Lessons Registered TESOL

We have personally gained a lot from this course from various different aspects and topics it has presented to us. For brevity I have summarized in the briefest from possible below (bullet-points), elaborations on the following points are provided where necessary. ? Grammar & Tense rules ? Learnt to see english objectively, understanding its difficulties and idiosyncrasies, particularly from the view of a non-native ? Increased understanding & confidence; when speaking in front of class ? Awareness of numerous considerations, depending on location and cultures ? Address difficulties emanating from different alphabets ? Ability to plan lessons effectively, structure ? Analyse students’ needs and ability levels Probably the most startling and unexpected issue the course rose for us was the grammar based units which unearthed the numerous language rules we adhere on a daily basis without any thought, consideration or in some cases awareness. The complexities of the english language became very apparent and more prevalent than previously thought. Although in most areas of grammar we discovered we use the language correctly, as not all native speakers we’ve met do, the course has highlighted the need to view the language objectively from the point-of-view of a non-native learner. Hopefully we could now answer the infamous ‘Why?’ backing it up with an appropriate explanation to suit the learners requirements. This increased understanding of the workings and rules behind of english have also improved our confidence tenfold. Prior to the course we would both have struggled to articulate our thoughts into lucid constructions and explanations as neither of us are prone to confidently proposing unfounded statements. With the confidence gained from the information provided in the course we would now feel a lot happier when appearing in front of a class of students. Thankfully the course and our tutor addressed several additional considerations which need to be taken into account depending on where you are teaching such as equipment/provisions being in limited supply and cultural implications. From this, and our own travels, we have gained an increased awareness of how different schooling can be across the globe. Additionally the course addressed learners whom do not use the roman Alphabet, something we had come across ourselves to be a major problem when the tables were reversed on us in Asia, a different alphabet makes learning a new language a whole new venture and from the course we learned how to re-classify these students and re-teach them from the beginning. The course also helped demonstrate effective methods we are now able to implement in order to assess students’ ability and classify them correctly. This ties in very well with the guidance we have gained on how to plan and structure lessons effectively, each plan needs to be correctly tailored to suit the level of the students and I think we are now able to create/select appropriate activities well. The early influence of the ‘ESA’ strategy in the course was very useful and we have enjoyed utilizing it. We have learned the importance of engaging the students early on and allowing them to be creative here and during ‘activate’. Furthermore we have learned the importance of the ‘study’ phase, how best to execute it and with plans such as the boomerang, also how to constantly interchange the areas to maintain student’s focus. Aside from the obvious benefits of the aforementioned skills this course has provided we plan to put the knowledge into action whilst teaching TEFL abroad. In order to continually refer to the material and maintain our knowledge we intend to collate all the units and our final answers into a working clip-file. With this constant reminder we hope to use what we have learned to fully empathize with our students on the difficulties they may encounter, benefit from it through everyday use of correct language and above all become well rounded and successful teachers of english as a foreign language.