Tefl Classroom

  The dynamics of classroom interaction is often dictated by the arrangement of the classroom itself and the way in which the classroom is arranged could depend upon a number of factors and they might include things such as the age of the students, so for example we're unlikely to have the same arrangement for adult learners as we would have for young learners. It could also depend upon the actual physical space available. The physical space may determine how we have to arrange our classroom to maximize the opportunity for interaction and so forth. It will also depend on what material is available and by material in this case we're talking about the actual desks and chairs and so on and so forth. Perhaps the final thing we might put here is that it could also depend upon the...  [Read more]

The word rapport originates from the French word, rapporter, meaning to bring back and the Oxford English Dictionary definition is one of “a close and harmonious relationship in which there is common understanding”. But what is the reality of rapport and is it of any importance in the classroom? With so many teaching methods, practises, aids and testing means at a teachers disposal, do we even need to spend time considering rapport and trying to build it with students? The short answer is most definitely yes. Rapport is a key characteristic of human interaction. It is a commonality of perspective. It is about basic interaction at every level. The relationship and rapport developed between a teacher and their students is a vital ingredient in the success of any...  [Read more]

Being a teacher is one of the most rewarding and challenging positions in the work force. Teachers are given the difficult task of introducing new material to students, making sure they can grasp the knowledge, and present the new material in an interesting manner. This difficult task is only complicated further when something such as a language barrier is added to the formula. Being an EFL teacher is very rewarding but is not an easy task. Everyday EFL teachers are faced with both language and cultural differences. Many foreign school systems are just that to the Western culture;foreign. Many of the teachers in the foreign schools have a different view on their position in the classroom. The teachers are the largest presence in the classroom doing nearly all of the speaking to the...  [Read more]

I?m sure ?Classroom Management? holds many different meanings for many different people. For me, it is the way in which your students behave and act during any given class and how you, as a teacher, deal with the differences in student demeanor, actions and behavior. Thai culture is different in so many ways from the culture I was brought up with in England. Being incredibly patriotic, it is difficult for me to say that I prefer the outlook that nearly every Thai I know holds ? but for me it is true. The Lonely Planet guide to Thailand sums up the hierarchal structure which is still prevalent all across Thailand in one of it?s opening Chapters ? ?The Culture?. ?All relationships in?(Thailand)?are governed by connections between phuu yai (?big person? or senior) and phuu nawy (?little...  [Read more]

Teaching EFL in the 21st century increasingly involves teaching students how to sift through and evaluate information in English using the Internet and other new technology. This is especially important for English-language students who plan to study or work in countries with knowledge-based economies. &ldquo;[T]he vast amount of information available on the Internet means that critical learning and literacy skills are more important than ever before,&rdquo;Mark Warschauer wrote in a recent U.S. State Department publication. &ldquo;We as teachers should help learners think critically at the microlevel, for example, by analyzing the perspectives and biases of individual World Wide Web sites.&rdquo;1<br /><br />As a teaching and learning tool, the Internet has...  [Read more]

In the classroom, as in most areas of life, motivation is essential for a person to succeed. It is important for a teacher to have some understanding of what motivation is and how it will affect each and every student and their learning progress. As Alan Rogers writes, ?motivation? is as much a matter of concern for the teacher as it is for the learner; it depends as much on the attitudes of the teacher as on the attitudes of the students? (Rogers 1996: 66) In an attempt to define motivation H. Douglas Brown points out, a cognitive view of motivation includes factors such as the need for exploration, activity, stimulation, new knowledge, and ego enhancement (Brown 2000: 160-166). In layman?s terms there is or has been created a desire to achieve something. Inspired is another term used to...  [Read more]

Classroom Management is a vital skill involving various aspects, which are to be judiciously used for effective and successful teaching. The skills will definitely be honed as the teacher gains experience, but there are few guidelines which can be followed, which a teacher can refer to, in dealing with different situations and challenges which the teaching profession is abound with. Body Language is important, and it can be effectively used in any situation irrespective of availability of resources, materials, irrespective of place, the number of students, the age of students and so on. Eye Contact is very effective in maintaining discipline, in holding their attention while teaching, or while addressing someone else, to monitor the whole class, and to ensure participation. But care...  [Read more]

Understanding diversity in the classroom is of high importance for teachers. In society, educational institutions represent a rare opportunity for developing friendly relations among the worlds many ethnic groups. The open exchange in classrooms can contribute to a type of exchange found nowhere else in society. So teachers must not ignore multiethnic relations. The potential challenges a teacher faces for acknowledging the differences in students will be well rewarded if done with respect. Unfortunately, no matter the age or background, ethnicity perceptions are commonly found in individuals. Children are no exception. A study of Dutch and Turkish children conducted in the Netherlands showed that biases about ethnicity are widespread. Boys showed more ethnic bias than girls, but girls...  [Read more]

Motivation can be induced artificially, but its effects then are temporary? (2). It is important for teachers to learn skills to motivate their class in ways that will move away from a ?temporary?, to a lifelong or long term ?want? to learn. The International TEFL course as well as several others, suggest different ideas and methods of how best to use motivation in the classroom. Though there are different methods, the goal remains the same. The International TEFL course teaches using the ESA method, (Engage, Study and Activate). This teaching method allows the students to quickly become accustomed to the teaching structure. Students know that out of each lesson they should expect a well organized, clear teaching point with plenty of engagement and activation with their peers. When...  [Read more]

Learning a second language through music. K. Sarah-Jane Murray. Academic Exchange Quarterly 9.2 (Summer 2005): p161(5).               “Songs provide us with a window into a world that is not our own, a world that we glimpse and remember thanks to the power of music.” (Murray) It’s the age of technology, a generation of cell phone carrying, ipod listening, x-box playing, and internet fanatics. The necessary next step for the pedagogical world is to incorporate this technology into their teaching repertoire. Music in particular is everywhere, on the radio, television, in movies, etc. Incorporating music in the curriculum for students learning another language would be beneficial and engaging for the students.  Music is...  [Read more]

Classroom management is a teacher?s ability to organize and control a classroom. It is important to establish rapport in the classroom, by establishing this relationship students are more apt to feel like they can trust the teacher. This trust will create a sense of respect in the classroom. Respect between the students and the teacher is a necessary element in the classroom so that students obey rules and regulations of the teacher and/or school. Another aspect to classroom management is keeping students involved and always making them feel like they are part of the class. Interaction with the students is a teacher?s responsibility and a teacher should also be encouraging to the students in all activities. By clearly interacting with the students through eye contact, gestures, and voice...  [Read more]

The Cambridge online dictionary defines culture as ?the way of life, especially the general customs and beliefs, of a particular group of people at a particular time?. Education, and thus teaching, are widely believed to one of the most fundamental and essential elements in human life. Therefore cultural awareness in the education environment is of paramount importance. To effectively communicate in any classroom, the students must feel both at ease with, and a sense of respect for, their teacher. To achieve this, the teacher must be aware of the norms, customs and beliefs which have nurtured the minds and personalities of those he or she intends to educate. Any offence or disrespect caused would be of detriment to the crucial rapport building and mutual respect. As a western nurtured...  [Read more]

Play. Much can be learned in play that will afterwards be of use when the circumstances demand it. &amp;#8232;A tree must also transpire, and needs to be copiously refreshed by wind, rain, and frost; otherwise it easily falls into bad condition, and becomes barren. In the same way the human body needs movement, excitement, and exercise, and in daily life these must be supplied, either artificially or naturally. (1) The first thing that most people think about when they say the word game is fun. Since we were adolescent a game is what we did to entertain ourselves, compete with our friends and enjoy free time. So why not put it into the sometimes dreaded location of a school or even worse an English class? The classroom is one of the best scenarios to have games. The game gives a...  [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 out a seating chart. It has been...  [Read more]

Classroom success for teachers and students encompasses classroom management, classroom discipline and seating arrangements; which are all dependent upon seating arrangement styles. In order to determine which seating arrangement style (SAS) is best for a class one must look at the reasons or the importance of a particular SAS.SAS are important for classroom control and management, student security, student interaction and socialization, ease of teaching, special needs of students such as seeing or hearing, and are a good way of memorizing students' names in the beginning. There are many factors in determining a SAS.Prior to selecting a specific SAS a teacher must determine how the class will be taught and which subject. Will there be a math class where every student will need to see the...  [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. Some lessons that we tech may included new grammar, vocabulary and functions. More often than not lessons will introduce, or be specifically focused on, just one area. To cover these tasks, this unit went through many rules such as Teaching Vocabulary, Introducing Grammatical Structures and Teaching Language Functions. After presenting each of these rules, it was follow by a Typical ESA Lesson. So we can easily apply...  [Read more]

Anyone who has ever had to stand up in front of a group of people to give a speech knows it can be a daunting task. When we are nervous, our bodies conspire against us, leaving us with such physical symptoms as sweating and shaking, not to mention amnesia and a general feeling of dread. However, there are some tips you can follow to make public-speaking easier and to have it feel like second nature. First, we?ll look at ways to build self-confidence outside of the classroom. Then, we?ll look at methods teachers of English as a second language (ESL) can use to build their confidence while teaching. One of the easiest ways to overcome shyness is to feel good about yourself by repeating a personal mantra such as ?I feel terrific? into the mirror as you wake each day. (John Edmond; 6 Ways...  [Read more]

Walking into a class full of students who are apathetic and show little or no interest in the subject matter is daunting and discouraging for any teacher. Not every student comes running to class with his/her homework completed and energetically participates in all activities and discussions. Nearly anybody can stand in front of a class and put words and sentences on the board, however, without knowing how to motivate the student, all lesson points will be lost. If the student is motivated then he/she will perform much better both in the classroom and outside the classroom. Students are motivated in different ways, either intrinsically or extrinsically. The student who is intrinsically motivated learns because he/she wants to whereas the extrinsically motivated student learns to earn a...  [Read more]

The following contain the results of my reading in to sources pertaining to the use of games in English classes. Most of my references, as cited in the sources list, were taken (and copied) with permission from Jouchi (Sophia) University. I have also drawn upon the teachings of Ray Ormandy, director of my present school (PLS) who has pioneered EFL methods in Japan for over 30 years, specifically in games for children&amp;acute;s classes. 1. Why play games in the classroom There are many reasons to use games in English classes. Aside from the pure enjoyment of playing games as opposed to drilling or deskwork, games can be used to give spot reviews and reinforcement of specific parts of English (e.g. grammar, vocabulary). Games, especially for young learners, directly influence...  [Read more]

Classroom management requires a positive relationship between the teacher and the student. A teacher, who has a good rapport with their students, will have a better outcome. Respect for each other, will prove positive in both the relationship and study. Obstacles to this rapport may involve the classroom set up, which can create problems, such as with rows. The students, at the back, are disadvantaged. Dr. Scott Mandel Pacoima (Middle school) states ??the further back you go, the more discipline problems there are with visual, oral and physical stimulation from the teacher is increasingly diminished,,,?1. An alternative, he suggests, is to arrange the chairs and tables into a three sided box shape. In this fashion, every student is in the first row and the teacher can freely move around...  [Read more]

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 participate actively in the learning activities....  [Read more]

Learning English can be very confusing to speakers of other languages. Music promotes, mantains and restores mental, physical, emotional and spiritual health and facilitates contact, interaction, self-awareness and communication. Finding the right song at the right time is the key for most teachers. What will they use the song for? Will they use it as a filler, to fill in the gaps of time between the next lesson? Will they use it to teach pronounciation? Clauses? To finish/match sentence halves? What the teacher uses the song for in the classroom will have a tremendous effect on how the students learn with the song. I have only so far used songs with beginners. When I used the songs, I also used big expressions, and hand gestures, which really hook them in and gain their excitement, and...  [Read more]

Discipline in the classroom is many faceted. In this article, I will focus on being proactive with discipline. I have been a teacher for over twenty-five years and have always worked to create a positive, caring and supportive classroom for my students. In a classroom, there must be rules, positive consequences and negative consequences. That is part of creating a positive discipline plan. If teacher is proactive, she will have much less difficulty with discipline. The goal i s to be able to teach the curriculum in a comfortable classroom atmosphere-for you as a teacher and for your student. The single best resource I have found for discipline is a book entitled The First Days of School by Harry Wong. Harry says, ?What you do on the first days of school will determine your success for the...  [Read more]

A concern related to student behavior and classroom discipline is the ?Level of Law? that is set in place by the teacher for the class. A level of law represents the working ethical and behavior system in the classroom setting. What level of behavior is permitted in the class? Can students shout, push, criticize other students and act not in accordance with other rules set forth by the school? As teachers are establishing their ?level of law? at the beginning of the school year, they may need to explain on the first day of class, that these rules are not personally directed towards any one particular student, group of students but rather all the students in the class. The teacher may also point out that that the purpose of class rules is to allow for a comfortable learning environment for...  [Read more]

'Red is rojo. Green is verde. Blue-Azul, Negro-Black'? As a high school student I opted to take a foreign language course in Spanish. Honestly, I do not remember a lot of the language (and I even took four years!), but what I do remember are those elements that were taught through the use of song. The example above is sung (and continues) in the tune of ?Are you sleeping?? In this same course we became familiar with a few popular Latin American songs; one such song was ?Amor Prohibido? by Selena. I may not be able to recall the meaning of all the words in the song, but I can still, nonetheless, successfully sing through the entire song with correct pronunciation. My experience and current research have shown me the immense power that songs can have in the acquisition of a foreign language...  [Read more]

Classroom management is very important, especially for new teachers, because with it a teacher can gain the respect and attention of their students. Without good classroom management students may lose respect for a teacher and put less effort into their learning. For new teachers, classroom management can be a daunting task, but with the right tools and some advice from experienced teachers it can be easily accomplished. Melissa Kelly lays out a few tips for teachers needing a little advice on how to handle behavior problems and establish good classroom management from day one. Her first tip is to present a discipline plan on the first day of class so that the students know what is expected of them. Kelley explains that ?Once you set a precedent of allowing a lot of disruptions it can be...  [Read more]

The idea of classroom management is something that every future teacher must plan and contemplate thoroughly before starting his/her teaching career. While each teacher will approach classroom management in their own way, there are some major areas that must be covered. First, a teacher must make the students understand the expectations and consequences concerning the class. In order to ensure that classroom learning is conducive to both the physical and emotional growth of the student, rules that explain what behavior is expected need to be reviewed. After rules and procedures are established, it is important that the teacher admires good performance and provides negative consequences for unacceptable behavior. Simple physical signs like a ?thumbs up? or a verbal ?good job? will show the...  [Read more]

Discipline in the classroom is a necessary part of the teaching and learning process. The classroom must have order for the lessons to be a success and for the students to be able to learn properly without distraction. I have witnessed teachers who felt uncomfortable and were unable to sustain discipline while they tried to teach. There must be mutual respect between student and teacher to be able to enjoy and learn effectively during the lesson. The age of the students is a factor in how you are to administer discipline the young students must be instructed early in the course that certain behaviour is not acceptable. Of course these children come from different families, some who may be corrected by their parents and others who allowed to do just about what they please (within...  [Read more]

I believe that Classroom Management is the key component in any educational setting. I believe that if a classroom is well manage by the teacher, the students can learn more not by punishing them with their behavior problems but to engage each students in every activities that takes place in the classroom. My goal is to make my classroom well manage so no students will be left behind in the lesson and make the environment organized. I believe that teaching is a very difficult job because we have to deal with so many people with different personalities in our daily life. But if we make our classroom enjoyable and make the students feel that they are big part of the class, it will make them feel comfortable and they will participate more in class. I have always had large numbers of...  [Read more]

G - Get-together A - Achieve the Aim M - More interest E - Easy Learning Many years ago teaching was only recognized for only getting knowledge but now a days as the world has become modern with different scientific techniques only giving knowledge to the students has become old fashioned. Nowadays students and teachers both like to take and give knowledge with fun. So game has become the part of the class. Games also make the students to catch the subject more spontaneously and with great interest. Game is a form of play especially with rules. If it is played in classroom it makes the classroom atmosphere playful and keep the students engaged with their study with interest and fun. Not only small children but even big people like to learn with fun. Fun makes the topic more easy and...  [Read more]