Do you want to be TEFL or TESOL-certified in Michigan? Are you interested in teaching English in Albert, Michigan? Check out our opportunities in Albert, Become certified to Teach English as a Foreign Language and start teaching English in your community or abroad! Teflonline.net offers a wide variety of Online TESOL Courses and a great number of opportunities for English Teachers and for Teachers of English as a Second Language. Here Below you can check out the feedback (for one of our units) of one of the 16.000 students that last year took an online course with ITTT!
This unit began with an overview of TEFL methodologies. Though many are now a bit dated, most all of them have had an influence on the ESA method(Engage, Study, Activate) developed by Jeremy Harmer, which is the most widely used method today. This is also the best method to be used by trainee/new teachers.
The unit then described the goal of each phase, what to do in each, and also what not to do during each. The Engage phase is used as a warm up section to get students talking, comfortable, confident, and active. New material should not be taught in this phase, nor corrections made. The teacher should instead focus on getting each student to speak some English, and should make note of mistakes and errors.
The Study phase is the time in which new material is taught to the students. This is also the phase when materials such as worksheets are handed out. This is the time in which it is most appropriate to correct students.
Keep in mind that mistakes are not the same as errors. Often times, mistakes are a slip of the tongue, or pen, in which the student knows they have made a blunder. Therefore, it is important that the teacher gives them the opportunity to correct themselves. Errors, on the other hand, are more ingrained, and need help fixing through the teacher. When correcting, it is always important to stay positive. Rather than saying "no," the teacher should say something along the lines of "nearly," or "almost there."
Lastly, the Activation stage is entered. This is the stage in which students perform creative activities using both language they already know, as well as the material that was just taught. Here, fluency and functionality are the focus rather than accuracy. Often times, the Activation phase will take the form of a class discussion or group or individual work in which the students produce something in writing and present to the class afterwards. Like the Engage phase, correction should be kept to a minimum, and never come during the activity.
The unit also gave examples of typical lesson structures. The most simple structure would be the "Straight Arrow" structure in which there is one of each phase; Engage, Study, and then Activate. However, lesson structures can include multiple Study and Activate stages. For example, a "Boomerang" structure would be as follows: Engage, Activate, Study, Activate. The only rule for lesson structures is that the lesson begins with an Engage phase, and ends with an Activate phase.
