Dip Module1

ITTT Diploma in TESOL Course
Dip001
Module 1 S udy skills

St
International TEFL and TESOL Training

©
Where the world is your classroom

Mod
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Study
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skills
Overview
In this module we will look at study skills with two
different areas of focus:
n What study skills are required for you to complete this

online Diploma course?
n What study skills should we cover with our students?
In the section for your study we will consider what you

need to complete the course online in terms of access
to computers and materials. As most of your research
will be through reading articles we will look at some
general guidelines for reading techniques.
After gathering your research you will be presenting

answers in the form of short and long essays, so some
guidelines for presenting written information will be
covered.
Finally we will consider some issues such as copyright,

plagiarism and so forth.
In the section for teaching study skills to your students

we will cover a range of topics such as how to use a
dictionary, how to make notes in class and some further
general reading skills such as skimming and scanning.
Also within Unit 1 there is the opportunity to complete a

study skills quiz to find your strengths and weaknesses
in this area and a webliography of useful search engines
and websites.
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Where the world is your classroom Dip 001 Copyright © 2012 International TEFL and TESOL Training. All rights reserved.
Mod
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Getting started
Equipment requirements for the course
n Ownership of or access to a computer, which has an

internet connection and an operating system such as
Windows, Linux or Mac, and access to a printer.
n A standard English dictionary, encyclopedia and

thesaurus would also be useful. (Note: All these are
available as online resources.)
Researching on the Internet
An excellent website developed by Joe Landsberger has

a plethora of useful information on this and other topics.
We suggest you take a look at it now:
www.skillsyouneed.com/learn/study-skills.html
Where to study?
Obviously this is entirely up to you, but here are a few

questions to ask yourself about your chosen study area:
n Do I have free access to my study area at all times?

n Does my study area have all the materials I may need
at any time?
n Does my study area have a large enough area to use
the computer, spread out printed documents, file
paper materials, etc?
n Is my study area going to be free of interruptions?
n Is my study area a comfortable place to work?
Before you start
It would be useful before you start the course to do some form of assessment of your study skills to see where
your strengths and weaknesses lie. One possible option to do this from the Cook Counseling Center at Virginia
Tech: http://ucc.vt.edu/academic_support/study_skills_information.html
After doing the inventory go to the help areas suggested and read the information given. Access other
websites using the keywords given in each section as a search base.
An excellent list of websites to help you research a whole variety of topics has been produced by Fred Riley, of
Hull University in the UK, at this URL: www.fredriley.org.uk/call/
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Research study sheet
1. This task is designed to show you can access information from a web address.
Using the information you find at www.teflcorp.com, state the location of the capital city of the Thai Lan Na
Kingdom.
2. This task is designed to help you use online search engines more effectively.
Do a Google search for second language acquisition and make a note of how many search results are found,
given at the top of the results page. Now do the same search for “second language acquisition” (with quotation
marks) and see how the number of results differs. What numbers of results did you find for each?
3. This task is designed for you to use an online dictionary.
Give the dictionary definition of the word diaphanous and give the website address of the online dictionary
used.
4. This task is designed for you to access an online thesaurus.
Find two synonyms and two antonyms for the word ‘diaphanous’.
5. The following symbols appear next to some words in a dictionary. What is their meaning?
a) abbr b) adv c) AmE d) BrE e) C

f) conj g) det h) n i) pl j) prep
k) pron l) sth m) U n) v
6. There are a number of different purposes for reading, which include both skimming and scanning material.
Define these two terms:
Skimming is reading to…
Scanning is reading to…
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Now state three further types of reading skill and define their purpose.
7. Your students will invariably take notes during your lessons.
State four pieces of advice that you would give to your students on note taking.
8. Define the word plagiarism and give four suggestions that your students can follow in their research and
consequent writing so that this can be avoided.
Now create a file for the research study material you have just completed.
Task sheet answers – Exemplar

One of the most important aspects of the course is showing your understanding of the material studied.
This is achieved through your answers to the task sheet questions.
The following material is a sample ‘Question and Answer’ to give you a guideline as to the level of work involved
and expected for this course.
Sample Question:
The book “The Language Instinct” by Steven Pinker, could have important consequences for language teaching
methodology. Outline this work and critically analyze its potential implications for English language teaching
(ELT).
First of all, you'll need to do some background work.
The quick brainstorm on the following page produced the spider diagram, which immediately gives us twelve
reference points to work on in our research.
Having completed the research study sheet you should have some of this covered already.
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Research
We can now start our search for information by visiting various websites.
A basic start might be just to Google search the name 'Steven Pinker' and see what information we get.
Now that you have done the search you should have a number of websites and direct references to work with,
which will allow you to work on the twelve points.
Once you have all the information you think you need, you can then start to think about the structure of your
answer. Obviously one of the most important aspects is to check that we have answered all the points to be
addressed by the question.
So your answer might contain something like this:
Sample Answer:
(Introduction) Steven Pinker, born 1954, could be categorized as an evolutionary psychologist. He has written a
number of books written for the popular science market, one of which, The Language Instinct (1994), proposed
that language and its development is a natural biological process, which has been shaped by evolution.
He is a professor of psychology at Harvard University and has worked at MIT and McGill Universities. He has
been publishing since 1984.
(Summary) Now: Outline of the theory presented in The Language Instinct.
(Summary) Then: Implications for teaching methodology.
(Summary) Show: Where did this theory come from? Was it a quantum leap?
No. It was a gradual process. Darwin to Chomsky to Pinker.
(Summary) Agreement with this theory evidential base.
(Summary) Disagreement with this theory evidential base.
(Conclusion based on all the above) Bear in mind that your opinion is important.
Many courses at this level want you to express others opinions; this course is aimed at developing your critical
thought, so please express yourself.
The task sheet answers (when in short essay form) should be between 300 and 500 words in length.
The answers should also contain at least two referenced sources.
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Task sheet
1. Describe the ways in which a dictionary can be integrated into our teaching methodology:
a) In the classroom.
b) Outside of the classroom.
2. Draw up a flow chart (a series of boxes in a linear sequence) to show a possible process for researching and
subsequently writing an essay answer to a question which requires internet research.
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3. Why is it important to ‘learn how to learn’ and if it is important why is it rarely done?
4. At one extreme we can teach by reading out from a course book and at the other we could totally ignore the course
book. What are the advantages and disadvantages to (a) the teacher and (b) the students of doing something in
between these two extremes?
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5. Read and summarize the findings from the following article:
http://www.teflserver.net/diprscs/OLTDTS1Q5.pdf
Throughout the course, you do not send in either your guided study or task sheet answers for grading. These should be
stored on your device ready for use when you take the test.
You should now be ready to access the test.
Make sure you have copied and saved a file of your guided study and research answers, so that you can refer to them during
the test.
Good luck.
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ITTT Diploma in TESOL Course

Module 1 S udy skills

International TEFL and TESOL Training

Where the world is your classroom

n What study skills are required for you to complete this

n What study skills should we cover with our students?

In the section for your study we will consider what you

After gathering your research you will be presenting

Finally we will consider some issues such as copyright,

In the section for teaching study skills to your students

Also within Unit 1 there is the opportunity to complete a

n Ownership of or access to a computer, which has an

n A standard English dictionary, encyclopedia and

Researching on the Internet

An excellent website developed by Joe Landsberger has

Obviously this is entirely up to you, but here are a few

n Do I have free access to my study area at all times?

Before you start

Research study sheet

3. This task is designed for you to use an online dictionary.

4. This task is designed for you to access an online thesaurus.

a) abbr b) adv c) AmE d) BrE e) C

Skimming is reading to…

Scanning is reading to…

7. Your students will invariably take notes during your lessons.

Task sheet answers – Exemplar

This is achieved through your answers to the task sheet questions.

First of all, you'll need to do some background work.

So your answer might contain something like this:

(Summary) Now: Outline of the theory presented in The Language Instinct.

(Summary) Then: Implications for teaching methodology.

No. It was a gradual process. Darwin to Chomsky to Pinker.

(Summary) Agreement with this theory evidential base.

(Summary) Disagreement with this theory evidential base.

b) Outside of the classroom.

5. Read and summarize the findings from the following article:

You should now be ready to access the test.

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