Check out tefl tesol about Organisations TESOL TEFL and apply today to be certified to teach English abroad.
You could also be interested in:
This is how our TEFL graduates feel they have gained from their course, and how they plan to put into action what they learned:
Learning ModesAs a teacher one objective should always be to know the needs of your students, build a good report, and inspire and motivate them to learn whether it be young or adult learners. The way in which you teach an adult is vastly different then how you would teach someone younger.
young learners on average are usually not learning English because they want to but because it is required in school or their parents want them to learn. Most young learners posses a very short attention span and lack concentration. They get bored very easily and require constant approval from their teacher throughout the lesson. Despite young children not voluntarily doing English they come very eager to learn, and want to absorb every bit of information you give them. They are willing to talk a lot about their lives and experiences and in turn ask a lot of questions from you the teacher. This exchange enables the teacher to find out the exact needs and wants from the students and tailor lessons to suit them.
With young learners they not only learn by explaining something to them but all their other senses come into play. Visual aids are the best way to keep students interested and eager to learn. Visual aids can entice the sense of touch, smell, taste, hearing, and sight. Being that young learners loose interest very easily the teacher has to keep them interested. Utilizing role-plays, puzzles, songs, and various games in the lesson will keep the students active and learning. Always remember with young learners you never want the lessons to become uniform or rehearsed, mix it up a little and that will keep the students on their toes.
The other end of teaching is an adult learner. With adults most of the time they are learning English due to their careers or for personal gain, either way adults come to class with a clear idea of what they want to accomplish. Adult learners may sometimes be timid and less eager to participate due to past experiences they may have had with English and may fear being ridiculed in class. As a teacher it is your job to encourage the students through group work and self-praise to get them to participate more.
When teaching adult learners teachers have a wide range of topics they can make examples of or plan lessons from because these students have lived a while and have many life experiences that they will be able to relate to if used in a lesson. Lesson activities can run a bit longer than when teaching young learners as adults have a larger attention span. One thing teachers do not have to worry about with adult learners are disciplinary problems, most adults come to class focused and ready to learn.
All in all focusing on the needs of your students will determine how and what you teach your students. The way you teach 7 year olds and the games and material you give them will not be the same as a group of 30-year-old business English learners. Utilizing the information from the needs analysis that you conduct in the first class, you the teachers will be able to shape lesson based on what your students really need to learn. Remember when delivering the lessons be clear and concise, remain a leveled tone, and love what you do, your students can always see if you love teaching them and last but not least have fun if you do your students will.
