potential schools, instead of going through
partly due to the prospering TEFL indus- a middle person. Reputable schools will
try. These companies generally act as a provide you with contracts, visas and sup-
middle-man between you and a school (or port anyway, so why pay an agency? The
schools). They are an extremely popular signing commission which can be as high a
way of finding employment in certain coun- month´s salary and they may also receive
tries e.g. Greece, Korea. a percentage of your salary, meaning the
But, generally speaking, it´s possible to get teacher gets a lower rate.
in touch with a potential school via the in- Researching schools: You need a lot of
ternet, so why bother using an agency? care when deciding on a possible school.
Word-of-mouth: Many employment op- Unfortunately, there are some cowboy op-
portunities are not advertised at all. This is erators out there who give the rest of us a
especially common for casual positions at bad name.
private schools. Make contact with other You need to be certain you´ll happy work-
teachers and create networks. You will hear ing in your school and with management.
of jobs first and will often be personally in- This may be difficult if you´re applying
troduced to the recruiter.
from a different country and are unable to
visit the school personally. These are some
Country-specific information: key areas which you can ask potential em-
ployers about.
These following sites are excellent sources
of country-specific information, as well as Language teaching should be taken very
providing links to employment opportuni- seriously by the school. Course materials,
ties. a program and other teaching resources

4
should all be provided. There should be an 2. Is there a head of studies or ac-
academic director or head of studies. ademic director? Any decent school
will have one so that teachers have
A good language school will help you get
you visa or paperwork in order. Do not someone to turn to if they need help or
work illegally. advice.
Ask for an email with the terms and con- 3. Do I get paid if classes are can-
ditions of employment. This should include celled? Most schools have a 24-hour
timetable, hours per week, and salary or cancellation rule whereby a teacher is
pay per hour. Holiday pay and class cancel- paid of a class is cancelled within this
lation policy should also be included. period.
Always ask if you can speak to other teach- 4. Will I have a contract? If the answer
ers who work there. They will tell you what is no, then stay away. You are entitled
the conditions are really like. Avoid any to the benefits that social security pay-
schools that are reluctant to do this. ments bring you.
If you know any teachers who live local- 5. What is the average class size?
ly, ask them about the reputation of the Public schools or universities may have
school, or they can find out for you. classes of up to 30 students, but would
you be comfortable with that? Private
You can also look online on teacher forums
to see if there have been any comments language schools tend to have smaller
about the school. class sizes with a maximum of 12-15
students and often much less.
Key questions to ask during 6. Are students streamed for level?
the interview:
You don’t want to have multiple levels
in the same class. It makes life so much
1. Are books and materials supplied
more difficult. A reputable language
to teachers? If the answer is evasive, or
about using photocopies, that is a bid school will divide students by level.
signal. Reputable schools use text books Your Curriculum Vitae: Give your CV to
and save teachers hours in preparation your TEFL trainer for analysis and improve-
time. ment.

5
TEFL Unit 12

Unit 12: Gamification of TEFL classes
Introduction: versing with the teacher at a time. Speaking
activities need to make sure they are giving
We are going to look at extra ideas for activ- students enough things to say to each
ities and games suitable for any aim within other.
your classroom. Activities and games are not just a way of
letting your students have a break. The
Exercise 63: Watch the following video
best way for your students to be practic-
and answer the following questions. ing their new language is in a way that
does not feel like work to them. You can
ÂÂ What sort of competition motivates meet the aims of your lesson, purely with
students? games and activities.
ÂÂ What makes the game fun? What kind of things specifically would your
ÂÂ What kind of competition would you student´s practice during games and activ-
avoid? ities?
http://www.teflvideos.com/now_showing. New Language: Whenever students learn
php?idxvideo=9 new language (vocabulary, a grammar point
teflvideos.com j Vocabulary j Teaching or some functional language) they need to
Action Words with Charades practice it to make sure they have properly
learnt it.
What makes up a “good” activity? Younger learners especially will not be fully
Activities need to benefit student´s lan- able to grasp information only presented to
guage acquisition and help you achieve them and will look for the meaning of lan-
what you are trying to teach them that guage in the games and activities that they
lesson. Engaging does not always mean play.
fun. The most important thing is keeping Skills Practice: It is appropriate for a lesson
your students interested. Some activities aim to consist purely of practicing skills
may require precise thinking and not be without learning anything new. While some
fun, per se, but rather, absorbing and in- students may be used to always learning
teresting. Such activities can be an effective something new in their lessons, it can be
way of instilling a sense of achievement in good to state to them that the particular
your students. lesson is for the purpose of practice only
The students should be getting as much so they are not surprised to not be learn-
practice as possible with their English. As ing anything. By telling the students the aim
a rule, it is better they interact with each of the lesson straight away, they feel confi-
other, as opposed to only one student con- dent in the direction the lesson is going.

2
Speaking activities: the information by asking them questions.
For example, one student has a blank map
Here are some normal activities you would and another student has a map with build-
play when practicing the four skills. They ings and streets marked on it. One student
can be adapted to all topics and levels. has to ask for directions from the other stu-
dent.
Board game: Create a board game, where
depending on the square the students land Match: Make matching card pairs that stu-
on, they have to ask a question or make dents have to match together. These cards
a statement relating to the subject of that can be anything e.g. related, pictures or
square. long words, sentences, antonyms or syn-
onyms. Students then use the cards to play
You should think about what students will
snap or concentration in groups
do while it is not their turn. You could for
example, ask them to make sure that the Another activity is to hand out cards then
language students are saying is correct (in- ask the class to mingle and talk to each
troduce a competitive element to the game) other to find the other pair to their card
or to ask the student who´s turn it is, the (you could then get them to talk for an extra
questions they have to answer. while about the topic or word or sentence
you give them before moving on to the next
Information gap: The premise of this game
round of the game).
is one that is easily suited to multiple activ-
ities. You can divide the class into groups of three
or so and give one student in each of your
Give your students specific information
groups, half of the cards. Lay the remain-
each that differs from student to student.
der of them on a table, face up. The student
The only way they can find out the informa-
with the cards, reads one out and the other
tion from each other is by communicating.
students have to find the matching card the
Ensure that they don´t show each other
quickest out of their group. The player with
the information they have.
the most cards is the winner.
For example, you could place the students
in pairs, they each have two versions of the Listening activities:
same picture with a number of differences.
They have to describe the pictures to each It is important to bear in mind that asking
other and they both circle the differences. students to listen and write at the same
The pair with the most accurate pair of pic- time is very difficult and will often confuse
tures is the winner. them. Rather than asking them to write
Another idea is to put the class up into comprehensive answers to your questions,
groups. One person in each group picks check their understanding with:
a card of a person, thing or place and the ÂÂ A sequence of pictures
rest of the group have to work out what the
card is by only asking yes or no questions. ÂÂ Making small notes in a simple dia-
gram or table
Or, in pairs, students take it in turns to draw
pictures and then describe the picture to ÂÂ Labelling a diagram
their partners, who attempt to draw it. The ÂÂ Drawing a picture
pair with the most alike pictures are the
winners. ÂÂ Filling a flowchart
A fantastic type of activity is role plays, ÂÂ Drawing a map route

where only certain students know the infor- ÂÂ Ticking words, pictures or boxes
mation and the other students have to get

3
Another exercise could be playing your stu- One group makes notes on skiing and the
dents a section of video or recording and other on bungee jumping. Then they talk
then stopping the media before a climactic to each other about the different activities
moment and asking the students to predict and fill in their individual grids.
what happens next. Discuss as a classroom
Following instructions: This is a good way
what could happen next, writing down the
of making your classes more interactive.
predictions on the board before playing the
rest of the media and discovering who was You write down some instructions for doing
right. something (like dance moves for example)
or directions for going somewhere. Then
your students have to follow your exact di-
Reading activities:
rections. Adding a competitive level to this
Similar to when students are practicing lis- game can make it even more fun for the
tening skills, reading skills should be prac- students. It can be a good way of rejuvenat-
ticed with a gist gathering activity first. This ing a class of tired students.
can be implemented by giving the students
a resource and a time limit to read it in. Writing activities:
Give students multiples choice questions to
check for understanding. Here are some examples of more writing
Information exchange: When the students games.
have shown understanding of the gist, you Dictogloss: Read a text to the class twice.
can do the following to test detailed knowl- The first time you read the passage, read at
edge. a fairly natural speed and the second time,
Divide the class into different groups and slightly slower than usual. The students
give each of your groups a different section must write down as much as they possibly
of the text. They need to read the section can. Then, pair up the students and togeth-
in their groups and then share the informa- er the students go through what they have
tion and what they have learned with the written down to see if they can help each
other groups. other. Next pair up the pairs into groups of
four and the groups have to try to perfectly
To help your students you could: recreate the text. After the groups are com-
ÂÂ Get students to compose sets of fortable with what they have, read out the
questions that will help lead the other again and students correct any mistakes
groups to understanding each other´s they made. You can then ask students to
sections of text come up from their groups and write up
the text on the board.
ÂÂ Create your own sets of questions
for your groups Running dictation: Start by sticking parts
of text to the walls of your classroom. Then
ÂÂ Get the students to create their own
pair up the students with one sitting down
layouts for discovering and retrieving
with paper and a pen and the other standing
information, e.g. grid
up with nothing. The one sitting down can´t
Cost Excitement move from the seat, while the one standing
has to try to run to all the texts on the wall.
Running up to each part of text, they have
Parachute jump
to try to commit the text to memory and tell
their partner what the text says, who writes
Bungee jump
it down. The texts have to be put into order
of sequence and 100% correct to win.

4
Cooperative writing: Getting students to Jumbled dictation: Read out a word the
work together, you ask them to create post- students have learned in a recent class but
ers, stories, cards or scripts, anything that with jumbled letter order (this could be
will get the students being creative. Have G-U-A-E-G-N-A-L for Language for example
a clear goal in mind when setting the task or alternatively you could mix up the word
so the students know what you want from order of a new sentence). Students then
them. Some students also like to have their race each other (individually, in groups or
work displayed so check with the school if pairs) to find the right word or sentence.
you can display artwork or posters around You could then split the class into groups
and have them come up with their own
the corridors.
jumbled words to test each other.
Warmers: True/false game: As an example, write
three statements about yourself, two true
We have already seen the importance of and one blatantly false. Then ask the class
a warmer at the start of a class and how which one they think is a lie. Once they have
it can help relax your students and make chosen the obvious lie, ask them to write
them more comfortable with trying to two truths and a lie about themselves. You
freely speak English. A warmer doesn´t can then either have the class all together,
necessarily have to be an in-depth game. going around the circle one by one or you
can split the class into groups and have
Even just having students mingle together
them go through each person in their sep-
is sufficient.
arate groups.
If you want to lead in with a game, make
Mystery picture: With the whole class
sure the game is
watching, slowly begin to draw an object on
ÂÂ Quick and easy the board, keeping the picture ambiguous
as to what it might be. Question the class
ÂÂ Uses simple language your level will
on what the picture is of until someone cor-
be confident with
rectly guesses the object. When someone
ÂÂ Involves everyone correctly guesses your object, have them
come up to the board and draw their own
picture that the other students have to try
Warmer examples:
and guess.
Picture Mingle: The students draw three Question time: Give the students a topic
things or people that they find to be im- or a grammar structure and a minute to
portant within their lives onto a post-it write a question or questions they want to
note and stick the post-it notes onto their ask their classmates. Students then have to
fronts. The teacher plays some music and mingle with the others, asking each other
while the music is playing the students the question (or you could have them line
dance around the room. When the teacher up and face each other, moving one to the
stops the music, the students stop dancing right every time they ask the question). The
and have to ask the other student nearest purpose of this exercise is to get the stu-
them about the pictures on their post-it dents talking to each other and stimulate
note. After the students have asked each conversation.
other about their post-it notes, the music Well-known games: There are loads of
is played again and the action is repeated well-known games (bingo or cards etc) that
a few times until everyone has had a few can be utilised for language learning. While
turns at asking and being asked. some are perfect for learning language as

5
they are, others need to be changed slightly both a word. They both begin to draw a pic-
in order to increase their potential for lan- ture of the word on the board and the first
guage learning. team to correctly guess what the word is,
gets a point.
Changing the rules of games can be a good
way to make sure they are educational but Snakes and ladders: You will need to
retain the element of fun from the original create your own snakes and ladders board.
game. If the student lands on certain squares they
have to correct a point of grammar, spelling
Dominoes: Dominoes is a good way of
or sentence structure. If they do so correct-
practicing items of language that match
ly, they go up the ladder, if they do so incor-
(like collocations “high seas” “fast car” or
rectly, they go down the snake.
phrasal verbs “look up to” “take off”).
Trivial pursuit: Trivial pursuits can be a
Bingo: Bingo is naturally an enjoyable way
good game to play if you are willing to write
of practicing numbers for lower level stu-
your own questions. If not, only advanced
dents but for higher levels can be used to
or proficiency students will be able to play
focus on pronunciation (the difference in
as lower levels will find the vocabulary too
saying “30” and “15”) and the higher num-
difficult.
bers.
Taboo: Give the students an item of vo-
However, you can also make your own ver-
cabulary to explain and a list of words they
sion of vocabulary bingo using pictures in a
cannot use. If they use a forbidden word,
table students have to fill in and calling out
then the other team gets a point. If their
words to match them.
team guesses correctly, then they get the
Charades: Charades can be adapted to suit point.
any form of vocabulary.
Yes/No Questions: Yes/no questions are
Exercise 64: Below are 5 true or false
a great way of practicing questions for stu- questions related to games in lan-
dents. Inform the students of the categories guage learning. Answer them, giving
“pop star, clothes, technology etc. and the reasons.
students have to try to find the right thing
or person in 20 yes or no questions or less. 1. Games should be fun.
Noughts and crosses: You can divide the 2. Games should have rules.
class into teams and draw a large Xs and
Os grid on the board. Every square has a 3. Games should be challenging.
question or language structure (conjuga- 4. Games should have a goal.
tion, word order etc.) and if the team wants
5. Games always need some form of
to occupy the square they have to either
physical activity.
answer the question or use the language in
a correct sentence.
Managing games: There are some simple
Hangman: Hangman is a great impromptu guidelines to follow in managing games in
way to go over spelling of already learnt vo- the classroom. Where possible, make the
cabulary and arouse competition between students the judge or referee. Don’t ever
you and the class. It is a fantastic way for interrupt the game to correct an error.
beginners to learn the alphabet. Make a note and correct afterwards. For
Pictionary: Splitting the classroom into two this reason, the teacher should not play the
teams, ask one player from each team to game. And always vary the team members
come to the front and secretly show them so that students speak to different people.

6
Giving Games Instructions: any case, when they came out to the board
they had no idea what to do.
Exercise 65: Read through these three
Phil: I said it was really important not to use
teachers’ experiences of instructing the past simple. I asked if they understood
games in their classes. What advice and everyone nodded. But in the game,
would you give each of the teachers? they all used the past simple!
Jane: I asked the class if they knew snakes Exercise 66: You will see a video of
and ladders, and they all said yes. So, I gave
a board and counters and dice to each students playing taboo. Why is this a
group. But some groups went up snakes good class?
and down ladders.
Tefl videos/Games and Activities/Vocabu-
Derek: I explained the game to them. I said I
lary Taboo
was going to show them a secret word, and
they would have to draw a picture and their http://www.teflvideos.com/now_showing.
team had to guess what the word was. In php?idxvideo=92
The following websites are useful sources of ideas for games.
LINK:
http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/teaching-teens/resources/activities
http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/teaching-teens/resources/activities
http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Deesri-Games.html
http://www.teachingenglishgames.com/Articles/Teaching_Grammar_with_Games_in_the_
ESL_Classroom.htm
http://www.teflgames.com/games.html
http://www.eslkidstuff.com/gamesmenu.htm#.V4ynZbh97IU
http://www.eltgames.com/
http://www.armoredpenguin.com/crossword/

7
TEFL Unit 13

Unit 13: Materials used in Teaching
Exercise 67: Look at this video and Visual Aids: These are objects and pictures;
answer the questions. anything students can look at. Keeping your
students’ attention will be a lot easier if you
http://www.teflvideos.com/now_showing. have something intriguing for them to look
php?idxvideo=8 at.
teflvideos.com j Vocabulary j Using Worksheets and Handouts: You have the
Realia to Teach Vocabulary option to develop your own handouts and
Watch the following video and review the worksheets for your own students, regard-
question: less of whether you use the textbook or not.
1. What are the materials used by the

teacher? Textbooks:
2. Are these effective materials? Why/ EFL publishing is a massive, growing indus-
Why not? try. Successful books can sell millions of
copies. Teachers can love or hate the text-
Types of Materials: books. Some teachers rely heavily on it and
enjoy using it, others would rather create
There is a vast range of materials available their own materials for their own class.
with regards to TEFL. Here are some we will Don’t use the textbook 100% of the time.
look at: Students get bored if they use textbooks
too frequently.
Textbooks: Generally, there is a student
book, a workbook, a teachers’ book, and Advantages of using textbooks:
audio material. The textbook is regarded
as the syllabus in many schools and as a • Many textbooks contain interesting
teacher you will need to progress through and well laid-out graded materials for
certain units within the school term. students. They contain a detailed con-
tent list that shows the particular skills,
Reference Materials: These include dic-
grammar and vocabulary covered in
tionaries and grammar books. You can use
each unit. They may also contain addi-
these for assistance when planning your
tional exercises and audio.
classes and students usually use them for
homework. It is important that you are • Students have access to the resource
aware of the different grammatical points at all times, if the textbook belongs to
and in your lesson, and exactly what certain them.
words mean. • Some students enjoy textbooks as it
Supplementary Materials: A huge variety gives them a physical feel of progres-
sion. They can see that they are work-
of material is provided by EFL publishers
ing their way through the book as they
to supplement textbooks, including spe-
continue learning.
cialised books that focus on each of the 4
main skills (speaking, reading, writing and • Textbooks provide a structure for new
listening). These can be a fantastic addition teachers. The teacher´s book offers
to the textbook as they allow you to focus ideas as to how the material can be
on a particular skill. used in class, as well as explaining the
material in detail.

2
Disadvantages of textbooks: Dictionaries:
Exercise 68: What do you think are the A dictionary can be very useful when living
abroad, especially if you don’t speak the
disadvantages of using textbooks? local language. They provide instant trans-
lations for students attempting to under-
How to make textbooks more interest- stand another language. There are differ-
ing: You may be forced to use a particu- ent types of dictionaries:
lar textbook. It could be that a particular
school requests you use, and stick to, a • picture dictionaries
certain textbook. Also, parents or students • learner dictionaries
may have purchased a textbook, and will
certainly want to make use of it! • monolingual dictionaries
Here are some suggestions as to how to • bilingual dictionaries

stick to the textbook while making it as Picture dictionaries show a picture instead
lively and interesting as possible. of explaining in words. Learner dictionaries
1. Interest the students: Units in the won’t include overly complex or advanced
textbook are generally based on topics vocabulary. Bilingual dictionaries (for ex-
like hobbies, sport, or travel. Begin your ample Italian – English and English – Italian)
lesson with a lead-in of the particular are those that give a fast translation of the
topic before opening the textbook. Have word at hand. These direct translations can
students give their own opinions. Make save a lot of time.
use of realia or visuals that are connect- Monolingual dictionaries offer a lot more
ed to the topic in the unit. You can have information than just the translation. The
students discuss as a class, or in smaller explanation is given in English along with
groups, the items you´ve brought in. the phonemic spelling to help in pronunci-
2. Alternate interaction patterns: Make ation.
sure to have students work individual-
Advantages of using dictionaries:
ly, in pairs, or in groups in the lesson.
The textbook may not specifically say to
Using dictionaries allows the student to feel
do so, but you should implement it as
more independent of the teacher, and is
much as possible, where appropriate.
considered extremely useful as a learning
You can also have them mingle around
resource.
the room to create excitement and in-
terest. If the textbook has just a reading Monolingual dictionaries are more encour-
comprehension, you can have the stu- aging towards students thinking in English.
dents compare their work in pairs, then It would be worth allocating some class-
share with the rest of the class. time to using dictionaries and explaining
how to use them. Students can, for exam-
3. Personalise Everything: As you
ple:
know, textbooks are not personalised to
each class. They are written for a gener- • Alphabetically arrange words
al audience. A reading comprehension • Locate word families (read, reader,
or grammar exercise can become far reading)
more interesting for the class if you
have altered them to make them rele- • From context, predict meaning, pro-
vant to people in the class. nunciation, or the spelling of a word.

3
Disadvantages of using dictionaries: will therefore sometimes have examples
that are too complex for your students. Stu-
One of the biggest problems with bilingual dent workbooks should contain grammar
dictionaries is that many common words exercises that exactly match the textbook
have no exact translation in another lan- content.
guage, or words may have more than one Supplementary Materials: These refer
meaning. If used incorrectly or carelessly, to books and other materials that may be
students can easily misuse or misunder- used in conjunction to the textbook you are
stand words. using. Supplementary materials are usually
Accessing quick translations rather than used:
working out the meaning of a word is far • To focus on certain interests the stu-
too easy for students. It is sometimes the dents may have
that they do not learn and develop inferring
meaning from context; a skill that is highly • To give the students a break from the
important with language learning. textbook
Sometimes students will spend half the • To focus on certain weaknesses the
class with their nose stuck in the dictionary students may have
and so miss out on the class. When they do Examples of supplementary materials can
finally surface, they need explanation as to include:
what has been happening!
• Grammar worksheets
Dictionary Definitions
• Web materials
When planning for a vocabulary lesson, you
can find all information needed about the • Authentic texts
target words in the dictionary. You can then • Vocabulary
decide how much of this information to use
• Phonology practice materials
in class.
• Communicative activities
You can find a lot of extra features available
on online dictionaries. Features such as • Exam practice materials
collocation searches, audio recordings of • Real objects
pronunciation and practice activities.
How to Use Supplementary Materials:
Reference Grammars: Reference gram- Supplementary materials can be focused
mars are an invaluable resource. Before around the needs of the student (needs
you teach grammar, you need to learn the analysis). You should identify the reason
rules yourself! Grammar books also pro- the language is required by the students,
vide lots of exercises for students to com- and the strengths and weaknesses they
plete, either at home, or during the practice have with learning the language.
section of a class.
Authentic Texts: The textbooks used in
It is not expected that you are an expert in class are written specifically for the lan-
grammar. In saying this, you should be able guage classroom. This material is written
to answer any questions about the topic, or to suit particular levels, which is of course
at least know where to get the answer from! advantageous.
The Murphy’s series of grammar books by In saying this, it can be worth your while to
Cambridge are highly regarded. alternate between the textbook and other
However, the grammar books do not tie in materials sourced from outside of the
exactly with the textbook you are using and classroom. Real material such as this, from

4
the ‘English-Speaking World’ is highly bene- You can also ask students to skim through
ficial to students and allows them to prac- the magazine and find 3 interesting facts.
tice what they know outside of the course They can then speak about their facts in
work. It gives them a feeling of using and small groups or to the class.
understanding “real” English, as opposed to Newspapers: Bringing newspapers into the
the artificial English in a text book. classroom will help you build on existing
Real material includes: skills. Beginner level can also benefit from
newspaper articles at a simpler, lower level,
1. A local restaurant menu, an appro- to which they can succeed in comprehen-
priate magazine or a train/bus timeta- sion and discussion. The same article can
ble. These are hugely valuable resources be used for different levels. The questions
when teaching in a country where En- change according to the level. It is import-
glish is not the L1. ant that you tell your students that it is not
2. Students find authentic texts vastly important that they understand every word.
interesting. It gives them an insight into It is vital that you give students an exercise
other cultures of English-speaking coun- to complete while reading the article that is
tries. It allows them to not only prac- appropriate to their level. We have a maxim
tice comprehension, but learn about in TEFL: ‘Grade the task, not the text’. You
unknown traditions. What is a typical should create questions that the students
meal? What is the most popular sport? are capable of answering successfully.
How do they live their daily lives? You can do exercises on entire newspapers
3. There is a great deal of motivation similar to the ones above with magazines.
that students get from reading authentic Remember, from the same newspaper, stu-
texts, as opposed to inauthentic articles dents can access material on sports, fash-
written specifically for their textbook. ion, news, opinion, weather, numbers etc.
Students feel accomplished when they Having the students look through classified
ads can be great fun!
comprehend and can discuss articles
and topics from the real English-speak- You can design a reading class around a
ing world. newspaper article, following the PPP struc-
ture as always!
Magazines: Magazines are an ideal resource
for the classroom as they contain plenty Radio News: Radio programmes are dif-
of photographs and colour. This creates ficult for students as there are absolutely
interest and excitement for the students. no visual clues. Also, when students listen
to audios from text books, the audios are
There is a magazine to cover every possible
especially designed for language learners.
hobby or interest, so they are a great way
Speakers usually speak slowly and artic-
of making the class interesting for students. ulate very clearly and often use simplified
It is important to remember the gender, vocabulary and grammar. Radio is pro-
age group, and most likely interests of your duced by native speakers for native speak-
future students when deciding on real ma- ers. Speakers use complex language struc-
terial to take with you. Also, be sensitive to tures and vocabulary, speak very quickly
cultural issues. Don’t use material that may as far as language learners are concerned
and sometimes mumble, stutter and speak
be considered offensive by your students.
inarticulately. Before using a radio pro-
Activities with Magazines: You can ask gramme, you need to listen to it first so as
students to find any article that interests not to use culturally insensitive content and
them and then have them give a written or also to carefully choose questions that the
oral summary to the class. students will be able to answer.

5
Often, just asking students to listen out for Visual Aids: These are a huge benefit be-
what the news items are can be sufficiently cause they bring creativity and interest to
challenging. For higher level students, you the classroom and can be used in practi-
can ask more detailed, concept questions. cally any part of the lesson. If you have in-
ternet access and a projector, any Google
Reports on Weather: Symbols for weather
search will throw up images, which, for ex-
are internationally known and used, such
ample, can make teaching vocabulary so
as symbols for fog, sun, rain and clouds.
much easier!
This can make for some interesting classes,
even for lower levels. Students can practice Flashcards are also very useful, especially
the following when discussing weather: at lower levels. These are, as I´m sure you
guessed, cards with pictures on them. To
1. Use correct tenses. These include
elicit the meaning, or word, you are looking
making predictions (‘Look...fog’)
for, you ‘flash’ them in front of the students.
Discussing what´s currently happening
They are then prompted to speak or show
(‘It´s raining in Ireland’)
the meaning of the word.
2. Make ‘small talk’. This is an essential
Real Objects: These are also known as
aspect for students that are going to
realia. These are a very useful resource
Ireland or the UK for study or work. It
as you are not required to prepare them,
is a common topic of conversation that
simply remember to bring them to class
they cannot veer from! (Ít´s a very cold
with you!
day today’. ‘It has not stopped raining all
night!’) They are useful when demonstrating mean-
ing, and encourages the development of
3. More advanced students can prac-
situations. Take for example, a poster you
tice idioms. “It’s raining cats and dogs”,
have brought from home. This can be used
“It’s a real peasouper” etc.
as vocabulary, by going through the poster
Video: Video is easier than radio as there and eliciting what words the students al-
are visual and audio clues. However, a video ready know; making predictions- what is
class does absolutely not involve pressing happening? What will happen? Describing
play and watching an entire programme or pictures, counting how many of particular
movie with students! Like any other class, a items or images you can see in the poster.
PPP structure must be followed. A 2-minute
Or, if you are teaching the different types of
video can go a long way! Here are some ac-
plates and cutlery, start the class with you
tivities that you can do:
eating a bowl of cereal, and elicit vocabu-
a. What happens next? Play the video lary from the students! It’ll certainly make
up to a certain point, then stop it and for an interesting start to the class!
ask the students to write what they
Worksheets: In general, these are exercis-
think will happen next. Then, after stu-
es you have written/typed up and given to
dents have read out their answers, or
the students. Be very careful with printing
discussed the in groups, play the video
worksheets from the web. They will almost
to see did anyone guess correctly.
never match the exact needs of the lesson
b. Play the video with sound only and you have in mind, and regrettably, they
have the students answer questions. often have typing mistakes. Writing your
Then play the video with picture also to own worksheets means that the materi-
see if they answered correctly. al will exactly match your needs, but it is
c. Or, play the video with picture only time-consuming.
first and have the students answer Always get a colleague to test your work-
questions. sheets when using them for the first time.

6
This will allow you to confirm that the in- Worksheets and lesson plans
structions and layout are clear, that all the Works sheets and ideas for creating flash-
exercises are correct, and activities are cards
manageable. A fresh pair of eyes can be in-
valuable in avoiding mistakes. LINK: http://bogglesworldesl.com/
Use Of films
Exercise 69: Watch the video and
Planning lessons around films
answer the following questions.
LINK: http://film-english.com/
1. What is it that you like about the Lesson plans based on the latest news
lesson?
Interactive and printable lessons across 7
2. What are the materials used by the various levels
teacher? LINK: http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com/
3. In what way do these materials Worksheets and articles
assist the students´ learning?
Various worksheets and articles across all
http://www.teflvideos.com/now_showing. teaching topics
php?idxvideo=15
LINK: http://busyteacher.org/atoz/
teflvideos.com j Vocabulary j Teaching Plenty of resources and sample lesson
Idioms and Expressions with Video plans
Resources: LINK: http://www.onestopenglish.com/
Worksheets For young learners
Ideas for creating worksheets and flash- Games and activities for teaching young
cards learners
LINK: https://www.havefunteaching.com/ LINK: http://www.esl4kids.net/

7
TEFL Unit 14

Unit 14: Cultural Awareness
Introduction: c. What are the common teaching
institutions in that country?
Culture is integral to teaching English. d. What should you research before
People trying to learn English are going to you go there?
be trying to communicate from a range of
diverse cultures. Cultural awareness is a e. Do you need a TEFL certification
term applied in teaching English to foreign there?
learners to describe sensitivity towards dif- f. How much do TEFL teachers earn in
ferent behaviours that may be exhibited in that country?
the classroom due to differences in what is
seen as normal behaviour varying from cul- g. Do they pay airfare and accommo-
ture to culture. dation for you?
We will help to make you aware of some of h. What is a typical teaching day like?
these cultural differences and provide you i. Is it a safe country to live in?
with the tools necessary for incorporating
this awareness into your teaching method. j. Where can teachers visit in their free
time?
Exercise 70: In the video below, k. Is it possible to save a lot of money
you will hear the story of a teacher there?
who has recently started working in l. Will you be able to bring a lot of money
(China). home when you leave there?
m. Do you have to pay taxes and is
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c99qY-
there social security coverage or private
QI9_CQ
health care?
YouTube j Search ‘Teach English in China
n. Can teachers live well in that coun-
Teacher Interview’ j Uploaded by foot-
printsrecruiting try?
While watching the video, think of these o. What is the climate like?
two things: p. What are the cultural do’s and don’ts
ÂÂ Would he give TEFL a positive or q. What is the food like?
negative review? Why?
r. Do teachers find a job directly or do
they use an agency?
Exercise 71: You will be given a coun-
try by your instructor to research Cultural awareness: What is cultural
awareness? Cultural awareness requires
about teaching TEFL there. Answer you to become aware of:
the following questions about teach-
ÂÂ Your students’ cultures and how
ing TEFL in that country. their culture might factor into the way
they behave in your classroom
a. What language do they speak in that
country, and do you speak it? ÂÂ Your own culture and how it could
affect your behaviour
b. Are there any specific difficulties
with learning that language? An assumption often made by people is
that their culture is the normal way of be-

2
having and diverse cultures are often odd tures it is customary to greet your friends
or abnormal. It is very important that you with a kiss on the cheek). This also encom-
learn from your students and give them the passes non-verbal and verbal language. For
knowledge to be able to describe their own instance, the raised index and middle finger
cultures and objectively think about other being rude in some countries and simply a
cultures in a logical and respectful way. way of communicating number in others or
the shaking of the head having two oppo-
Exercise 72: What do you think about, site meanings depending on the side of the
when you hear the word culture? world you live on.
What are the defining features of a Small “c” culture refers to the different
culture? ways people accept a compliment, even
their varying concepts of time.
Big “C” and small “c” culture: ÂÂ Is it rude to arrive late to a dinner
party invitation?
You can divide culture into two subsections; ÂÂ How important is punctuality?
big “C” and small “c” culture.
These minor differences and contrasts tend
Big “C” culture: This term refers to the to be interesting for you and your students
achievements of a culture such as their ar- so including factors of small “c” culture is a
chitecture, art, literature, philosophy and good way of keeping your class paying at-
music. tention.
In European culture, examples of literature
and philosophy could be Albert Camus, Teaching culture:
Plato or Friedrich Nietzsche. Specifying
within Europe, examples of music from Does teaching English include imparting
German-speaking cultures could be Mozart, the culture of English-speaking countries
Beethoven, Bach. When learning or teach- to your students? One of the main compo-
ing about big “C” culture it is important to nents to answering this question is finding
ask these questions: out what motivates your students to learn
ÂÂ What are considered the great mo- the language.
ments in the history of this culture English, as a language of the world: En-
glish is a language spoken globally. Many
ÂÂ What are noted as the finest works
people studying and practicing English
of art, music and literature
may never even go to an English-speak-
ÂÂ Who are the most respected art- ing country. Rather, English can be used a
ists, composers, musicians, writers and meeting-ground between different cultures
thinkers to communicate with each other. A person
Small “c” culture: This term refers to ev- from Russia and a person from Japan could
eryday life and modern trends. be interested in learning English to talk to
each other, without ever being interested
ÂÂ The time most people eat their main in visiting or talking to native English speak-
meal ers. In a situation like this, teaching the cul-
ÂÂ What people do with their time off tures of English speaking countries would
work not be useful or necessary.
ÂÂ The time most people go to bed at English, as a secondary language: English

students trying to learn English as a second
This includes common greeting styles like or third language are often trying to im-
bowing, shaking hands (how in some cul- prove their English to be able to live in an

3
English-speaking world or to communicate following mistakes might you be likely
with native English speakers, at work for to make?
example. Sometimes they may already live
in a part of the world where people speak ÂÂ Bringing up topics that are inappro-
English, hence their desire to improve their priate or taboo
English ability. In a situation such as this,
being aware of the different English-speak- ÂÂ Dressing in an inappropriate way
ing cultures is an important factor to their ÂÂ Failing to say hello or goodbye in the
learning. correct manner
Culture, as an innately interesting topic: ÂÂ Using inappropriate body language
Some people argue that the distinction be-
tween language and culture is impossible ÂÂ Teaching inappropriate grammar
because the two are so intrinsically related,
having both grown from each other. The A Theory on Culture:
way people say hello, thank each other,
offer something, refuse it or give each Professor Geert Hofstede´s ideas were in-
other praise in English is indistinguishable corporated into a large project researching
from the cultural norms of the English- national cultural differences across a multi-
speaking country it takes place in. Over national corporation (later expanding into
time, students are likely to develop a feel- studies on students and a variety of other
ing of curiosity about the people who use professions covering more than 70 differ-
the language they are learning, how they ent countries). His research model notes
behave and what they are like. This will in- five distinct “dimensions of culture”.
spire them to want to learn more about the
culture. Power distance:
Intercultural awareness: By giving your
students the capacity to describe their ÂÂ Students from countries and cul-
lives, the way they live and the country they tures that have a large power distance
live in, you are helping them to develop a may not want to make decisions often
mutual respect for their country and cus- or participate
toms and other countries and cultures. This ÂÂ In countries where there is a large
is referred to as intercultural awareness. distance in power, it is normal for stu-
As a teacher working and living in another dents to be deferential towards the
country, you will have a lot to talk about teacher and unwilling to share a joke
when asked what daily life in your culture with them
and other English-speaking countries is like.
ÂÂ While the students will understand
Perhaps instead of “teaching” culture in the
that the teacher is from a different cul-
traditional way, you could aim to cultivate a
ture to them, their normal expectation
sense of intercultural awareness into your
of a teacher is someone they respect
classrooms. Regularly ask students to pre-
and are obedient to. Because you are
pare projects or presentations on some cul-
tural aspect of their country, such as sports, from a foreign country, they will make
music, food, etc. allowances when you try to joke or
laugh with them.
Exercise 73: If you went to a country Countries that scored high on the power
to teach without first researching the distance scale were Latin, Asian and Afri-
cultural leanings and customs of that can countries. Countries that scored less
tended to be Germanic countries.
country, which do you think of the

4
Individualism and collectivism: Uncertainty Avoidance Index (UAI):
ÂÂ In countries tending towards col- ÂÂ The (UAI) indicates the extent a

lectivism, deliberately standing out or country and culture will be inclined to
trying to be different is unusual. This feel comfortable in surprising and un-
known situations.
can prove a frustrating trait foment
debate or get an opinion about some- ÂÂ Countries that scale highly on uncer-
thing from the class. tainty avoidance index naturally prefer
structured and well organised exercises
ÂÂ In general, when teaching, there´s and will search for rules and logical con-
normally a person who will volunteer a nections in the language and grammar
majority of answers or give their points you teach them. They may also tend to
of view or ideas on topics. It is often that be more intolerant of opinions and cul-
this person will be from a culture where tural norms that are too different from
individualism is high. If you are teaching their own.
in a more collectivist orientated country, ÂÂ On the other hand, uncertainty
you will often have to adapt to being accepting cultures are more tolerant of
less reliant on such a student in your different views and opinions than they
are used to and prefer to have as few
classrooms.
rules as possible. They tend to think
Individualism tends to be a feature of West- more and express less emotion.
ern countries, whereas collectivism is a trait Uncertainty avoidance scores are high for
more typical of Eastern countries. German speaking countries, Japan and
Latin countries.
Masculinity and femininity:
Countries with low scores are Nordic, Chi-
“Masculine” cultures place value on com- nese and Anglo culture countries.
petition, assertion, ambition and decision.
Long-term orientation (LTO):
They praise accumulation of wealth, status
and material possessions. In contrast “Fem-
ÂÂ Long term orientated cultures place
inine” cultures place importance on quality importance on long-term goals, perse-
of life and relationships. vering and working hard.
ÂÂ In a more “Masculine” country or ÂÂ In the classroom those who are
culture, women being quiet and submis- more long-term orientated may seem
sive to men may be expected and seen overly formal and serious. They might
as normal. This will become apparent in find it difficult to understand how
the classroom. games can be just as educational as
Masculinity is low in Scandinavia and the work exercises
Netherlands and quite low in some Asian ÂÂ Long term orientated students
and Latin countries like Spain, France and might be very concerned with their
Thailand. status within the classroom. They might
be nervous about speaking out, for fear
In contrast to this, masculinity is high in
of making a mistake. They might have a
countries like Japan, Germany, Austria and
very good grasp of English and can write
Switzerland and quite high in some Anglo
English proficiently but feel too uncom-
countries. fortable and scared to try speaking.

5
Long term orientated cultures tend to be land, even the slightest criticism of the
found in East Asian countries, like Japan, royal family is completely unacceptable. In
South Korea, Hong Kong, China or Taiwan. Germany, references to World War 2 are
off-limits.
Common Cultural Awareness Gestures: In some cultures, specific ges-
Issues: tures may be considered inappropriate or
disrespectful. Here are a few examples:
Shaking hands: There are different cus- ÂÂ The thumbs up gesture (despite
toms and traditions when greeting people being a positive thing in most Western
in different countries. In France, every time countries, is considered obscene in
you meet someone, you either kiss or shake some countries)
hands. Women kiss both men and women,
whereas men kiss women and shake hands ÂÂ Ditto the Ok sign of joining the index
with men. Sometimes, French business finger and thumb in a circle.
meetings can be delayed for a few minutes ÂÂ Touching the shoulders, back or
while everyone greets everyone! head
The “kiss” by the way, is either a peck on the ÂÂ Pointing with the index finger (espe-
cheek, cheek touching cheek or even just cially towards a person)
cheek airbrushing cheek. Usually, 2 kisses
are given, one on each cheek, always left, ÂÂ Men making comments on wom-
then right. Sometimes, friends will greet en´s appearance
with 3 or even 4 kisses! Appearance: Parents, students and schools
How are you? Most Anglophone coun- have expectations of what their teachers
tries start conversations with the question should look like. In some cultures, inappro-
“how are you?”. This is a genuine question, priate dress leads to a loss of respect for
with a reply expected, such as “fine thanks” the school and the teacher. Depending on
or “really terrible”. In other countries, it is where you are in the world, this will vary
purely a formulaic greeting and no answer greatly. The general rule is to dress smart-
is expected. The French “Ca va?” is replied ly. If you don´t know what to expect, play
with “Ca va?”. it safe by avoiding anything immodest or
scruffy (even though this can prove chal-
Taboo subjects: Involving your class in a lenging in hotter countries).
debate is a terrific way to encourage con-
versation skills but just be cautious when It is generally a good idea to ask the school
choosing a topic. Unless you know your about their dress code so you know what
class really well and can gauge their reac- to bring from home. Body piercings that
tions, avoid any contentious subjects that are overly visible or not modest enough
risk making the students uncomfortable or be wary of, you might be asked to remove
offended. Even if you know your class well, them or cover them up. For photos or inter-
it is often better to generally steer clear of views, you are advised to dress conserva-
risqué topics.: tively. Being overdressed for the occasion is
normally better than underdressed.
Exercise 74: What taboo topics can Exercise 75: What advice would you give to
you think of that might be potentially a teacher going overseas to teach English
risky? about avoiding cultural misunderstandings
(outside and inside the classroom)?
In addition to the taboo subjects listed, Monolingual classes: If you´re going to be
some issues are country specific. In Thai- going to a different country, then the like-

6
lihood is you will be teaching monolingual as if they are doing all the work in the class-
classes (speaking only one language). room or group because they are giving all
the answers and doing all the talking. Be-
The advantage of teaching monolingual
cause of this, it can occasionally be a good
classes is that you can research difficulties
idea to put the quiet students into a group
when language learning typical of the lan-
together so have to speak.
guage and culture (such as grammar and
pronunciation problems) that your stu- Language and culture: The following are ac-
dents may have in common. You can also tivities you can use in the classroom to en-
read up on the major differences between hance student cultural understanding.
that culture and yours. Polls: Take polls of student´s beliefs and
You have to remember, it is not your job assumptions about English culture and dis-
to educate students on the positives and cuss the results as a class. You might be sur-
negatives of your or other cultures. How- prised by your student´s preconceptions.
ever, these topics can be great points of Excursions: If you are teaching in an En-
discussion. If you can find resources about glish-speaking country, visit points of in-
holidays, customs or national dishes of terest or history, like museums art exhibits
the country you´re teaching in, these can or famous landmarks (for example, Stone-
prove to be great material for teaching as henge).
students always love teaching about their
own culture. Films: Watching a film as a class and discuss-
ing it can be an effective way of stimulating
Multilingual classes: A multilingual class- discussion in your class, particularly films
room contains students with different first which illustrate stereotypical behaviour of
languages and probably distinct cultural your culture or give a particular experience
backgrounds. You´re more likely to en- that the student´s would not have met
counter multilingual classes when you´re before.
working in an English-speaking country.
Questions and Answers: Encourage ses-
The cornerstone to teaching a multilingual sions of questions and answers with your
class is making all the students respect not students about new cultures while compar-
only you but each other. The teacher must ing it to the student´s native cultures (good
show they are completely impartial and topics can be slang, lifestyle characteristics
have no preference to any one culture. and popular television shows).
Different nationalities will tend to have dif-
ferent pronunciation issues, so this might Exercise 76: Watch this video and
make it hard for some of your students to answer the questions.
understand each other. Make sure you do
not tolerate any form of ridicule. Any bul- http://www.teflvideos.com/now_showing.
lying behaviour is unacceptable. Show you php?idxvideo=90
disapprove and move on.
teflvideos.com j Speaking j Culture in
A possible problem could be the student’s the Classroom: A Halloween Lesson
different attitudes to learning and how they
behave in the classroom. If the class has ÂÂ What cultural topic is the teacher
both reserved and more outgoing students, presenting during her class?
it will be important to keep this in mind ÂÂ How does she present the topic?
when allocating groups for your students.
ÂÂ Based upon what you have learned
While typically quieter students might be this far in the topic, what would be a
perfectly happy just listening, students who good follow-up activity
are more confident and outgoing can feel

7
TEFL Unit 15

Unit 15: Teaching Young Learners
Teaching English to young learners is one Children learn by doing
of the most popular aspects of TEFL. Par-
ents are keen to invest in the future of their They require:
children, and being able to speak English
1. Physical involvement
is of huge benefit to them. In this course,
you will learn how to teach effective and en- 2. Use of their own creativity
gaging lessons to young learners from pre- 3. The use of senses, through songs,
school and primary-school aged children.
sounds and touch.
• This unit will teach you how to:
Lessons must be in the form of the way
• Distinguish the various language abili- they see the world.
ties of students of all ages
Children require:
• Motivate young learners in the class-
room 1. Relatable topics and activities (their
• Plan an effective lesson that is engag- immediate physical surroundings along
ing and enjoyable for young learners with their imagined fantasy world).
• Successfully manage a young learner 2. Realia and visuals to bring the lan-
in the classroom guage to life
• Use a variety of entertaining activities Children also require more direction from
in class the teacher.
Exercise 77: This requires:
The following video shows an English class. 1. More teacher talk time in order to
direct, encourage, ask, model and refor-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GtN- mulate.
j1GZLLI
2. More activities as a whole class,
(show first five minutes).
rather than pair work or group work.
Think about the following questions as you
Children must have a variety of short activ-
watch the video:
ities.
1. How do students know the rules of
behaviour in class? They:
2. Are the students involved? 1. Are unable to spend more than 5-10
3. Analyse the types of activities in minutes concentrating on one thing
the class. How does this make the class 2. Are unable to learn more than one
interesting for the students? or two sentences, or three to four words
4. How do students know what to do? at any one time.
3. Require varied energy levels from
Teaching Children:
activity to activity.
There are many differences between teach- Children have particular emotional needs.
ing young children and teaching adults.

2
They must: Frequent Movement in the Classroom:
Your students should not remain in their
1. Feel safe
seats for the entirety of any lesson. In fact,
2. Feel liked more than once, they should be up and
3. Feel encouraged moving.
In saying this, there should be a language
Exercise 78: From what you have just purpose to any activity carried out. The
learned, can you come up with any students should not be out of their seats
problems you may encounter during moving around purely for the sake of doing
so. Instead, you could have the students
the following activities when teaching jump to answer a question, race to a par-
young learners? In what way could ticular object in the classroom, or mingle to
they be made more effective? practice asking questions with each other.
1. A pig is drawn on the board, and the Variety of Movement: Alternative types
teacher says ‘This is a pig. This is repeat- of movement should be used in the class-
ed by the students. room.
2. Nine classroom objects are taught You can have students perform simple
to the students. The students repeat movements such as sit, stand, jump, lie,
these words in two activities for the remove certain body parts, walk, skip and run.
mainder of the lesson. They can pass objects to each other and
3. The students are put into groups physically interact.
instructed to talk about what they like Maintain a High Number of Interac-
and don’t like doing. tive Activities: Another important fea-
4. The students are read a story about ture of young learner lessons is to ensure
the history of the teacher´s home coun- the lesson is as interactive as possible. As
try. we know, children have very short atten-
5. The students must run to the board, tion spans. This means that their attention
and touch the correct picture after the will focus elsewhere if only one person is
teacher names an animal. They must speaking, especially if it´s the teacher. It is
then throw a ball to one another and important to keep instructions concise and
call another animal when the ball is exciting, so that the students can mimic
caught. and practice as often as possible. They will
most definitely begin to get restless if they
Maintaining the Enthusiasm of a Lesson: have nothing to do themselves.
One of the most important features of plan-
ning a lesson for young children is how you As we mentioned, children require more
are going to keep the students physically teacher talk time than adults. This is purely
active and involved. to model language, direct, encourage,
guide, and ask the students questions. It
Movement is a key aspect of any lesson for is important to remember to speak with a
young learners as it keeps them engages purpose. Plan and consider what you are
and alert. As children learn by doing, it is going to say before class, and remember to
important to keep a high level of physical keep it clear and concise.
activity, rather than sitting still and listen-
ing for a long period of time. Your students’ As a teacher, you will need to overcome
learning will be far more effective with the TTT (Teacher Talking Time) problems when
more activity your class contains. teaching young learners.

3
Development of language: 5. Using mostly accurate grammar
6. Capable of writing some letters
Having knowledge of the capabilities of stu-
dents of various ages is very useful. 7. Can tell basic time, and use words
such as ‘morning’
Below, you will find details regarding the
typical language development of children 8. Their pronunciation is intelligible
from their native language. This will give
you an idea, rather than facts, of the se- Six Years:
quence that occurs, as of course every child 1. Can tell a story
develops differently.
2. Capable of pronouncing most diffi-
A child´s environment is a major factor in cult consonants
what a three- or six- year old is capable of.
This depends on what practice opportuni- Seven Years:
ties they´ve had, as well as participation.
1. Can independently read simple texts
In general, the school you will work in will
2. Can write some sentences and
specify what their students should learn in
many words
each age, level, and class.
Eight Years:
Two Years:
1. Can accurately pronounce sounds
1. Can identify familiar objects 2. Can write some connected text in
2. Are capable of using personal pro- simple format
nouns (I, you, he, she etc). 3. Can produce complex sentences
Three-Four Years:
How to Motivate Young Learners:
1. Are capable of stating age and name
2. Can identify familiar objects
Exercise 79: Answer agree or disagree
3. Can understand simple questions to the following questions on motivat-
(may not always be able to answer
ing young learners.
them)
1. More encouragement is required for
4. Are capable of producing short sen-
less confident students.
tences
2. Students will not learn if they feel
5. Are able to use some past tense and
anxious in the class.
plurals (but may be confused by them)
3. The effectiveness of fun is lost over
6. Can comprehend rhyme
time.
Five Years:
1. Can count 1-10
2. Are capable of using adjectives
3. Are able to pronounce simple writ-
ten words
4. Start using more complex sentences

4
Showing Young Learners Encourage- that students must nice, helpful, and friend-
ment: As we have previously discussed, ly with one another, and must therefore
encouragement is required by all young never criticise others.
learners. When correcting young learners, you must
When students successfully complete a remember not to correct every little incor-
task or activity, or are doing well in their at- rect detail. Remember to sparingly correct
tempt, it is important to smile and praise major problems. Students benefit from and
them. You must ensure that you give equal appreciate some reformulation and correc-
encouragement to all students in the class tion, as long as you have a light approach,
and never compare them to one another! and that they are aware that the feedback
they are receiving is to help them.
Encouragement is also necessary when out-
side the classroom. Praise them in front of Creating an Entertaining Learning Environ-
other teachers and their parents, and have ment: Learning should be made interesting
their work displayed in areas that others and fun. This is absolutely possible to do.
can see it. In general, young learners are compelled to
come to English lessons. In saying this, it is
If your praise is insincere, it will lose all
still possible to keep the students interest-
credibility and impact for the students. You
ed in learning, so that they themselves also
should not, however, only praise when a
want to attend and enjoy their time there.
student gets something correct. Students
should be praised for making an effort. Make use of real objects, images, and sounds
in order to engage their curiosity. Engaging
Prizes and rewards are thoroughly enjoyed
their senses ensures they are active and in-
by children as part of competitive, fun ac-
terested. When showing images or pictures
tivities. A common reward scheme seen
to the students, reveal them at a slower
in classrooms is gold stars on the board
pace than normal to increase suspense
(or notice board) to teams or groups all
and excitement. You can also place ‘mys-
through the lesson. It is also important not
tery objects’ in a bag and have the students
to go overboard with prizes. Children will
feel them without looking. They must then
develop a sense that English is only inter-
guess what the objects are.
esting and bearable when winning prizes!
Be careful about giving sweets as prizes.
More and more children suffer from aller-
gies and you don’t want to cause a medical
emergency.
Establishing a Safe Environment: Many
educational organisations put more em-
phasis put on correct answers. Primary
school students can sometimes be unwill-
ing to participate in fear of saying an incor-
rect answer. It is important that you give a
clear understanding to students that they
can speak in class without fear. Make them
aware that no learner will be criticised for
being incorrect.
As you will have classroom rules laid out for
your class, you could also consider adding

5
Controlling a Class of Young portant to be patient with all students.
Children, however, require more time than
Learners:
adults to comprehend what it is you are
Maintaining Your Own Presence: saying to them. They also need more time
listen and to reply to any questions, and to
Once you establish authority in the class- begin and settle into a new activity. Young
room, your lessons will run a lot smoother. learners are far more susceptible to emo-
Creating a positive atmosphere is also key tional distress when exposed to impatient
here, so that the children remain positive people around them. It has a more serious
and encouraged. impact on their development and emo-
1. Clear Understanding of what should tions.
be done: Language is learnt at different rates by
Your students will become confused quite different children. It is often the case that
easily if you do not delivery clear, concise children and young learners go through a
instructions. As the activities you will be stage of silence (silent period stage) where
teaching the children will be new to them, they appear to be reluctant and incapable
they will find it more difficult to understand, of producing the language. Do not become
and therefore need clear direction. irritated or disheartened at the apparent
lack of development or responsiveness in
2. Controlling Difficult Behaviour: a student. It is most likely that it is uninten-
Young learner lessons often house unex- tionally done by the student.
pected and challenging behaviours that
you must learn to handle. Giving Instructions to Young Learn-
ers:
Remaining Relaxed and Patient:
Be Relaxed: In the same way as a parent, Stand: Before instructing students, be sure
teachers should implement a relaxed and to sit or stand in the same place every time.
calm authority. Children tend to follow suit The students unconsciously become aware
of teachers who act in this way. It is import- that you are about to give direction by
ant that you illustrate to the students that doing this.
you are confident and relaxed in your role. Signal: It is a good idea to use a signal to
Authority is seen from what you do not say grab the students´ attention (attention
just as much as with what you say. If your grabber), that they can then mimic after
class is getting loud and noisy, remaining you. Here are some suggestions you could
silent is as powerful as attempting to shout use as attention grabbers for your class:
over them. 3. Gesture ‘shh’ with one hand, while
Your stance and position must serve a raising the other arm
purpose in your classroom. This can be 4. Clap a rhythm
achieved by standing in the front of the
5. Place both hands on your head
class in the centre to give instructions. Sit-
ting close to students when reading a story, 6. Sing a simple tune
making use of facial expression (such as Don’t try to shout over noise. Use a signal.
shaking or nodding your head to illustrate
disapproval or approval) are also good Wait: Wait until you see every student
techniques. watching and mimicking you before moving
on with your lesson. This part is quite easy
Remain Patient: As you are aware, it is im-

6
to neglect, but is one of the most essential Also, it is inevitable that disruption will
stages. This ensures that you have obtained occur in a class if you go around the class
authority, and forces all the students to pay in seating order. Alternatively, you should
full attention when showing them what allow contribution from any student, or
they need to do. randomly choose students to take part or
answer. This keeps the attention of the stu-
Demonstration: Rather than explaining in
dents, and they will not feel omitted from
long complicated sentences, simply demon-
the class.
strate. You can make use of a small amount
of simple words, but they should only be Asking for Advice: Don’t be afraid to ask
used to give support to what you are doing for advice if you are having discipline prob-
visually. lems in class. You can either ask school
management or ask other teachers.
Stating the instructions to young learners
will almost always result in confusion. They Ask Management In your School: Learn how
will be unable to understand fully what you your school usually implements behaviour.
are explaining, and will lose interest and It is important that you find out how you
focus on the lesson. A good idea is to carry will be supported if you come into difficulty.
out a solo demonstration, then perform an Remember you are not expected to deal
example with one or more of the students with problems alone. You have the sup-
in the class. port of your school, which are more than
happy to assist and guide you to a suitable
Reasons Young Learners solution. It is often the case that school
Misbehave: management would rather be asked about
managing behaviour, rather than you cre-
Teaching young learners is a rewarding and ating your own rules and punishments.
pleasurable experience. In most cases, chil- Ask Other Teachers: Don´t be afraid to
dren behave well and try their best to do ask for advice. Ask local teachers how they
what you ask of them. In saying this, it does normally deal with difficult behaviours in
not come as a surprise to say that children their classroom. By doing this, you are also
will also use their endless energy levels to demonstrating to your colleagues that you
disrupt the class. There are two main rea- respect their experience and cultural ap-
sons why students misbehave in class. preciation.
Students do not understand what they are
being told to do. If students are unsure Rules and Rewards:
about what to do, they will divert their at- Rules: Have class rules and reward stu-
tention and do something else instead. dents for following them. Many classes
Always bear in mind that young learners have a behaviour contract on the wall.
must be shown what to do, rather than told When students misbehave, often just point-
what to do. ing to the appropriate part of the contract
Students have not got enough to do. This will have the desired effect. If a particular
can especially be seen when, for example, student continually misbehaves, then you
only one or two students in the class per- can draw up a personal behaviour contract
forming a task or speaking, and the remain- with this student. This step should always
der of the class are sitting still. This causes involve school management.
restlessness among the other student, who
therefore begin entertaining themselves Here is an example of a class behaviour
and getting distracted from the lesson. contract, which should be written at the be-

7
ginning of the course. Notice that it is writ- (i.e. rebuking the students while the rest
ten in the positive, rather than the negative. of the class watch). Just swiftly and quietly
ÂÂ Speak English as much as possible moving the misbehaving student to an al-
ternative place in the class, and continuing
ÂÂ Listen when your teacher is speaking with the lesson. They will take note of the
ÂÂ Keep your classroom tidy fact that the other students are having fun,
and will conclude that it is more rewarding
ÂÂ Be nice to other students if they cooperate rather than act out.
You should consider confirming with your
school before implementing classroom Lesson Aims:
rules. It is more than likely that they’ll see it
as a fantastic idea. In many English schools, It is imperative that lessons for any age
they already have rules such as these im- group, including young learners, contain
plemented in their classrooms. an aim. What students should be able to
With young learners, using a puppet can be achieve in the lesson should be planned
very effective. If you make them aware that beforehand, in the same way it should be
the puppet can only understand English, planned for what they should achieve by
and will get sad if they misbehave, you will the end of the course. Having an aim for
save a lot of time! the lesson means the amount of new lan-
guage introduced in one class is well con-
Be sure to enforce the classroom rules at
trolled by you. This is vital, as it will ensure
all times. If you begin to neglect them, you
you do not overload the children with new
will find it more difficult to resume author-
material. Remember that the students may
ity again.
not be capable of articulating what they’ve
learned, but their parents and school will
Rewards:
certainly want to know!
Using a rewards system for good behaviour
When teaching young children, there are
is much more effective than punishment
usually three main elements involved:
for bad behaviour. It is not recommended
to bribe the children with prizes and gifts. 1. Learning
Acknowledging good behaviour is far more 2. Revising
effective. This can be done, for example,
by giving stickers or stars to individual stu- 3. Practicing
dents or teams. Children may, for example,
An effective system is to draw 5 stars beside 4. Learn four colours
each students’ name on the board at the
5. Revise two sentences that can be
beginning of class. If students misbehave,
used with these words (‘What colour is
remove a star, but always give students
this?’ ‘It is...’)
the opportunity to win back stars by good
behaviour. Students with a low number of 6. Practice the words and sentences
stars get less game time than other stu- through various short activities
dents. A topic is also required for the lesson; i.e.
Separating Students: It is important not to ‘The Classroom’, ‘Animals’ or ‘Sports’. This
raise your voice if problems begin to occur. allows the children to link both new and re-
You should still show your discontent, but cycled language together, as well as making
in different ways. If a student is misbehav- the lesson meaningful and interesting for
ing, you should avoid giving them attention them.

8
More often than not, you will not be re- Ending the Lesson:
quired to create these topics and aims
Children also benefit from a standard rou-
yourself. Schools are mostly rigid in what
tine when ending the lesson. It could be
they want their young learners to learn and
something like:
be capable of. Most books use textbooks
designed for teaching children. • Books in bag
• Tidy desk
Young Learners Lesson Plan: • Goodbye song
Beginning the Lesson: Stirrers & Settlers
Always start class with a routine. In order There are two important things to keep in
to feel safe, children require routine and mind when teaching children:
boundaries. By beginning every class in a
1. They are unable to spend more
different way, you may unsettle the chil-
than 5-10 minutes concentrating on one
dren as it will be unexpected and exciting
activity
for them. This can cause their behaviour to
become difficult to manage. 2. There should be a mixture of activ-
ities that calm students (‘settlers’) and
• A routine could be: excite students (‘stirrers’) in any one
lesson
• Removing jackets
This can be achieved through simple les-
• Bag at their seat
sons comprised of cycles of 5 to 10-minute
• Stand to greet each other stirrers and settlers, although usually set-
tlers are longer than five minutes, while
• Sing ‘Hello’ song stirrers are shorter.
• Sit down By introducing new language at the begin-
• Attendance sheet ning of the lesson, you can reintroduce it
as part of an activity to ensure the students
Young learners thoroughly enjoy a ‘hello’ understand it.
song. You can write one yourself, use one Your final activity can then be used to assess
from the textbook you are using or find one whether the children are capable of using
online. both new and recycled language.
Exercise 80:
Divide the below activities into Settlers and Stirrers.
Story Time
Dictation
Simon Says
Drawing and Labelling
Writing a story

9
Action Games: Clapping, Race to board, ball
Songs (with actions)
Copying from the board
List making
Acting Out (Simple role plays)
Mingles: ‘Find your partner’, ‘Find someone who…’, ‘form groups’
Word Games (non-competitive)
Here is an example lesson plan for young learners. Notice how stirrer and settler activities
are interchanged and that settlers are longer than stirrers.
Stage Language Time
Opening routine • ‘Hello’ song 3 minutes
learn new words

Presentation • 5 minutes
practise new words

Stirrer • 5 minutes
practise new words

Settler • 5-10 minutes
reintroduce sentences
Stirrer • 5 minutes
(What’s that? That’s a …)
• practise new words

with sentences
practise new words

Settler • 5-10 minutes
with sentences
• Assess
if students can use all
the new and recycled
language.
Closing routine • ‘Goodbye’ Song 2 minutes

10
Exercise 81:
Review the lesson plan below regarding animals. Would you reorder the activities listed?
Stage Activity Time
Opening routine Hello Song 3 minutes
Presentation Elicit lion, tiger, monkey 5 minutes

(Vocabulary only) and giraffe from flashcards.
Stirrer Students draw the animals 5 minutes

on a poster, colour them
and label them
Settler Dictation – story about 5-10 minutes

jungle animals
Stirrer Show flashcards and 5 minutes

(Introduce ‘What is that? ask students “what is that?’,
That’s…’) students call out answer
“That’s a …”
Settler Board race – students run 5-10 minutes

to picture and call out
‘That’s (a lion)’.
Closing routine Goodbye Song 2 minutes
Phonics Teaching: or two sound-letter correspondences in

one lesson. They will get far too confused
We will now look into teaching phonics to if you attempt to teach more than that in
young learners. This entails teaching the one go.
sounds that are represented by letters, As you are aware, letters in English can rep-
rather than the names of the letters. For resent more than one sound (such as ‘C’ in
example, young learners learn the letter C ‘Cat’ and ‘City’). It is important to remember
as the first sound in ‘Cat’, not that it is called to teach one pronunciation at a time.
‘see’. It may be the case that students have
learned the names of the letters already. If sounds and letters are taught in words
What we are aiming to do is to assist them that are already familiar to the students,
with pronunciation and writing words and they will find it far easier to remember.
sentences. Taking the ‘c’ in ‘cat’, (pronounced /k/), you
could show the students a flashcard of a
Single-Letter Sounds: Remember not to cat, and model the /k/ – /kæt/ sound for
introduce young learners to more than one them. Then drill the /k/ sound individually

11
and as a class. When you can see the stu- Children need visuals or realia in order to
dents’ confidence increasing, you can then learn new words. Abstract concepts are
introduce two contrasting sound/letter cor- almost impossible for young learners to
respondences; such as the ‘b’ in ‘bat’ and ‘c’ handle. Allow the students to see a picture
in ‘cat’. of a banana and ask ‘What´s this?’. Slowly
When you have finished modelling and drill- revealing the picture to the class will in-
ing the sounds and words, carry out some crease their curiosity rather than showing
fun and meaningful activities to practice at normal speed.
what they´ve learned. This could be activ- Always try to elicit from students. Informing
ities such as filling in letters, or rearranging young learners, rather than asking them,
cut-up letters to form words. has more of a chance of causing them to
If you are teaching contrasting sounds, you become uninterested and disengaged. Chil-
could hold up flashcards of other words dren love figuring things out themselves,
beginning with either sound, say the word, and guessing answers. Where possible,
and have the students race each other to make everything a question for them to
the board to write the correct letter. think about and even guess.
Double-Letter Sounds: You can begin to Sentence Practice: Basic sentences and
teach double-letter sounds when you know structures are vital for young learners in
that the students are familiar and comfort- order to increase their ability and confi-
able enough with sounds of individual let- dence when they are attempting to com-
ters. These can be consonants (‘sh’, ‘ch’) or municate.
vowels (‘oy’, ‘ay’). Children are unable to comprehend ab-
You must remember to apply the same stract information regarding language.
principle, and remember to teach no more They need to see the meaning in real life,
than two letter combinations at any one rather than verbally being told its definition.
time. One possible pronunciation should
also be taught also. For example, then teaching plurals, instead
of explaining ‘When there is more than one
Give students plenty of practice after object, nouns need a plural ‘-s’’ you can
you´ve modelled and drilled the sounds.
demonstrate one object, then two and elicit
‘one lion’, ‘two lions’.
Teaching Vocabulary:
Below you will find some more examples
Children develop vocabulary at a rapid pace that you can allow students to learn and
and are always eager to learn new words. practice sentences.
Always teach sentences instead of single
• Hello, how are you?
words. I.e. “She is a teacher” and not just
“teacher”. Wave and smile to the students while saying
Children as young as three are capable of the greeting. Be sure to give a warm and
forming basic sentences. Many young EFL energetic delivery when greeting them. The
students only learn individual words, and children will pick up on this attitude, and
are then unable to express themselves cor- easily understand and respond.
rectly. • What is it?
It is advised to teach students short phrases
Students will find this question rather easy
or sentences either when first introducing
to understand in real life. This question
them to the vocabulary, or at some stage
can be used with many things such as flash
throughout the lesson.

12
cards, mimes, pictures and realia to elicit colours to the students. Repeat the ques-
vocabulary. Encourage the students to ask tion using three or four various colours,
each other, and you, when practicing vo- and prompt the students to answer. They
cabulary. can then practice by asking you and each
other colours of objects in class.
You will notice that they will apply this ques-
tion in every lesson. • What does he/she do?
It may become the case that your students Flashcards can be used to easily identify
over-generalise ‘What is it?’ and apply it occupations. Ensure that there is a mixture
when asking about people. You can teach of both men and women when using flash-
‘Who is it?’ by using pictures of familiar car- cards. This will not only avoid stereotyping,
toons or characters. but will also allow the students to practice
‘he’ and ‘she’ correctly.
• What´s your name?
• Past Simple
Students will need to learn this sentence
This can be elicited using a picture story.
early. Inform them of your name, and ask
them what theirs is. You must firstly establish that the story is
talking about something that has already
You can have the students ask you your
happened, by using ‘last weekend’, ‘yester-
name to help them with the meaning of
day’ etc.
the question. When answering, write your
name on the board so that they can visually You can then elicit what happened using
see what it is you are saying. each picture. Teach only a few past tense
forms to avoid confusion. These will be
You may have a traditional name to your slightly more difficult for students to learn,
own culture that may be too unfamiliar for so it is important not to overload them with
your students to recognise as a name. If too many difficult sentences. You would
this is the case, you could use puppets or instinctively begin with regular past tenses
toys and give them more familiar names to (‘-ed’) to demonstrate pattern, however the
the country you are teaching in. The pup- most common and useful verbs are all ir-
pets can ask each other their names, allow- regular!
ing the children to comprehend the ques- In groups, students can practice what
tion. Provide funny voices when using the they´ve learned. One student can mime
puppets to engage the children and add and ask the question, while the others
humour to your lesson! figure out the answer.
You can have the students practice this
question immediately by mingling and
asking each other ‘What´s your name?’.
• What colour is it?
Choose various objects in the room that are
the same colour, and say ‘The pen is yellow’
etc. Once you have shown the students var-
ious objects they will begin to comprehend
that you are describing the colour.
You can then introduce the question ‘What
colour is it?’, and answer it: ‘It´s yellow’. You
can then develop this and introduce more

13
Activities for Speaking: Taking colours, for example, the first child
must turn over the flash card and form a
The focus of every lesson is to get the chil- sentence, ‘I like blue. The next child must
dren speaking English. You should there- then turn over another card and continue
fore ensure that all activities involve actu- the sentence ‘I like blue and red.´. This is
ally speaking English and not silent games. continued until every child has turned a
For example, popular games as they may card over and added to the sentence. Make
be, chess and checkers are not very useful sure there is an aim to the game, such as
in the language classroom! Ćan the class get to ten words?’. Other-
wise the class will feel meaningless to the
Every time a new word is taught, ensure
children.
to give every child the chance to say them
both as a class and individually. Allow them Drills, rhymes and chants: Make use of
to then practice this language orally in pairs, these exercises during class time to ensure
as a class, or in groups. everyone chanting and clapping in unison.
You can also sing or play instruments to
Below are some ideas for activities to get
put them to music and create songs with
the students speaking and practicing the
the class.
language.
For example:
Throwing a ball: Organise the children to
sit in a circle throwing a ball to one another. Have you got a pencil?
As one student throws the ball to another,
the catcher must say a target word or struc- Have you got a pencil?
ture, then throw the ball on to someone
else and repeat the process. Yes, here you are.
This will be a more effective game if you get Yes, here you are.
the students to also interact with each other.
This can be done by having the thrower say Have you got a sharpener?
the name of the catcher, or ask them a spe-
Have you got a sharpener?
cific question that they then must answer
before throwing to someone else. Yes, here you are.
Fill in the gaps: Have the students com-
Yes, here you are.
plete the gaps while you are telling a story
or giving continuous commentary. Make Etc.
use of realia or pictures to elicit the missing
information from the students.
For example: Show a picture of 2 dogs and
another of 2 cats. “I like _______ and ______”. Exercise 82:
To create a more fun atmosphere to keep Watch the following videos and answer the
the students interested, you can use exag- question.
gerated pauses.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkWK-
Adding Words: For this activity, students
85Lsoqs
are required to remember all the previous
words in a list and add a word of their own Why is this a suitable class for young learn-
to the list. ers?

14
TEFL Unit 16

Unit 16: Teaching Business English
Watch the following video and answer the Who has an interest in learning Business
questions. What difference do you see be- English?
tween a Business English class and a Gener- Some students are self-motivated to find
al English class? Are there any similarities? Business English classes themselves.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0b- Others have English classes provided by
vqKT754M their employer.
What do students want to learn?

Understanding Business English
This varies from student to student. Some
English is dominant as the international
business students may simply want to im-
language of business. Whenever people of
prove their social English so that they can
different nationalities meet for business,
interact more freely and confidently with
they usually speak English! Many multi-na-
clients. An executive of a company may be
tional companies default to using English
required to negotiate contracts or give pre-
as the internal language of communication.
sentations in English. Staff members may
For example, some French multi-nationals,
need to order and make enquiries via email
having meeting with only French people,
through English. The learning outcome of
overlooking the Eiffel Tower, hold their
these students will therefore vary.
meetings in English!
It is vital, therefore, that you identify the
Many companies will not hire employees
particular needs of each student. It is not
with less than B2 English. Having said that,
always the case that you will be provided
many workers still need language training.
with a programme stating what should
The demand is huge!
be taught. Either way, it is crucial that you
conduct a survey for the students to es-
tablish the reason they need to learn En-
glish. This should be done at the beginning
of the course, so that you can determine
what they will use the English for. You can
also assess students to identify particular
strengths and weaknesses of each individ-
ually.
Exercise 95:
Think of many possible objectives a student
of business English might have.
Students are frequently familiar with tech-
nical and professional terms linked with
their occupation. What they mostly require
help with is learning how to use them both

2
in writing and in speech. can sometimes create difficult situa-
tions when students are asked to share
How do Business students feel about their
personal opinions on topics related to
study? Some business English students are working in the company. You certainly
highly motivated. This is especially appar- won’t be able to have your students fill
ent if they are able to directly apply what in the fun questionnaire evaluating their
they´ve learned to their job. Due to de- boss!
manding job roles, some students may find b. Often, the course is being paid for
it difficult allocating time for homework and by the company, and employees are
classes. obliged to attend. They may be demoti-
vated and treat it as ‘free time’ and just
Some students are forced to go to English
want to chat in English.
classes by their employer. In this case, their
motivation may not be high. They may just c. If their previous experience of learn-
want to chat in class, but you should spend ing English was at school, they may have
difficulty adapting to the Communicative
at least 50% of the class following the class
method. School language learning in the
objectives as set out by human resources. past usually consisted of large, mixed
It is also important to also remember that a level groups doing gap-fills and dicta-
classroom learning setting where they are tion. It might take a bit of time to have
no longer in charge can also make the most them accept that games and role-plays
can be even more educational.
senior student feel anxious and nervous!
d. Learners coping with a high-pres-
Where can I find teaching material that sure job may find it challenging to con-
is appropriate? There is a huge range of centrate in class.
teaching resources with regards to EFL. By
e. When teaching in a company, you
searching EFL publishers online or the EFL may witness interruptions and demands
section of larger book shops, you can find from work colleagues. Students then
an endless supply of material for any level may have irregular attendance.
or topic.
Exercise 97:
Exercise 96: How should an English teacher deal with
True or False. Explain your answer: these problems?
1. To be a Business English teacher Teaching Communication

you must have a profound knowledge of
business Having knowledge of concepts, grammar
and vocabulary does not mean that you are
2. Authentic, real-life material, such as fully able to communicate. Generally speak-
material from your students’ workplac ing, students need to develop their commu-
should be used rather than a textbook. nication skills. They may have studied En-
glish for years in school, but are still unable
Challenges: to interact successfully in the real world.
Here are some common challenges faced Your job as a teacher is to encourage and
by students: motivate your students to be enabled to
a. You may have a class mixed with communicate effectively through oral prac-
junior and senior members of staff. This tice and writing practice.

3
One of the biggest difficulties with English Teaching Functions:
Business classes that you may encounter is
that some of your students may be unfamil- Here are some examples of when function-
iar with a classroom environment in which al language would be used:
they are expected to use only English. They • Making requests
may, therefore, risk feeling embarrassed in
• Agreeing and disagreeing
front of other colleagues.
• Introducing people
You will come across studenst who insist on
speaking L1 as much as possible. A “swear • Interrupting
jar” approach can solve this problem, with • Apologising
coffees and cake at the month-end paid by
• Making suggestions
the pot.
• Offering
Speaking Activities: Some speaking activ-
ities which can be incorporated into the This refers to how you use the language to
Business English classroom include role- do things in the real world.
plays, restaurant dialogues, debates, dis- There are various set phrases that are used
cussions, simulated telephone calls, sur-
when expressing functions, known as func-
veys, presentations and meetings.
tional formulas. When introducing some-
It is best to avoid childish activities such as one, for example, you would normally say
singing or playing hangman! But, having ‘I’d like to introduce...’ or ‘This is...’.
said that, business students will respond to
fun and games as much as any other type To disagree with a statement, you might
of student. ENGLISH use ‘I see your point, but...’ or ‘Yes, but don’t
you think...’.
Writing Activities
When interrupting, you might say: “Excuse
Having the ability to confidently express me for interrupting, but perhaps….”
yourself in writing is one of the most essen-
You might apologise by saying “I do apolo-
tial skills required by people with a career
in business. It is important to regularly chal- gise”.
lenge your Business English students with It is important that your students learn the
genuine writing activities. normal way in which people say things so
You decide whether writing activities are that they sound natural. Saying “I want...”
set as homework or to be completed in- or “I disagree” convey meaning but could
class. You can usually judge by the amount sound rude in English. You are almost guar-
of time it is expected to take to complete. If anteed to hear a Spanish person say: “I am
you feel your students have too much pres- not agree.” This is a direct translation from
sure from work and not enough free time, Spanish.
you may want to consider in-class writing
Formal vs Informal language: Students
activities.
must be aware of the register of language
Exercise 98: they are using. Using informal language in
a business situation could sound strange
Writing a presentation is an example of a
or even cause offense. Also, being overly
business writing activity. What other ex-
amples of writing activities specifically for formal with colleagues is not recommend-
learning Business English can you think of? ed either!

4
Exercise 99:
Write a formal and informal phrase for each function in the table below.
Formal Informal
Interrupting
Apologising
Requesting
Offering
Making suggestions
Disagreeing
Agreeing
Giving opinion
The PPP Model Begin the activity with a controlled practice

activity (pair dialogue), continue on to a
We have already seen the PPP model of semi-controlled practice activity (same dia-
language teaching and learning. It is equal- logue, but this time allow students to alter
ly applicable for teaching Business English. parts of the information), and complete
Here is a brief revision. with a free practice activity. The aim of the
1. Presentation – Students learn the free practice activity is to mimic real -life
new language. High level of teacher talk scenarios and situations.
time. 2. Open-Ended Questions:
2. Practice – The language is practiced It is important for business people to build
mechanically by the students until they
relationships with co-workers, customers,
are correct and confident. More student
and clients. Your students must become
talk time.
familiar and comfortable with asking prac-
3. Production – Students meaningfully tical open (or ‘wh’) questions. This ensures
use the language in life-like situations. the students are creating a foundation of
Low teacher talk time and high student relationship where necessary in their occu-
talk time.
pation.
Activities to Practice Speaking Examples of open-ended questions could
How to approach designing activities for include:
students that can get them practicing a. What do you like most about your
speaking.
job/boss?
1. Staging: Teaching speaking and writ-
b. How do you deal with work-related
ing for business English can be taught
in the same sequence of stages as for a stress?
General English class. c. Why are you working in this sector?

5
All of these questions avoid a yes/no answer 4. Role Play: This can be a highly ef-
and generate conversation. fective and motivating free practice for
students, as it imitates real life.
Some ideas for working with ‘wh’ questions
include: Role plays consist of students playing a
specific part. This type of activity has been
• Providing the answer to the students,
proven to be quite versatile. You are also
whereby they must provide the question
not restricted to two people in this form
• Jumbling the words in a sentence, and of activity, and can add more people in to
students must rearrange them for a
make it more dynamic.
word order activity
Here are some examples.
3. Elicit and Practice
1. XYZ Ltd.
Elicit various questions from the students,
model them, and drill them. You can then Situation:
perform a group question and answer drill. XYZ limited is a multi-million company that
This occurs when student A asks student B has been accused of selling its product to
a question. Student B must answer and ask a country under UN sanctions. The size of
student C the same question. This provides business generated is huge, amounting to
controlled practice for the students when 30% of company sales. However, a lot of
asking the question. negative publicity has been generated over
the issue with social media campaigns call-
You can also perform a mill drill as another ing for a boycott of the all the company’s
method of controlled practice. Each student products. The company stock price has
has one question to ask the other students. fallen 7% over the last 2 weeks and analysts
Students can also record these answers, say that it is because of this controversial
and turn the activity into a survey. issue.
Students can transfer the information Student A:
they´ve gathered into a graph or chart and You are the company´s financial director.
present it to the rest of the class. This would You believe the company cannot afford to
be an advanced form of the activity. stop selling to the country, especially as the
stock price of the company will plummet if
there are losses this year instead of profits.
Prepare your arguments for continuing to
sell to this country.
Student B:
You are the marketing Manager for this
company. It is your opinion that the this is
a catastrophic situation for the company to
be in. The other 70% of company activity is
under threat and already a leading football
club have cancelled a sponsorship agree-
ment with us. Prepare your arguments for
stopping to sell to this country.
2. Working Conditions meeting:

6
Situation: ÂÂ Setting the scenario: Flower Power
LTD, a UK company selling oriental
There is a meeting between the Finance Di-
herbal remedies. They want to expand
rector, the Hr Manager and the Trade Union into continental European markets.
shop steward to avoid a possible strike over
ÂÂ Watching video presentations or lis-
working conditions.
tening to oral presentations on various
The shop steward is threatening strike possible markets
action unless there is an across the board ÂÂ Writing a report to the Board of
pay rise of 8%, an additional 2 days of holi- Directors outlining and giving details of
days every year and guaranteed promotion the proposed action
after 5 years working in the company. This, 6. Games
she says, is to bring the pay scale in line
with international norms. Games are a fantastic way for your students
to practice language in the classroom.
The FD thinks that this would cost the com-
pany $1 million a year, which the company No matter what age or position language
can’t afford, unless they cut pension pay- students may be, they all enjoy games!
ments by 10%. They benefit hugely from this as it reduces
stress and anxiety in the classroom envi-
The HR director thinks that current working ronment, and increases their fluency. With
conditions are perfectly in line with current that being said, professional adult learners
norms. Also, she thinks that it is impossible need to know that there is a purpose to the
to give automatic promotion to employees game they are participating in. You should
as only the most competent can be pro- consider giving the game a business-relat-
moted. She is however open to the possi- ed title or context. Introducing the game as
bility of a small pay rise based on longevity ´Let´s practice...!’ rather than ‘Let´s play a
in the company. game.
5. Case Studies
In general, Business English students, but
The case study is another typical business especially high-level executives will not be
activity that can also be formed through overly inclined to play games that involve
role plays. physical movement.
Various lessons can be based on case stud- Business Games Ideas: Some Business En-
ies. glish books will include a board game that
Usually there is a series of initial informa- can be played with a dice and counters.
tion given about a company, along with a Other ideas of board games include:
specified situation. This will be followed by 1. Word matches – Using business
a sequence of activities working through a vocabulary and definitions. This can be
situation or solving a particular problem. done in pairs or on worksheets
The activities are usually a mixture of read- 2. Word dominos
ing, listening, writing and speaking. 3. Business bingo
For example: 4. Crosswords or Word searches
ÂÂ Reading the relevant background 5. Quizzes
information about the company

7
Teaching Reading and Writing When finding texts for your students,
ensure they are current and relevant to
There are rather strict conventions as to
them. Include a wide range of topics and
how text is organised and how language
genres in your resources. Alternatively, you
forms are used with regard to genres of
can ask the class to find texts they are in-
business writing. These are items such as
terested in and to bring them into class for
linking words, grammatical structures and
discussion.
set phrases.
Informal writing would include the word Exercise 100:
“because” quite frequently but a formal What texts could be interesting and moti-
business letter would use the word “there- vating for students?
fore”. Also, a formal letter might include a
• Engage the Students with the Topic
phrase such as “It is my unfortunate task to
communicate to you that….”. Rarely, if ever Although Business English classes deal with
would that phrase be used in other con- technical topics, with a more serious pur-
texts. pose, this does not mean that your Busi-
ness English classes should or need to be
A formal business letter in English, for ex-
boring!
ample, is usually divided into structured
paragraphs, At the top of the email, there is When reading texts with your students, it
an address and date, and it typically begins is important that they feel that the materi-
with ‘Dear Sir/Madam’, not ‘Hello’ or ‘Hi’. It al they are reading directly relates to their
must finish with either “Yours sincerely” or professional lives and interests. You must
“Yours faithfully”. therefore engage them with the texts you,
or they, have chosen.
Using a model as an example of the real
thing is a highly effective approach as the As with any type of language class, the
overall foundation of your lesson. topic should be introduced to the students
before seeing any text. You can have stu-
Students are required to: dents brainstorm in groups, or as a class,
1. Read and understand the model what they know about the topic; and use vi-
suals to keep a heightened interest among
2. Analyse the language used and the
organisation of text seen in the model the lesson.
3. Participate in a controlled activity If the class is about branding, then show

– This ensures they are capable of accu- them famous brands and see if they can
rately producing the features required. identify the brand. Creating this interest
This could be achieved by correcting and engagement means that the students
wrong word choice and paragraphing, are prepared and are interested to read the
or doing a gap fill exercise). text.
4. Give the students a situation and Make use of Real Tasks along with Texts:
have them compose a complete text.
Imagine the way in which the particular
Creating Motivation in Reading text would be used in real life. If the text is
about advertising, then you could ask stu-
Choosing interesting texts is the best way dents to design an advertisement. Or of the
to get your students involved in reading.

8
text relates to human resources and moti- Multiple Meanings
vation, have a class discussion about what
One of the biggest difficulties with learning
motivates students in class.
vocabulary that business English learners
Resources have is when they come across words that
contain more than one meaning.
Professional journals, and of course the in-
Take, for example, the word ‘bank’. This in
ternet, are excellent sources of information
the real world refers to the side of a river
from a variety of things for job specific lan-
but, in the business world, however, it
guage. In most business language schools, refers to a financial institution.
they will have a wide selection of material
available for teaching Business and Profes- Learners with an advanced level of English
can normally understand the meaning of
sional English, including vocabulary lists,
the word from the context it is used in. This
role play activities, and monolingual dictio-
can be quite the challenge for students of a
naries.
lower level.
Don’t explain both meanings at the same
Business Collocations
time as this will cause confusion. As stu-
Collocations refer to the way in which words dents come across new uses, you can then
are put together and combined. For effec- explain to them the different meanings.
tive communication, it is important that
students learn which combination of words Business Phrasal Verbs:
sound natural in everyday language.
Phrasal verbs are very commonly used in
For example, we speak about the rising spoken Business English. These can often
cost of living. A student speaking about the cause difficulties for students, as most of
growing cost of living would be understood, the time it is almost impossible to figure
but sound strange. out the meaning of their parts.
Other examples of business collocations They are verbs that contain two (or some-
(among hundreds, if not thousands!) in- times three) words such as:
clude: • Come across (find unexpectedly)
Business trip; market share; product launch. • Set up (organise)
Exercise 101: • Shop around (compare prices)
How many collocations can you think of Exercise 103:

using the word price? How many phrasal verbs can you find using
Price rise; price range; reasonable price; the word “check”?
selling price; half price; cut prices; a price
slump; consumer price index; competitive
Culture:
prices; price something at; etc etc. There One of the most hugely relevant and crit-
are many more! ical issues relating to business English is
cross-cultural communication. This is due
Exercise 102: to the fact that the purpose for students
Write down 10 collocations using the word learning business English is to communi-
cost? cate successfully across borders.

9
The common view is that the role of busi- Business English teacher
ness English is not to teach facts regard- behaviour:
ing different cultures. However, language
learners must be aware of subjects that When teaching business English in-compa-
should not be broached. ny, it is important that you are in their offic-
es, not your classrooms. As such, you have
Take, for example, a student with the inten- to respect their rules, always!
tion of working in Ireland or the US. Which
1. Punctuality: The English teacher
of the following questions would be suit-
always arrives on time for class, regard-
able to ask upon meeting a new contact?
less of the culture they are working in.
a. Who do you work for? While some cultures are renowned for
b. Have you worked anywhere else? their lack of punctuality, this doesn’t
apply to English classes. Late-arriving
c. What do you do on weekends?
teachers will soon receive complaints.
d. What did you study? In any case, it is in your interests to
e. What’s the weather going to be like? arrive on time. You need to get to your
next class, so you have to finish your
f. How old are you? class on time. Also, if you get into the
g. What weight are you? habit of starting class whenever your
h. How much money do you earn? students wander in, you will find your
classes starting later and later, and you
i. How expensive was your house? losing more and more time.
j. Who do you vote for? 2. Dress code: You probably won’t be
Anglo-phone culture would generally con- expected to dress in formal business
sider questions a) to e) as being acceptable suits for your classes, but you should
dress to a minimum of smart-casu-
and f) to j) as intrusive. Although, interest-
al. Trousers or skirt or dress, shirt or
ingly, question h) is taboo in the UK and Ire-
blouse and shoes is the bare minimum.
land, for example, but is somewhat accept-
Under no circumstances should you
able in the United States. Depending on the wear trainers, tracksuits, t-shirts, flip-
nationality of your students, you may get flops, mini-skirts or overly revealing
some surprising answers. Don’t assume clothes.
that all cultures hold the same values.

10
3. Personal Hygiene: Teachers should 5. Confidentiality: You may find your-
dress cleanly and be showered with self waiting alone for students to arrive,
nails cut and teeth cleaned. either in a classroom or office. Do not
take things from bookshelves! Do not
4. Reception/security: Most companies open documents or files that are on a
have reception or security where you desk or table. Do not open filing cabi-
have to sign-in before getting to your nets. Do not open drawers. Respect the
classroom. All companies are different. confidentiality of any files, books or doc-
Sometimes a cheery wave to reception uments that you might come across.
will get you through, whereas other
companies insist on showing passport
id, with electronic pass cards and turn- Look at the following video from the Cam-
stiles. The key point is to always respect
bridge BEC Higher exam. It is a Business En-
the security norms of each company.
Never, ever try to skip through security! glish exam. The level is C1 Advanced.
You might find yourself rugby tackled by https://www.youtube.com
security and your school losing the con- watch?v=tLkURYUnLWE
tract! If it takes 5 minutes to get through
reception before class, then make sure
you arrive early enough so that you are
at class at the start time.

11
TEFL Unit 17

Unit 17: Teaching Individual 1-1 Classes
Introduction: and the student cannot or will not inscribe
for a term-long or year-long course.
Most of the techniques learnt already in the
course are applicable to individual classes
also. However, there are some differences. The Advantages of One-to-One
For example, you can’t do mingles in an in- Lessons
dividual class. You can still do pair-work; it
Flexibility: Due to work or study pressures,
is essential! But, you the teacher will be half
students may not be able to have classes
of the pair.
at the same time every week. A degree of
All language schools offer the option of in- flexibility is required with regard to timeta-
dividual classes, although they are more ble. We say a degree! Neither can a teacher
expensive that group classes. In corporate be expected to be sitting idle all week, on
classes, very often high-level executives will the off-chance that their student will want
have individual classes, instead of sharing a a class. Students sometimes complain to
class with their subordinates. schools that their teacher keeps changing,
Don’t assume that the classes will be pres- unaware that it their constantly shifting
encial either. Telephone and Skype classes timetable that is the cause!
are becoming quite common also. These Motivation: Individual students are usually
classes are almost always 1-1 classes. quite motivated as they are willing to pay
more for their English classes. Corporate
Exercise 104: 1-1 classes usually produce motivated stu-
Watch the first 5 minutes of this video. Can dents as they are managers or executives,
you see any similarities and differences be- who don’t rise to that level unless they are
tween individual classes and group classes? highly motivated.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_ Objectives: The teacher has to mould the

0ba7j_VGo contents of the class to meet the needs and
expectations of the student. There may be a
Why do students want individual class- syllabus to follow, especially if it is an exam
es? preparation class. But, usually, part of the
first class of an individual class will consist
There are many reasons why students may of carrying out a needs analysis sheet to
want 1-1 classes. identify what the student wants to do in
• The timetable of the student may not class. If the student is willing to pay, then a
make it easy to join a group. For exam- suitable textbook should be assigned to the
ple, they may travel a lot and so need course. The teacher then must find supple-
flexibility of timetable. mental material to make the class as inter-
esting and focussed as possible.
• The student may be self-conscious of
speaking English in front of others. Pace: In group classes, the teacher has to
move the class at a pace that is average for
• Perhaps the focus of the class is very the class. Some students will find the class
specific. The student may be studying a little slow, some a little fast and some at
one of the less popular (in Spain, anyway!) the right pace. In an individual class, the
exams, such as the IELTS. teacher follows the pace of the student. If
• It may be a short course of 15-20 hours the student understand a point already,
you can skip over it quickly. If the student is

2
having difficulty, then the teacher can focus much more intense. The teacher has to
the class on that point until the student un- speak more than normal, act out role-plays
derstands. with the student and there is no relative
The student can ask as many questions as down time during practice activities like
they like, which is not possible in a group. there is in a group class. It is important to
In a group situation, a student asking too take advantage of listening exercises and
many questions could annoy the other stu- writing exercises to take a break during the
dents. class.
Error Correction: The student has the full Motivation: A demotivated student in a
dedication of the teacher with regard to group is relatively easy to ignore. Organise
error correction. In a group situation, a stu- pair and group activities s they are obliged
dent will have a smaller proportion of their to participate. It’s a different story in an indi-
errors corrected compared to a 1-1 class. vidual class. You could be with a rebellious
That doesn’t mean that you correct all errors teenager who doesn’t want to be there and
of an individual student. You don’t want to is forced by their parents to attend. It is
destroy their confidence by over-correct- possible that an employee has been forced
ing. But any repeated errors will not slip to attend by their boss. All you can do is
through unnoticed as they might do in a make the class as interesting as possible
group context. and report the problem to your school.
Personality clash: It can occassionaly
Disadvantages of One-to-One happen that you don’t like your student
Lessons: or vice-versa. The student may have views
Less variety of Activities: There are group that you don’t agree with or it may just be
activities that cannot be done in a one-to- that conversation just doesn’t flow easily.
one situation. Group activities and mingles Assuming that there is not a strong dislike
are impossible. This means that it is easier between student and teacher, structure the
for a class to become boring as the teacher class with interesting and diverse activities,
is repeating the same type of activity. You, following PPP principles, and give the most
the teacher needs to be creative with their professional class you can. On very rare oc-
class activities. Play games, watch videos, casions, if you cannot continue the class,
role play with you taking one of the roles. explain the issue to your school and ask to
Planning is important with individual class- change.
es. It is very easy for the class to descend
into a chat, with no structured activities.
This is the quick slipperly slope to losing a
class.
There is no problem in having silences in
your one student class when your student
is doing a writing or gap-fill exercise for ex-
ample. Give the student a time-limit for the
exercise and sit quietly until the time is up
or the exercise finished. Don’t put pressure
on your student or make them feel that
they are under pressure.
It´s tiring: Teachers have to put in more
effort in one-to-one lessons as they are

3
Freelancing: General English? Business English? Exam
preparation? Perhaps a student wants to
If you decide to strike out on your own and
only improve their conversation skills. It is
get your own private clients, you will have
possible that they want to improve their
to become a freelance teacher. Practically
grammar and writing only.
all of your classes will be individual classes
as it is very rare to have group classes. So, Level Test: You cannot begin to prepare
you will be on your own, without the sup- classes without knowing the level of English
port and resources of a school to help you. the student has. In the first class, you will
need to give the student a grammar test
Don’t strike out on your own until you have
to identify their level of English structures.
at least 2 years’ experience in a school
You will also need to give an oral level test to
under your belt. You need the support and
identify their speaking skills. You may also
resources of a language school until you
play some short audios of different levels
learn the ropes.
to see at what level their listening skills are
Never, ever take students from the lan- at. -Many teachers bring a copy of an offi-
guage school you are working in. If the cial exam with them to the first class as a
school finds out, you will lose your job. You guide to identifying level.
must respect that the client is not yours,
Materials: It is always recommended that
they belong to the school and you are an
the student buys a course text book. Your
employee of the school.
student may refuse, in which case you will
Don’t start taking classes in the same area have to prepare material yourself and do
as the school you work in. You are not steal- photocopies.
ing clients from the school, but you are set-
ting yourself up as competition! You will Possible Locations of Individual
most probably lose your job if the school classes:
finds out. If you are working freelance you will need
Needs Analysis: In the first class, you will to make some decisions about where you
need to identify the objectives of the stu- will teach your lessons. The possibilities in-
dent. Why do they want to learn English? Do clude:
they use English currently? Is the objective • Your home
• Your student’s home
• A private office
• A public place, e.g. a café
Exercise 105:
Identify the advantages and disadvantages
of giving individual classes in each of the
following locations:
a. Your home
b. Your student’s home
c. A private office
d. A bar or café

4
Advantages Disadvantages
Your home
Your student’s home
A private office
A bar or cafe
Class Rules: It is important to set ground At the beginning of the course, include it
rules when you start with an individual stu- in the class rules. If it happens more than
dent. once, have a quiet chat with the student
Class Cancellations: With group class, can- saying that classes have to start on time.
cellations are very rare, as at least one stu- Of course, all the above is supposing that
dent will always be present. One-one stu-
you, the teacher, are always punctual. If you
dents are notorious for cancelling classes If
this happens, then the teacher doesn’t earn arrive late for classes, you have to make
any money! Most freelance students pay in up the time with the student and you can’t
cash at the end of each class, so if there is complain when the student arrives late.
no class, then the teacher doesn’t get paid. Homework: At the beginning of the course,
Exercise 106: ask the student will they have time to do
homework, and if so, how much time.
What can a teacher do to maintain their
Adapt your lesson plans and syllabus for
income when there are class cancellations?
the amount of homework, if any, the stu-
Always keep an attendance sheet for each dent can do.
student. This record will help you when you
are speaking to the student about their at- If you find that although you have agreed
tendance. a certain level of homework but, the stu-
dent is not doing homework then speak
Punctuality: Some students will regularly
arrive late to class and then expect the class to the student about not giving homework
to run over time to make up for the late anymore. Of course, you must tell the stu-
start. Do not allow this. Tell the student that dent that this will slow down their progress.
you have another class or appointment. If If it an exam preparation class, not doing
you allow students to arrive late and still homework could delay the proposed exam
get their full class, then you will find classes date.
are starting later and later all the time. So,
you may be using up 2 hours of your limit- If your individual student is a child or teen-
ed timetable to earn for only 90 minutes of ager, then speak to their parents about
teaching. them not doing homework.

5
Personal Safety: Never go to a person’s It is very easy to make a phone call not ac-
home or office without first meeting them cepting the class.
in a public place. Arrange to meet in a bar If you ever experience rudeness or aggres-
or other public place to speak about cost, sion, then feel perfectly free to walk out and
conditions etc. If for any reason you feel un- not return. Your personal safety is of par-
comfortable with the student, then do not amount importance! If a student is under
accept the class. Even if you feel ok with the the influence of alcohol or other drugs, the
student, check them out on social media to make a decision as to whether or not you
make sure there is nothing strange there. want to continue with the class.

6
TEFL Unit 18

Unit 18: Teaching Teenagers
Some teachers adore teaching teenagers friends by acting up. Bullying can be a prob-
for the energy and dynamism of youth. lem with teenagers. There is zero tolerance
Others absolutely quake and blanche at of bullying. We will look at these issues later
the very thought of it. Very often we think on in the course.
of teenagers in only negative terms: “rebel- Differences between Adult Learners and
lious” and “cheeky” come to mind. Teenage Learners: As already mentioned,
But that is focusing on the negative. Equal- adults are usually much more self-motivat-
ly we could say: “open minded”, “fun”, or ed than teenagers. They have opinions as to
“creative”. Remember, you as their teacher the learning process and teaching methods
can be an inspiration to them and motivate being used. They can find by themselves
them to learn to love English and perform the method of study and learning that best
well in language exams. suits them.
Teenagers are usually there because their
Exercise 107:
parents make them be there, so their mo-
Watch this video of a class to teenagers. tivation can be low. The classes have to
What stages of the class do you see? be dynamic and interactive so they want
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C- to attend. Having said that, compared to
Jp-bFuZlmg adults, they need to be guided and helped
more in their learning.
Minutes 15:40 to 18:50 Teenagers can cause discipline issue in
class, whereas it is very rare with adults. We
Teenage Profiles: Psychologists divide will look more closely at discipline issues
teenagers into three groups. later, but suffice to say that the teacher
needs to be the authority figure in the class,
Young Teenagers (approx. 12-14 years of
while being friendly and approachable.
age)
Adults are generally more focused on using
Middle Teenagers (approx. 14-17 years of
structures correctly. They want to study
age)
and learn the structures and apply them in
Late Teenagers (approx. 17-19 years of age) speaking and writing. Teenagers are gener-
Late teenagers are generally treated as ally more concerned with communicating
adults for the purpose of language learn- successfully regardless of the accuracy of
ing. They may be working or studying at structure used.
university while also learning English. They Gender Issues: Girls and boys mature at dif-
are usually independent learners and quite ferent rates. For example, the female brain
self-motivated. matures at the age of 22 but the male brain
Young teenagers still need quite a bit of at 30. Correspondingly the female brain is
help with tasks and activities in the lan- said to be half way mature at the age of 12,
guage classroom. Middle teenagers are whereas the male one reaches the same
more independent and need less help. stage at 15.
Young and mid teenagers are more sensi- When feeling stressed, girls tend to speak to
tive to peer opinion than to teacher opin- each other about it. Boys on the other hand
ion. This can cause problems in the class- tend to use the fight or flight response.
room, with students trying to impress their All of the above will help you the teacher

2
understand why students are behaving the to use authentic materials such as maga-
way they are. This doesn’t mean that you zine and newspaper articles, videos and
should treat students differently because websites etc. It also means that the teach-
of their gender. Treat students the same. er has to spend a bit more time preparing
Give them the same exercises and activities classes, but it is fundamental to managing
as per level. Always treat the students as classes with teenagers.
individuals. Get to know them and you will
Popular brands: are very motivating for
be a long way towards understanding them
teenage students. Soft drinks, cars and
and their reactions.
fashion brands are usually very well known.
Use these brands when covering the rele-
Teenagers and Technology
vant topics in class. For example, you might
Teenagers react well to the use of technolo- show the students the brand of a Ferrari
gy in class. Teachers should us it intelligent- and of a Mini. You might ask the student
ly with language learning in mind, and not to describe the type of person who would
just for the sake of using technology. buy each type of car. Or for a class based
Sometimes technology goes wrong so you on fashion, showing the brand of Zara and
should always have a traditional lesson Chanel and have the students carry out ac-
plan up your sleeve as a backup. Asking tivities analysing the differences between
your students for help with technology gets the brands.
them involved and gives them responsibil- Music: Teenagers will always react positive-
ity. ly to modern songs used in the classroom.
Technology can (and often seems to) go Students listen to the song and complete
wrong, so it is best to always be prepared a gap-fill exercise. A teacher should find a
with a technology-free lesson plan up your song that is connected to what the students
sleeve. are studying currently. Always be careful
with the language of songs. Unfortunately,
Asking students to recommend websites or many songs are full of slang, grammatical
videos to use in class makes the class per- errors and bad or offensive language.
sonal for them and motivates them. Always
lay ground rules for the type of materi- It can be very motivating for students to
al permissible; no pornography, violence, choose their own song to play in class. But,
racism, bad language etc. for the reasons explained above, the teach-
er must filter and approve or disapprove
When you put students researching on the songs chosen.
computers, put 2 or 3 students per com-
puter to encourage them to speak English Competing against Other Subjects:
with each other. You will have to encourage
them not to speak L1. What you must avoid Teenagers are usually very busy, with
is having one student per computer, silent- school, after-school activities and home-
ly surfing. work in other subjects. Very often, subjects
such as mathematics or business will be
seen as being more important and given
Motivating Teenagers: higher priority.
Personalisation: A teacher should always You must explain to students the impor-
try to make the content relevant to teen- tance of homework, but at the same time
agers. Find out what their interests are and you can be flexible.
design class activities based on these inter-
You can negotiate with students as to when
ests. This will mean that the teacher needs
you give homework and how much. For ex-

3
ample, if students tell you that on Thurs- Also, while you may think it a good idea to
days they get a lot of homework in other lock the door after 5 minutes in every class
subjects then you can only give homework to encourage students to arrive on time, this
on Mondays. is not a good idea on many levels. Firstly, it
is a fire hazard. Secondly, you are exclud-
You can also make the quantity of home-
ing students from your classroom. Schools
work given behaviour based. If students
have varying procedures relating to student
participate in class and behave well, they
exclusion. You must follow them. Thirdly,
get a reduced amount of homework. If the
students may have a very valid reason for
reverse is true, they get more homework.
arriving late. It could be due to illness, they
You can also set aside some class time for were delayed by another teacher, or were
doing homework. This gives the students with the headmaster, for example. In other
more time after class. words, don’t create rules alone. Consult the
procedures guide of the school.
Teaching Multi-Level Classes:
A good source of help is from other, more
It is possible that you may have to teach
experienced teachers in the school. They
large groups of teenagers with a mixture of
will be able to give you advice on what rules
English levels. This can be common in public
you should or shouldn’t implement.
schools, where students are not streamed
for level. It is also a good idea to include students
in the drawing up of classroom rules. Ask
The problems of mixed-level classes are
their opinion as to what can and can’t be
that some students may find the material
included. By including the students in the
too difficult and switch off. Other students
creation of rules, they will feel more bound
may have a higher English level than the
to follow them. The teacher can point to
group, and so find the class too easy. They
the rules and say, “these are your rules, you
also either switch off or start acting up in
helped create them!”
class.
Examples of classroom rules include:
Exercise 108:
1. I am respectful to my colleagues and
What strategies can teachers use when
teacher
teaching multi-level classes?
2. I listen quietly when the teacher is
Maintaining Classroom Control speaking
3. I arrive on time to every class
Classroom Rules:
4. I only speak English in class
Every classroom needs rules. You need to
lay down markers with students as to what 5. I turn off my mobile telephone during
behaviour is acceptable or not. However, class-time
it is not a good idea to make up your own 6. Time lost in class because of indisci-
rules without input from anyone else. pline will be added to homework time.
First of all, the school you are working in will An effective way to establish rules is to
very probably have its own set of discipline divide the board into 2 columns, Good and
procedures. You will be obliged to follow Bad. Then give examples of some behaviour
these rules. So, it is important to read and and ask the students whether it should go
assimilate these rules. in the good or bad column. Once you have
done this for 2 or 3 types of behaviour, then

4
put the students into groups of 2 or 3 and Managing Teenager Behaviour:
ask them to come up with other types of
behaviour. Then, the groups share their 1. Students don’t participate in activity:
ideas with the class and you can create the It may be that the students don’t know
class rules with the students’ input. what they are expected to do. Maybe the
teacher’s instructions to the class were
You can then create a large poster with the not clear enough. To avoid this, make
agreed rules for the classroom wall. You sure that you have given clear instruc-
can also adapt them to create a class con- tions to the students. Always follow the
tract which all the students can them sign. If Warmer, then PPP class structure so that
an individual student causes problems, you activities are connected and flow from
can privately draw up a behaviour contract one to another, helping student under-
specifically for them, with the student’s standing.
input. If the student subsequently misbe-
haves, you can point out the contract that 2. Completely demotivated students:
they helped to prepare and then signed. If students show no interest in learn-
ing English, it may be that they have a
Always praise good behaviour, even if the lower level than the other students and
group is generally a difficult one to manage. don’t understand what is happening in
For example, you can have a list of students’ class. Offer extra help and homework
names, and put a tick beside the student to the students so they can catch up. If
when they behave well. You could consid- their learning style is not being covered
er rewarding students with lots of ticks. For in class, then you as the teacher, must
example, you could give homework exemp- vary the activities and techniques being
tions to students who perform well. used in class, so that you are meeting the
Each school has its own procedures for needs of all learning styles (visual, audi-
dealing with indiscipline. You must follow tory and kinaesthetic).
these rules. Punishments could include 3. Students speak L1 in group and pair
detention, extra homework, meetings with work: Perhaps the topic is not interesting
parents and ultimately, expulsion. for the students. If this is the case, try to
Some behaviour is totally unacceptable and use personalised material more often.
must be immediately dealt with. This in- Also, try to avoid close friends being
cludes bullying, racism, sexism or violence in the same group, as they will almost
or insulting of any kind. always speak in L1. Vary the group for-
mations in your class.
Avoid using slang in the classroom, or
speaking informally in order to try to con- 4. Sometimes the course book can be
nect with your teenage students. Use slight- boring, or too difficult or easy for the
ly formal language so that you create an class level. If the book is imposed by
appropriate boundary between teacher the school, then you cannot change the
and students. One common mistake of new book. Also, if parents have already paid
teachers of teenagers is to use informal for a book, they won’t want to pay more
language to connect with your students. money for another one. If the course
While your students might like and respect book is unsuitable, then bring in addi-
you, they will never consider you as one of tional material as often as possible.
them, no matter what you do. Don’t even 5. If there is a ringleader who is caus-
try. Use language of an appropriate register ing most of the behavioural problems,
to maintain the correct distance between you will need to speak to other teachers
you and the students. or supervisor to see what can be done.

5
Sometimes a private chat with the stu- tact. Try to avoid being alone in a room with
dent after class can work wonders. a student. If you can’t avoid it, make sure
that the door is open. In any case, most
6. A student has development prob-
schools have a glass portion to the door for
lems and so is falling behind. If this hap-
teacher and student protection. While the
pens, seek help from your supervisor.
main objective is student protection from
You are not qualified to deal with this
inappropriate teacher behaviour, teacher
alone.
protection is also important.
Classroom Structure: Teenagers need a
Teachers should try to avoid being alone
classroom structure. It will help discipline
with students in case there is a false accu-
enormously if you make clear to students
sation of inappropriate behaviour. Teach-
the structure of the class.
ers should also avoid potentially threaten-
Possible classroom structures include: ing situations. Try to stay in places where
Beginning of the Class: Sit down, open your there are more people around.
books, open your homework, sit quietly for Most schools will ask you for a police clear-
the teacher. ance certificate from your country of origin.
End of Class: Quietly close books, stand up This is a document saying that you have
and leave the classroom. not been involved in any sexual crimes. In
some countries, such as Spain, this is a legal
I finish an exercise early in class: Do English requirement.
homework. Or: Open the extra material
booklet and do some exercises. It is very important to keep an attendance
record in your classes. Any absences of
The teacher should always write the class minors should be reported to the school
objectives on the board at the beginning of administration. Also, do not carry out any
class. In this way, the students know what activities that are unsuitable for under 18s.
to expect in the class. Bringing your students to the pub is only a
good idea if all your students are legally old
Teacher Self-Protection: enough to be served alcohol.
Although teachers should be friendly and Teachers should avoid private social media
relaxed with students, there should always and email contact with students. Social
be an appropriate adult-child boundary. Be media groups for the entire class is accept-
friendly, but don’t become their friend. You able but the teacher should set up a sepa-
should always set boundaries. rate account for this. Do not give your pri-
vate email account to students. If they ask
With regard to physical touching, as a gen-
for it, tell them that it is against school policy
eral rule, if there is no need to touch your
and they should use the general email ad-
student, then don’t. You may find yourself
dress of the school.
in close physical proximity to a student, but
always keep as much distance as possible. While it goes without saying, any sexual
Although some cultures allow more physi- relationship with students aged under 18
cal touching than others, there is no culture is completely unacceptable and in many
in the world where students don’t expect a countries, illegal, carrying a jail sentence if
physical distance between them and their found guilty. Just don’t do it!
students.
Exercise 109:
If you are in a situation whereby a hug is ap-
propriate, then a shoulder to shoulder one What would you do in each of the following
is much better than having full body con- situations?

6
a. Your students have invited you and Part 2: Students carry out the task in groups
all the other teachers to an end of term of 2 or 3. Usually, they then present their
supervised disco where there will be no results to the class. Communication is key
alcohol or smoking allowed. at this time. The objective is for students
b. A student has asked you for extra to communicate with each other in English
help and says they are only available on and complete the task. Language accuracy
Saturday mornings when the school is is not important in this part of the lesson.
empty. The teacher makes note of repeated errors,
or errors the students should not be making
c. A student who was misbehaving in at their language level.
class confessed to you after class that
they are having a very difficult time at Stage 3: In this stage, the teacher elicits
home and is considering running away. corrections of mistakes that students have
made. This is the part of the lesson where
d. You created a social media group for accuracy has more importance than com-
giving homework tasks to your students. munication.
A student in the class is being teased on
the social media group. An important point to be aware of is that
task based learning is the opposite to the
e. A student aged 17, who is on a traditional PPP in the sense that the lan-
3-month student visa has not been to guage derives from the task and not the
class for 2 weeks. You keep attendance other way around.
records for your personal use, but you
haven’t had time to hand them in to ad- The advantage of task-based learning is
ministration yet. that it allows students to communicate in
English in order to achieve goals, using the
language at their disposal. It helps students
Task-Based Learning take responsibility for their own learning as
Teenagers love task-based learning. Instead they become encouraged by the accumula-
of following grammar rules, they are com- tion of tasks achieved in English.
municating in English in order to achieve The big disadvantage is that it can be quite
objectives. chaotic, with no logical sense to the order
In task-based learning, the focus of the in which language and structures are intro-
lesson is a task to be completed, rather duced to students.
than a specific grammar or vocabulary area.
Students work in pairs or small groups and
must use the necessary language to com-
plete the task. A task could mean design-
ing a poster, or inventing a cure for global
warming, or anything in between, including
drawing a map, writing a set of rules or car-
rying out a survey. Students use their lan-
guage knowledge to complete the task.
A task based class normally has three parts:
Part 1: Task preparation. The teacher in-
troduces the task and elicits or pre-teaches
useful language. The teacher then explains
the task to the students

7

TEFL Course Opt PDF

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

TEFL Course Opt PDF

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

TEFL Unit 1

Teaching English as a Foreign Language

BBS | Baxter International TEFL School

• English is the most studied language in • Around 100,000 students decide to

The TEFL market

Is there much demand for English

BBS | Baxter International TEFL School

You probably remember from school or https://www.youtube.com/

BBS | Baxter International TEFL School

Imagine you are teaching in a primary Types of TEFL positions:

BBS | Baxter International TEFL School

Expert TEFL positions

When you acquire experience in General

BBS | Baxter International TEFL School

Listening is a demanding skill as it

This can often be students´ best skill. They

BBS | Baxter International TEFL School

BBS | Baxter International TEFL School

BBS | Baxter International TEFL School

BBS | Baxter International TEFL School

Various scales can be used to define Example Beginner class:

https://umadvising.wordpress. Do you have any criticisms of the class?

Example Elementary class:

Minute 6.52 to 11.20

BBS | Baxter International TEFL School

Students use simple vocabulary and Note the fluency, pronunciation,

Example Intermediate Class: Proficiency Exams:

BBS | Baxter International TEFL School

BBS | Baxter International TEFL School

The purpose of placement testing is to

BBS | Baxter International TEFL School

BBS | Baxter International TEFL School

BBS | Baxter International TEFL School

BBS | Baxter International TEFL School

−−a skill −−Think about what your students can

BBS | Baxter International TEFL School

BBS | Baxter International TEFL School

BBS | Baxter International TEFL School

A speaking or writing lesson is divided into: Quiet time

Lesson Planning checklist

−−What language are the students

BBS | Baxter International TEFL School

Watch this video with a full lesson

BBS | Baxter International TEFL School

BBS | Baxter International TEFL School

Giving clear instructions is vital for A concise imperative is a short instruction.

Put your pens away: Put your pens in your bag

A more literal instruction may be more effective:

BBS | Baxter International TEFL School

The board is your key tool in your teaching

BBS | Baxter International TEFL School

Bananas small and green

Oranges are big and green or red

Grapes long and yellow

Kiwis small and green or red

John felt ill and been to her doctor

I has too much time on their hands

They have great friends. I am so lucky

Mary hurt himself

1) should not depend 9) Educated youth

BBS | Baxter International TEFL School

Exercise 17: Exercise 18:

Choose any topic and design a substitution