by Sarah Anne Shope, MS. Ed, TESOL, PhD
Dynamics of Advanced Classes:
Advanced courses often have more diversity, with students from a variety of countries. They often have higher levels of literacy, and they aspire to much more academically. Advanced students are usually more autonomous (self-governing) learners.
Some advanced learners are accustomed to learning grammar as it's integrated into a communication-focused curriculum. If they've learned early levels of English through a grammar-translation approach, they have probably gained listening and speaking skills along the way. If that's the case, they are highly aware of the need for a continued focus on listening and speaking. Also, they might have a concern for accent reduction if people have difficulty understanding them. Advanced students are particularly interested in the natural flow in speaking fluency.
A primary difference in the advanced student and the lower-level student is that the advanced student can recognize the difference in issues related to the sound ...
Aug 1, 2013
Lesson Planning 8263 Views
Early in my teaching career, I was always looking for something different to stimulate student learning. I found the simple quiz was a great diversion for the students from the normal chalk and talk lesson of that era. Therefore, I created a series of different quizzes that I used in a variety of subjects that I taught in lower high school classes. This is one of those quizzes. It is called the Student's Quiz and I have included the two versions I have used.
Essentially, the individual student or groups of students develop the questions and become the quizmaster.
Here is the procedure for the two versions.
Version One
1. Select a topic. This may be one you have just taught or it could be one which needs revision.
2. As homework, the students are instructed to devise five questions each (with answers). These are to be written out neatly.
3. During the next lesson, the teacher asks a student for his/her questions, checks them and the answers and if they are satisfactory, the teacher ...
Aug 28, 2014
E-Learning/CALL 8255 Views
Proper use of technology in teaching is valuable to the learning experience, but existing barriers must be addressed and overcome by teachers for the successful realization of a technology-enhanced, learner-centered classroom. The two types of barriers faced by teachers are first-order barriers and second-order barriers (Tsai & Chai, 2012). First-order barriers deal with external factors affecting the teacher such as institutional support and training, as well as adequate access to and time with technology. Second-order barriers focus more on the internal factors affecting teachers to include a teacher’s technology and pedagogical beliefs along with their willingness to change in order to incorporate technology into a learn-centered classroom successfully. Addressing these two barriers through proper planning and administration of technology integration should be a key focus of education in order to ensure success and benefits from technology integration into the classroom ...
Second language learning refers to the learning of a new language besides the native language. There are many second language learning theories that aim to explain the way second language is learnt and which approach is the best. A brief explanation of these theories is presented.
One of the most important aspects of a teacher's job is to motivate students. In order for a student to be motivated, he or she must possess a desire to learn and be willing to aim this desire toward achieving academic goals. For successful student motivation to occur, a student must want to participate in the learning process.
Planning a grammar lesson for a TESOL / TEFL class is something that many new teachers find very difficult and this article is designed to offer some advice. Here we are focusing our attention on lessons where the focus is grammar as teachers often find this most difficult of all.
1. The first thing to say is that lesson planning is very important whether a teacher is newly trained or experienced. It is true that an experienced teacher may not need to do as much preparation on a day-to-day basis as a newly trained teacher but, nevertheless, it is important that every lesson is prepared with care.
2. When planning a grammar lesson try to embed the grammar in a typical situation so that the new language is easier for the students to understand. For example, if you have a class of adults you could build your lesson around having a car serviced in a garage to introduce or practise the Present Perfect tense. In the course of your lesson, sentences like this could naturally arise. They've ...
Sep 22, 2008
Classroom Management 8193 Views
5 Classroom Management Tips To Silence A Noisy Class
Oct 15, 2010
Teaching Methodology 8183 Views
A short article on how to go about preparing instructional programs utilizing the Jay McTighe's and Grant Wiggins Understanding By Design. Understanding by Design is a new approach to the teaching/learning process by utilizing an entirely new, but very effective model - Backward Design.
Jan 16, 2010
Lesson Planning 8116 Views
There are many ways to group students when you're preparing a group activity. Different types of groupings have different benefit sand challenges, so the type you choose depends on various factors. In some cases it might be suitable to allow pupils to pick their own groups but generally it will be up to the teacher to decide which groupings work best for the class and for particular projects.
English teachers should cultivate student curiosity and nudge them to become autotelic - or self-directed. The author, an English professor in Los Angeles, suggests a few simple techniques that gently push students to take more responsibility for their own development as English language learners.