Teaching English Second Language Certification

There are various different methods which are used to teach a second language. One such method is the immersion method of teaching , developed in Canada to provide Canada's majority group English- speaking students with opportunities to learn Canada's other official language, French. Students are taught a second language exclusively throught he medium of the second language.The structured immersion approach, however, must not be confused with submersion (which is really a non-approach). Essentially, it is a ' sink or swim ' approach. For example, a non-English-speaking French child moves to England and is placed in a regular English- speaking classroom and is taught exclusively in English in the same way as the English-speaking children.Bull (1965) drew a distinction between these...  [Read more]

  Below you can read feedback from an ITTT graduate regarding one section of their online TEFL certification course. Each of our online courses is broken down into concise units that focus on specific areas of English language teaching. This convenient, highly structured design means that you can quickly get to grips with each section before moving onto the next. While it is the most basic form of verbs usage, the present tense did pose some problems to me. Not in the way that I would use them, but in the way that I actually have to name the proper tense to my students when teaching. Very informative on that point since all of those matters are very far in my memory. However, what I found most useful are the commonly made mistakes which I would not have foreseen,...  [Read more]

  Below you can read feedback from an ITTT graduate regarding one section of their online TEFL certification course. Each of our online courses is broken down into concise units that focus on specific areas of English language teaching. This convenient, highly structured design means that you can quickly get to grips with each section before moving onto the next. I have learned that the different tests serve different purposes. The diagnostic tests at the beginning of the term really helps to see where the students are so that we have an idea where we need to help them. Testing our students regularly allows us to see the students' progress. Students and parents need to have that information as well. The placement test on page 4 is something that I may use with my...  [Read more]

  Would you like to live and work abroad? With a TEFL or TESOL certificate you can work and live abroad, Teaching English as a Foreign Language or Teaching English as a Second Language. Check out ITTT's courses and start a new life with a TEFL or TESOL Certification! Below you can read feedback from an ITTT graduate regarding one section of their online TEFL certification course. Each of our online courses is broken down into concise units that focus on specific areas of English language teaching. This convenient, highly structured design means that you can quickly get to grips with each section before moving onto the next. This unit on past tenses is a good for review. I don't think we do enough practice with past tense, past perfect or past perfect continuous tenses...  [Read more]

The business of teaching English as a second language has grown drastically over the last several decades, and even though it may not be as lucrative an industry as it was several years ago, the sheer number of English teachers has continued to increase. With this increase there has also been a rise in volunteer efforts by native and fluent speakers, especially to undeveloped and third- world areas where knowledge of English can open the door for much- needed economic opportunities. This increase in volunteerism has not only benefited students, but teachers, nations, and humanity in general. Three examples of interesting, excellent volunteer teaching programs are the Peace Corps, I-to-I, and, for those who want to live on top of the world ' Volunteer Nepal Himalaya.Volunteer Nepal...  [Read more]

Quite often, the terms English as a Second Language (ESL) and English as a Foreign Language (EFL) are used interchangeably to describe English language instruction to non-native speakers. However, it is becoming increasingly more well known that the two contexts are quite different, demanding the teacher approach and execute different teaching methodologies in the classes. In an ESL setting, the class is likely to be multilingual and be completely immersed in the language by living in the culture of the target language. On the other hand, in the EFL setting, the class is typically monolingual and living in their own country (Brown 2001).In Teaching by principles, author H. Douglas Brown explains that 'it is useful to consider the pedagogical implications for a continuum of...  [Read more]

A question on the minds of many English as a Second Language instructors are whether or not it is appropriate to teach students the use of slang and idioms in the English language. Although the distinction between what is a formal term versus an informal one is crucial, slang is a significant part of conversational English and, as such, should be covered in the classroom. It would be very difficult for someone new to the English language to understand an American movie, TV show, news broadcast or even a typical conversation as they are filled with nonstandard English. Firstly, it is important to define the terms “idiom” and “slang”. Slang can be described as nonstandard vocabulary of a given culture or subculture. In other words, slang is typically a...  [Read more]

In consideration of whether or not teachers of English as a second language should teach slang or idioms in class, or rather, why English teachers should teach idioms or slang, I did some research on the internet regarding this particular topic. For the most part, I found one David Burke's article on the subject to be most informative (Burke, 1). I have formed my own opinion on the matter, which I will discuss at length later in this essay.First, it is constructive to define exactly what slang words and idioms are, to differentiate between the two as well as to be completely precise in this pursuit. Dictionary.com defines an idiom as 'an expression whose meaning is not predictable from the usual meanings of its constituent elements' (dictionary.com, 1). In contrast, slang is...  [Read more]

In the teaching of English as a Second Language (ESL), games are very important, with adults and especially with children. Let’s face it, no matter how much one wants to learn another language sometimes class discussions about verb tenses and vocabulary can be monotonous, slow, and boring. Games make learning fun and can be used to add a little spice to class. Many people are motivated by competition so games can stimulate this enthusiasm and help to stimulate participation. Games can be used to aid in: learning vocabulary, verb usage, vocabulary review, pronunciation practice, phrase building, confidence building, and encouraging students to think and respond in English. Games are great ways to begin or end a class. Openers for classes are used to introduce new...  [Read more]

Teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) in China is for the most part pleasant and exciting. Students are eager to learn. However, one of the frustrations ESL teachers often complain about is that students seem to make the same mistakes repetitively. Learners will often transfer the rules of their first language to express something in their second language. This transference happens when they have insufficient knowledge of the rules of the second language. In China, students fall back on the rules of their first language (Mandarin) when they do not know the rules of the second language (English). The result is a poor form of English, informally referred to as "Chinglish". The errors that occur are also called language interference errors. These errors affect...  [Read more]

Acronyms are an essential tool used in all professions and technical writing. They are powerful tools to reduce word content. However without knowing what the acronym stands for, they can form a barrier to understanding. In the ESL (English as a Second Language) teaching world there is certainly no shortage of acronyms. Here we look at a few and one in particular, TEFL. Some useful teaching acronyms are: ELT: English Language Teaching. This is a general term for teaching English and applies to the teaching of English to both native and non-native English speakers. ELL: English Language Learner. This is a general term for anyone learning English and applies to learners of English who are native or non-native English speakers. ESL: English as a Second Language: This relates to the...  [Read more]

  Our second example sentence 'I am playing football at the moment.' is the present continuous tense. This has a different structure as the subject 'I', the verb 'to be' in the present tense 'am', 'is' or 'are' plus the verb with an '?ing' on the end. So here: 'I am playing football at the moment.' Whereas the present simple tense is used to talk about habits routines and facts, the present continuous tense is used to talk about actions in progress at the time of speaking or around the time of speaking. Our third example sentence is the present perfect: 'I have played football twice this week.' Here, the structure is the subject 'I', auxiliary verb 'have' or 'has' plus the past participle. The past participle is usually formed just by adding '-ed'- on to the end of the base form of...  [Read more]

  Below you can read feedback from an ITTT graduate regarding one section of their online TEFL certification course. Each of our online courses is broken down into concise units that focus on specific areas of English language teaching. This convenient, highly structured design means that you can quickly get to grips with each section before moving onto the next. As an enexperienced teacher, this course is very informative and helpfull as it tackles the common and problems that a teacher can encounter in teaching and how to deal with them. It is common here in our country that in teaching english , teachers' use our L1 to explain the instructions if students are having hard time to understand the given task, as a result, we as a student , luck of exposure to the...  [Read more]

  Tim currently completed our 120-hour online certification course and enjoyed working with the well-organized units. He also found the videos accompanying the course very useful. Below you can read feedback from an ITTT graduate regarding one section of their online TEFL certification course. Each of our online courses is broken down into concise units that focus on specific areas of English language teaching. This convenient, highly structured design means that you can quickly get to grips with each section before moving onto the next. In this unit, troubleshooting, I learned about the different problems and solutions that I might encounter in teaching English as Second Language. Some of the problems are when I have large classes, reluctant students, and when the...  [Read more]

  Below you can read feedback from an ITTT graduate regarding one section of their online TEFL certification course. Each of our online courses is broken down into concise units that focus on specific areas of English language teaching. This convenient, highly structured design means that you can quickly get to grips with each section before moving onto the next. This unit talks about Teaching and Learning. It highlighted on learning and developmental theories, the acquisition of native and second language, the learning environment and the various learning skills. I have learned for the first time the teacher acting as a Policeman to my previous knowledge on classroom management. The likes and dislikes of the various groups of learners, learned in this unit will help...  [Read more]

EFL stands for English as a Foreign Language and is to almost all purposes the same as ESL, English as a Second Language. These two are also equivalent to ESOL which means, English to Speakers of Other Languages. For each of these terms, when we talk about the teaching of them, we add a ‘T’ to the front of each acronym and hence we arrive at the terms TEFL, TESL and TESOL. As they are basically the same we will refer to just one from here on, TEFL for the Teaching of English as a Foreign Language and EFL for English as a Foreign Language. Almost all TEFL teaching positions require a minimum qualification of a 100 to 120-hour TEFL certification. Courses provided to cover this certification are usually delivered by one of three methods, namely, onsite courses, online courses and combined...  [Read more]

First we need to define what TEFL means before looking at the various ways in which it can be examined to provide a teaching certificate. There are various locations in which a TEFL exam can be taken and different methods of instruction, these will also be considered. The acronym TEFL stands for Teaching English as a Foreign Language and it can be used in any situation where the English language is being taught to non-native English speakers. Technically speaking, TEFL refers to teaching English in countries where English is not the native language. It is a term used mainly in the UK and is used interchangeably with the equivalent USA term TESOL. As with any profession, teaching has a series of exams at different levels. Within the world of ESL the entry level examination for teachers is...  [Read more]

  In her third video, Chantelle talks about unit 3 of the 120-hour online TEFL course from ITTT. This unit deals with teaching theories, methodologies and techniques. The unit introduces several different methodologies before focusing on the ESA method that is used throughout the course. The unit also covers a range of different activities that can be used in a lesson. It also looks at ways to deal with correcting student mistakes and errors in spoken and written English. Below you can read feedback from an ITTT graduate regarding one section of their online TEFL certification course. Each of our online courses is broken down into concise units that focus on specific areas of English language teaching. This convenient, highly structured design means that you can quickly get to...  [Read more]

  Ben taught English in South Korea for four years before returning to his native California. In this TEFL review he describes how after returning home, he decided to seek out further qualifications in teaching English and found ITTT’s online TEFL course was the right one for him. Despite teaching English for several years, Ben found that the course had several new things to teach him including new methods and techniques. Below you can read feedback from an ITTT graduate regarding one section of their online TEFL certification course. Each of our online courses is broken down into concise units that focus on specific areas of English language teaching. This convenient, highly structured design means that you can quickly get to grips with each section before moving onto the...  [Read more]

  In this video we explain the difference between 'compliment' and 'complement'. Both used as a verb and a noun, 'compliment' expresses something nice about someone, for example: I complimented my brother on his delicious cooking. In this example, the word 'compliment' is used as a verb. Let's take a look at a sentence where it is used as a noun: I gave my brother a compliment on his delicious cooking. The word "complement" on the other hand is used when two things go well together, or complete each other. The word is especially often used to indicate that two foods go well together. It is also often used in fashion, such as here: 'Her black dress complements her red hair,' or 'That wine complements the fish very well'. This should clear up any confusion. Below you can read...  [Read more]

  This video covers special cases in reported speech that do not follow the typical pattern. This video is specifically aimed at teaching reported speech in an ESL setting. Below you can read feedback from an ITTT graduate regarding one section of their online TEFL certification course. Each of our online courses is broken down into concise units that focus on specific areas of English language teaching. This convenient, highly structured design means that you can quickly get to grips with each section before moving onto the next. In this Unit we watched 2 videos. In the first video, the student did not actively participate much and did not seem to understand the concepts very well. The teacher didn't really explain what was expected of the students during the study...  [Read more]

  There's another activity for comparing and contrasting the tenses focusing here in this activity on the present perfect and the present perfect continuous. So in the activity, students will start at the start and roll a die. Perhaps they can roll a 5. They will read 'something you've been learning for a long time'. The appropriate sentence may be 'I've been learning English for a long time.' The next student may go and roll 4. They read 'a beautiful place you've visited.' Then, rather than the present perfect continuous, they would use the present perfect tense: 'I visited Paris.' You can encourage students to even ask follow-up questions, which would also include other tenses: 'What was so beautiful about Paris?' Now, this activity will be particularly good for your more...  [Read more]

  Below you can read feedback from an ITTT graduate regarding one section of their online TEFL certification course. Each of our online courses is broken down into concise units that focus on specific areas of English language teaching. This convenient, highly structured design means that you can quickly get to grips with each section before moving onto the next. This lesson used two classroom teaching videos to demonstrate and compare different ways of teaching a lesson point. In the first video, it was clear that the students struggled to actively take part in the lesson because of the rigid personality and teaching style of the instructor. In the second video, the teacher applied a more practical, interactive and effective ESA teaching method to the entire lesson....  [Read more]

  "Your" and "you're" often get confused, not only by English learners around the world but also by many native English speakers. Let's break it down. "Your" is a possessive adjective that indicates ownership, while "you're" is simply the contraction of "you are". Let's take a look at this example sentence: Your grades are great this semester. In this case, we use 'your' as we use it to indicate ownership. You're the best student in the entire school! This example require us to use 'you're' because it is the short form for 'you are'. Should you not be sure which one to use, think about if you want to express ownership or of you want to say "you are". Below you can read feedback from an ITTT graduate regarding one section of their online TEFL certification course. Each of our online...  [Read more]

  Below you can read feedback from an ITTT graduate regarding one section of their online TEFL certification course. Each of our online courses is broken down into concise units that focus on specific areas of English language teaching. This convenient, highly structured design means that you can quickly get to grips with each section before moving onto the next. The students in the second video responded well to the visual aids, even though they were adults. Simple, interesting lessons about simple things, like animals, still kept them interested throughout. It was interesting to see how they responded to the second lesson, that most English speakers would think was a child's lesson, but the more complex lesson plan of the first video left them confused and insecure....  [Read more]

  Below you can read feedback from an ITTT graduate regarding one section of their online TEFL certification course. Each of our online courses is broken down into concise units that focus on specific areas of English language teaching. This convenient, highly structured design means that you can quickly get to grips with each section before moving onto the next. The videos in this unit provided a stark contrast between good and bad teaching techniques and attitudes. It was obvious in the first video that the teacher was not using good techniques and the students had a difficult time engaging and learning, overall it was a ineffective lesson. The second lesson used more techniques of the ESA method and the teacher had a much better presentation and attitude which made...  [Read more]

  This video is part of our ESA Methodology series. The ESA methodology consists of three stages. In this series, we look at the individual purposes of each stage and typical activities for each stage. This second video introduces the study phase of ESA. The purpose of this phase is to cover the actual teaching of the lesson and to check the understanding of that material.The second stage or phase of the lesson is known as the study phase and really the purpose of this phase is to cover the actual teaching of the lesson and to check understanding of that material. Typically in an ESA lesson, the study phase will have two parts. The first phase of the study is to cover the actual teaching component in what's known as the board work and what we try to do in the board work phase is to...  [Read more]

  Telmo lives in Portugal and has completed an online TEFL course with ITTT. In this TEFL review, Telmo tells us how he enjoyed his experience on the course and recommends taking the course with tutor support. ITTT offers a range of course to suit all needs so if you are looking at taking your first steps as an English teacher or wish to refresh your skills you are bound to find something to suit you with ITTT. Below you can read feedback from an ITTT graduate regarding one section of their online TEFL certification course. Each of our online courses is broken down into concise units that focus on specific areas of English language teaching. This convenient, highly structured design means that you can quickly get to grips with each section before moving onto the next. ...  [Read more]

  Elias is from the United States and enjoyed working on our 120-hour online TEFL course. He enjoyed the 20 units and learned many new teaching skills. He is excited to start working abroad teaching English as a second language. Below you can read feedback from an ITTT graduate regarding one section of their online TEFL certification course. Each of our online courses is broken down into concise units that focus on specific areas of English language teaching. This convenient, highly structured design means that you can quickly get to grips with each section before moving onto the next. Teaching new language to students rotates around vocabulary, grammar and functions. There are basically four things that students and teachers need to do with new language in...  [Read more]

Anyone who is involved in English language teaching (ELT) is well aware of the industry’s love of acronyms. If you have researched training courses you will undoubtedly have come across several such as TEFL, tesol, ESOL, EFL, ESL, ELT, and many more. Here we will look at EFL and the first thing to clear up is that EFL stands for English as a Foreign Language. It is often used interchangeably with some of the other acronyms mentioned when referring to the teaching or studying of the English language by non-native English speakers. Although these two acronyms are regularly used interchangeably within the teaching world, there are technical differences between the two. English as a Foreign Language (EFL) refers to situations where a student is learning English in a country (normally their...  [Read more]