Job Discussion Forums

[shanewarne]

am wondering if there's any good books that would help me prepare for it.
thanks

[Justin Trullinger]

The Practice of English Language Teaching, By Jeremy Harmer.

Learning Teaching, by Jim Scrivener.

Something about methods, that I forget the title of, by Diane Larsen-Freeman.



Best,
justin

[natsume]

http://www.amazon.com/Techniques-Principles-Language-Teaching-English/dp/0194355748/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1217376364&sr=1-1

Very good overview for a beginner.

[fluffyhamster]

The general introductions that Justin's listed are all fine (Harmer's How to Teach English is also OK - more concise than The P of ELT), but the book that I really like is Lewis & Hill's Practical Techniques (though this might be difficult to obtain nowadays), what a nice, pithy read! I'd start and keep reading up more on grammar rather than methodology though - the more you are aware of how the language works, the more quickly and easily you can get on with developing needed activities (and more natural ones at that - remember, the language often suggests, indeed often can be, the "methodology", the driving force behind "practice" activities etc). One great grammar book is, er, The Grammar Book (Larsen-Freeman is co-author). It might seem overkill at certificate level, but the depth will engage your interest (for example, the discussion of how discourse factors affect choice of form is invaluable) and enable you to think and go beyond the authors' teaching suggestions (some of which are a bit too dull and form-focussed, though that might be just the thing that your trainers would like to see (are expecting) from you!); certainly, there are enough further reading pointers and indexes (of scholars, languages, words and phrases, and topics) for this to serve as a useful reference (reference grammar) for years into a TESL career. (All that being said, I would however at least initially skip the two chapters (5 and 6) on phrase structure rules, and the points in subsequent chapters where those rules are refined in the light of further data. If you or your students feel the need for tree diagrams, something like those found in Leech et al's English Grammar for Today might be better (I think this, particularly its part B, is actually one of the best introductions to English grammar/its formal structure available)).

http://www-writing.berkeley.edu/TESL-EJ/ej12/r7.html

http://www.palgrave.com/products/title.aspx?is=140391642X

There are of course grammar/usage references available such as Swan's Practical English Usage, and practice books such as Murphy's Grammar in Use range, which will obviously come in handy (they help make you aware of or remind you of many related points at once), but these aren't really proper formal introductions or courses.

More books recommendations:
http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewtopic.php?p=646502#646502

[carl_00]

where have you decided to do your tefl course?

[shanewarne]

Thanks guys for all the help. Those books seem to be exactly what i am looking for. Carl i'm doing the tefl course in vietnam.