Teach English in ShicaikAifAqu Guanweihui - Zhumadian Shi

The opportunities for teaching languages online have grown exponentially recently. Communication channels like Skype, Facebook Messenger, and Zoom (just to name a few) allow you to easily share audio, video, or your screen. You can use these communication channels as your virtual classrooms, just like the chat function or your shared screen as your virtual whiteboard. You would need a webcam and a microphone as well to exchange communication, but these are integrated in most of the laptops and smartphones. During my TEFL course, I learned a lot of theories and methods I might use not only in a classroom setting, but also when I want to teach online. Below, please read some of the methods I can use when I want to teach English online: The Total Physical Response (TPR) methodology This method is useful in case of young learners, when I want to incorporate some physical activities (clapping, standing up etc.) in my lesson. Grammar is not taught explicitly in that case, rather students respond to words or expressions with body parts movements. The Engage Study Activate (ESA) Methodology This is the most widely used method, and it can be used online, too. An online lesson should also start with a warmer type of activity. A small talk about the weather, or about a news I saw the previous night on TV might do the work. In addition, we can elicit some information from the student to start the ball rolling… Once we have done with the engage phase, we can go and switch into the study phase. This is the part of the lesson when the actual teaching takes place. This is when the student learns a new part of language or new vocabulary. The final stage of the lesson should be the activate phase. This is a very important lesson part for the student: in order to be able to use the language in a communicative way, the student should be able to put his acquired knowledge into a realistic context. Realistic contexts also make it possible to learn and adapt new information better than theoretic ones. The Presentation Practice Production (PPP) Methodology The structure of this methodology is a bit similar to the ESA methodology. The lesson starts with the teacher presenting the context of the new language. Then, the teacher explains and demonstrates the meaning and usage of the new language (similarly, like in the Study phase of the ESA method). Then comes the Practice phase, in which the student practices the new language in a controlled way (with drilling). This method can be very effective in teaching simple language at lower levels, but the drawback can be that it can easily become a teacher-centered lesson with a lot of teacher talking time (reducing significantly the student talking time). It is a very important thing though: we should always try to reduce TTT and let the students talk as much as possible (improve the STT) in a controlled way. Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) This method stresses the importance of different language functions (inviting, agreeing, disagreeing, suggesting, complaining etc.). This method uses real life situations. The teacher can play one role, whereas the student another one (asking for directions, buying bus season ticket at a booth, asking for a loan in a bank, calling someone over the phone etc.). There are endless situations you can practice with a student. Evidently, these types of lessons are for a student who wants to improve his communication or prepares for an oral language exam – for instance. A teacher can use the same elicitation techniques (as in face-to-face lessons) during online lessons as well: at lower levels, the teacher can show a physical object (realia) and starts a conversation about it. Flashcards, pictures, drawings can also be used in an online setting. At higher levels, gap-fills or lists are better solutions. We can use the chat function of our communication channel, or share our screen, where we can type texts or show a pdf file and use the exercises of a workbook of our choice to discuss. Besides the teaching methods, I also learned many other things during my TEFL course. I learned how to establish rapport, and why it is so important. I learned how to teach new vocabulary and grammar, and new language functions. I also learned what kind of materials I might use, how to test my students, how to give feedback for them etc. We also learned about the methods we should use depending on the age of our student: we should teach differently a young learner than an adult. Before I start teaching someone online, I should also do a level test, make a needs analysis and create a lesson plan (or course plan) once we have done the needs negotiation. The first step in a successful relationship with a student is always a good needs analysis: we need to know the level of the students and should understand his/her goals. Our responsibility as teachers is to show them the way to reach their goals: to guide them what and how to do. From this point of view, it is completely irrelevant whether the help is ‘offline’ or ‘online’: we can use the same methods and techniques, but sometimes we need to adjust the way we use them during our teaching. I am very grateful that I could take part in this course, from which I learned a lot. I do hope that I will be able to use the knowledge I gained and will be able to help many students online in the future.