The other day, I was browsing the web for grammar teaching tips when I came across this website: TEFL World Wiki (TWW). As you may know, the original Wikipedia is an open source encyclopedia which allows people from all over the world to edit and add information to the extensive articles on the site. Not only is it a great resource to enhance your teaching experience, but it is most importantly a useful learning tool.
Even though TWW is primarily directed towards language professionals who teach English as a foreign language (TEFL) in a variety of international countries, the abundance of interdisciplinary articles and adaptable language activities makes this Wiki page applicable to all language educators in the fields of TEFL, TESL, TESOL, and English teaching.
TWW provides a wealth of teaching resources that are categorized in different themes. The categories include:
Teaching (tips), Grammar Guide, Forum, Employment & Finding Work, Skills, Books & Materials, Linguistics, Glossary, and even TEFAL (Teaching English for a Laugh).
The TEFL World Wiki Grammar Guide emphasizes the importance of English grammar as the “glue” which holds words together and gives sentences contextual meaning. Grammar represents the set rules we use in any language to create and understand meaning through written or spoken modes of communication. Thus as teachers, we have an important responsibility to help our students build a strong foundation in grammar, not necessarily with tedious drills, but integrating grammar instruction into meaningful learning games and reading/writing activities.
If you don’t exactly remember how to explain determiners, the future perfect simple, gerunds, imperatives, modals, participles, subjunctives, or subordinate clauses, the Grammar Guide is the perfect place to brush up on your grammar knowledge!
Showing posts with label L2 teaching. Show all posts
Showing posts with label L2 teaching. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Sometimes Less is More
One thing that I have realized about teaching English to lower level students is that less is more. It is wishful thinking to expect college age exchange students to learn and remember all the vocabulary and grammar structures in a short amount of time - living in the Bay Area with so much to explore, who has time to study?! Attention span is one thing, the right motivation is another. Rather than bombarding them with lists of vocabulary words to remember and too much homework where nothing seeps in, much like tossing them into a lion's den (figuratively speaking), it can empower students when they begin to remember/memorize the definitions of just a few words in real-life authentic contexts. Tailoring to the realistic expectations of your students, no matter how little it may seem, can boost your students' confidence and motivation levels to use what they are learning in useful contexts.
Sometimes less is more, especially in the language classroom.
Sometimes less is more, especially in the language classroom.
Saturday, December 17, 2011
New Teachers, New Ideas
Welcome! Are you a new ESL teacher looking for some time-saving and effective teaching ideas for your students? Or are you perhaps a seasoned language professional interested in sharing some ways to integrate meaningful dialogue and communicative activities in the ESL classroom? If so, this blog is made just for you!
Before going any further, I'd like to introduce myself. I am native to the sunny state of California and grew up in a bilingual household, speaking both Mandarin Chinese and English. I received a graduate degree in Linguistics, with an emphasis in teaching English as a Second Language (TESL). With three years of teaching experience in the field of Adult Education, I am currently an ESL instructor in Silicon Valley, in constant pursuit of improving my teaching performance (and helping other new teachers) through action research.
Some of my pedagogical interests include: interactive learning, inquiry-based learning, the role of translation in learning habits, and pronunciation techniques for lower level students.
This blog is partly a reflection of what has worked in my teaching adventures with beginning-level ESL students, but it is largely an open resource to share communicative, "real life" ESL activities that will get your students speaking and learning in no time!
The activities, dialogue scripts, and other teaching ideas in this blog can easily be adapted to students at any level, from low-beginner to high-advanced. Educators from all fields are welcome to add their thoughts, comments, and ideas as desired.
Happy Teaching!
Before going any further, I'd like to introduce myself. I am native to the sunny state of California and grew up in a bilingual household, speaking both Mandarin Chinese and English. I received a graduate degree in Linguistics, with an emphasis in teaching English as a Second Language (TESL). With three years of teaching experience in the field of Adult Education, I am currently an ESL instructor in Silicon Valley, in constant pursuit of improving my teaching performance (and helping other new teachers) through action research.
Some of my pedagogical interests include: interactive learning, inquiry-based learning, the role of translation in learning habits, and pronunciation techniques for lower level students.
This blog is partly a reflection of what has worked in my teaching adventures with beginning-level ESL students, but it is largely an open resource to share communicative, "real life" ESL activities that will get your students speaking and learning in no time!
The activities, dialogue scripts, and other teaching ideas in this blog can easily be adapted to students at any level, from low-beginner to high-advanced. Educators from all fields are welcome to add their thoughts, comments, and ideas as desired.
Happy Teaching!
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