Teach Away Tefl Review

ESA: A Teaching Methodology For many years Teachers of English have used the PPP model of Presentation, Practice and Production for the preferred model of teaching. It has worked well. The PPP model falls short however, in that it does not work well when teaching more complex language problems beyond the sentence level or when teaching communicative skills. Jeremy Harmer in How to Teach English (Longman Publishing 1998) proposed an alternative to PPP called ESA: Engage, Study, and Activate. In an article written in The Guardian Weekend, March 15 1997, Bridget Riley complained about the treatment she and her fellow students received at the Royal College of Art. “We were abandoned when what we needed and what we hoped for was help toward independence in teaching rather than having...  [Read more]

Online vs. Onsite Courses Becoming certified to teach English as a second language can be done onsite or online. On online course was the most efficient, economical and in many ways the superior way for me. This article explains my background and situation. It also touches on the process I went through to get to this, the final lesson. Online is not for everyone. It takes an open and creative mind to step into the world of computers and electronic tutors. An imagination and discipline were keys to my approach. Imagination was profound when I would take time away from class and Google some blogs about teaching English. Dave’s Café was just one of these places where you could find endless discussions on the joys and perils of teaching English in other countries. These stories were the...  [Read more]

Should Students Be Allowed to Use Their Native Language in the Classroom When I first began teaching lessons during the TESOL Course I found myself almost automatically saying to the students, “English please,” after all it is an English class. However, I began to question myself about whether or not this was “correct” practice or if the students should in fact use their native language to assist them in the learning process. After doing some research I found the TESOL Law Code of Ethics. The Law of Ethics provided many vague and open-ended ideas. It suggested things along the lines of, “The foreign language teacher shall direct her whole professional effort to assist the students to develop his/her second language speaking ability.” It also mentions that TESOL teachers are to...  [Read more]