TEFL Course English

Teaching Beginner StudentsAbsolute beginners in english can be distinguished from false beginners. Absolute beginners are learners who have no english at all. False beginners are english learners who may have studied or exposed to english previously but have not retained much language. Before teaching any aspects of language, teachers should get to know each student individually. Learners should want to communicate with the teacher first before the teacher can begin to help them learn to communicate in their L2. The students must see the teacher as someone who they enjoy talking to. There are many ways to build a good rapport wit the students. For example, learn not only the student’s names, but also the names of their family members. Good eye contact is also a very good example. A teacher who never looks in the eye will appear to lack confidence and could then have problems with discipline. Teaching vocabulary to beginners is a difficult job. Students can’t understand explanation made in the target language. Fluency will be affected if translation will be used in teaching. Therefore, teachers who teach to the beginners should use different techniques for teaching vocabulary. Teachers can use different language games, action, gesture, mimes, facial expression, etc. They should be creative, co-operative, reflective and innovative. They should also be acquainted in modern technologies. The teachers should also use sufficient teaching aids such as tape recorder, cassette player, pictures, cards, realia, etc to make their teaching effective. Grammar is an important part of language learning. In order for learners to have a functional knowledge of a language, they must have at least some knowledge about the grammatical constructs of the language in question. Although there is a strong emphasis on inductive grammar teaching, particularly in communicative language teaching approaches, both inductive and deductive strategies are required in the classroom given the many learning styles of students. The more similar the grammar structure is to the L1, the easier it is for the students to grasp. Teachers should decide whether the item should be taught deductively or inductively. Explanations must be clear and examples must be sufficient. Teachers must be sure about the rules. One way of teaching grammar to beginners is to use minimal grammar but to show patterns and help these students see that there are patterns, so that when they get to more intermediate and higher levels of learning they will be able to transfer the word ‘patter’ to the label of a grammar concept. Receptive skills are also included in teaching EFL. Learning the skills will enable the students to understand oral and written texts in the target language. Teachers should choose material that interests/motivates the students. Beginners cannot understand much of recorded conversations between native speakers, but they can deal in limited ways with broadcast media, i.e. radio and television. For example, one can record short segments of different types of radio broadcasts, such as news, commercials, announcements, introductions of pop songs, call-ins, or contests. During the play back in the class students may be asked to identify only the type of broadcast, i.e. this is a news broadcast. Videotape recordings of foreign language television program segments offer the advantage of strong visual clues. Beginning level students can be asked to talk about what they see and comment on anything they understand in the target language. Sources: The Input Hypothesis in the classroom, Scrib.com http://www.scribd.com/doc/23883795/TeacherTalk-The-Input-Hypothesis-in-the-Classroom Absolute Beginner english – 20 Point Program, Kenneth Beare http://esl.about.com/od/teachingbeginners/a/ab_beg_intro.htm Teaching Special Groups, Unit 19 ITTT Tesol Importance and ways to teaching vocabulary to beginners, symmaruna.wordpress.com http://symmaruna.wordpress.com/2009/08/18/ways-of-teaching-vocabularies-to-beginners/ Tips for teaching ESL Beginners and Pre-Literate Adults , Holly Andrews http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Andrews-Beginners.html Teaching grammar, Dr. Bilash http://www2.education.ualberta.ca/staff/olenka.Bilash/best%20of%20bilash/grammar.html