Flashcards are a fantastic resource for teachers. They can not only be used with all ages and levels of students but they are very flexible and highly adaptable. This means a set of flashcards you might prepare for a beginner class of teenagers can also be used with...
TEFL Teaching Methodology looks at the general approaches or methods used to teach English as a foreign language. Over time they have changed and borrowed from research, developed from each other and expanded on previous methodologies. As you will see below, many of...
Correcting Spoken English is the way in which student errors are corrected as they are speaking. Before beginning though, remember that all students will make mistakes. It is part and parcel of learning a language (and bear in mind that children learning their first...
Concept Checking is a way to make sure your students have understood what you have been explaining. It's about asking the right questions. These two examples show why concept checking is necessary in your classroom: Example 1 You asked your students to read a...
This article offers a simple First Lesson for Beginners. It assumes that all instruction will be done in English and the class knows no English at all, i.e. the class are all complete beginners. Background It is generally accepted that using English only in the...
An Open-Ended Question is a question which cannot be answered with a simple Yes or No answer and one which requires more thought. It is the opposite of a Closed Question. And like a door, an open question could lead anywhere, a closed question stops everything....
Storytelling is an ancient art that developed alongside the development of language and it is one of the earliest forms of folkart. The story can be of a real event or it can be made up. Storytelling has been used over the millennia not only as a means of...
A Lesson Plan is the outline of what will be taught in a single lesson. It is, if you like, a road map for the hour or 90 minutes or so you will spend with the class. Creating a good lesson plan is vitally important for a successful lesson and good teachers invariably...
The Syllabus is the outline of language to be taught to a class over a particular course (term, semester, etc). It can be seen as a step in the hierarchy of learning and teaching English. At best it will be designed by the school Director of Studies; at worst there...
When Teaching Vocabulary, many teachers still resort to long word lists which the students are expected to translate into their mother tongue, learn and remember. This approach to teaching vocabulary is rather dull and mechanical. It has limited impact and there is...
An English Grammar - as a countable noun - is a book which explains the grammar of the English language. Compare this to grammar - as a non-countable noun - which is the set of rules which explain how language is used. Thus we can say a grammar is full of grammar....
Teacher Talking Time (TTT) is the amount of time the teacher talks in the classroom. It pays to make this as little as possible. Look at this typical TEFL classroom dialog: Teacher: Jimal, what's your favorite TV show? Jimal: Er... Teacher: Baywatch? American Idol?...
Task Based Language Learning (TBLL) is basically geared towards the students performing a particular task. In the ELT classroom this might: ordering a meal asking directions discussing a film preparing a job application It's all about getting the students focused and...
Classroom Focus is concerned with who is the main focus of teaching in the classroom. Essentially there are two possible foci: the teacher - the class is Teacher Centered the students - the class is Student Centered Traditionally classes have been Teacher Centered...
Taboo Words (sometimes known as swearwords, curse words, or profanity) are those words and phrases which some people find shocking or offensive. They can often cause problems for TEFL teachers and learners of English. In general, the best advice is to avoid both...
{youtube}xOEMd8uenVI{/youtube}There is a right way and a wrong way to give instructions in your classroom. If you give instructions the wrong way you'll end up with a class who don't know what's going on. It's not rocket science, but it can make the difference between...
The Needs Analysis is a simple concept and an extremely important one at the same time. It is the cornerstone of teaching English and its importance cannot be underestimated. Essentially it is the process of assessing the needs of your students (or student if you are...
The Competency-Based training method was developed primarily for Industry. The training was based on what people were expected to do in the workplace. It emphasized what people could actually do as a result of their training rather than simply looking at the amount of...
https://youtu.be/_TESli89qsw Timelines are a teaching aid we use to help explain how different verb tenses are used. They are a visual representation of the passage of time. This is an empty timeline: Here, the timeline shows an event in the past (last...
A cloze test (or gap fill exercise) is a simple exercise where a text has certain words removed and students must suggest suitable alternatives to go in the gap. Cloze tests are a common activity teachers use to get students to focus on a particular language item....
There are many different seating arrangements available to you, the teacher, and lessons can be enhanced by paying attention to them. Unfortunately many teachers keep the same seating arrangement for the entire lesson, and throughout the academic year and then...
TEFL/TESOL teachers talk about students being Beginners, Intermediate, Advanced and so on. But what does that really mean? There is no single method used to describe the learner level of an English speaker, however this article will provide a rough idea of how to...
English is an international language which people from all over the world learn in order to communicate with each other. Accuracy and Fluency are two factors which can determine the success of English language students in the future. Essentially accuracy is the...
False Friends are pairs of words or phrases in two different languages which look and/or sound similar but which have very different meanings. False Friends are sometimes known as False Cognates. Learners will often assume the corresponding word or phrase in the...
This article is a very user-friendly introduction to Teaching English Around the World. That is, heading off for a year or so to a foreign country and teaching English to people there. Or even staying at home in your own country and teaching English to students who...
Recasting is a form of error correction from a teacher to a student; uptake is how the student reacts to this. Basically, recasting is when the teacher repeats what the student says but in correct English. Uptake is when the student hears the correction and repeats...
Well I'm on business/holiday right now but in Portugal - a country I've never visited before. I always think it's a fascinating experience to be in a place where you know nothing at all of the language. It immediately reminds you what it is like to be a complete...
