The Best Methods to Increase Confidence in ESL Students
Teaching English in a foreign country has become very popular in the last five years. The reason is that many people want to travel the world and explore the cultural differences from different countries. The younger generation can't travel the world because they simply don't have the money to travel and can't afford the expensiveness while they are travel overseas. That is the main reason why many younger people choose to teach English abroad because they needed money for their daily expensive while they are overseas.
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This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Vu T. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT.
Points to Consider
However, not everyone who chooses to teach English has become successful in their job. Although many people are fluently in speaking English and completed the English Teaching Certification before they decided to move to a different country, however, many teachers have failed because of their lack of confidence in the classroom. Throughout my research, I've found many methods for teachers to increase their confidence in the classroom, however, the two methods that I think are most important are: Be confident within themselves and to have an efficient preparation study lesson for their class.
Also Read: Which are the best Spanish speaking countries for teaching English abroad?
Teacher's Personal Confidence
The first method for teachers to increase their confidence in the classroom is to have confidence within themselves. A teacher who has confidence must believe that he/she could achieve anything that they want in life and must find a way to accomplish their goals. For example, an English teacher must believe that they will have a good class on their first day; and if a teacher starts to visualize themselves having a wonderful class with happy and motivated students. Then it will become a reality, and they will have a good class on their first day.
Attitude
Another way that the teachers could do to improve their confidence in the classroom is to think positive about themselves and remove the negative thoughts out of their minds. For example, a good teacher could replace the negative thought that they have in their mind during their lecture such as, "Teaching English is too hard. I'm not confident to teach English to my 15 students; they will laugh at me if anything goes wrong. I want to stop teaching this class." And, replace that negative thought with a positive thought such as, "Teaching English is fun, I want to do this; I like my students." By replacing the negative thoughts with positive thoughts, a teacher will feel more comfortable teaching the class, therefore, increase their confidence within themselves and will have a good class.
Also Read: Can I get a work visa to teach English in Germany?
Lesson Planning
The second method for teachers to increase their confidence in the classroom is to have an efficient preparation study lesson for their class. I think this method is the most important in teaching English abroad because of how well the teachers prepared for their lecture will be determined whether the teachers are going to have a good class or a bad class. A good teacher will spend a decent amount of time to prepare for their class materials; and as a result, they will have their lesson planning ready to teach within the time frame. In contrast, a bad teacher would do the opposite, which won't spend enough time and effort into preparing for their lesson planning. And, as a result, will feeling nervous when the students asking them questions.
An efficient preparation would have clear goals and objectives for their students. For instance, the goal and objectives that the teachers have for their students on the topic "How to order foods and drinks when someone goes to the restaurant" would be by the end of the class, each student would be able to order foods and drinks on their own with their English skill that they've learned from this class. Besides, an efficient preparation study material would also include the backup lesson plan, just in case the students are interested and want to learn a different topic.
Also Read: How can I avoid scams when looking for TEFL jobs?
Why do You Need Confidence?
In conclusion, confidence in the classroom is one of the most important skills that the teachers must have when teaching English abroad. A good and confident teacher is the one who overcomes anxiety and nervousness in the classroom. The students in the classroom will not know that you, as a teacher is being nervous in the inside. Therefore, the teachers must show their students that they are confident at least the outside. Also, the more the teachers appear confident in front of their students, the more confident the teachers will feel within themselves.
Do you want to teach English abroad? Take a TEFL course!
Hence, to increase the confidence of the teachers in the classroom, the teachers must be confident in themselves because if they don't think that they are going to have a good class, it is very difficult for them to overcome their nervousness and to have a good lecture in their class. Besides, an efficient preparation lesson is also important to increase teacher's confidence in the classroom because if the teachers have an efficient preparation lesson, then they will know what they're getting themselves into, therefore, won't feel nervous when their students asking them questions.
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