What Education Do You Need To Be A Teacher

For some teachers, the main reason for becoming TEFL qualified is to open the door to adventures living and working overseas. However, there are many circumstances where teaching over the internet could also be a great option. For recently qualified teachers it can be a convenient way to gain experience while earning money to fund a trip abroad. It can also be a good way to supplement your income from another job. Whether you are in your home country or already living and working abroad, teaching English as a foreign language online might be worth considering. Setting yourself up as an online language teacher can be surprisingly straightforward and inexpensive. Your biggest expense is likely to be completing a TEFL/TESOL qualification. While completing an internationally recognized...  [Read more]

The role of a teacher has changed more dramatically in the past half century then in anytime in previous history. Schools are changing from a period where information was held by few to dispense to many, to a period where the flow of information freely exchanges between all varieties of media, most noticeably TV and the Internet. Therefore teachers are no longer needed as the supreme dispenser of knowledge but rather as a guide to learning who understands their student?s unique needs and barriers to learning. Traditionally, teachers have had the responsibility to dispense historically relevant information to students sitting obediently in rows. Although this model has worked in the past it often creates a distant relationship between student and teacher and places...  [Read more]

The role of a teacher has changed more dramatically in the past half century then in anytime in previous history. Schools are changing from a period where information was held by few to dispense to many, to a period where the flow of information freely exchanges between all varieties of media, most noticeably TV and the Internet. Therefore teachers are no longer needed as the supreme dispenser of knowledge but rather as a guide to learning who understands their student's unique needs and barriers to learning.Traditionally, teachers have had the responsibility to dispense historically relevant information to students sitting obediently in rows. Although this model has worked in the past it often creates a distant relationship between student and teacher and places the bulk of...  [Read more]

Teaching adult true beginners from day one is an interesting challenge and requires a strategy which must be formulated in advance. Do you begin with phonics' Can you start with rote memorization' How can you approach people with different learning styles' What has been the students experience in school previously' There are many considerations but in the end a good plan smoothes the way to the first day. When teaching the alphabet the issue of using phonics comes to the forefront. Many programs use a system of phonics instruction along with grammar and vocabulary topics. Teaching the sounds rather than the letter names per say has advantages and disadvantages. The learner will make more progress in speaking skills when he starts by learning the sounds. He will be able...  [Read more]

Over the years, many debates have arisen in regards to second language instruction (L2), giving prominence to two main models: English Only versus Bilingual Education. English Only uses solely English as the medium for instruction, whereas Bilingual Education, as its name implies, uses both English and the student's native language. While there are several aspects to the debate, this paper will briefly cover a certain few: cultural sensitivity, accuracy, and segregation. Proponents of the English Only model claim that the use of a student's native language creates a 'cycle of native language dependency,' meaning that the student, to some extent, gets 'tethered' to his native tongue. Using solely English in the classroom, advocates say, frees students to think and...  [Read more]

In Ghana most children enter school speaking little or no English. This seems unbelievable when English is the countrys offical language. Infact the reason for this is that there are over 44 indigenous languages within Ghana so this alone causes students problems when they come to study English. In Ghana urgent attention is needed towards literacy. At present only 10% of students can read at grade level after 6 years in primary school. Classes of 20- 30 pupils will only have 2 English textbooks to accommodate the whole group. The Government wants students to be proficient in English by grade 4 so that they are able to understand lessons where instruction is English. Students are expected to respond using oral and written English and finally be able to read from textbooks...  [Read more]

Over the years, many debates have arisen in regards to second language instruction (L2), giving prominence to two main models: English Only versus Bilingual Education. English Only uses solely English as the medium for instruction, whereas Bilingual Education, as its name implies, uses both English and the student?s native language. While there are several aspects to the debate, this paper will briefly cover a certain few: cultural sensitivity, accuracy, and segregation. Proponents of the English Only model claim that the use of a student?s native language creates a ?cycle of native language dependency,? meaning that the student, to some extent, gets ?tethered? to his native tongue. Using solely English in the classroom, advocates say, frees students to...  [Read more]

This marks my thirteenth week as a new teacher of sixth and seventh grade students, ages eleven to thirteen. I teach history and my class sizes range from twenty-three to twenty-seven, with a total of one hundred and fifty students throughout the day. As one can imagine, classroom management and discipline are extremely important with groups this size and with children in general. In an effort to improve the effectiveness of my current teaching position and to set the tone for my future ESL/EFL classrooms, I consulted the Phi Delta Kappan, an excellent resource for teachers both beginning their careers and those who are seasoned veterans in the field. Metzger, Margaret (2002). Classroom Management: Learning to Discipline. Phi Delta Kappan 84, 77-84. Metzger is a life-long...  [Read more]

Introduction Considering the difficulties that learners from different backgrounds are faced with is appropriate because I will soon embark on a teaching career which will bring me in contact with many people from different backgrounds and the challenges they face in mastering the English language. Having learnt English myself at some point in life, has made me aware of some of the difficulties my students are faced with. My experience in having overcome these difficulties could be a great help to my students, if these are used in the proper way. The danger is that one might compare others to oneself. This is useless because it?s extremely difficult to say that people with a certain background only face one set of problems. The difficulties are as many and as varied...  [Read more]

Yes you can. Speaking Thai is not a requirement for teaching English in Thailand. Even if they are fluent in the language, ESL instructors in the majority of Thailand’s language institutions are not required to speak Thai in class. In general, there is a great demand for English teachers in Thailand. In fact, people in Thailand and other Southeast Asian nations now have a greater desire than ever before to learn English, raising the need for ESL instructors in this region. The growing economy also means people in Thailand now have more disposable income to spend on English education. Thus, there are more opportunities for ESL instructors, especially those with credentials like a TEFL or TESOL certificate. In favor of ESL teachers willing to sign contracts for at least six months or a...  [Read more]

Britain is the home of high quality English language teaching and is joining forces in a new and enlarged professional association called English UK, backed by the British Council. This comes at a time when global competition for English language students is more fierce than ever. While Britain can claim to have pioneered the concept of providing short, intensive language courses, and dominated the market for much of the past 50 years, other countries, principally Australia, New Zealand and Ireland, are now competing more aggressively for a share of shifting and in some cases diminishing student markets. Membership of English UK is only open to institutions that have been inspected as part of a special accreditation scheme for ELT providers; run by the British...  [Read more]

The Teach and Learn with Georgia (TLG) program was setup in 2010 with the intention of improving the country's foreign language skills and to promote greater ties with the global community. Sponsored by the Georgian Ministry of Education and Science, TLG actively recruits native English, French and German speakers to teach in public schools throughout the country on a voluntary basis. While the primary goal is language teaching within a school environment, the program also has a strong focus on cultural exchange. The TLG program is open to native speakers of English, French and German who are open-minded and highly motivated to make a positive difference in an unfamiliar environment. Contracts are for one academic year during which time you will teach alongside local language teachers...  [Read more]

Britain is the home of high quality English language teaching and is joining forces in a new and enlarged professional association called English UK, backed by the British Council. This comes at a time when global competition for English language students is more fierce than ever. While Britain can claim to have pioneered the concept of providing short, intensive language courses, and dominated the market for much of the past 50 years, other countries, principally Australia, New Zealand and Ireland, are now competing more aggressively for a share of shifting and in some cases diminishing student markets. Membership of English UK is only open to institutions that have been inspected as part of a special accreditation scheme for ELT providers; run by the British Council....  [Read more]

In order to understand the problems of the modern Mongolian language learner, one must first examine the context of Mongolia today. In this paper I will examine the history of education, its current accessibility and trends, and social issues that contribute to the learning environment for students in Mongolia. They have had a century of dramatic changes which must first be known.During most of the twentieth century Mongolia remained a Soviet communist state called the Mongolian People´s Republic. This stage spanned from 1924 through 1990 when the Democratic Revolution shifted Mongolia to independence and democracy. The education system has changed in reaction to political and economic national trends. At the onset of the twentieth century Mongolians were educated in...  [Read more]

IntroductionConsidering the difficulties that learners from different backgrounds are faced with is appropriate because I will soon embark on a teaching career which will bring me in contact with many people from different backgrounds and the challenges they face in mastering the English language. Having learnt English myself at some point in life, has made me aware of some of the difficulties my students are faced with. My experience in having overcome these difficulties could be a great help to my students, if these are used in the proper way. The danger is that one might compare others to oneself. This is useless because it's extremely difficult to say that people with a certain background only face one set of problems. The difficulties are as many and as varied as the...  [Read more]

I have always viewed education as an experience that is required. Society has implemented education as one of the key factors for individual development, and evolution as a whole, a necessity. It is an exchange of information that takes place on a greater scale, and generates development that allows humankind to move forward. This is further demonstrated by our need to create a system that understands our psychology as a whole. Our ability to understand the learning process and teaching methodologies have allowed people to try to ameliorate the system of education and maximise its potential. Without education, we would be unable to move forward, and I feel it is crucial to realize this importance of communication involved in the learning process . An...  [Read more]

Teaching is an age-old profession dating back as early as Socrates and his most famous student, Plato. Integral to this ancient model of education was a give-and-take relationship between teacher and student. The role of the teacher is not merely a bank of mundane facts but rather, that of 'educational guides, facilitators and co- learners' (Redefining the Role of the Teacher by Judith Taack Lanier). Teachers must engage their students and foster a desire to learn. A teacher can not simply rely on dated textbooks to teach their students but rather a teacher must become an artist, creating curriculum that is both interesting and relevant to the students. As Lanier states in her article, 'the curriculum must relate to their lives, learning activities must engage their...  [Read more]

Teaching is not merely sharing of information or knowledge, but also an expression of values and attitudes. What teachers usually get back from their students is what they themselves have brought to the teaching-learning process. The role of the teacher is multi-faceted and diverse. Just some of the roles that a teacher must take on are that of motivator, mentor, decision maker, coach, facilitator, psychologist, parent, speaker, actor/actress, assessor, organizer, model, observer and disciplinarian amongst others. Ultimately in the world of TEFL, the teacher teaches language, reading, writing, speaking and listening. To be able to do this, the teacher must take on many other roles which make it one of the most challenging professions. To put it mildly, teaching is not for...  [Read more]

Introduction Having chosen the subject of motivation in the foreign language classroom, I will briefly discuss various motivational techniques and strategies that can be used by TEFL teachers in order to motivate their students, and make their learning more efficient. Even though during my research I have found a lot of education- oriented publications providing different pointers and techniques, I came to a conclusion that they don''t always offer an efficient guide to new teachers like me. Therefore, my main goal is to come up with a set of strategies that may come handy during my future teaching endeavours that are likely to include a need to motivate foreign language students. Creating the motivational conditions There are certain preconditions that need to be met in order...  [Read more]

The idea of classroom management is something that every future teacher must plan and contemplate thoroughly before starting his/her teaching career. While each teacher will approach classroom management in their own way, there are some major areas that must be covered. First, a teacher must make the students understand the expectations and consequences concerning the class. In order to ensure that classroom learning is conducive to both the physical and emotional growth of the student, rules that explain what behavior is expected need to be reviewed. After rules and procedures are established, it is important that the teacher admires good performance and provides negative consequences for unacceptable behavior. Simple physical signs like a “thumbs up” or a...  [Read more]

As computer technology overtakes the world and EFL resources develop to keep up with these changes, it is important to evaluate these resources that are being used in the classroom. Teachers need to decide whether these materials are necessary or helpful in the teaching process or are they being used simply because they are available and the teacher feels pressurised to use them by students and schools alike. In this short article, I will evaluate the resources I use in the classroom to support young EFL learners and discuss their use and value.Two of the commercial resources used by the school I work in are 'Shine' and 'Way Ahead'. Both of these CD-Roms have been produced to develop not only vocabulary teaching, but also grammatical structures of the English language. Both of...  [Read more]

Pronunciation instruction is perhaps the most difficult aspect of English teaching. There are no simple answers as to how, when, or how long, it should be taught. However, this article hopes to present a different way of teaching the phonetics of English. My undergraduate work was not in English or even general education, but the performance of music. I learned from experts in the production and education of sound, and I feel the techniques they used may be applied to the instruction of English phonetics. By utilizing techniques used in college level music performance education, it is hoped a teacher may improve the effectiveness of phonetic instruction in their English class.While a student in one of the leading tuba studios in the country, my teachers utilized one...  [Read more]

The idea of classroom management is something that every future teacher must plan and contemplate thoroughly before starting his/her teaching career. While each teacher will approach classroom management in their own way, there are some major areas that must be covered. First, a teacher must make the students understand the expectations and consequences concerning the class. In order to ensure that classroom learning is conducive to both the physical and emotional growth of the student, rules that explain what behavior is expected need to be reviewed. After rules and procedures are established, it is important that the teacher admires good performance and provides negative consequences for unacceptable behavior. Simple physical signs like a ?thumbs up? or a verbal...  [Read more]

The primary purpose of assessment and evaluation is to improve student learning. Information gathered through assessment helps teachers to determine students’ strengths and needs in their achievement of the curriculum expectations in each course. This information also serves to guide teachers in adapting curriculum and instructional approaches to students’ needs and in assessing the overall effectiveness of programs and classroom practices. In order to ensure this primary purpose, assessment and evaluation must:be communicated clearly to students (and/or parents if applicable) at the beginning of the course and at other appropriate points throughout the course;address both what students learn and how well they learn;be based both on the categories of...  [Read more]

Classroom success for teachers and students encompasses classroom management, classroom discipline and seating arrangements; which are all dependent upon seating arrangement styles. In order to determine which seating arrangement style (SAS) is best for a class one must look at the reasons or the importance of a particular SAS.SAS are important for classroom control and management, student security, student interaction and socialization, ease of teaching, special needs of students such as seeing or hearing, and are a good way of memorizing students' names in the beginning. There are many factors in determining a SAS.Prior to selecting a specific SAS a teacher must determine how the class will be taught and which subject. Will there be a math class where every...  [Read more]

Howard Gardner is a professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and a renowned author; his theory of multiple intelligences is a critique of the notion that there exists but a single human intelligence that can be assessed by standard psychometric instruments. Multiple intelligences theory proposes that it is more efficient to describe an individual´s cognitive capacity in terms of several relatively independent but interacting cognitive capacities rather than in terms of a single "general" intelligence. Gardner suggests that there are at least nine different or distinct intelligences: 1.Linguistic: the capacity to use language to express what´s on your mind and to understand other people. Any kind of writer, orator, speaker, lawyer, or other person for whom...  [Read more]

If you want to teach English in Europe you will find that most jobs are secured following a face to face interview. If you would like to have a teaching job organised before you leave home, a government placement program might be a good option for you. The following are the most popular programs of their kind in Europe. The TAPIF Program, short for Teaching Assistant Program in France, is a government initiative that places applicants into French state schools to work as teaching assistants. The program provides a great opportunity to live and work in a country where long-stay visas can be difficult to secure for non-EU citizens. For those who meet the necessary criteria, the TAPIF Program could be the perfect way to fulfil your dream of living and working in France. The program is...  [Read more]

The primary purpose of assessment and evaluation is to improve student learning. Information gathered through assessment helps teachers to determine students? strengths and needs in their achievement of the curriculum expectations in each course. This information also serves to guide teachers in adapting curriculum and instructional approaches to students? needs and in assessing the overall effectiveness of programs and classroom practices. In order to ensure this primary purpose, assessment and evaluation must: be communicated clearly to students (and/or parents if applicable) at the beginning of the course and at other appropriate points throughout the course; address both what students learn and how well they learn; ...  [Read more]

If you want to have a job in place and all the paperwork sorted out before you leave your home country, a TEFL placement program is certainly worth considering. Several countries across Europe and Asia have government run schemes that recruit foreign teachers to work in their public school system. The following options are long established and respected programs that offer a great opportunity to live and work in some of the most popular teaching destinations. The TAPIF Program, short for Teaching Assistant Program in France, is a government initiative that places applicants into French state schools to work as teaching assistants. The program provides a great opportunity to live and work in a country where long-stay visas can be difficult to secure for non-EU citizens. For those who...  [Read more]

Today, all teachers are faced with the ongoing challenge of working to make their teaching more effective. Whether they teach traditional students or EFL students, teachers must develop their skills to best meet students´ educational needs. We have a fairly clear idea today of the skills teachers should seek to develop. According to Robert Slavin, "research on teaching has made significant strides in identifying teaching behaviors associated with high student achievement" (Slavin, n.d.). These teaching behaviors include "essential teaching skills," which are "basic abilities that all teachers, including those in their first year, should have to promote order and learning" (Eggen & Kauchak, 2004, p. 579). The Key Teacher Skills include Preparation, Attention, Clarity,...  [Read more]