Job Discussion Forums

[Baba O'Riley]

I've just got my first job teaching English to foriegn students in an Irish Secondary School (students get around 2hrs instruction a week). It sounds as if most of the students will be at Elementary to Low-Intermediate level and between 13 - 16 years old.
There are no course books in the school, but they are very keen to purchase resources. Something that would help students with the terminology specific to their school subjects as well as with general English would be ideal.
Any suggestions?

[naturegirl321]

Try New Headway supplement with Streamline

[Dedicated]

I'm not sure I really understand the scenario here. Are these EFL learners "thrown in the deep end" at a secondary school, yet only getting 2 hours instruction a week ? Are they attending all other main stream subjects?

Could you give us some more details of the students, how long they will be in Ireland for (permanently?), which nationalities they are etc etc. then I'm sure we can give you some more precise information.

[Baba O'Riley]

Thanks Naturegirl, I'll check those out

It's not quite as bad as I originally thought, Dedicated (I only got my timetable today). The students are mainly Polish and Lithuanian. They are attending a normal Irish secondary school and are following the regular timetable except they study English when the other students have Irish. On average, they have been here for around 6 months. All have completed one term of school. Some have very little English, others have had several years tuition in their home country and are quite proficient. They will get a minimum of three hours Language Support, mainly in small mixed ability groups, with some one to one teaching as well. As to how long they will be here, it depends upon their parents' work situation. I'd assume 2 or 3 years.

[fluffyhamster]

Some dictionaries that could be useful for you the teacher at least:
http://www.macmillandictionaries.com/about/School/school.htm
http://www.cambridge.org/elt/elt_projectpage.asp?id=2500962

[Baba O'Riley]

Thanks Fluffyhamster those look like they'd be useful.

[Dudess]

You could always take a trip to a book store and have a nose through text books....see which one you'd enjoy learning and teaching from.

Don't forget you can always watch DVDs with subtitles on too, perhaps half an hour, and use this as a basis for discussion and presentation work? Do some comparisons with their culture at home?

[Baba O'Riley]

Yeah, the bookstore would have been the obvious place to call, except visiting the nearest one that stocks TEFL textbooks involves an 8 hour round trip (am I that dedicated?) and anyway, they were closed for stocktaking.

The official guide for teachers such as myself, published by the Department of Education, suggests paper is a useful resource and using materials specifically developed for native speakers with learning difficulties.
I can only assume the idiot who wrote that has never actually stood in front of a class! (ok, I admit, I am using paper occasionally )

I wanted recommendations from other teachers because money for resources is usually only offered once and then, you are stuck with your purchases, possibly for years. So, I was in a hurry but I didn't want to make a mistake.

Having looked at Headway, I have to say it's very easy to teach from but a lot of the topics are of low interest to this age-group. I'm getting a better response from Project (OUP) which also makes some attempt at cross-curricular linking.