Job Discussion Forums

[lisa1968]

I did a 4 week TEFL in Chiapas a while ago, and have worked in language schools for a couple of years in Mexico and Asia. I feel I have a good amount of experience with kids and adults, and am currently teaching again in Mexico. I feel that the 4 week course did all it could to get me prepared for language school teaching, I am happy with that preparation, but I feel that I am lacking in many skills, many aspects of Teaching English as a Second Language. Mainly theory, etc.

I can't really take any on line courses at the moment, but I would really like it if anyone had any suggestions on texts that would teach me more about teaching theory, how to teach English, maybe a teacher training book. I have grammar books, but really want a good, useful text to tell me more in depth some theory, methods, etc.

Applied linguistics may be way over my head at the moment, so something more accessible for someone who just has a 120 hour TEFL. Thanks for all your help, I love this forum.

[lozwich]

There's a great book for new teachers called Learning Teaching by Jim Scrivener. Make sure you get the newest edition, as its about twice as thick as the old version. Its recommended reading for both CELTA and DELTA and can be found on Amazon.

(and no, I don't get a commission. )

[MELEE]

Great call Loz!

I also think Doug Brown's Principals of Language Learning and Teaching would be a good place to start. It's not cheap though.
Jack Richard's Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching is much much cheaper. But I think the Brown book is worth the cost.

Also don't neglect and intoductory Applied Linguistics textbook. Something that would be the text for a Linguistics 101 course. Like Victoria Fromkin's An Introduction to Language not so much for practical ideas but just general interest. It's a US college text so of course it's bookoo expensive, but gives you an introduction to every sub-field of linguistics, and has an especially nice section on Phonology- an area most EFL teachers could stand to know more about. Of course there are books just on Phonology and pronounciation for EFL teachers that are more practice orientated.

[lozwich]

Just remembered another, which is more than just your 'how to teach' stuff,

Teaching and Learning in the Language Classroom by Tricia Hedge. Its great for learning about how people learn and how that affects teaching. There's also A Course in Language Teaching by Penny Ur, but that might repeat a lot of stuff you learned on your initial training course.

Lozwich.

[gypsygirl1475]

Here is a website that has a lot of good information.
http://esl.about.com/

[lisa1968]

Thanks for those titles. I went to amazon and some of them are a bit pricey, and some are under 20 US, so that may be possible. There are tons, how do I decide? Maybe I should just go by author. I like Penny Ur, because she is simple and to the point, but I have very little experience with other authors. If you have any absolute favorites, that would be a great help for me. My family may come down for a visit, so they could bring me a load of books! Thanks again, you guys are great.

[MELEE]

I was looking for this thread the other day, but couldn't find it.

Now I have.

http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewtopic.php?t=50437