Mountain Creek, Alabama TESOL Online & Teaching English Jobs

Unit 3 Course development Overview After initial meeting of students we have three items which have to be considered 1. A needs analysis has to take place 2. A syllabus of contents has to be put in place with time constraints. 3.And a way of examinations which will allow both students and teacher to know what the students have learnt and where the teacher has to pay more attention on the method of teaching. Level Testing and Needs Analysis This basically a process of showing the teacher, school ,or language centre at which level the student is at. The process starts with easy questions first and progressively gets harder. There five classification in this process. 1.Starter-Has a basic command of the language required for a range of familiar situations. 2.Elementary-Has an effective, but limited command of the language in a range of familiar situations. 3.Pre-Intermediate-Has a generally effective command of the language, in a range of situations, can take part in a discussion 4.Intermediate-Has a good operational command of the language, in a wide range of real world situations and can participate effectively in discussions and meetings. 5.Upper-Intermediate-Has a full operational command of the language at a high level and in most situations can present an argument and use suasion. There is are a variety of testing methods verbally, and written. After the above section has been done there is the next step in the process which is called a Needs analysis This will show us the past learning experiences and where they would like to be in the future, and what areas, they would like to concentrate on where it would be beneficial to them. The Needs Analysis should be a very simple questionnaire. You can now do your groupings; this should lead you on to negotiations and is very much dependent on the age level. At this stage you should have a good idea of what your syllabus should cover and you can then discuss the ideas with the students. There will always be factors outside your control; this could be that the institution you work for does not feel certain areas should not be covered. There could be a time factor involved in, and finally there could also be the finical cost and resources which are not at hand. One thing to keep in mind is always have a good rapport with staff of the institution you work for they will always be able to help you out with little things which help out in the long run. Culture has a great part in teaching thus be very sensitive to this issue and if you are in problem refer this to the institution you work for. You as a teacher must fit in with your students your style of teaching should be accommodating and a good rapport with the students goes a long way. Syllabus design With working with schools or institutions there will normally be a course syllabus , which will generally give you an outline of items to be covered and a time frame to do in. This then could further be broken down into other units and an order of what to follow and at which specific time. You might find yourself in a situation where there is no course syllabus, this really lets the cat of the bag, and you will find to many theories When designing your own course time becomes an essential part of the course . Thus find out what are the total hours available to you. E.g. • Total hours - 20 hours •Progress Test after how many lessons 10- 2 hours •Flexible Time for unexpected reasons - 2 Hours •Topics to be covered e.g. greeting ,colours ,family , etc -16 Hours Assessment of the course is a very important part of the course and should not be taken lightly as progress understanding and efficacy of the program and any modification which might need to occur. Types of tests diagnostic placement aptitude achievement proficiency progress Test are a necessity and should be done periodically. Three points to remember That the tests are marked very shortly after they are given. That they are annotated and returned to the students as soon as is practicable. That some form of remedial teaching takes place to cover common areas of weakness indicated in the test results. Examinations Almost all students set for some kind of examinations there many institutions e.g. Cambridge, Starter etc. All these will need the ability of reading writing & speaking Evaluation is critical at the end of the course, this will show us what we did right or wrong which resources were good or bad what we could improve with time factor and finally sending a report back to the institution which you work for any further action to be taken. It would be a good idea to give out an end of course questioner to students reminding them were they were when they joined and what they have achieved after the course? Further ask for any suggestions that might help the course