Pleasanton, Texas TESOL Online & Teaching English Jobs

UNIT 19: TEACHING SPECIAL GROUPS This unit talks about some of the different groups of students that an English teacher might encounter. These include one-on-one lessons, lessons with young children, and lessons with business professionals. One-on-one lessons are by far and wide the most requested in the area of Italy in which I live, and the ones with which I have the most experience. The unit listed a few games and activities that can be used with individual students, but in my opinion most of the resources given throughout this course can be adapted for use in these types of lessons. The unit then describes quite a lot of tips and tricks for handling a classroom of small children. I found this interesting to read, but as I have no intention of working with young learners, I haven’t summarised those pages. English for business purposes is another area in which the demand for private lessons is rising. Furthermore, in-company teaching of small groups of adults is another common business English classroom environment. Personally, I find these types of lessons very rewarding and dynamic, as the clients have a passion for their different jobs and are often very willing to interact during lesson times. Furthermore, the topics are of real-world importance and this can give a lot of motivation to individual clients. However, problems such as tiredness and sporadic appointments are a common downside with business English lessons. The part I found most interesting about this unit was the concept of “needs analysis”, which I have previously never done. It follows the initial level test and is a formal way of asking “what do you want to get out of your English course?”. I’ll be using these resources for future business clients. A needs analysis can be then followed by planning of the first 15 or so hours of the course, calling upon resources from different sources and of different types to help you meet the needs of the clients. A mid-course evaluation can also keep track of individuals and make sure everything is going according to plan. This section finishes with some key things to keep in mind when working with companies or businesses (such as knowledge of the client’s native language, and overall preparedness and look). The unit then moves on to discuss monolingual classes (such as those held in the students’ home country), and multilingual classes (which are often held in English-speaking countries). Multilingual classes have an advantage in that English is often the only language that students can use to communicate, thus they are pushed to use it more. Monolingual classes can often fall back into conversation or descriptions in the students’ native language. Some tips are given to help teachers monitor and maintain English conversation in a monolingual classroom. Overall this unit was interesting and gave a lot of good tips for working with certain groups of students.