TEFL certificate
PROFILE
PROJECTS
My teaching approach
As an American who hadn’t left the United States until three years ago at the age of 24, when I left the country for the first time for a skateboarding trip with my friends in Barcelona, I was so excited to be exposed to so many different individuals from numerous backgrounds. Meeting people from the skateboarding community from all over the world was amazing, getting to learn new things about all these new cultures that I hadn’t known about before. I had been exposed to plenty of people who spoke different languages growing up in California, but mostly people who had parents that had migrated to the states from another country and had learned English and their second language at the same time.
When I started meeting people here in Barcelona who had learned English on their own, in the streets, or in school, I was fascinated. It seemed like suddenly I had all these new friends from around the world, and almost everywhere I went I heard English being spoken, it was a way to bridge language barriers. You could have a group with ten people from eight different countries, and as long as everyone in that group spoke english, they could all communicate perfectly fine. Of course I had known how common the use of the English language was around the world, but until I witnessed for myself the possibilities of communication amongst individuals with all different language backgrounds, I never realized how truly useful it is. For that reason I believe that having the ability to teach a language as robust as English is a powerful tool to have.
There’s a number of different methods and approaches to teaching a language, but it’s crucial to focus on the student and how to adapt to their individual needs to figure out the best way for them to learn.Things to take into consideration are the age of the student, the level of their english, the motivations for learning, the best process for them to comprehend new information, and their native language. You need to think of the objectives the student has. If it is a young student who is learning basic grammar and vocabulary while at school, it’s likely they will not have the same motivation and goals as an adult who can already communicate using basic English but needs to improve with fluency and accuracy for either work or school.
How you choose to conduct your classes can highly affect the chances of the students acquiring the language in an appropriate manner. Make sure that the lesson plans and activities you create are suitable for the students, and that they’re not either too simple or boring, or too difficult and discouraging. You have to find the zone of proximal development of each class you encounter, where the students will have the best opportunity for learning. If you’re teaching a class with kids between 10-12 years old, and a P-2 English level, it’s not ideal to have a structure activity for them that is out of reach and they will not understand.
My personal approach to teaching English would mostly consist of the direct method being used to bring out natural conversations between myself and the student, getting them to speak as much as possible naturally. This can be implemented at the beginning of any class by starting off with a simple greeting, then move onto very basic yes or no questions regarding any topic. After a few questions, casually progress into more open ended questions, regarding the same topic as before, or maybe a new one you would like to focus on during the rest of the class. Once you see the students have warmed up to speaking with you and the rest of the class, you can move on to activities.
The type of activities that you can use will range mostly on the age of the students, and the levels of their English. With children, it’s very common to use what is called the Total Physical Response method, this allows students to follow along with the language by using non verbal communication. Simple gestures or movements of your hands/body can help the students with better understanding the context of the material you are trying to get across, and also to keep their attention towards you. You can use catchy songs or rhymes to get them to practice speaking, and it helps to involve all of them as a class activity, especially for students who may be more shy than the rest and nervous to participate. I would take advantage of the students' interests and ask them if there are any particular cartoons or movies they like, and I would come up with an activity related to it. Different types of games can be very useful as well with children and young adults. Puzzles or simple role playing games can be used to bring the students together in groups and allow them to work in pairs helping each other with their task at hand.
It’s important to take into consideration that most young students might not have much or any intrinsic motivation to learn English, in all reality they’re most likely there because their parent’s signed them up for lessons, or it’s mandatory through their school. If you can find what interests each student has, and you can find ways to use material that they easily relate to, it will increase the chances of the students desire to want to learn and continue attending more classes.
Just like with younger students, with teenagers and adults it is also important to try to relate to the students and build a solid rapport with them. The more you can connect with students, the more comfortable they will be during class, and that will go a long way when it comes to their willingness to participate. However, I would conduct classes with teenagers much differently assuming their level of English is higher than most children. Depending on the level of the class overall, I would use tools like Realia to present to the class. News articles on current events, or maybe new tech gadgets that would draw their attention and we can have a discussion about. Teenagers are also capable of following along with more complex Role Play in the classroom.
Using the Audio Lingual method, you can create different scenarios to act out in front of the class, and eventually have the class act it out on their own. By coming up with a simple dialogue they can listen to and repeat after you, they can listen to new vocabulary used in certain situations they might have ever been exposed to. After the students listening and repeating for a few minutes, you can choose two or three students to act the scenario out themselves, helping them produce the language on their own. Group activities like this are also great with teenagers because they can interact with one another and help each other instead of maybe putting them on the spot with having to answer direct questions in front of the class.
Similar to with younger students and using cartoons to draw their attention to a topic or certain vocabulary, you can work off the students Visual intelligences and play segments of particular tv shows or movies and using the Audio Lingual method once again, have them discuss a particular idea or topic regarding the material. Students of all ages are likely to be influenced by some sort of musicians, writers, athletes, celebrities. I would use this to my advantage and work around the students interests once again. You can use this as a way to give a writing assignment perhaps, or a quick oral presentation describing someone who inspires them, or who has influenced them in their lives. This will allow the student to practice their writing skills in the new language, which is a crucial skill to have down the line when you might need to write formal papers or reports for school or work.
Now with adults, it is very important to understand their objectives and needs with learning English. You need to think about exactly why they are there and what they will need to focus on in order to help them. More than likely it’s going to be for school because they need to be proficient in english in order to obtain their degree of choice, or for work because they will have to travel to other countries and communicate in English, or maybe just to be able to socialize and communicate while on vacation. Luckily for these reasons, they are more than likely going to have an intrinsic motivation to improve their English language skills, and excel in the path of learning. Following the English for specific purposes (ESP), or English for academic purposes (EAP) guideline, you can focus on vocabulary or topics that will be used in whatever field they may be involved with. It’s necessary that you target their goals and needs and adapt your lesson plans to suit them the best you can in order for them to learn and move on with their new skill.
With all this information in mind regarding teaching a language, I find it mostly important to be aware of the roles that the teacher themself have. The teacher is there to guide the students to their acquiring of the new language, to help the students motivate themselves and have the drive to learn. A teacher can be a huge influence on their students, and change the dynamic of their classes by simply being friendly, building a rapport with students, relating to them, and knowing how to balance between being a friend and being an authoritative figure. Students will remember your classes and think back on how much fun they had as long as you can manage to have fun, and always stay positive and patient with them.
