Teaching English as a Foreign Language for Dummies (52 page)

Then again, a bit of junk mail which you would otherwise throw away could fascinate the students. If you are sure there is no classified information in it (the ‘Dear Homeowner’ kind is useful), you can even let them open it (from a new envelope if you want to conceal your address), have a go at filling in forms or planning a reply.

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Move Around

A
kinaesthetic learner
is someone who learns by actions and movement.

Although some people just seemed to be wired that way (you know, the fidgeters who are always asking when the next break is), almost everyone benefits by getting out of the chair and shaking off the cobwebs from time to time.

Try to adapt your activities so that they become more physical.

Whenever possible, get students to:

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Change seats

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Stand up

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Do pair work (even back to back)

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Act things out

Play a Game

Most students, even serious business types are up for a challenge in the form of a game, puzzle or quiz. It makes sense to have an armoury of these at your disposal to use as warmers at the beginning of a lesson, coolers at the end or just to break things up when the atmosphere has become rather flat. Another approach is to see how you can turn your existing lesson material into something more competitive or entertaining by pitting teams against each other, setting time limits and awarding points.

The games and puzzles we native speakers play are often easy to adapt for classroom use. All the children’s games below require speaking in simple statements and no props at all.

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Simon says:
In this game one person gives orders such as ‘Simon says touch your toes’. However, you don’t follow the order unless the speaker first says ‘Simon says’. If you forget and follow the order anyway, you are out of the game.

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I spy:
This popular game in one in which players take it in turns to secretly identify something in the room and the letter that the object begins with, for example ‘L’ for lamp. You then say, ‘I spy with my little eye something beginning with . . . L!’ Then all the other players have to guess what the thing beginning with L is.

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Part VI: The Part of Tens

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I went to the supermarket:
This is a memory game based on shopping lists. The first person says, ’I went to the supermarket and I bought . . . ’.

This person chooses an item and says the word. It might be a pen for example. The second person must now say the introduction, the word pen and then add another item of their own. ‘I went to the supermarket and I bought a pen and some cheese’. Move from student to student as they repeat the ever increasing list and add an item.

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Chinese whispers:
Stand all the students in a line or a circle. Whisper a short message in the first student’s ear. That student whispers the message, as they have understood it, to the next student and so on. The challenge is to see whether the message remains the same by the time it reaches the last student

Then there are other games which, with a little adjusting can fit snugly into a lesson. Chapter 20 has more on games and don’t be put off because the chapter is directed at teaching children – the games can be adapted for any age.

Get Musical

Music generally puts a smile on people’s faces and reduces stress too, so if you can find a song to illustrate the piece of language you want to practise you will find your lesson much livelier than when you use a simple worksheet.

Songs are generally seen as a listening activity and older, professional students may not want to sing along too often. There is an alternative though if you want to get musical and this means using jazz chants. A
jazz chant
is a cross between speaking and singing (a little like rapping) which involves repetition and rhythm. While chanting sentences you want to practise, you can snap your figures or clap your hands which really helps learners to hear how English pronunciation and intonation works.

If you are still not sure what chanting sounds like, take a look at www.

onestopenglish.com under Listening skills: jazz chants. You can download and listen to some jazz chants on MP3.

Chapter 24

Ten Great Resources for

TEFL Teachers

In This Chapter

▶ Making use of books and other reading materials

▶ Visiting helpful websites

▶ Calling on real people

▶ Getting your hands on real stuff

Just in case you find yourself lacking in time or inspiration, in this chapter I list resources to help your lessons and your career along. With these at hand you should be able to deal with many a tricky situation.

Making the Most of EFL Reference Books

A high proportion of EFL teachers are nomads who try not accumulate too many weighty objects in their backpacks. However, if you decide to invest in any EFL reference books apart from this one, the two here are real classics. They both deal with grammar, as this is the area where you tend to get caught out in either understanding it or teaching it.

A grammar reference to fall back on

Few EFL teachers have not been caught off guard by a grammar question they just could not answer. There you are with your perfect lesson plan, or so you think, when some clever clogs student raises their hand and suddenly reveals your Achilles heel. The best way out of this is, of course, to look confident and promise to go through the answer in the next lesson, giving you a chance to do your research and save face.

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One of the most popular grammar reference books for EFL is
Practical English
Usage
written by Michael Swan
and published by Oxford University Press. All of the trickier grammar areas are there from intermediate to advanced level.

The book contains examples of what you can say and of what you cannot say as well. This very well laid out publication is well worth the investment. As a matter of fact, this is a book which you can even recommend to your more advanced students.

A book with grammar lessons

to save the day

Ok, so you know what that tense is called, the form and the function, but you are still a little clueless about what to actually do with it in the classroom.

Teaching Tenses: Ideas for Presenting and Practising Tenses in English
written by Rosemary Aitken and published by
ELB Publishing/ ABAX Ltd is a great book with ideas, explanations, timelines and photocopiable illustrations which you can use time and again. You basically get entire lessons which present and practise the tenses in a practical, thorough and enjoyable way. In addition to this, you get superb examples of what a good lesson consists of.

If you have more room, try these other books too:

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For pronunciation practice drills and comparisons, pick up
Ship or Sheep
written by Ann Baker and published by Cambridge University Press, along with
English Pronunciation Illustrated
written by John Trim and published by Cambridge University Press. This second book also offers thorough practice but has particularly amusing cartoons to make your students smile.

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The photocopiable ELT Games and Activities series published by Longman are spiral bound teachers’ books for practising language skills in a fun and engaging way. Included in the series are the Communication Games books for different levels. Written by Jill Hadfield, they’re a staple for EFL schools around the world.

Looking It Up! Making

Use of the Dictionary

Some great learners’ dictionaries out there offer more than just definitions.

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The
Macmillan English Dictionary for Advanced Learners,
for example, includes colour sections with clear diagrams showing various vocabulary groups. It indicates how frequently used a word is, the pronunciation in the form of phonemic transcription (symbols that show how to pronounce an English word), what kind of word it is (noun, verb and so on), what collocates or typically goes next to that word(for example
pitch
and
black
are collocations because the usually go together as one phrase) and the different meanings.

It offers whole sections on different varieties of English, metaphors, phrasal verbs (verbs which include a preposition or two and have a special meaning such as
to set off
and
to get on with)
and other useful areas.

If you either recommend one particular dictionary to all your students, or have a class set of dictionaries, you can plan lessons and whole activities based on dictionary skills. In most cases, accompanying websites offer exercises for the students to do with you or as self-study for homework. You can also write to the publisher and ask for resource packs.

Another two popular dictionaries for EFL students are:

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Oxford Advanced Learners’ Dictionary
comes along with a range of online resources from the Oxford University Press (OUP) website www.oup.

co.uk

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Various editions of the
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
come in paperback or hardback format and also with CD roms.

Browsing Websites

Just as in many other industries, the internet has revolutionised the world of EFL. From job-hunting to lesson planning, you can find loads of help and encouragement from colleagues on a variety of websites.

Finding work

Before ever you find yourself in the classroom, you need to get a job. So, if you are currently in Warsaw but hoping to find yourself a position in Beijing, for example, you need to get on the internet, CV at the ready.

For many years www.tefl.com has been an essential website for job seekers in EFL. It lists vacancies from all over the world and allows you to save a CV online which can be forwarded to potential employers at the click of a mouse. It also offers advice on training courses, franchise opportunities and living costs in particular cities.

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Planning lessons

Take a look at www.onestopenglish.com, an excellent site for teachers maintained by MacMillan, the largest publisher of educational books.

Countless pages cover many different kinds of lessons including business English, ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) and exam classes. In addition, the site has articles on methodology and new developments in the industry. Downloading a worksheet or lesson plan is quick and easy too.

The British Council is a well established organisation which, among other things, runs English language training programmes around the world. It also tries to promote understanding among different cultures and promotes the UK to other nations.

As well as job vacancies, the British Council website at www.british council.org has a section on teaching English with ready made lesson plans and links to other useful sites offering resources. This site is also ideal for students interested in travelling to Britain to study or need some extra guidance on funding or exams.

Your first exam class is always a daunting experience. However, if you happen to be teaching one of the Cambridge suite of exams you can get a head-start by looking at the tips and sample exercises on their website www.cambridgeesol.org. Each exam is broken down paper by paper and there are classroom activities to help you teach all the skills and sub-skills your students will need.

Reading the English Language Gazette

The
English Language Gazette
is the most well-known industry journal and has been running for over 20 years. You can subscribe to the newspaper with an online edition at affordable rates and visit the website www.elgazette.

com. All of these will tell you about vacancies, upcoming events and the latest EFL books to hit the market. You can make use of lesson plans too and get information about colleges and universities offering further development courses such as masters programmes.

The
EL Gazette
presents articles from all over the world and reports on the global EFL market, which is useful if you are considering teaching abroad but need some up-to-date inside information about your chosen destination.

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Attending Professional Seminars

In countries where EFL is popular, publishing houses, larger teaching institutions and examining boards organise yearly lectures and sessions for teachers to update themselves on methodology and resources. They can be very refreshing, not least because you get to discuss your problems with other teachers who may have found solutions. Some offer free sessions as long as you register and for others you need to pay (or ask your employer to – it’s worth a try, anyway).

Regular seminars are held by:

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Cambridge ESOL to make sure teachers are fully acquainted with their exams and know how to prepare candidates to take them. You can find a country by country list at www.cambridgeesol.org/resources/

teacher/seminars.html

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IATEFL ( International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language) also have a yearly conference and special interest groups online for teachers who want to develop in particular areas. Take a look at their homepage www.iatefl.org for further information.

Getting Your Hands on Real Stuff

Realia
refers to real objects you take into the classroom to help you teach.

By this I do not mean things like dictionaries or board pens. Realia might be a tomato, a remote control or a piece of clothing which generates interest in the topic you are discussing.

Maps

Real maps are fascinating for students abroad and in native English speaking countries alike. Take the iconic London Underground tube map. You can tell a story about a day in London while students follow the locations on the map, use it to practise directions, pronunciation of place names, colours or just create an atmosphere of full immersion in your classroom.