CHAPTER 1: COURSE INDUCTION AND STUDY

SKILLS
Module 1.1. Introduction
Welcome on board to 120 hour TESOL course!. 
Before you start your course, read the following instructions.

How to navigate this course:

1. Work through the 21 modules of the course, beginning with Unit 1
(unassessed) and ending with Unit 5 Module 3. Assessed tests and tasks begin
with Chapter 2. PLEASE NOTE: You will only be able to access a test or
assignment after receiving a grade for the previous test/task.
2. Work through each module, completing all self check exercises. Self check
exercises are not submitted to your instructor for marking. They are useful to
your learning process and allow you to build your course notes into a guide that
you can use when you are teaching, if you wish.
3. Within a few days, your completed test and task will be marked and your
grade will be posted in your online grade book. The online system notifies you
when your task has been marked and your grade is ready. You'll be able to
access the feedback comments from your tutor on the assignment page. This
feedback will help you as you progress through the course. When you pass your
assignment you'll unlock the next module.
4. Before you start Chapter 2, please read Back to Basic Grammar.
120 hour TESOL Course Instructions
1. Course Syllabus

Chapter Module

1. Motivation
2. Planning and Organizing Study Time
1. Orientation 3. Making Notes
4. Reading Techniques
5. How This Course Works

1. Teaching Grammar
2. The Study of English 2. Pronunciation, Stress and Intonation
3. Lexis

1. The Basic Principles of TEFL

2. Listening and Reading
3. The Teaching and
3. Speaking and Writing
Learning of ESOL        
4. Teaching Aids
5. Error

1. Classroom Management
4. Lesson Planning
2.  Lesson Stages and Plans

1. Characteristics of the Young Learners

2. Classroom Management Strategies for Use in
5. Teaching Young Learners the Young Learners Classroom        
3. Teaching Techniques for Use with Young
Learners
2. Course Structure
Each course consists of several chapters, but the most important chapters are
Chapter 2, Chapter 3, and Chapter 4 as the assessment scores of these chapters
will be recorded for the final achievement. The assessments can be either tasks
or tests or both tasks and tests.
Each chapter has several modules. Each module consists of:

 The lessons

 Self-check

 Test

 Task

 References

Some modules may also contain the Tests to be completed after reading the
Lesson and before doing the Task. All the tests and tasks are graded. In TARI
LMS, the students can find that all the tests are automatically graded by the
system. Tutors only grade Tasks.

3. Grading System
 Grade Specification

Learner has demonstrated preparation

and teaching of an outstanding standard
and deserves a distinction. All relevant
91 and above                A1 - Distinction       
points have been observed and the
learner has followed all the advice given
by the mentor and the staff team.

90 A1/A2

Learner has demonstrated preparation

and teaching of an excellent standard.
Most relevant points have been
81 - 89 A2 - Excellent
observed and the learner has followed
the advice given by the mentor and the
staff team.

80 A2/B1

Learner has demonstrated preparation

and teaching of a very good standard.
The majority of the relevant points have
71 - 79 B1 - Very good
been observed and the learner has
followed advice given by the mentor
and staff team.

70 B1/B2

Learner has demonstrated preparation

and teaching of a good standard, but
improvements can be made. Some of the
61 - 69 B2 - Good
relevant points have not been observed
and the learner may need some further
guidance.

60 B2/C

50 - 59 C - Pass Learner has demonstrated preparation

and teaching of a satisfactory standard.
There is however room for improvement
 Grade Specification

and the learner should be advised not to

be satisfied with more than one grade
‘C’. Further guidance is needed.

49 and below   U - Ungraded     Re-submission requested

Combined grades, such as A1/A2, mean that the students’ results are between

the two grades, in this case more than Excellent but not quite Distinction.
The overall score of the course will be calculated based on the following rule:
The grade of each module corresponds to a number as stated in the table below.

Grade Score

A1                            5                             

A1/A2 4.5

A2 4

A2/B1 3.5

B1 3

B1/B2 2.5

B2 2

B2/C 1.5

C 1

At the end of the course, all scores are added up and divided by 10 (the number
of modules of the course) to have the final grade.

Module 1.2. Study Skills

Though we all spend our formative years studying, most of us are never taught
how to study.  Most people leave school with little confidence in their ability to
learn, this percentage could be greatly reduced if they were taught how to learn.
This is nothing to do with intelligence or 'being clever', it is to do with using
effective techniques.
People learn in different ways so you need to find out what works best for you.
Much of this can be done by looking at ways of learning which you have used
in the past and remembering which worked well for you.

The following questions should prompt you to start looking at ways of learning:
1. What do you find easy to remember?
2. What do you find difficult to remember?
3.What helps you to remember?
4. Do you have your own style of shorthand?
5. Is it easy to read your shorthand later?
6. Do you ever use the notes which you have made?
7. Do you read every word on a page to find a piece of information?
8. Do you study at times best suited for studying?
9. Can you keep yourself motivated?
Hopefully, by the end of this module you will know how to improve some of
your study skills and maybe you will have acquired new ones.  All are aimed at
making you study more effectively.  This may mean that you reach the end of
the course more quickly; that you gain more knowledge from the course and/or
gain better grades.

Let's first of all consider why you are studying and your motivation

Motivation
In order to succeed in any form of voluntary course of study the student needs
strong powers of self-motivation.  In the classroom, motivation is usually
generated by the teacher and the group; in distance learning there is a need for
the student to generate this motivation for him/herself.  It is easy therefore for
studying to become a second priority.
Your reasons for studying will have an effect on your motivation. Let's look at
typical reasons why people choose to study.
Note the reasons that you recognise as yours.
1. To prove to myself that I can study.
2. I am interested in ESOL.
3. To become qualified and start teaching.
4. To become qualified and continue teaching.
5. To move on in my career.
6. My employer says I must become qualified.
7. The government insists that I get qualified to stay in the country in which I
live and work.
Do you have other reasons for studying?  Make a note of them.

Numbers 1 & 2 are personal reasons and mean that you are probably
determined to succeed.  Success will be its own reward.
In numbers 3,4 & 5 the reward is what comes later, the studying is not the
reward in itself.  If these are your reasons, your aims are probably still quite
important to you, but when the reward is far away your determination may fade.
Numbers 6 & 7 do not mean that you really want to study at all, you are being
forced to do so by an outside force.
Place any additional reasons in one of the three groups.

SUCCESSFUL STUDYING DEPENDS TO A LARGE EXTENT ON

YOUR STUDIES BEING IMPORTANT TO YOU.

 You must make it important to you

 You must make it enjoyable
 You must make it rewarding
OR your determination will fade and you will become bored with studying.
Your Motivation
Your reason for doing this course is your motivation.
Whether your motives equate with numbers 1 & 2; 3, 4 & 5; 6 & 7, you will
need to find an effective way to motivate yourself.

What does motivate you?

Self-check 1
Self check tasks are a chance for you to try something, answer questions or think
about a topic on your own – they appear throughout the course and are an
important way of assessing how you are progressing and if you understand a
concept.
Reproduce the table below in Word or your notebook.
In the first column, write a list of things which you find rewarding and
enjoyable - try to cover all the different parts of your life.
In the second column write one or two words to say why the activity is
enjoyable.
Leave the third column blank.
Activity Why enjoyable Type of motivation

                                                                           

                                                                           

                                                                           

Look back at your reasons for studying.

Activities which are their own reward as in 1 & 2 on your reasons list are driven
by intrinsic motivation.
Activities which are not the reward in themselves, and in which the reward is an
outcome of the activity as in 3, 4 & 5 on your reasons list are known as extrinsic
motivation.
Now go back to the table and write next to each activity whether there is
intrinsic or extrinsic motivation for the activity or both.
NB Most activities can give intrinsic satisfaction to some people, and extrinsic
satisfaction to others.
Look at the following and rate your motivation
STUDYING AS AN ACTIVITY IN ITSELF
complete lack of motivation  -2   -1   0   1   2  completely motivated
YOUR LONG -TERM GOAL
complete lack of motivation  -2   -1   0   1   2  completely motivated
Add together your scores.
Results Analysis
3/4 - motivation will not be your problem
0-2 - you may need more motivation to keep you going
-1/-2 - you will find it difficult to keep on task
-3/-4 - motivation may be a serious problem for you

Everyone, no matter how motivated, finds times when they feel they cannot go
on.  What is it that is most likely to prevent you from carrying on?

Self-check 2
Everyone, no matter how motivated, finds times when they feel they cannot go
on.
 
What is it that is most likely to prevent you from carrying on?
Take 5 minutes to think about this and make a note of your thoughts.
 
INTESOL students do not always study in the way that they thought they were
going to when they started the course.
Look at how motivations and situations can change.
CASE STUDY (changed names) from Japan
Julia started the INTESOL course in September, hoping to finish before the new
school year in April in the country where she was living so she could get a pay
rise.  She also felt that although she was teaching, she didn’t have many
classroom skills and that formal study would help.
In October she found out she was pregnant.  When morning sickness struck, she
was unable to keep studying so it was Christmas before she got back to the
INTESOL course.  By now she realized she would not be able to finish before
April but also that she would be leaving her full time job at the end of the
academic year in February, so the pressure was off to finish the course.  But she
also realized that she would need to work as a freelance English teacher while
the baby was small as her husband’s salary was not high enough to support the
family.  Julia went on with the course.  She finished in June TWO DAYS before
the baby was born!
She is now working from home and has a group of other mothers who come in
the mornings for conversation lessons and some children from her old school
who come for extra tuition in the evenings.

Self-check 3
Make a list of motivation issues that may have affected Julia.
If your determination is fading, if your motivation needs a boost you may like to
consider the following tips:
1. Make a card or poster with the qualification you are working towards with
large letters on it. Put this on your work desk or on the wall.
2. Talk to people who have been successful in this field or talk with your fellow
TESOL student in the forums.
3. Work to a daily plan, but every so often focus on your long-term goal. If you
do not manage to work one day because of something unexpected, do not get
depressed but make time on another day.
4. Phone in for a chat or email your tutor to ask about the 'knotty problem' that
is stopping your progress.
5. Put your short-term study goals in words to someone else.
6. Give yourself rewards at short intervals, ie at the end of each unit or if you
are really in trouble, every 1 or 2 tasks.
7. Set yourself deadlines for completing modules (for example: 'one more
module before I fly off to France for Easter'). It feels great when you finish on
time.
8. Talk to a partner or family about your problem so that you can have time and
support to get back on track.

Now you have some ideas to help when you are becoming demotivated, let's
look at your organisational skills.

Self-check 4
Take a piece of paper.
a) Write down three or four sentences describing a time when you think you
successfully managed your time to get something done.
b) Write three or four sentences about a time that you didn’t!
What helped you in a) and what stopped you in b)?
Success in any course depends on the candidate's commitment to work and the
organisation of his/her study time, but never more so than in a distance training
course.
Distance training is not an easy option or a quick and painless way of gaining a
qualification.  Distance training can be very hard work.  The strain can be
lessened by good planning.
Time is a challenge whatever your sphere of life.  It is difficult to fit in any
studying when your day is filled with work, domestic duties and personal
responsibilities.  Advances in the world of technology have made life easier in
this respect but there are still only 24 hours in a day and sleep has to be fitted in
somewhere. The only way to succeed and fit everything in is by being a good
manager of time.  It may be hard work and you may need to change the habits
of a lifetime but the end result will be worth all the effort.
Student teachers on this course come from many different backgrounds.   Some
are teachers already, some are full-time students, many come from totally
different careers or are unemployed.  Home and family commitments are also
varied.  Some live alone, some have a family.
This course is therefore being studied by a vast range of prospective teachers of
ESOL from unemployed, single people living alone to those with full-time jobs
and young, dependent children.  The amount of study time available to people
in each of these groups varies considerably.
No matter whether you have a lot of free time or very little, planning is
essential.
Studying cannot be fitted in between breakfast and going out to work, or
between your two favourite TV programmes.  It must be taken seriously and
given its own time and space in your day.
Timetabling your study is a task that can be described both as very simple and
as very hard.  Simple because anyone can draw up a timetable and fill in the
blank boxes.  But can you stick to this timetable?
A few years ago one of our tutors found herself doing a distance Masters course
at the same time as tutoring for INTESOL.  Here are her feelings on distance
learning!
Read what she says and go on to fill in the timetabling activities on the next few
pages.
……..