Definition Delta

Game can be generally defined that something played for fun an activity that people participate in, together or on their own, for fun.As well as in teaching because of the evolution of teaching the generation changes so the needs in teaching also changes and this is how the games recognized and included in most of lesson plans and activities inside the teaching portfolio.´Games have been shown to have advantages and effectiveness in learning vocabulary in various ways. First, games bring in relaxation and fun for students, thus help them learn and retain new words more easily. Second, games usually involve friendly competition and they keep learners interested. These create the motivation for learners of English to get involved and ...  [Read more]

What is slang' A simple online definition is, "The nonstandard vocabulary of a given culture or subculture, typicaly consisting of transitory coinages and figures of speech." (Catchword) What is an idiom' From another online source, "Idiom refers to a grammatical construction unique to a certain people, region, or class that cannot be translated literally into another language." (Pearson Canada) When learning any language, these two concepts are an important part of complete understanding. The first hurdle a language student must overcome is grammar. After getting a basic understanding of how to string a language´s words together to form something understandable to an average native speaker, the next step is vocabulary. While grammar and vocabulary are definately an...  [Read more]

Games are an integral part of the learning process. So what is the definition of 'games'' Games are rule-based, and have variable, quantifiable outcomes. Different potential outcomes of a game are assigned different values, some positive and some negative. The player is emotionally attached to the outcome of the game in the sense that the player will be a winner and 'happy' in case of positive outcome, but a loser and 'unhappy' in case of the negative outcome. 'Play' is a free form activity that is often not rule based . Often there are some rules and fixed goals, and time frame, but mostly marked by fluidity of rules and goals.So games are distinguished from play by:- Play is a free ' form activity - Games are rule based, the rules structure the activity and make it...  [Read more]

'Idiom: groups of two or more words that taken together mean something different from the literal meaning of the individual words. Slang: informal speech that is outside conventional or standard usage and consists both of coined words and phrases and of new or extended meanings attached to established terms.' For a more specific definition we can look to http://en.wikipedia.org/wik, which offers the following detailed account of the two terms.Idiom: 'An idiom is an expression (i.e. term or phrase) whose meaning cannot be deduced from the literal definitions and the arrangement of its parts, but refers instead to a figurative meaning that is known only through conventional use. In linguistics, idioms are figures of speech that contradict the principle of compositionality.'Common...  [Read more]

Idiom: groups of two or more words that taken together mean something different from the literal meaning of the individual words. Slang: informal speech that is outside conventional or standard usage and consists both of coined words and phrases and of new or extended meanings attached to established terms.? For a more specific definition we can look to http://en.wikipedia.org/wik, which offers the following detailed account of the two terms. Idiom: ?An idiom is an expression (i.e. term or phrase) whose meaning cannot be deduced from the literal definitions and the arrangement of its parts, but refers instead to a figurative meaning that is known only through conventional use. In linguistics, idioms are figures of speech that contradict the principle of...  [Read more]

The city of Zhuhai in the People's Republic of china is a clean, modern city adjacent to Macao and just across the Pearl River Delta from Hong Kong. Zhuhai offers everything that is good in China. You will find the locals very friendly in this clean, well-planned and beautiful city, as well as a plethora of restaurants serving excellent cuisine at very inexpensive prices. And there is something to please everyone in terms of entertainment and activities, including a variety of modern discos and bars, great shopping venues, an amusement park and a water park! Culture and history abound in this city, and there are plenty of sightseeing options in Zhuhai and within close proximity. In Zhuhai you can visit a local Chinese tea factory and get acquainted with the hometown of Sun Yat Sen. Hop on...  [Read more]

This marks my thirteenth week as a new teacher of sixth and seventh grade students, ages eleven to thirteen. I teach history and my class sizes range from twenty-three to twenty-seven, with a total of one hundred and fifty students throughout the day. As one can imagine, classroom management and discipline are extremely important with groups this size and with children in general. In an effort to improve the effectiveness of my current teaching position and to set the tone for my future ESL/EFL classrooms, I consulted the Phi Delta Kappan, an excellent resource for teachers both beginning their careers and those who are seasoned veterans in the field. Metzger, Margaret (2002). Classroom Management: Learning to Discipline. Phi Delta Kappan 84, 77-84. Metzger is a life-long...  [Read more]

  In this TEFL review, Deeksha tells us how she enjoyed taking the 120-hour online TEFL course with ITTT. She found that the course units were clear and comprehensive. She also found that the level of difficulty of the course helped motivate her to keep going. Below you can read feedback from an ITTT graduate regarding one section of their online TEFL certification course. Each of our online courses is broken down into concise units that focus on specific areas of English language teaching. This convenient, highly structured design means that you can quickly get to grips with each section before moving onto the next. We were learning teaching pronunciation and phonology. We saw the definition of phonoly the three aspects about phonology sucha as stress, rhythm and...  [Read more]

  "Your" and "you're" often get confused, not only by English learners around the world but also by many native English speakers. Let's break it down. "Your" is a possessive adjective that indicates ownership, while "you're" is simply the contraction of "you are". Let's take a look at this example sentence: Your grades are great this semester. In this case, we use 'your' as we use it to indicate ownership. You're the best student in the entire school! This example require us to use 'you're' because it is the short form for 'you are'. Should you not be sure which one to use, think about if you want to express ownership or of you want to say "you are". Below you can read feedback from an ITTT graduate regarding one section of their online TEFL certification course. Each of our online...  [Read more]

  Throughout section on the teaching of productive skills and the teaching of receptive skills our activate activities will usually involve some form of game and our final consideration here will be the use of games in the classroom. We can start with a definition of what we actually mean by a game and it basically has three components. A game is an activity that has rules it should have for its purpose in the classroom a teaching point and by nature to the fact that it's a game it should also include an element of fun. So that will be our working definition for a game that we're going to use in the classroom. There are many different types of games and they range between the competitive and those will require cooperation and there are all sorts of games that involve both of these...  [Read more]

The most prominent form of intelligent testing in modern life is I.Q. ('intelligence quotient') testing; the original calculation of which was the formula 100 x mental age divided by chronological age. For example, it was worked out on chronological age averages; so if a ten year old scored as highly as the average fourteen year old, their IQ score would be 140. Although this worked well in assessing the intelligence of children, it was rather a limited methodology, with many variances, for example the difference between someone who has just turned four years old and someone who is approaching five years old is supposed to be considerable in terms of learnedness and intelligence.Various alterations and developments were made to this original, and indeed fairly basic, IQ test...  [Read more]

The most prominent form of intelligent testing in modern life is I.Q. (?intelligence quotient?) testing; the original calculation of which was the formula 100 x mental age divided by chronological age. For example, it was worked out on chronological age averages; so if a ten year old scored as highly as the average fourteen year old, their IQ score would be 140. Although this worked well in assessing the intelligence of children, it was rather a limited methodology, with many variances, for example the difference between someone who has just turned four years old and someone who is approaching five years old is supposed to be considerable in terms of learnedness and intelligence. Various alterations and developments were made to this original, and indeed fairly...  [Read more]

  Below you can read feedback from an ITTT graduate regarding one section of their online TEFL certification course. Each of our online courses is broken down into concise units that focus on specific areas of English language teaching. This convenient, highly structured design means that you can quickly get to grips with each section before moving onto the next. I found myself referring back to the different tenses trying to understand the simple, continuous, question, perfect and negative tenses. Having the same multiple choices regarding question 12 and 14 I found a little confusing. I would have thought question 3 multiple choice answers should read 'Have you ever been on a holiday? Not sure but it sounds more correct to me than 'Have you ever been on holiday' I'll...  [Read more]

  The first group of students we are looking at in this series are the beginners. It is important to understand that beginners can be of any age. This is why we break this category down into the following sub-categories: absolute beginners, false beginners, adult beginners, young beginners and beginners without the Roman alphabet. Find out more about this type of student group in this video. Below you can read feedback from an ITTT graduate regarding one section of their online TEFL certification course. Each of our online courses is broken down into concise units that focus on specific areas of English language teaching. This convenient, highly structured design means that you can quickly get to grips with each section before moving onto the next. The unit was an easy...  [Read more]

  In this episode, we cover the pronunciation of the word rationale. This word is used as a noun and describes the reasons or the logical explanation for an action or a certain belief. Some synonyms for rationale include reasoning, thinking and logic. The word rationale comes from the modern Latin word rationalis meaning ‘endowed with reason’. Below you can read feedback from an ITTT graduate regarding one section of their online TEFL certification course. Each of our online courses is broken down into concise units that focus on specific areas of English language teaching. This convenient, highly structured design means that you can quickly get to grips with each section before moving onto the next. I learned that using concepts like "interrogative" and "negative"...  [Read more]

Our TEFL course in Vietnam gives you the opportunity to learn how to teach EFL in one of the most fascinating countries in the world. When you combine the country’s great food, lively cities, its complex history, and low cost of living, you can see why Vietnam has gained such a good reputation and is an increasingly popular destination for TEFL courses and teaching English. For those interested in taking a TEFL course and teaching English as a foreign language in Vietnam, the good news is that demand is very high for EFL teachers year round. In fact, you are almost certain to be offered a TEFL position soon after completing your course. In Vietnam, TEFL opportunities are to be found countrywide, especially in the large cities of Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi. With our TEFL courses running year...  [Read more]

The laid-back city of Darwin is a great choice for your training course in the tropical north of Australia. The city offers a friendly atmosphere and a range of entertainment and cultural activities that are mostly connected to the outdoor lifestyle that is typical in this part of the country. During your stay you will get to enjoy some of the best sunsets in the region in a city that is famous for its multicultural feel and its rich indigenous heritage. The training center in Darwin is located at one of the city’s major universities, where you will find lush gardens and birdlife and easy access to the nearby Casuarina beach and nature reserve. Transport in and out of the complex is provided by the locally famous ‘Number 4 Bus’ which offers unlimited travel for only A$7 per week. The...  [Read more]

The laid-back city of Darwin is a great choice for your training course in the tropical north of Australia. The city offers a friendly atmosphere and a range of entertainment and cultural activities that are mostly connected to the outdoor lifestyle that is typical in this part of the country. During your stay you will get to enjoy some of the best sunsets in the region in a city that is famous for its multicultural feel and its rich indigenous heritage. The training center in Darwin is located at one of the city’s major universities, where you will find lush gardens and birdlife and easy access to the nearby Casuarina beach and nature reserve. Transport in and out of the complex is provided by the locally famous ‘Number 4 Bus’ which offers unlimited travel for only A$7 per week. The...  [Read more]

  And now we'll have a look at our articles. We can divide articles into these groupings: indefinite, using a or an, definite, using the, and oftentimes referred to as the zero article, is actually the absence of an article all together. With the indefinite article, we use it in a nonspecific way. "This is a pen," it's one of many pens. When using the definite article, we use it in a specific way. "This is the pen I'm using." We also use the indefinite article when mentioning something for the first time. "I have a boy and a girl." We use the definite article when mentioning that same thing an additional time or any additional times we mention it. So "I have a boy and a girl. The boy is eight and the girl is six." With the zero article, we don't use an article at all. We use it to...  [Read more]

  Our next particular methodology is accredited to James Asher around 1965 and is called total physical response. Asher looked at the way in which we learn our native language and he saw that most children, before they even went to school, have picked up a very large percentage of both the grammar and the vocabulary that they would use in their native language before any type of formal schooling. So Asher started to have a look at ideas of how to use the whole of our brain in language learning in the way that we do when we're very young. It's accepted that within our brain there are two hemispheres, one is the left hemisphere the other is the right hemisphere, and one of the functions of the left hemisphere is language learning. One of the major functions of the right hemisphere is...  [Read more]

It is a necessity for students to learn how to use a dictionary. Everybody owns one and requires to use one at a point in time. A dictionary is defined as 'a handy all-in-one reference book that provides up-to-date and accessible information on the core vocabulary of current English' (Soanes, vi). Some dictionaries contain encyclopedia information describing important people, places, and historical events. 'Its priorities are clear explanations of meaning, informative encyclopedia entries, and help with spelling pronunciation and usage' (vi). The dictionary text is up to date verification of how the language is used in the present day; these words are based on thousands of English words conceded. The explanation for the terminology is offered in an understandable and direct...  [Read more]

Definition of TEFL: The acronym means the Teaching of English as a Foreign Language, usually in a country where the first language is not English. It could therefore be applied to any teaching situation where the English Language Learner (ELL) has a first language which is not English. The profession of teaching is regulated throughout the world, although the level of regulation varies from country to country. This is also true of the EFL teaching sector, however, there are some differences. The teaching of EFL has two main sectors, public and private. The public sector mainly includes government institutions such as schools and higher education institutions. The private sector includes private schools and language centers and a large number of self employed freelance teachers. Each of...  [Read more]

Some people who go abroad to teach English fall in love with their new life overseas and never return to their home country. The majority, however, will return home at some point, whether after a single year or much longer. It can be a difficult experience for some because you are no longer the person you were when you first left home. Everything, from the everyday language to the time zone, the climate to the cuisine, can feel different. Reverse culture shock can be frightening. For many teachers the obvious next step is to continue working as an English language tutor. If you live in or near a relatively large city you are likely to come across language schools and community colleges that provide English lessons to international students, immigrants, and refugees, among others. With...  [Read more]

Some people who head overseas to teach English grow to love the lifestyle so much that they never return to work in their home country. However, for the majority, the move back home will come at some stage, whether after a single year or much longer. For some it can be a difficult experience as you are no longer the person you were when you first left home. Everything can feel different, from the everyday language to the time zone, from the climate to the cuisine. Reverse culture shock can be genuinely unsettling. One way you can combat this, and continue the international focus of your new found way of life, is to find a job that allows you to use the new skills and knowledge that your time abroad has given you. One obvious step for many teachers is to simply continue working as an...  [Read more]

Most visitors to vietnam are overwhelmed by the sublime beauty of the country's natural setting: the Red River Delta in the north, the Mekong Delta in the south and almost the entire coastal strip are a patchwork of brilliant green rice paddies tended by women in conical hats. There are some divine beaches along the coast, while inland there are soaring mountains, some of which are cloaked by dense, misty forests. Vietnam also offers an opportunity to see a country of traditional charm and rare beauty rapidly opening up to the outside world. Despite its ongoing economic liberalisation and the pressures of rapid development, this dignified country has managed to preserve its rich civilisation and highly cultured society. It has discarded its post-war fatigues and the boom in budget...  [Read more]

There are many different schools of thought concerning seating arrangements in TEFL classrooms. For the most part, these different ways of arranging students depend on various factors. What works for one teacher in a classroom in Korea may not work for another teacher in a classroom in Thailand. One of the largest factors contributing to the different seating plans is the style of teaching that best suits the instructor in question. Obviously, by definition, a Suggestopaedia lesson will be different from a lesson based on using multiple intelligences. Another large factor to consider is the culture of the country in question. One aspect of culture that changes from group to group is that of personal proximity. One must take this into account before laying ...  [Read more]

When considering the importance of the role of a teacher, what then is the importance of how they teach when faced with different and diverse cultures? First, we must look to the definition of culture itself: ?A culture may be conceived as a network of beliefs and purposes in which any string in the net pulls and is pulled by the others, thus perpetually changing the configuration of the whole.? (Jacques Barzun, quoted on site: http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/cultural- services/articles/culturel) So if culture is indeed a highly upheld structure that supports each individual, then we must carefully take into consideration how we incorporate the culture in the classroom to create a sense of unity. In teaching to a different culture, one must first reflect on their ...  [Read more]

A few weeks ago I went up to my Japanese friend and told her ?Good Afternoon? in Japanese. She smiled and told me that while correct, Japanese people don?t usually greet each other in that manner. I thought it was odd because that?s the way I learned it back in my university days. She equated it to saying, ?How many times do you greet your friends by saying, ?Good Afternoon? or ?Good Evening??? After thinking about it, I realized that I rarely use the standard ?Hello? or ?Hi? but rather ?Hey? or ?What?s up?? While completely acceptable and understandable for Native English speakers, I didn?t know that this simple greeting could cause a bit of confusion. When I taught English in an elementary school in Korea, I had a co-teacher whose English abilities were quite...  [Read more]

There are many different schools of thought concerning seating arrangements in TEFL classrooms. For the most part, these different ways of arranging students depend on various factors. What works for one teacher in a classroom in Korea may not work for another teacher in a classroom in Thailand. One of the largest factors contributing to the different seating plans is the style of teaching that best suits the instructor in question. Obviously, by definition, a Suggestopaedia lesson will be different from a lesson based on using multiple intelligences. Another large factor to consider is the culture of the country in question. One aspect of culture that changes from group to group is that of personal proximity. One must take this into account before...  [Read more]

One of the worst teaching experience is having a class come to an abrupt halt while someone searches a dictionary for a specific word, one usually not found in the end anyway. The problem of using dictionaries as a crutch could be rectified by not allowing the use of them in a lesson at all. The great art of circumlocution could be used instead, albeit kicking and screaming. Those experiences of being derailed by frantic dictionary searches would make any ESL teacher shudder and swear off dictionaries entirely. Should native language to English language dictionaries be banned altogether' Some would argue that using dictionaries is a good technique to use in the classroom. One that actually helps to create a more independent learner ( www.tefl.net/teacher_training). The...  [Read more]