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Teaching English Overseas Top Related Articles
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1). Native Speakers? By : Brenda Townsend Hall
In a recent poll, I asked readers if they thought English language teachers should be native speakers. The result was interesting, as the vote from those with an opinion was close with 48% believing they should be native speakers and 41% saying no. I don’t know what you think about this but I’ve always had mixed feelings.
The first question I would raise with those who believe being a native speaker is an essential prerequisite for an English language teacher is, which nat...
Article Related to: teach english, teaching english, teaching english overseas, esl jobs, esl, tefl, tesol
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2). Older Teachers By : Brenda Townsend Hall
I met a retired engineer the other day and she told me she was half way through a TEFL training course. She wanted to know what I thought her chances were of finding a teaching job when she has completed the course. Well, I can't disguise the fact that there is a lot of age prejudice in the world of ELT. I think all sorts of reasons combine to make this a profession dominated by young teachers.
Article Related to: teach english, teaching english, teaching english overseas, esl jobs, esl, tefl, tesol
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3). English Teachers And Culture Shock By : Brenda Townsend Hall
I was talking recently to a young woman who had just returned from a teaching post in Korea. She said her first months in her job were a nightmare because of the unfamiliarity of everything. It made me wonder how teachers can prepare themselves to cope with culture shock.
Anyone who leaves their familiar environment for a prolonged spell is prone to the stress of culture shock. Although we know on a rational level that we are going to meet unfamiliar routines and customs, ...
Article Related to: teach english, teaching english, teaching english overseas, esl jobs, esl, tefl, tesol
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6). Language And Culture By : Brenda Townsend Hall
The native/non-native-speaking-teacher issues open a whole can of worms of how standards are regulated. I still think the key point about teacher selection is to find the best person for the job. If the non-native speaker fits the bill, then surely that's all that matters. As for regulation, well I agree that students should be protected from sham schools that take their money but don't offer a professional service. Each country, it seems, has its own regulatory system, some ...
Article Related to: teach english, teaching english, teaching english overseas, esl jobs, esl, tefl, tesol
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8). Do You Know How Your Students Want To Learn? By : Brenda Townsend Hall
Learner power is the topic of this article. I wonder how many school directors think about asking their students how they want to learn. The idea of conducting a needs analysis to find out what students want to learn is nothing new, but I’m not sure if we are quite so used to trying to find out their preferred learning styles. I mention this because it strikes me that so many teachers come from the same mould, having qualified through courses based very much on progressive western views of educational practice.
Article Related to: teach english, teaching english, teaching english overseas, esl jobs, esl, tefl, tesol
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9). To Teach Business English? By : Brenda Townsend Hall
Mid-career crisis? Have you got what it takes to teach English for business?
Teachers often ask me what direction they can take after a few years of teaching general English. To continue as an ordinary classroom teacher seems like stagnation, so choices have to be made about how to develop both professionally and personally. Specializing in English for business can be a fruitful move if the teacher is able to transfer existing skills to the business context.
Article Related to: teach english, teaching english, teaching english overseas, esl jobs, esl, tefl, tesol
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11). An Acronym By Any Other Name By : Brenda Townsend Hall
I don't know about you but I loathe acronyms. Yes, I know they have a convenience factor but they also seem to me to be potentially sinister, redolent of George Orwell's Newspeak. Our field has its fair share of them and woe betide anyone who uses one wrongly. Never, for example, say ESL or TESL when you mean ESOL or TESOL. Why? because you might unwittingly.
Article Related to: teach english, teaching english, teaching english overseas, esl jobs, esl, tefl, tesol
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12). Mixing Spaghetti And English: Teach English In Italy By : Michelle Simmons
For those who dream of teaching abroad, Italy is often the first country that comes to mind. Beautiful, historical, and surrounded by a sense of romance, Italy is a dream for most Westerners who plan on traveling for a career.
It should come as no surprise, then, that English teaching jobs in Italy are somewhat difficult to obtain. There's a lot of competition and a lot of applicants, and if you're hoping to secure a position you should be prepared to prove yourself.
Article Related to: teach english, teaching english, teaching english overseas, esl jobs, esl, tefl, tesol
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13). Health Matters By : Brenda Townsend Hall
I guess nobody likes thinking about what can go wrong with the recruitment process. We all like to think we are reasonable employers, offering a fair package in return for a professional job. Yet, we do operate in a market that is prone to certain complications. Think about it. We recruit mainly young teachers who travel a long way from their home and friends, perhaps to a country they don't know anything about.
Article Related to: teach english, teaching english, teaching english overseas, esl jobs, esl, tefl, tesol
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17). Entre Nous By : Brenda Townsend Hall
Non-native speaker to non-native speaker
In thinking about the ways English is evolving, we have to recognize that it is frequently a lingua franca between non-native speakers. This has strange implications for teaching. I have been told that it is not worth learning any standard form of pronunciation because “the people I talk to wouldn’t understand” and I’ve been asked to simplify verbs to eliminate tenses! Of course, as English has developed from a highly synthetic lang...
Article Related to: teach english, teaching english, teaching english overseas, esl jobs, esl, tefl, tesol
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18). Forewarned Is Forearmed By : Brenda Townsend Hall
The teacher can represent a coveted trophy or a sympathetic ally to an impressionable young student. If the society is not tolerant of such relationships, the student may be further stimulated by the idea of "forbidden fruit". But two things seem to me to be important messages from this story and some of the experiences people have recorded in their comments.
First the teachers themselves must not stumble blindly into different cultures and then flounder because they don't...
Article Related to: teach english, teaching english, teaching english overseas, esl jobs, esl, tefl, tesol
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19). Better Late Then Never By : Brenda Townsend Hall
Whenever I talk to teachers I don't usually have to wait long before they start listing their concerns about students. I wonder what would come top of your list of teachers’ complaints about student behavior. My guess is that punctuality would come pretty high. It doesn’t sound too difficult on the surface to insist that students should come on time to their lessons but in practice there may be factors that make the lateness habit difficult to break.
Article Related to: teach english, teaching english, teaching english overseas, esl jobs, esl, tefl, tesol
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