TEFL/TESOL Certification Course

1. TEFL/TESOL Certification Course Paris, France Summer 2013 Christina Lantero

2. University Located in the 5th Arrondissement, next to the Church de Val du Grace and a few blocks from the Luxembourg Gardens Classes held at The American University of Paris five days a week from 9am-5pm United TEFL rented out the classrooms during the summer months

3. Housing Independent housing: 3 students Recommended Housing by program

4. Course Work Info: TESOL/TEFL: Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages or Teaching English as a Foreign Language 120 hour TEFL/TESOL certification through TEFL International Paris, France  Planned curriculum, chapters, and lessons   Prepared extra-activity material      Taught interactive communicative EFL classes to adults and teens Evaluated peer/experienced teacher performance   Selected course books    Studied methodology and English grammar

5. Teaching Experience EFL Instructor at TEFL International Paris, France    Taught EFL classes to adults and teens: in person and online Prepared comprehensive and Level appropriate lesson plans for single, double and group lessons

6. Course Schedule 4 week course Week 1: mainly observation; grammar review; learning lesson formats (ESA); learning techniques, textbook review; language simulation Week 2-4: Observation, teaching, continuation of instruction on how to teach EFL learners

7. Class Make-up Three female university students from Ireland One 28 yr. old male from UK; previous occupation: restaurant manager One 30 yr. old female from UK; Previous occupation: nurse One 50+ yr. old female from Australia (resident of France) previous occupation: unknown One female university student from U.S.A. One 24 yr. old female from U.S.A.; occupation: middle school band/music teacher Instructor: 50+ yr. old Female from Ukraine; spoke 5 languages total

8. Teaching TESOL/TEFL Students Using lots of gestures Conscious of personal regional accent and dialect differences Awareness of cultural differences Be flexible with all lesson plans and over plan all lesson Engage, Study and Activate Build off of prior/background knowledge

9. Teaching Beginning Students Thought this would be the hardest! Struggles: differences in cultural backgrounds, not knowing whether information was completely new or student was still processing, many exceptions to the rule Strengths: using gestures, speaking slowly and clearly, incorporating creativity into the lessons **Keep in mind the types of students you have (motivation levels)

10. Lessons for beginning students: • Present Simple Tense for: “work”, “live” and “have” (75min lesson) • Regular Past Simple Tense (45-60 min) • Materials: • Video clips • Posters • White boards • Agendas • Stories • News articles • Workbook pages

11. Teaching Intermediate Students Hardest in reality for me! Struggles: range in learning levels, accommodating all students, knowing all of the gaps in student learning prior to lessons Strengths: flexibility, creativity, supplemental materials

12. Lessons for Intermediates • Types of Questions: who, what, where when, how • Different types of verb tenses: • Present: simple (perfect or passive), continuous • Past: simple (perfect, continuous (perfect or passive) • Debates/Controversial Issues • Materials • Video clips • Articles • Graphic Organizers • Workbook pages • Song lyrics • Whiteboard • Audio tapes

13. Teaching Advanced Students Struggles: creating lesson plans that still challenge, building academic vocabulary, accent and pronunciation differences Strengths: creativity with lesson plans, pacing, gestures, diversity of materials, flexibility of class sizes, tailoring materials to students’ interests

14. Lessons for Advanced • Grammar and accent identification and correction • Study on strong adjectives • Academic writing styles • Current Issues in Media: self-esteem • Lots of discussion and critical thinking! • Materials: • Newspaper articles • Video clips • Jeopardy game • Magazines • Poster supplies

15. Teaching Online Students Strengths: adapting lesson plans, patience, pacing, and creativity Struggles: technology, ability to use and provide materials, student use of online translators, moving around the classroom and allowing partner/group work

16. What I learned about English during the course... phonemic alphabet/symbols reviewed all grammatical rules more about intonation and stress Differences in regional and standard English (between U.S. UK, Ireland, and Australia!) Spoken and Written! Manner/Place of Articulation

17. What I learned about teaching during the course: • How to differentiate to accommodate all learner • Importance of wait time • Creativity, prep, and positive feedback go a long way! • How to combine textbooks and workbooks • How to create unit plans for multiple lessons ESA model of lesson planning Flexibility Online teaching strategies Time management skills The many roles of a teacher TTT vs. STT How to supplement materials along with the textbook and workbook curriculum

18. What I learned about diversity and culture: Respect Sensitivity to all students backgrounds and learning styles Feelings of being completely immersed in a new culture and language Blog entries and observations written about living in a different culture

19. Future Implementation: English and grammatical Creative planning with Supplementary materials Differentiation Multi-cultural education • Sensitivity to all students backgrounds and ELL students • ESA lesson formatting • Professionalism in the work place • Flexibility and Time management!

20. Questions or Comments? Thank-you for listening!