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"What Makes a Great ESL Teacher" Article Reference
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bj80



Joined: 31 Mar 2017
Posts: 63
PostPosted: Sun Dec 03, 2017 4:27 am    Post subject: "What Makes a Great ESL Teacher" Article Reference Reply with quote
Hi Everyone,

I was just curious what makes a good ESL teacher.

I have my answers and articles. I am just curious yours.

You guys keep telling me not to look for universal answers, but rather look at the student and the situation. Still, something in me still tells me there are universal things there. I think some good ones would be:

1. A teacher who works extra hours.

2. A teacher who takes a personal interest in students problems.

3. A teacher who leads by example, prepares for class because he wants students to be prepared, etc.

I also do not appreciate smart aleck answers, etc. I simply want articles or resources that I can use for my own professional/personal development.

Last edited by bj80 on Sun Dec 03, 2017 3:55 pm; edited 2 times in total
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bograt



Joined: 12 Nov 2014
Posts: 331
PostPosted: Sun Dec 03, 2017 5:45 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Sorry for being a smart Alec but number two sounds a bit dodgy to me. Depending of course on what these problems are. If a student comes to me and says they think their pronunciation sucks I'll suggest a website for extra practice, is that what you mean?

I generally find that the students who get the most attached to a particular teacher tend to be the nuttiest. As you say there are some general rules you can follow. be prepared, explain things clearly, review often, make activities interesting, let the students speak as often as possible etc.. As long as you do all these you'll keep most of the class happy. There'll always be one or two that still won't like you though.
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Nicky_McG



Joined: 24 Apr 2006
Posts: 190
PostPosted: Sun Dec 03, 2017 10:33 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
1) Depends what you mean by 'extra hours'

2) Do you mean personal problems? Absolutely not. That might be true for a high-school teacher who has a pastoral role.

3) yes
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Nicky_McG



Joined: 24 Apr 2006
Posts: 190
PostPosted: Sun Dec 03, 2017 10:37 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
bograt wrote:
Sorry for being a smart Alec but number two sounds a bit dodgy to me. Depending of course on what these problems are. If a student comes to me and says they think their pronunciation sucks I'll suggest a website for extra practice, is that what you mean?



Agreed. I had a law student email me a question saying he didn't understand a concept. That's fine, but we'd just had a two-hour class on this concept...It wasn't just a simple question about part of the concept but the whole concept. Usually I'll direct them towards the reading (that they usually haven't done) then they can come back to me with any more specific questions.
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suphanburi



Joined: 20 Mar 2014
Posts: 916
PostPosted: Sun Dec 03, 2017 11:19 am    Post subject: Re: "What Makes a Great ESL Teacher" Article Refer Reply with quote
bj80 wrote:
Hi Everyone,

I was just curious what makes a good ESL teacher.

I have my answers and articles. I am just curious yours.

You guys keep telling me not to look for universal answers, but rather look at the student and the situation. Still, something in me still tells me there are universal things there. I think some good ones would be:

1. A teacher who works extra hours.

2. A teacher who takes a personal interest in students problems.

3. A student who leads by example, prepares for class because he wants students to be prepared, etc.

I also do not appreciate smart aleck answers, etc. I simply want articles or resources that I can use for my own professional/personal development.


None of the above.

1) Why can't you get your work done at work? It is EFL after all. Most teachers spend as little as 5 minutes at the copy machine as their entire prep. In a 40-hour work week you should have time to get your classes planned and prepped (20 hours work time to take care of 20 classes).

2) As a foreigner in a foreign land.... largely, stay out of it. You have neither the cultural background or the standing in the community. Nothing good can come from this and getting assaulted, jailed or deported are very real possibilities.

3) A "student" who leads by example? Perhaps you mean a "Teacher" who leads by example?

.
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Kalkstein



Joined: 25 Aug 2016
Posts: 80
PostPosted: Sun Dec 03, 2017 6:38 pm    Post subject: Re: "What Makes a Great ESL Teacher" Article Refer Reply with quote
suphanburi wrote:

None of the above.

1) Why can't you get your work done at work? It is EFL after all. [b]Most teachers spend as little as 5 minutes at the copy machine as their entire prep.[/b] In a 40-hour work week you should have time to get your classes planned and prepped (20 hours work time to take care of 20 classes).
.


Most teachers are terrible though.

You can definitely make a decent lesson in an hour of prep but the best teachers I know spend about 4 hours of prep to 1 hour of classroom time and their lessons are noticeably superior to those who don't prepare so much. Nobody is detracting from those who don't spend a lot of time but it's usually the case in any job the more time you spend on something the more polished it will be, up until a point where you tire yourself out.


suphanburi wrote:

A "student" who leads by example? Perhaps you mean a "Teacher" who leads by example?
.


Pretty sure that's what he meant and he's right.
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nomad soul



Joined: 31 Jan 2010
Posts: 11454
Location: The real world
PostPosted: Sun Dec 03, 2017 6:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
bj80 wrote:
I was just curious what makes a good ESL teacher.
....
I simply want articles or resources that I can use for my own professional/personal development.

Check out Dörnyei and Csizér's 10 Commandments for Motivating Language Learners, which were useful for me regardless of the English language domain I taught:
    1. Set a personal example with your own behavior.
    2. Create a pleasant, relaxed atmosphere in the classroom.
    3. Present the tasks properly.
    4. Develop a good relationship with the learners.
    5. Increase the learner’s linguistic self-confidence.
    6. Make the language classes interesting.
    7. Promote learner autonomy.
    8. Personalize the learning process.
    9. Increase the learners’ goal-orientedness.
    10. Familiarize learners with the target language culture.

    Source: https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/ba734f_760429054cff411eaa8be3fcd66142d9.pdf?index=true
    .
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ourownalone



Joined: 11 Nov 2017
Posts: 5

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