According to the British Council, approximately 1.

7
NINE ENGLISH LEARNING billion people were learning and using English
worldwide in 2015. Most of these learners are in non-
AND TEACHING native English-speaking countries where English is
Introduction to global English and used as an official language in education, politics and
personalized learning. media, e.g. China, India, Nigeria.

1. Who is Studying English? Because there are so many people learning English,
different terms have been developed to describe
English different learner situations. For example, terms like
=not the most widely spoken language by number of ESL or EFL are popular, but what do they mean and
native speakers how are they different?
=but it is by far the most widely used and learned.
Common Terminology for English Learners
Krachu model
A good way of showing how English learning is spread
over the world.

Braj Krachu
An Indian linguist who put forward his three-circle
model to explain ‘World Englishes’ in the early 1990s.

‘World Englishes’ 
A useful distinction is made between countries
where:

1. The Inner Circle - English is the first language

of its speakers
2. The Outer Circle - other countries where
English is spoken as a second language but
still widely öused as an official language in
media, politics and education.
3. The Expanding Circle - countries in which
English is taught as a foreign language at
school are represented in the outer layer

2. Why Learn English?

While everyone is different, a few common
reasons motivate people to learn English. Most
people around the world are learning for school or
work. While many people want English for travel or
fun, these people often study in their own time.
People taking English courses often also need English
for Academic or Professional Purposes.
TWO REASONS WHY PEOPLE LEARN ENGLISH
1. English for academic purposes (EAP)
- is specifically for people who need the language
for school.
Different types of students in EAP courses:
a. Students in non-English-speaking
countries take EAP courses to have a
sufficient proficiency leÖvel to be
accepted into English-speaking
universities. This may include preparing
for proficiency exams like
the TOEFL or IELTS.
b. Internationabl students in English-
speaking universities take EAP courses to
improve their English. This may be
alongside regular studies or before
beginning their programs, e.g. pre-
sessional courses.
c. EAP can also be high school or university
students in non-English-speaking
countries who are learning in their
elementary, secondary, or post-secondary
programs.
 
2. English for specific purposes (ESP)
- is for people learning English for a specific
reason, most commonly for work.
Different types of ESP courses exist:
a. General business English students learn
basic English for the workplace.
b. English for specific professions, for
example: English for nursing, engineering,
or accounting.
c.  Newcomers in English-speaking countries
take ESP courses to develop their
communication skills for applying for
work.
3. Knowing Your Learners
You need to know why your students are
learning English. At Acadsoc, we generally have a very
clear idea why an individual student has enrolled with
us.
This is done when they first contact our
company. Many courses are designed based on
a learner needs analysis. This helps teachers focus
lessons on the needs and wants of the students.
As you get to know a student, you may want to ask
questions like these:
 
1. Why are you learning English?
2. How do you want to use the language in the
future?
3. Have you taken classes before?
4. What are your biggest challenges using
English? (e.g. reading, pronunciation, etc.)
 
While your students will tell you their
motivations, you may need to look a little deeper.
Remember, not every student wants to use English in
the future. You will encounter some of these students
too:
 
1. Some students simply want to pass their
elementary or high school English classes so
they can go to university.
2. Some students are forced to take classes by
their parents.
3. Some students aren’t sure why they are
taking classes.
4. Young learners unable to express themselves,
or their reasons for learning English, if any.
4. 21st Century Skills
Education and learning are constantly
evolving. As a teacher, you need to be aware of
general trends in education, especially in the English
language learning field.
A good illustration of this:
The Partnership for 21st Century Learning
- an American non-profit organization that
outlined the skills people need to communicate
in the 21st century.
 - This report and subsequent work have been
widely adopted by businesses, governments, and
schools around the world.
- FOUR C’S
-Most well-known part of their work
-now recognized as the crucial skills people
need for school or work. They are as follows:
 
●      Communication
●      Critical thinking
●      Collaboration
●      Creativity
 
Let’s look at these four skills in more detail.
5. Communication
- the ability to explain your ideas clearly.
In the 21  century, people need to be able to
st
communicate in a variety of ways.
Some modern examples include:
- writing emails
- reading graphic texts
- using social media.
As an English teacher, you need to give your students
more than the basic language skills.
You also need to help them with 21st century
communication. Examples could include:
- active listening
- using social media in English
- creating presentation slides
- comprehending a subway map.
6. Critical Thinking
- the ability to solve problems and think
critically.
Thinking critically involves:
1. evaluating information
2. considering purpose and bias.
In a world of mixed news, media literacy and
critical thinking is now more important than ever.
Apart from teaching media literacy and critical
thinking skills, you also need to encourage your
English students to think about what they are
learning each day.
Examples of English learners using critical thinking:
1. Analyse why a grammar rule exists.
2. Justify their answers to reading
comprehension questions.
3. Consider their audience and purpose before
writing.
4. Reflect on their strengths and weaknesses.
5. Recognize how the four communication skills
are interconnected.
6. Find patterns in different language rules.
7. Collaboration
- working with others to achieve a common goal.
- is a crucial skill in the modern workplace, so it is
now emphasized in the classroom. 
English learners need the language to
collaborate with others at school, work, or in life.
You can help your students build communication
skills they can use with others. These are some good
examples:
 
1. Use polite language to disagree.Give and
receive advice and feedback.
2. Take turns in casual conversation and small
talk.
3. Ask for clarification.
8. Creativity
- the ability to see multiple perspectives and find
innovative solutions to problems.
Students today are expected to show more
than a simple understanding of facts or rules. They
need to demonstrate creativity as well.
 Your English students should be able to use
the language in creative ways. For example, they
could use hand gestures to show a word they
can’texplain. You should also give them creative ways
to demonstrate their understanding of the language.
As an example, they could create a graphic text
instead of writing a paragraph.
People today communicate in creative ways,
and you should give your students the opportunities
to do the same.
3. The teacher provides multiple and varied
ways for students to demonstrate
understanding.
4. Students can explore their own interests.
5. Students can talk about themselves or their
family.
6. Lessons have real-world applications, e.g. to
work.
7. Topics are drawn from the student’s
background and experience.
8. Students always know why they are learning
something, so activities have clear goals and
instructions.

9. Personalized Learning
Another major trend in education, highly
relevant to Acadsoc teachers, has been the rise of
personalized learning and the learner-
centered classroom.
The premise is that students all learn in
different ways and at a different pace, so curriculums
and teaching should reflect that.

While you can’t always have a different learning

plan for every student, you can use features of the
learner-centered classroom. Here are some:

1. Students can work at their own pace.

2. Students only progress to the next lesson
when they demonstrate mastery of a specific
competency.

9.1 Reflection Exercise

When teaching online, some learners, especially younger learners and/or learners at lower levels may feel
more comfortable following class material closely. ‘Personalized learning strategies’ need to take this into account.

Think about what kind of learners would benefit from the following personalization strategies:
1. Students can work at their own pace.
2. Students only progress to the next lesson when they demonstrate mastery of a specific competency.
3. The teacher provides multiple and varied ways for students to demonstrate understanding.
4. Students can explore their own interests.
5. Students can talk about themselves or their family.
6. Lessons have real-world applications, e.g. to work or debates.
7. Topics are drawn from the student’s background and experience.
8. Students always know why they are learning something, so activities have clear goals and instructions.
9. Ask students what areas of language they want to work on.
TWO BEHAVIORS OR SKILLS OF A TESOL TEACHER
Behaviors and skills make a good TESOL teacher.

1. English Teaching
Every teacher is
different, and there isn’t an
exact template to be a good
English teacher. However,
good English teachers often
share many of the same
qualities. Here is an outline:

2.English Teaching Online

Online language learning
has its own further set of strategies
and best practices. Take time to
read through the following:

3. Reflection Exercise
‘Teachers who are able to speak
their students’ first language are
more effective TESOL teachers. “

How much do you agree

or disagree with this statement,
and what do you think the benefits and drawbacks are of teachers being able to communicate with their
students in their first language?

LANGUAGE
ACQUISITION THEORY
Understand the basics of how words are formed
(prefixes, suffixes, roots and compound words) and how
different words can relate to each other (antonyms,
synonyms).
Second Language Acquisition
- the process of learning a second language.
- most often describes the scientific study of
the language learning process.
- is a subdiscipline of applied linguistics.
THREE HIGHLY INFLUENTIAL THEORIES OF
PSYCHOLOGY:
1.Behaviorism
- believes all human actions are a result of
positive or negative feedback.
Most famous example:
Ivan Pavlov’s experiments with dogs.
- alter the behavior of dogs through
classical conditioning.
Starting in the 1930s, B.F. Skinner expanded
on this idea with his theory of operant
conditioning:
- whereby learning is brought about
by changes in behavior. Skinner outlined a
method of learning determined
by positive and negative
reinforcement feedback, including rewards
and punishment.
Through the 1950s and 60s, Skinner applied
this theory to language learning, most
specifically in his 1957 book Verbal Behavior.
Later his theory became highly influential in
the development of Audiolingualism as a
methodology during the 1970s and 80s, used
to teach English as a foreign language. (You
will learn more about the history of TESOL
methodologies later on in this unit.)
Skinner's Stimulus - Response - Reinforcement (SRR)
Model applied in the TESOL Classroom.
2. Universal Grammar
- a reaction of behaviorism
- as it argued that humans have a natural
ability for learning languages.
- is the idea that people have an innate,
biological set of structural rules to help them
learn languages. This theory is most often
attributed to Noam Chomsky.
Noam Chomsky
- argued that all languages have an essential
structure, which is something humans are
genetically predisposed to.
- As an example, all languages distinguish between
actions (verbs) and things (nouns). Children must
then use this universal grammar to learn their
target language. 
- Chomsky is well known for his criticism of
Skinner and behaviorism.
- For Skinner, language learning was a product of
the environment (from nurture), while for
Chomsky, language learning was innate (from
nature + stimulus). The nature vs nurture debate
 is a major component of psychology and one that
has shaped language learning and teaching
theories for decades.
3. Reflection Exercise
For those wishing to become a TESOL teacher, knowing how to identify and compare behaviorist and
innatist perspectives on SLA is useful. This is because it helps teachers be more ‘reflective’.

SLA Theory Central Idea Linguist

Behaviorism
(behaviorist perspective)
 
Universal Grammar
(innatist perspective)
 
Children imitate adults. Their correct      Skinner
utterances are reinforced by positive
feedback (praise) when they successfully
make themselves understood.
Language is an innate capacity that all      Chomsky
humans possess. Every child’s brain
possesses a special language-learning
mechanism from birth.

Based on your language teaching and learning experiences, which of the two perspectives on SLA shown in the
table above do you agree with the most? Do you view language as a learned behaviour or as an emergent
phenomenon, or both? If you are new to teaching, please reflect on the theory that makes most sense to you.

4, Krashen’s Five Hypotheses

Stephen Krashen
- an American linguist who put forward a set of five hypothesis to explain second language acquisition,
developed in the 1970s and 80s.

Model of Second Language Acquisition

- has been extremely influential and continues to help TESOL teachers better understand the language learning
process.

- Krashen’s model offers a powerful perspective in that it argues second language acquisition is similar to first
language acquisition, and that there is a difference between learning a language and acquiring it.

- The model also stresses the importance of comprehensible input, which argues listening and speaking as being
more important than reading and writing (as it is for infants).

- 'Comprehensible input' means language input that is understandable to the learner – Input that is only a little
more difficult than their current level, so that they are able to understand, but still feel challenged enough to
improve.
 8 Parts of Speech
Verbs, Nouns, Adjectives, Adverbs, Prepositions, Articles and Conjunctions

1. Verbs- show actions, states of being, or occurrences.

- one of the most important types of words.
- Every sentence in English must have a verb!

Since they are so common and diverse, verbs create a wide variety of challenges for learners, for every challenge
you will develop an appropriate strategy. The following table describes some areas where you will need to help
your students.
2. Nouns- are people, places, and things.
- This can be a proper noun, like: Mike, Paris, or Huawei.
- Or, it can be a general noun, like: man, city, or company.
- are the most important parts of speech in English.
- Every sentence needs a noun.

You will find them as subjects (The dog eats) or objects (I like the dog).

Nouns are not as difficult as verbs, but your students will still have significant challenges using them. For every
challenge you will develop an appropriate strategy. The following table describes some areas where you will need
to help your students.
3. Pronouns- are words we can use instead of nouns.

These are the English pronouns:

Your students need to learn the pronouns in the table above, which is a challenge since there are so many. It is
common for English learners to mix up these pronouns. You also need to help your students develop the ability to
use pronouns correctly.

These are some areas you can focus on:

4. Adjectives- modify nouns, so they help us describe people, places, and things.

For example:
1. We can say a person is tall, skinny, nice, helpful, smart, etc.
2. We can also use adjectives to compare things.
* comparatives (smaller, taller, bigger)
* superlatives (the smallest, the tallest, the biggest)
5. Adverbs - modify verbs or adjectives.
- We use them to describe how something is, or how it is done, including information about time and frequency.

Basic examples of adverb use: He ran away quickly; She is very tall; I often play soccer.

6. Prepositions - little ‘grammatical (functional) words’ that have many uses in English.

- Mainly they help English grammar make sense.

Prepositions can:
1. Show time and place (in the morning, at the bank)
2. Show direction (go through, move toward)
3. Join other words together (I like to run, A basket of flowers)
4. Make prepositional phrases and phrasal verbs (talk about, put on, take off)

7. Articles - a, an, the.

- Articles go before nouns, and they help us know if the noun is singular, plural, specific, or general.
●      A - for one, general noun (a cat, a car)
●      An - for one, general noun that starts with a vowel sound (an apple, an orange)
●      The - for one or many specific nouns (the cat, the oranges)
8. Conjunctions - small words that join parts of sentences together.

THREE GROUPS OF CONJUNCTIONS:

Coordinating conjunctions (and, but, or, so)
Correlative conjunctions (both, either, neither)
Subordinating conjunctions (although, since, if)

9. Reflection Exercise

The most common form of English sentence is subject/verb/object .

e.g.
The boy kicked the ball.
I have a dog.
She will buy a computer.

However, once sentences become more complicated, you start to see more parts of speech (e.g. adverbs and
prepositions),
e.g:
The cat sleeps in my bed.
I saw a really great movie last night.
She quietly walked down the street.

Divide these 5 sentences by marking the subject, object and other parts of speech.
1. The boy kicked the ball.
2.   I have a dog.
3. She will buy a computer.
4. The cat sleeps in my bed.
5. I saw a really great movie last night.
Verb Tenses – most taught topics in E-classroom

1. Verb Tense and Aspect

English has 12 verb tense-aspect Each with four aspects: 
combinations broken into three tenses:  1. Simple
1. Present 2. Continuous
2. Past 3. Perfect
3. Future 4. Perfect Continuous

You can see the English verb tenses in the table below.
Note: The word ‘tense’ is commonly used to include both tense and aspect, but grammatically speaking, tense and
aspect are different and used in combination when describing events. This is a grammatical knowledge point that TESOL
teachers need to be aware of, but not necessarily their students!

2. Simple Present - for routine actions or unchanged situations e.g. I live in China.
- basic verb tense in English; first to learn bbcos simple

3. Simple Past - for completed actions in the past. - often the second verb tense people learn in English.
- often the second verb tense people learn in English.
- use it with times like yesterday, last week, or 1985, e.g. I bought a jacket yesterday.
4. Simple Future - use to talk about future plans.
- can use will or going to  (e.g. I will eat at 7 pm / I am going to eat at 7 pm.).

5. Present Continuous - for actions that are happening now.

- can use right now (e.g. I am talking on the phone.)
- or generally now (e.g. I am working in a bank.)

6.

Past Continuous - for actions in the past that were continuing before another action happened.
- most common with interruptions, like in: “I was sleeping when you called me.”
- also for two actions occurring in the past at the same time,
as in: “I was cleaning while she was doing her homework.

7. Future Continuous- for actions that will continue in the future.

- often means what we will be doing during a certain time frame in the future.
e.g. I will be working when she arrives.

8. Present Perfect - for actions in the past that happened at no specific time (e.g. I have eaten dinner.)
 - for actions in the past that continue into the present. (e.g. I have lived in this house for
five years.)

- one of the most common and most difficult tenses in English. As such, it is probably the most taught verb tense in
English classes. It is

9. Past Perfect - for actions in the past that happened before other actions.
- not a common English verb tense, but there are certain times when you need it
(e.g. We had finished by the time you arrived).

10. Future Perfect - for actions that will be completed by a specific time in the future
(e.g. I will have graduated by 2020).

This is a less common verb tense, but it does have some important uses
11. Perfect Continuous
The three perfect continuous tenses are not very common in English:
1. Present perfect continuous has some common uses (e.g. I have been speaking for 10 minutes)
2. Past perfect continuous (e.g. I had been speaking for 10 minutes)
3. Future perfect continuous (e.g. I will have been speaking for 10 minutes) are rarer.

12. Reflection Exercise

TESOL teachers should be comfortable with recognizing and explaining tense to their students.

Identify the tense for the following 3 sentences.

1. I have eaten pizza many times. _______________
2. She will be shopping at the mall later today. _______________
3. She was sleeping when I arrived. _______________

Write three sentences matching the tense given in brackets 

1. (simple past) _______________________________________________________________________
2. (present perfect continuous) _______________________________________________________
3. (future simple) _____________________________________________________________________
CHALLENGES FOR CHINESE SPEAKERS
Grammar challenger Chinese learners face in English.

1. Plural Nouns
- Using these are perhaps the most common challenge for Chinese speakers.
- both a grammar and a pronunciation issue.

This challenge exists because Chinese does not use plural forms of nouns. Therefore, it is normal for Chinese
speakers to drop the final “s” on a plural noun, like in these example errors, e.g. “There are three pen.”

2. Articles
- don’t exist in Chinese, so students find them difficult to use correctly.

These are some common errors your Chinese students will make:

1. They omit the necessary article.

●      “We should buy new table.”
●      “Where is classroom?”

2. They insert unnecessary articles.

●      “I went to the Hong Kong.”
●      “Does she like the geography?”
 3. They confuse the definite and indefinite articles.
●      “I am a tallest person in my class.”
●      “My father is the accountant.”

3.

Pronouns
- In Chinese, pronouns tend to be left out when they are implied.
- Hence, a Chinese speaker might say something like: “I put the money in right pocket.” In this case, the “my” is
implied, but in English it is necessary.
  - Chinese also does not distinguish between subjective and objective pronouns. That creates errors like these:
●      “I told she.”
●      “My mother helped he.”

- In Chinese, word particles are attachment to pronouns to show possession instead of changing the form of the
pronoun itself – in Chinese, words do not change their form. This can lead to overuse or simplification of English
pronoun use:
●      “The book is my.”
●      “That is they house.”

- Chinese does not differentiate between male and female pronouns. This leads to Chinese speakers mixing up
the gender pronouns, like this:

●      “I have a brother. She is an accountant.”

●      “My father lost her phone.”

4. Word Order and Sentence Structure

1. Chinese uses the same word order in sentences and questions. Therefore, you can commonly see errors like these:
●      “When she will go?”
●      “You are happy?”

2. This also creates errors with auxiliary verbs in questions:

●      “You have a brother?” (do)
●      “You went to the park?” (did)

3. This challenge with word order impacts advanced students too. They will have difficulty using indirect speech, so you
will find errors like these:
●      He asked me what does she like.
 ●      She wondered where was her friend.

5.
Countable and Uncountable Nouns
Chinese does not have uncountable nouns.
For example, it is possible in Chinese to say, “I have three interesting newses.” Considering this difference between
Chinese and English, it is quite challenging for Chinese speakers to use uncountable nouns

6. Other Challenges
The language issues just mentioned cover the most common challenges for Chinese learners, but not all.

Here is a list of some other notable examples:

Verbs
The English and Chinese languages share dramatically different verb systems. Your Chinese students will have
difficulties with many types of tense, and the only way to overcome this will be by both natural and targeted
practice.
Chinese has zero conjugation, that is, verbs do not change their form for tense.

This leads to a general lack of correct conjugation when speaking English, and oversimplification of the English verb
system.

●      “I go to the store yesterday.”

●      “I spoked tohim last week.”

Conjunctions
In Chinese, conjunctions usually appear in pairs, while English sentences may only use one conjunction and are
more flexible in how they are arranged.
 ●      “Because I didn’t know the answer, so I kept quiet.” (unnatural sentence structure)

Adjectives
In Chinese, the same word (character) may be used for different parts of speech. And adjectives in Chinese do not
take different forms.

●      “The exam is difficulty.” (noun being used instead of adjective)

●      “My work is very tired.” (-ed adjective used instead of -ing adjective)

Spelling and Punctuation

English is not a phonetic language. This means that in English there is no direct and consistent relationship between
how a word is spelled and how it is spoken. This poses a challenge for all learners of English, but can be even more
difficult for Chinese speakers whose own language is character-based and non-alphabetic. Rules about punctuation
and capitalization are therefore also problematic, especially for lower level learners.

●      Diner instead of dinner
●      Biger instead of bigger
●      new york instead of New York
PRONUNCIATION
Common sounds, syllables, and stress patterns

1. Syllables - a unit of organization for the sounds of speech.

- you can think of syllables as the ‘pieces of sound’ we build words with.
- every word can be divided into syllables.

As an example:
1. The word “tiger” has two syllables. (ti, ger)
2. The word bicycle has three syllables (bi, cy, cle).

The list below shows words with different numbers of syllables.

2. Syllable Stress - how speakers give emphasis to different sounds in words by making them longer, louder or
higher in pitch.

Once your learners understand what syllables are, they need to know how to pronounce them correctly by using
correct stress.

1.In every two-syllable word, one syllable is stressed.

2.In words with multiple syllables:
a. only one carries ‘primary’ stress
b. others carry weaker ‘secondary’ or ‘tertiary’ stress.
 
Look at these examples:
Sugar – primary stress at beginning (SUgar)
Supply – primary stress at the end (suPPLY
Partnership – (PARTnerSHIP)
‘Part’ primary stress at the beginning
‘ner’ reduced, unstressed syllable
‘ship’ secondary stress at the end

3. Unstressed Syllables and the Schwa

- those that are not pronounced as strongly as the stressed syllable.
- often done for vowel sounds when people speak naturally and marked by the phonetic symbol /ə/ -
the schwa sound, which sounds like ‘uh’.

Recognizing the schwa sound and pronouncing it correctly are two pronunciation challenges learners of English

have. Very often, English learners don’t pronounce the schwa. So, for example, they will pronounce the “o” in
“police” like the “o” in “go” - this sounds unnatural! Look at the following words and imagine how they would
sound if you did NOT use the schwa sound for the vowel sounds underlined.

4. Reflection Exercise
Syllable stress can be a useful part of English-speaking training. As a teacher, you can help students recognize
syllable stress in exercises and activities that help them determine stress and pronunciation patterns in English. Not
only can this help learners sound better, but it also offers variety in classes.

Take the word 'pronunciation':

How many syllables does this word contain?
 On which syllable does the primary stress fall?
Does the word contain the schwa sound, if so, where?

A note on Young Learners:

Although younger learners (and many lower level adult learners) shouldn’t be expected to know what a ‘syllable’ is,
they can be encouraged to find the ‘loudest’ part or sound in a word when spoken by a teacher. They can also be
asked to exaggerate syllable stress themselves as part of a sound game or exercise.

SENTENCE STRESS
Crucial component of pronuncing English

1. What is Sentence Stress and How is it used?

Sentence stress - the emphasis of a specific word within a sentence.

It can be achieved by speakers when they do the following:

1. Slow your speed (increase the length of the word)
2. Raise your pitch (make the word sound higher)
3. Increase your volume (make the word sound louder)

2. Which Words Do We Stress in a Sentence?

There are no set rules on which words to stress.
You can stress different words in a sentence depending on the situation.

Here’s an example sentence with different meanings implied:

●      I would never go to that restaurant again. (Someone else might, but I won’t)
●      I would never go to that restaurant again. (I will go to others.)
●      I would never go to that restaurant again. (I went before, but never again)
 

Sentence stress is not an exact science. Decisions about how to use sentence stress depends on the speaker – how
they feel and what they are trying to say. However!

ONE GENERAL RULE

 (about sentence stress worth mentioning that relates to the type of words within a sentence)
 
1. Content words 
 are usually verbs (actions) and nouns (things).
 They are the most important words in sentences because they carry the most meaning, they
are therefore often stressed.

2. Function words are needed for grammar.

 Include words like articles, prepositions, conjunctions, and auxiliary verbs.
 They are not as important as content words, and therefore carry less stress when speaking
naturally.
3. Why Do We Use Sentence Stress?
You saw some example sentences above, and you should be starting to get an idea of why we use
sentences stress. However, it is a complicated topic, and many reasons for sentence stress exist. Here are some of
the important
ones.

4. Reflection Exercise
Watch this video (downloaded title: Acadu 040100) Think about how voice speed, pitch  and  volume relate
to meaning (what the speaker is trying to express).

How are Volume and Pitch different? 

If an advanced level student asked you what 'sentence stress' was, what would you say?
INTONATION
1. Intonation - a pronunciation technique that involves raising or lowering the pitch of the voice.
- mainly used to show the attitude and emotion of the speaker or to signal grammatical functions.

TWO CATEGORIES OF INTONATION:

1.1. Rising Intonation - when the pitch of your voice rises at the end of a sentence.

It is most common in the situations below (rising intonation marked with italics).

1.2. Falling Intonation - when your pitch falls at the end of a sentence.
- not as dramatic as rising intonation
- can often be distinguished by a lack of rise than a noticeable drop.

These are the common situations for falling intonation (falling intonation marked with italics). 

1.3. Why Teach Intonation?

- It is a vital part of spoken English. While native speakers learn naturally over many years, your students will
need direct instruction to learn the details of English intonation.
- Intonation is crucial for communication and is an important part in sounding ‘natural’.
- It also plays an important part in meaning.
Imagine how sentence stress and intonation may vary over these two example sentences:
1. “You have eight sisters.” (falling-flat intonation)
2. “You have eight sisters?” (rising intonation)
 
The only way to know the difference between these sentences is by considering intonation and stress. In terms of
intonation, the statement sentence: (1) falls and the question sentence (2) rises. The word 'eight' would also probably
be stressed because having eight siblings of the same gender is quite rare!

- Another reason to teach intonation is because intonation patterns vary across languages and learners will need
to practice the sound patterns in their target language so that they can become to sound more natural and be better
understood.

1.4. How to Teach Intonation?

The following strategies can help you start to think about how to create intonation lessons for your classes.

1.5. Reflection Exercise

If a student (adult, intermediate level) asked you to explain the difference between rising and falling intonation,
what could you do and say?

ENGLISH TEACHING
METHODOLOGY
Influence on the way English was taught.
1. Language Teaching
Methodology
Language learning has changed since people
first started to communicate with speakers of other
languages.
In this section, you can see the original
methods for teaching languages, the growth of
methodologies in the 20th century, and the rise of the
communicative approach that dominates language
classrooms today.
2. People Begin Learning Languages
People have been learning languages for
thousands of years. However,
Until the 20th century
- there was not an emphasis on learning to
communicate with one another.
Traditional language learning
- was more about understanding and translating
reading texts. For example, people spent hours
translating the bible..
Grammar–Translation Method (GTM)
- students learn grammatical rules and then apply
those rules by translating sentences between the
target language and the native language.
- For most of academic history, one language
learning technique ruled – the grammar
translation method
- originated from the practice of teaching Latin in
the early 1500s, when students learned the
language purely as an academic discipline. When
teachers started teaching other foreign
languages in the 19th century, they used the
same translation-based approach.
3. Modern Language Learning Starts
In the 19th and early 20th century:
Language learning started to become
more than simply an exercise in translation.
People now wanted to communicate with others
around the world. European settlement, world
wars, and international trade were some of the
global events that forced people to start learning
languages.
Three LANGUAGE TEACHING
METHODOLOGIES started to expand: 
1. Direct Method – does not use the
learners' native language and uses only
the target language. It was established in
England around 1900 and contrasts with
the grammar–translation method. It was
adopted by key international language
schools such as Berlitz in the 1970s.
In general, teaching focuses on the
development of oral skills and uses real-
life objects or other visual materials.
Grammar is often taught by inductive
methods, meaning students are guided to
discover the rules rather than learning
them explicitly. Using only the target
language and inductive grammar teaching
are both highly influential on teaching
practices today.
2. Audio-lingual Method - based on
behaviorist theory, which believes that
humans can be trained through a system
 of reinforcement, including positive and
negative feedback. Like the direct method,
the audio-lingual method advised that
students should be taught a language
directly, without using the students' native
language to explain new words or
grammar. The instructor presents the
correct model of a sentence and students
repeat it, receiving positive or negative
feedback based on the response. The idea
is for the students to practice the
construct until they can use it
spontaneously.
3. Total Physical Response (TPR) is based
on the coordination of language and
physical movement. In TPR, instructors  
give commands to students in the target
language with body movements, and
students respond with whole-body
actions. Grammar is not taught explicitly
but can be learned from the language
input. Total physical response is often
used alongside other methods and
techniques. It is popular with beginners
and with young learners, although it can
be used with students of all levels and all
age groups.
4. The Communicative Approach Takes
Over
In the 1960s and 70s
- the demand for language learning was
increasing.
- Europe was opening up, and people needed to
learn languages to live and work in different
countries.
- At the same time, English was continuing its rise
as the global language. As more people wanted
to learn a language, the teaching methodologies
continued to advance. However, it was more
than rising demand that sparked change.
- Researchers, teachers, and students were
starting to realize that traditional methods were
having little success.
- Methods like grammar translation took years to
achieve mastery, and modern language learners
like business professionals and school children
simply did not have the time.
- Many language students found that with
traditional methods, they could perhaps read,
write, or pass grammar exams, but they could
not use the language.
- In addition, linguists like Noam Chomsky, Merrill
Swain, and Dell Hymes were redefining what it
meant to be able to use a language. Thus, the
communicative approach was born.
-
Two POPULAR COMMUNICATIVE
METHODOLOGIES:
1. Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), or
the communicative approach,
- is an approach to language teaching
that emphasizes interaction as both
the means and the ultimate goal of
study.
- Students learn and practice the
target language interacting with one
another and the instructor, studying
"authentic texts", and using the
language both in class and outside of
class. Learners converse about
personal experiences with partners,
and instructors teach topics outside of
the realm of traditional grammar, in
order to promote language skills in all
types of situations.
- CLT prioritizes the ability to
communicate in the target language
instead of grammatical competence.
CLT also focuses on the teacher being
a facilitator, rather than an instructor.
2. Task-based Language Teaching (TBLT) 
- focuses on the use of authentic
language and on asking students to do
meaningful tasks using the target language.
 Such tasks can include:
1. visiting a doctor
2. conducting an interview
3. or calling customer service for
help.
Assessment is primarily based on task outcome
rather than on accuracy of prescribed language
forms. This makes TBLT especially popular for
developing target language fluency and student
confidence.

5. History of ELT Methodology

You have learned about the six most important language teaching methodologies. Of course, throughout
the years there have been more.

As a TESOL teacher, you should learn about new methodologies and continue to investigate the six you saw
in this section. In the table below, you can see the six you learned with a few other important methodologies and
their key features.

6.Reflection Exercise
Which ELT methodology do you think would be most appropriate for 1-to-1 online teaching? Why?
ONLINE CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
Modern students expect a variety of actiities to
Keep them engaged and help them learn.

1. Role Plays - are when you act out a situation by playing a role.
They are great for giving students a chance to use English in a meaningful way.

Examples:
●      You are a waiter, and the student is a customer. You enact a scene in a restaurant.
●      You are someone who needs advice. The student is your friend giving you advice.
●      You are a travel agent. The student is calling you for information about a trip.
Here are some teaching strategies when using role plays in class.

2. Conversations - are a less structured way to review language or explore topics.

They are, quite simply, a conversation between you and the student. They are often based on a single topic or a set of
questions. A quick Google search for “second conditional conversation questions” will give you an idea
of what a set of questions may look like.

Examples:
●      You have a warmup conversation with your student about her weekend.
●      You have a conversation with a student using a list of “have you ever” questions.
●      You have a conversation about favourite types of movies and how often the student goes to the cinema.

Here are some teaching strategies when using conversations in class.

3. Tasks - an English-teaching term for an activity where a student needs to complete something – an activity
with a purpose. The word ‘task’ is commonly used because of the popularity of Task-Based Language Teaching. 

Examples:
●      Present for 1 minute about your city.
●      Create a survey asking about favourite types of food.
●      Draw and label a map of your neighbourhood.

You can learn a lot of detailed strategies for using tasks in the classroom if you investigate task-based language
teaching. For now, here is a quick summary of the key strategies.

4. Games - are a great way to inject excitement into your classes. Young learners especially like games.

Examples:
●      Hangman to practice Halloween vocabulary.
●      Saying the opposite word to the teacher.
●      Puzzles to help the student describe things.
●      Finding characters on a page in a storybook.

Here are some ideas

about using games
effectively in your classes.
5. Reflection Exercise
Ask yourself:
What online classroom activities would a young learner likely enjoy?  
What online classroom activities would an adult learning business English likely appreciate?  

TEACHING RESOURCES
Resources and extra materials are an essential
component of an English teacher’s repertoire.

1. Resources in the Online Classroom

As a teacher, you can use a variety of resources in your online classroom. Bringing in extra ‘real’ material is a great
way to make your classes more interesting. It can also make the learning more memorable for the student. As an
example, they may not remember the time you described a pineapple, but they are more likely to remember the
time you showed them a real one!
Here is a quick summary of some items often used as resources in the online classroom.

2. Physical Resources
- refer to items you have in your home instead of on the computer. This could be a toy, a piece of clothing,
food, etc. Using props and physical resources make your lessons more interesting. They are also a nice addition to
the digital resources you already use.

Examples of props you can use:

●      Puppets and dolls are great for children, and you can use them to model conversations, speaking
exercises, and much more.
●      A plastic microphone works well when you want to sing or mimic an interview.
●      Food is an easy item to find in your home, and it is such a common topic when teaching English
●      Flash cards are a fun way to practice vocabulary.
●      Photos from a magazine or book, or even from your photo album, are an interesting and visual
resource.
●      A flag from your country.
●      Your favourite item or belonging.
●      A book you are currently reading; A colouring book for young learners.

3. Learner-Centred Activities and Resources

One of your first concerns when choosing activities and resources is the impact they will have on your student.
Since you are teaching 1-to-1 classes, you can evaluate the quality of a resource or activity based on that specific
student. Your activities and resources should be targeted toward the interests of your student. Let’s say you want to
practice reading. Do your
students like to read comic
books, sports articles,
gossip magazines, or
news reports?

Teaching Strategies
As you read through the examples above, you
hopefully noticed a theme. When you want to focus
on a single skill, make everything else easy for the
student. This is a crucial idea when using resources
and planning activities. Know your purpose and make
everything else easy. This allows students to focus on
what you are trying to teach.
Let’s look at a basic example.
Imagine you are teaching the simple past tense to a
beginner student. Think about the result of using
these two example questions:
1.      I ________ (go) to the park.
2.      I ________ (go) to the butcher shop.
 
A beginner student doesn’t know what a 'butcher
shop' is. If you use that question, the student is
thinking about grammar AND a new vocabulary item.
In this case, you would have strayed away from the
purpose of the lesson, teaching the past tense!
4. Reading and Listening Material
You want your students to have the chance to
read and listen in English, so using outside material
can help with this.
 
Using Authentic Material
Whenever you have the chance, try to use
real-world reading and listening material. You can
find a lot of simplified material targeted to ESL
students, but your students will benefit from using
authentic resources. In this case, authentic means
anything that is written in English and unedited.
When students read or listen to authentic
material, they have a chance to see how English is
actually used. This will boost their confidence when
they can understand “natural English”. You can also
choose material that interests your students.
Examples:
●    The trailer for a new action movie
●    An image from the latest anime franchise
●    A video clip from a fantasy role-playing video
game
●    A ösocial media post from a celebrity
●    A song from the hottest new band
 
Quite often, authentic materials are too
difficult for your students, or inappropriate for young
learners. Lower levels won’t be able to read news
articles and young learners will not be interested in
heavy text. Don’t let that discourage you.
You can find lots of simple, authentic English
materials for your lower level students, too.
Examples:
●      Menus
●      Posters
●      Schedules or timetables
●      Advertisements
●      Social media posts
●      Weather reports
●      Nursery Rhymes
●      Children’s songs
5. Choosing Activities and Resources
As a TESOL teacher the activities and
resources you choose need also be related to
whether or not you want your learner focus
on accuracy or fluency, or whether you want them to
perform controlled or free practice.
 Imagine you are teaching the first conditional (If… I
will…). After explaining the structure, you may want to
6. Accuracy vs. Fluency give your student some controlled practice and then
freer practice. Controlled practice could be in the form
of a 'gap fill' exercise, e.g. If she wins she ______ be
Accuracy 
very _____. Free practice could be in the form of a more
- the ability to produce sentences with no grammar
'open-ended' and higher level question, e.g. If you won
or language errors. 
the lottery, what would you do?
Fluency  8. Reflective Exercise
- the ability to produce sentences coherently and Read the following activities listed below. Which do
smoothly. you think are controlled or free practice?

*For every activity you do in class, you need to decide
if you want students to focus on accuracy or fluency.
Imagine you are teaching a lesson about cooking
vocabulary. An activity to practice accuracy could be
using picture flash cards or completing a fill-in-the-blank
exercise. A fluency activity could be having a
conversation about cooking.
7. Controlled vs. Free Practice
Controlled practice  
- forces the student to use the target language. 
 Multiple choice quiz on the present
continuous
 Using the simple future to make sentences
about weekend plans
 Having a conversation about evening
plans
 Using modal verbs to give advice
 Conducting a role play for shopping in a
shoe store
 Matching vocabulary with pictures
 Writing a letter to a friend
Presenting a video and then comment

Free practice 
- allows them to use any language structures they
want.

*For the most part, controlled practice focuses on

accuracy and free practice focuses on fluency.
 

ENGLISH PROFICIENCY ASSESSMENT

English proficiency exams andframeworks

1. Assessing English Proficiency

 Governments, schools, companies, and organizations around the world assess English proficiency in a
variety of ways. For example, in Canada, government-funded organizations use the Canadian Language
Benchmarks to assess English proficiency. This benchmark system is only used in Canada, and many other counties
have a different, but similar, version. In order to make these individual benchmarks work together, one system has
become widely adopted around the world.

Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) 

- is a guideline used to describe achievements of learners of foreign languages across Europe and,
increasingly, in other countries.
- It was put together by the Council of Europe.
Its main aim is to provide a structure of learning, teaching and assessing which applies to all languages in
Europe.

You can see the chart uses statements with “can”. This is a common feature of proficiency frameworks. These “I
can” statements help students and teachers focus on what they can do rather than on what they can’t. The
statements also easily relate to the functional language people need in the real world (e.g. I can give advice;
I can understand simple directions).

The six CEFR reference

levels (see the CEFR table)
- are widely
accepted as the European
standard for grading an
individual's language
proficiency.
2. The
CEFR in China
- was widely used in China to assess English
proficiency.
- However, over time, China began to find the
CEFR was insufficient for English learners in
the country.
First, the CEFR was developed in Europe, so
Chinese officials believed it was not as
applicable to Chinese students.
Second, it was not easy to use on exams,
which is essential in the Chinese market. This
eventually led to China creating its own
assessment tool – the CSE.
China Standards of English (CSE)
- a national framework of English language
ability created by the Chinese Ministry of
Education and the State Language
Commission in 2018.
- The framework has basic, intermediate, and
advanced categories, with nine levels in total.
This includes criteria for reading, writing,
listening, speaking, grammar,
and pronunciation. A unique aspect is the
standards listed for translation and
interpretation, which are seldom seen on
proficiency assessments in other parts of the
world.
- The CSE is becoming more widely used in
China as it has recently been mapped to the IELTS
and other proficiency exams.
4. Standardized Assessments
ACADSOC has a system of 16 proficiency levels that map to the CEFR, IELTS, TOEFL, and Cambridge English
Exams.
how
the
3. Popular English Exams in China
International English Language Testing
System (IELTS)
- a standardized test of English language
proficiency for non-native English language
speakers. The test has two versions.
- The academic test is accepted by thousands
of English-speaking colleges and universities
around the world. The general training
version is accepted by the UK, Canada, and
Australia for immigration purposes.
- is the world’s most popular English
proficiency exam.
The Test of English as a Foreign Language
(TOEFL)
- a standardized test to measure the English
language ability of non-native speakers
wishing to enroll in English-speaking
universities.
- The test is accepted by many English-
speaking academic and professional
institutions.
- TOEFL is a trademark of the Educational
Testing Service (ETS), a private non-profit
organization, which designs and administers
the tests. ETS issues official score reports,
sent independently to institutions, for two
years following the test.
You can see
these relate in
image below.
 Acadsoc Levels Mapped to CEFR, IELTS and TOEFL

ACADSOC uses 16 levels to target learner needs. For example, in the ACADSOC system, CEFR bands A1 and
A2 are divided into six different levels (L1-L3 and L4-L6, respectively). This is done because it allows Acadsoc to
develop and target materials at learners more closely. Generally speaking, having more levels in a teaching and
assessment system helps guide learners through the language learning process more steadily. 

5. Reflection Exercise

Read the following spoken sentences and decide what CEFR and Acadsoc levels they could represent.

1. “I like red.” _____

2. “Blue is probably my favorite color.” _____
3. “I think red is a fantastic color, in my culture it represents luck!” _____

ASSESSMENT AND
EVALUATION
Helps in assessing students at various times and
stages.

1. Assessment Procedures at
Acadsoc
English language programs use several types of
assessments.

Three IMPORTANT ASSESSMENTS 

1. Diagnostic Assessment
- an assessment before a course, unit, or
lesson.
 - purpose is to determine a student’s current
language level, and their strengths and
weaknesses.
- Results help students recommend to a
course or program.  3. presentations.
*At Acadsoc new students are assessed initially by a
course consultant and on the basis of a trial lesson.
New students also have the option of an online
assessment through Acadsoc’s Online English
Language Test (AOET) – a computerized test taken
individually online.
 
2. Formative Assessment
- an assessment that occurs during the
learning process
- is designed to measure a student’s progress
in relation to what they are learning.
- Results from formative assessment help
teachers modify what they are teaching and
how they teach, all for the benefit of the
student.
Types of formative assessment include:  teachers, and parents, at a later date.
1. practice tests
2. quizzes
3. teacher observations
4. journals
5. homework, and more.
*At Acadsoc formative assessment takes the form of
an ‘Achievement Test’ which appear periodically
through a student’s course of study, usually every 10
lessons or so. These are designed to highlight
progress and to identify areas of strength and
weakness. Results from achievement tests are then
used to inform future study plans.
3. Summative Assessment
- evaluate student learning against a
benchmark or goal.
- occur at the end of a learning unit or lesson,
and they impact the student’s final grade.
- use quantitative feedback, most often in the
form of a number or grade.
Examples include:
1. exams/tests
2. assignments
*At Acadsoc summative assessment takes the form of
a ‘Level Test’ which appears at the end of a student’s
course of study. These are delivered by Acadsoc
teachers and are designed to assess whether or not a
student is ready to progress to the next level.
2. Feedback Procedures at Acadsoc
*At Acadsoc, students receive two forms of feedback,
one from the teacher at the end of every lesson (the
main form of feedback), and the other provided by
students to teachers and themselves about their own
performance, where appropriate.
1. Teacher Feedback
Acadsoc teachers are required to leave
constructive (not critical!) and positive comments on
learner performance for every class they teach. These
comments are then available to be seen by other
 
2. Self-Feedback
This is when students give themselves
feedback on their own work with the teachers help.
This type of feedback is informal and usually comes at
the end of some kind of task, e.g. talking about a
picture, or writing a few sentences (or phrases) about
a picture under timed conditions.
 
Self-feedback is an excellent way for students
to become more familiar with their own strengths
and weaknesses, and is also useful for increasing
language awareness.
3. Assessing Language Communication
Communication in English is often broken
into the four main skills:
1. reading
2. writing
3. listening,
 4. speaking.
These are the skills you see on proficiency exams like
the IELTS or TOEFL, as well as in frameworks like the
CEFR. 
3.1. Assessing Reading
- ability to read can be broken into various
skills.
As a teacher, you will need to target those individual
skills in your assessments.
Three types of activity which you can use when
assessing reading, or when doing any kind of reading
task:
1. Reading for specific detail. These questions
ask learners to look for specific information in
a text, e.g. How many animals were in the
story?
 
2. Reading for the main idea. These questions
ask learners to summarize, paraphrase or talk
about something they have read. Describing
something in your own words is good proof
that you have understood it.
 
3. Reading for Inference. These questions ask
higher-level learners to draw conclusions
from the text that are not explicitly stated,
e.g. Do you think the writer is being fair?
Remember!  As an online teacher you will find that
reading activities are a popular way of practicing and
assessing your students. Speaking and listening
assessments are done continuously as you interact,
whilst writing is a less commonly practiced skill “in
class”. Reading tasks, however, can be done
comfortably in class and often form a basis on which
other skills are practiced.
3.2. Assessing Listening
The types of listening comprehension
questions you see are very similar to reading. You
often find questions related to finding specific detail
or to understanding the main idea.
Teachers who know about these different
types of questions are able to design and carry out
better assessment.
Three types of activity which you can use when
assessing listening, or when doing any kind of
listening task:
 
1. Listening for specific detail. These questions
ask learners to listen for specific information
and are generally quite straightforward, e.g.
What time does the class begin? Where does
Peter need to return the bicycle?
2. Listening for the main idea. These questions
ask learners to summarize what they hear and
require some free thinking, e.g. What is this
conversation mainly about?
3. Listening for Inference. These questions are
generally more difficult and require students
to use information to make predications and
think more deeply, e.g. What do you think
Lucia will do next? Was the person speaking
angry?
3.3. Assessing Speaking
Speaking
- often the most difficult of the four skills for
students. - Can be most challenging to assess because
it is subjective.
Unlike reading and listening, it is difficult to create a
speaking question that has a right or wrong answer.
However, you can quantify your assessment and
provide different areas for your students to
demonstrate ability.
Here is a list of three things you can think about as a
teacher when assessing someone’s spoken English:
 
1. Fluency. Does the speaker speak
uninterrupted? How smooth is their speech?
Fluency is often measured by the avoidance
of repetition, hesitations, and fillers (uh, um).
 
2. Coherence. How easy is it to understand the
speaker? This can be measured by evaluating
 organizational strategies, such as
introductions, conclusions, and transitional
words (e.g. for example; on the other hand).
 
3. Pronunciation. How clear and natural does
the speaker sound? This includes a variety of
features, such as vowel sounds, consonant
sounds, words, intonation, stress, and
correct emphasis.
3.4. Assessing Writing
Writing
- a complicated skill to assess because it
brings together so many different components, such
as vocabulary, grammar, punctuation, organization,
and more.
- a very important skill as it gives teachers an
idea of a learner’s internal understanding of
language.
For new teachers assessing writing may seem like a
complicated task, but it can be made easier if
teachers ask themselves the following questions
when looking at a student’s work:
Below are two genuine writing samples taken
from Chinese students who were asked to write a
letter to a friend after having lost their friend’s
dictionary. Comment on the writing samples and
mention at least one (or more) of either: Spelling,
Grammar, Punctuation and Word Use.
Writing Sample 1
I am Peter. I lost your dictionary. I am so sorry to that.
To let me not very sad like now. So I decide to invite
you to come to my house and eat dinner with me.
And then I will give you a new one. Remember that
the dinner is on tomorrow evening. Please forgive
me!
Writing Sample 2
I 'm so sorry. I am so sad. So I bought a new
dictionary for you. And can you have dinner with my
parents tonight? Let's stay friend again please. Don't
sad please.

1.      Are there any spelling or punctuation errors?

2.      Is the handwriting clear enough to read
comfortably?
3.      Are words being used in the correct way?
4.      Is there a good range of words being used?
5.      How many grammatical errors are there?
6.      Is the work well organized into sentences and
paragraphs?
        7.      How well does the content match the DEVELOPING LANGUAGE
writing task or answer the question?
  ASSESSMENTS
Remember! When considering these assessment
questions, teachers need to keep the student’s age
and level in mind. It is also worth noting that teachers 1. Validity
should not over-correct writing or offer too many - how well the assessment measures a
suggestions, as this can overwhelm some students. In learning goal.
the majority of cases, it is advisable to only focus on
the most obvious problems that you think will be - the most important consideration when
most helpful in helping the student improve. developing assessments. When psychological
or educational researchers create tests or
4. Reflection Exercise experiments, their first concern is if the test is
valid. 

Example:
1. if you want to evaluate pronunciation, does
the assessment actually do that? If you give
your student a written, multiple-choice test
on pronunciation sounds, you haven’t
measured the student’s pronunciation. This
is an example of an invalid assessment.
2. common in language schools, is to do with
the ability to actually communicate
effectively. Many schools have a curriculum
based on communicative skills; however, their
placement test is a multiple-choice grammar
and vocabulary exam. This kind of test is not a
valid way to assess communicative skills, so
many students end up in the wrong level, or
struggling.
also need to use common sense when carrying out
assessment.
Here are some final questions you should ask
yourself when thinking about assessment:
 
1. Have you considered cultural differences?
You need to consider how the culture and
background of your students impacts their
knowledge. You can’t, for example, give your Chinese
students a reading about hockey and expect them to
know the rules of the game. You also don’t want to
make cultural assumptions.
In a similar example, you can’t give your Chinese
students a reading about the Great Wall of China and
expect they know the background simply because
they are Chinese.

Another thing to note when considering Chinese

2. Reliability learners is that assessment results are viewed as
- how consistently the assessment measures
being important, especially if the assessment is final
expectations. I
(summative). Placing an importance on examinations
is the norm in Confucian cultures like China.
f the student took the test again, would they get the
same score? If so, the assessment is considered
 
reliable.
2. Have you considered motivation?
- Reliability is something that takes time as
Understanding what is motivating students to
you alter and improve your assessments.
learn English is important, especially when it comes
to formative assessment. For instance, a student
With enough data, you can start to see if an
taking an IELTS or TOEFL preparation course will be
assessment is reliable. If your students are getting
motivated by the feedback you give them, as this can
completely different scores on an assignment or test,
directly improve their exam performance. Conversely,
you may have a reliability issue. One concept to think
a young learner or adult learner learning general
about when trying to have a reliable assessment
spoken English may not view ‘assessment scores’
is consistency. If you are using the same assessment
with as much importance.
with multiple students, you need the assessment to
be consistent for fairness.

Here are some examples of how you can do this: 

●      Give the same time to complete the assessment.
●      Use the same instructions.
●      Use the same assessment tool (e.g. rubric; mark
sheet; follow the same instructions).
●      Use the same type of question and format.
4. Reflection Exercise
When assessing a learner's spoken English, it is
common to consider how fluently they speak and
the range of words they use. What other features do
you think we could comment on as teachers?

3. Considerations in Assessment
It’s useful to understand more complicated concepts
of assessment, like validity and reliability, but you
WORD FORMATIONS AND
RELATIONSHIPS
1. Word Relationships
As a teacher, you should know how words relate to
each other in terms of meaning. Describing these
relationships is often helpful for learners of English.
Consider the following terms:
 
Synonyms - two words that have the same meaning,
e.g.
Excellent/Great
Awful/Terrible
 
Antonyms - two words that have opposite meanings,
e.g.
Excellent - Awful
Large - Small
 
Compound words - combine two words together to Prefix Meaning Example
make one, e.g. Anti Against Antibacterial
Watermelon Bi Two Bipedal
Sunflower Bio Life Biosphere
Moonlight
De Reverse Degrade
Dis Not Disagree
Im/In Not Impossible
2. Word Structure
Knowing how to break words down into their
Extra Beyond Extraterrestrial
component parts is a useful skill for any TESOL Micro Small Microeconomics
teacher. Mis Incorrect Misconception
Consider the following terms: Mono One Monolingual
Non Not Nonsense
Roots - base part of the word (root and base are Over Too much Overprotective
terms often used interchangeably), Post After Postgraduate
e.g. Pre Before Prenuptial
Act Re Again Replay
Dress
Semi Half Semicircle
Normal
Sub Under Subterranean
 
Prefixes - small grammatical units placed before a Trans Across Transcontinental
word, e.g. Tri Three Tricycle
Unhappy Ultra Extremely Ultrasound
Misplace Un Not Undone
  Under Not Enough, Underground
Suffixes - small grammatical units placed at the end Below
of words, e.g. Up Higher Upgrade
Playing
Normally

3. Prefixes
- small combinations of letters we can add to the
beginning of words.
- Prefixes change the meaning of the word.
For example, the word “play” can change completely
by adding a prefix - “replay” or “misplay”.
4. Suffixes
- combinations that go at the end of words.
- They are more common than prefixes, and you can
see them in many types of words.
While prefixes change the meaning of the word,
suffixes change the form of the word. Depending on
the suffix, a word can change to a noun, verb,

 The table below has common prefixes with their

meanings and examples.
adjective, or adverb. When you know the suffix, you
may know the part of speech (noun, verb, adjective,
adverb):

Learners biggest suffix challenge is

making part of speech errors. It’s common for an
English learner to say something like, “I think it’s
a really safety city.” In this example, they have
confused the adjective (safe) with the noun
(safety). This can be corrected by a better
understanding of suffixes.

You want your students to understand

that suffixes can help them expand their
vocabulary. If they know the base word, they can
also recognize the word with different suffixes.
For example, if they know the word “play”, they
should also know “playful” and “playfully”. You
can encourage your students to notice (not
necessary learn by heart) suffixes as a way to
expand their vocabulary and language
awareness.

5. Reflection Exercise

Think of any simple vocabulary activity (or task)

based on a knowledge of prefixes and/or suffixes
for an intermediate-level, adult learner.