English Class Terms

Teaching Vocabulary The concept of teaching vocabulary to students of a foreign language is not impossible but must be approached carefully. There are several ways to deliver the information to students so that they learn the English language ’s vocabulary. For example, Joseph Pettigrew from Boston University posted an interesting article online that gives suggestions on how to go about presenting and teaching vocabulary to students. Pettigrew suggests teaching methods that include simple, old-fashioned English language tools such as synonyms and antonyms. Synonyms may be used in matching exercises and antonyms may be used in exercises matching opposites. He also suggests using fill in the blank sentences as a form of exercise. This is perhaps an effective exercise for learning this...  [Read more]

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  In this episode, we cover the pronunciation of the word "ulterior". This word is an adjective and used to refer to something that is rather distant or situated far away. It can also indicate something that goes beyond something that is discussed or openly said. The word derives from Latin ulter and was first used in the English language in the 1600s. 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 has been very useful in terms of what material or...  [Read more]

The term TESOL is one that is often used in a general sense, although it does have a specific meaning. Generally the meaning of TESOL is some form of ‘the Teaching of English to people whose first language is not English’ and is often used interchangeably with terms such as TEFL, TEAL, TESL and many others. It is also generally used as the name of a qualification, such as a TESOL certificate, which relates to the result of a TESOL training course. Here we will look at the meaning of TESOL in these broad terms and also give its specific meaning, along with many other common acronyms used throughout the industry. The general acronym for the field of teaching English is ELT: English language teaching. This term applies across the board to teaching English, be it to American high school...  [Read more]

This term is frequently used in relation to English language teaching to refer to the techniques a teacher can use to ensure that the students provide the maximum amount of information during a lesson, rather than simply being told everything by the teacher. If done correctly, this process can draw a surprising amount of existing knowledge from within the student group that can then be developed further by the teacher. Vocabulary and grammar structures that are developed in this way are far more likely to be memorable to the student in the long term than language that is simply provided by the teacher alone. Using elicitation in the classroom can also lead to a more student focused environment which is generally more stimulating for the class as a whole. Simple elicitation techniques...  [Read more]

Teaching Grammar The acquisition of new grammar presents interesting challenges for both the student and the teacher. There are factors that need to be considered from the student's point of view, as well as the teacher's point of view. Grammar should be taught and learned a natural form. Teacher should avoid using technical terms related to grammar. The aforementioned factors can cause other difficulties that will be discussed in this article. Learning grammar in a natural form depends mostly on the way on which the teacher presents the grammar. The teacher must present the grammar using natural situations and examples that the students can relate to. In order to achieve this it is necessary, that the teacher plan ahead, know his students well, have a firm grasp of the grammar topic and...  [Read more]

  Our next consideration is going to be building and maintaining rapport. The importance of rapport is that within our communicative activities, we're asking the students to talk to each other. If they feel comfortable with each other and with us, then that interaction is much more likely to be useful. So how do we actually build and maintain rapport? Well, it's easiest if we consider two stages of the course itself. What we can do at the start of the course and what we can do throughout the course to help build and maintain that rapport. So at the start of the course, it's very useful if we ask the students to create a name card and to make that name card visible to everyone. Secondly we need to try to do some ice breaking activities that will allow the students to interact with...  [Read more]

  So, some of the ways in which we can avoid these problems occurring in the first place is to reteach the vocabulary that's going to be required in the particular activity and the grammar. Now, having said this, it doesn't mean that if we think about a particular article that they're going to read or a listening activity that they're going to listen to. They don't have to know every single word in there but they do need to know a certain number of words in order to actually make sense out of it. Secondly, most of the materials that we'll be using for both reading and possibly for listening will be what's called an authentic material. In other words, it's a real piece of material from a newspaper or magazine that hasn't been created for a particular class and so we need a very...  [Read more]

  A final example is going to be an example of a patchwork ESA lesson and remember we said the form of this particular lesson will start with and engage always and will finish with and activate and there'll be some variation of E, S and A within the brackets here. So we're going to generate our patchwork ESA lesson as follows. Starting with the engage, the students are going to look at holiday photos and talk about what they like and don't like from what they see. From that, we're going to move directly into an activate phase and what the students are going to do is to make comments about holiday brochures and try to act out a role-play between the travel agent and a customer. Again, as this is taking place, the teacher will be moving around and looking for gaps in knowledge in...  [Read more]

  Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) is an all encompassing term that covers the various ways computers are used by teachers and students to aid the process of language learning. As the availability and sophistication of computer technology continues to grow, so does its relevance in the English language classroom. Although computers are not a replacement for the knowledge and skills of a well-trained and experienced English teacher, they do offer a number of ways to help the language learning process. There are many types of software programs available to help students learn and practice new language skills, as well as many websites aimed at English language students. The internet also provides teachers with access to all manner of teaching resources including...  [Read more]

These terms are used to define two separate types of exercises and activities that are used in the English language classroom. Controlled practice is used to describe exercises that are designed to re-enforce a specific language point and require a particular answer such as crossword puzzles, word searches and gap-fill worksheets. In contrast, free practice is used to describe activities that are designed to allow the students to practice the language point in an unrestricted manner, usually including the use of previously learnt language. Examples of free practice activities include class debates, role plays and class surveys. Controlled practice exercises are an integral part of the lesson as they strengthen the student’s knowledge of each individual language point. Free practice...  [Read more]

  Our next consideration is that of giving instructions to our students. In order for those students to effectively carry out an activity, we need to make sure we have given clear and unambiguous instructions. It's also very important to check that the students understand the activity before you start. If you've done that work correctly then the teacher shouldn't need to say anything once an activity has started because the students are very clear about what they're supposed to be doing. So some ideas when giving instructions. As we've mentioned use simple language. Secondly, rather than trying to explain an activity, then do a demonstration which is visual. Thirdly, try to use wherever possible common words that come up within every activity. These would be things like ?look?,...  [Read more]

  So now we'll consider the actual classroom arrangements themselves in terms of the physical desk layout. There are possibly three main types of arrangements that are used within classrooms and we're going to indicate the desks here as being boxes and the arrangements of the students within those desks will be blue crosses. So here we have the desks ranged in rows and the students sitting within those rows. The second arrangement could be the use of horseshoes or semi circles and finally the use of individual desks. So for each of these arrangements what are the potential advantages and disadvantages of arranging our seating in this way? Let's take the rows first of all. One of the potential advantages is that it does give the teacher the opportunity, if it's arranged correctly,...  [Read more]

  This presentation is going to focus on the section of classroom management. We could start with a definition of classroom management as being the skill of organizing the class individual students within that class and what takes place within the class. Perhaps one of the most important resources for achieving these things is you and in terms of you there are a number of things that you can use to help with the classroom management and they include though they're not limited to the use of your eyes the use of your voice and the use of gesture. So let's take each of these in turn and see how they can be used to help with their management of the classroom. So starting with our eyes. First of all the eyes can be used in a number of ways and they can certainly be used to hold...  [Read more]

These terms are commonly used in English language teaching to refer to periods during a lesson where the class is either teacher centred or student centred, as well as the relative importance of each situation. Times during the lesson where the teacher is the only person talking, such as when presenting vocabulary or grammar structures, are often referred to as ‘teacher talking time’. In contrast, sections of the lesson where the students are the ones doing the talking, such as when practising new language they have learnt in the lesson, are often referred to as ‘student talking time’. The relative importance of these two situations is a source of some debate in English language teaching, however, modern methodologies often lean towards more STT, providing this time is spent in a...  [Read more]

Using Drama to Teach English as a Foreign Language This brief article will highlight what is meant by the term ‘drama’ before moving onto look at why drama is a ‘…very effective weapon ‘(Boal, 1979:ix) in the classroom. It will then add to this information a number of influential factors that will demonstrate why drama should be considered as key strategy in teaching English as a Foreign Language. Drama holds an array of interpretation and definition. For the purpose of this article I refer to drama as a process of learning and adhere to Booths description that ‘In its broadest term drama covers a wide range of techniques which incorporate interaction, movement, vocal action and mental concentration’ (Booth). In this sense ‘Drama’ is not about creating a spectacle or...  [Read more]

  So speaking activities will come in many different forms but we can generalize them into three basic types. Control activities tend to be used in the study phase and here, the teacher will be helping the students in terms of what they need to say and how they go about saying it. So, there's a high level of structure within a controlled activity. A guided activity has slightly less structure than this and it can be used in either the study or the activate stages themselves. The final type of activity or class of activity is called creative activity and this one would be used in the activation phase. In a creative activity, we're giving a scenario or a very small amount of structure and we're asking the students to actually create their own answers to this particular question....  [Read more]

Slang and Teaching Idioms In TESOL education, idioms appear particularly daunting for students and teachers alike and for this reason they are often neglected in English courses. A brief overview of everyday slang reveals an intimidating array of idioms that could easily go unnoticed by the native speaker but prove confusing for the student of English. On Kenneth Lawrence’s website devoted solely to idioms, he has attempted, like many other books on idioms and websites that focus on them, to organize idioms into coherent categories. The categories are diverse; there are bird idioms, money idioms, and even arm, head and finger idioms. It is clear from the amount of idioms in existence and the limited activities used for teaching them that idioms are a subject for more advanced English...  [Read more]

Building Confidence in Students Education is certainly the birthright of all people. The motivation of every nation should be to generate literate, well-educated and intelligent residents who are able to add to the proper progress and progress of the whole society. There is still mystery on how accurately a foreign language is learnt. On the subject of building confidence there are yet more theories which are even more difficult to confirm. I myself do not trust that confidence is built using one magic activity, but rather it is continuously acquired all over the learning process. That’s why, all the theories I pick to focus on three things Grammar, Drilling, and of course the role of the teacher. All of these will prepare the student for circumstances they might meet later. [1] After...  [Read more]