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ESL: how do I approach it? | ||
Tags: Language Teaching | English | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| IowaHawkeye Diglot Groupie United States Joined 5886 days ago 42 posts - 42 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Portuguese | Message 1 of 4 20 April 2010 at 5:16pm | IP Logged |
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This question has two parts both over the same subject matter. To begin, I suppose I'll give you a little background information about myself. I have a B.ENG in computer engineering with a minor in computational linguistics. I never enrolled in any of the TEFL/TESL courses within my program, but I feel I have a very solid understanding of English grammar and usage. I merely lack the knowledge required to pass on that information to others in an effective manner. I have experience with teaching and tutoring, but I have never given language lessons. I successfully learned Spanish through autodidactic study, but I cannot seem to develop that into an effective springboard for teaching others English. I have no endeavors of teaching English professionally at this time, therefore I seek no official certification. However, my mother in law is from India and has moved here to be near my wife and I. She speaks and understands very little English, but can function minimally within her day to day activities. I merely wish to learn how I can take the knowledge I have acquired of my native language and pass it on to her in a manner which facilitates proper learning. This brings us to the first part of our question:
Are there any books or courses that any of you have found to be successful in teaching you how to teach others English? What advice can you offer me on where to plunge in to this task? I feel that my extensive knowledge of English coupled with the fact that languages offer a very large array of topics to be covered leaves me a bit bewildered of just how to begin. She already knows the survival phrases and now desires to be conversational, to understand the world around her, to be able to participate in the goings-on within our family, and to be able to access the rewards that knowing English can offer you. I would like to learn to develop a long term, structured approach to help her reach her goals in an efficient manner. The next part of my question also deals with this same topic: What are some materials that I could buy for her that would help her to learn English? Are there any particular courses/books/etc that those of you who speak English as a second language really enjoyed? Thanks in advance for your replies and help on this matter. It really is very appreciated. Edited by IowaHawkeye on 20 April 2010 at 5:30pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| magictom123 Senior Member United KingdomRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5597 days ago 272 posts - 365 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: Italian, French | Message 2 of 4 20 April 2010 at 5:43pm | IP Logged |
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There are many tefl courses you can do either online or in a class room that apparently prepare you for your
first days teaching. i-to-i seem to be the biggest to me and I plan to do their 120 hour online course which includes a weekend practical element. I really think this is something that for myself I would struggle to learn from the many tefl guide textbooks that are available (I got double A's in English at high school and have a degree). Of course everyones different and you may choose that route. Either way, good luck and let us know how you get on. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| IowaHawkeye Diglot Groupie United States Joined 5886 days ago 42 posts - 42 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Portuguese | Message 3 of 4 20 April 2010 at 5:55pm | IP Logged |
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I'll definitely check that out. I don't mind doing a course at all. I just have no ambitions to turn it into a career and so the course musn't cost 2000 dollars. (like the CELTA)
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| Cainntear Pentaglot Senior Member Scotland linguafrankly.blogsp Joined 6015 days ago 4399 posts - 7687 votes Speaks: Lowland Scots, English*, French, Spanish, Scottish Gaelic Studies: Catalan, Italian, German, Irish, Welsh | Message 4 of 4 21 April 2010 at 1:15pm | IP Logged |
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i-to-i is considered something of a joke in TEFL circles. Any successful autodictat would be better reading some of the books on the topic.
There are several books recommended on the topic by schools (and Teach Yourself isn't on that list!). The one I bought when doing my CELTA was "The Practice of English Language Teaching" by Jeremy Harmer, but I can't remember the other options we were given. You can drop an email to your local CELTA training school if you like and simply say that you are "considering teaching English" and ask what their recommended pre-course reading is -- because of the intensive nature of most CELTA courses, you would be expected to read part of the book before starting anyway. Unfortunately neither the books or a full course is going to cut down the bewildering variety, and actually risk adding to it. (Current philosophy is "there is no right way, do whatever feels right to you as a teacher", which is infuriating when it's the main thrust of an initial teacher training course....) There's plenty of free lesson plans to be discovered on sites like ESLbase.com, though, so you could use these and then build around the gaps. Alternatively, if you're looking for a quick way to introduce the structure of English, you could check out the sample hours from German, Italian, Spanish or French at www.michelthomas.co.uk/soundclips.htm (the other languages are different) and mimic that style. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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