Job Discussion Forums

[coledavis]

I've been asked to take on the task of giving weekly English classes to my non-native English teacher colleagues. The rationale is that many of them teach at levels such as pre-intermediate and their speaking and other advanced skills tend to erode. Even the higher level people (who are splendidly proficient) feel the need for such support now that they've got a TEFL qualified native speaker on board.

I've been asked to provide classes at two levels, for those rather stuck at lower levels of teaching and for the people who are operating at higher levels (upper int, advanced, proficiency). The desire is for integrated lessons, not just conversation sessions or grammar work-outs.

The school isn't going to pay me for oodles of preparation time, in fact probably none, so it is understood that I've got to use ready-made materials wherever possible.

Has anybody got any suggestions or any experience doing this? If anybody has any materials, perhaps they could pm me?

[AjarnIam]

Ahhhh, lovely post, indeed. Let me ask you, are they persuading you to help them with English because they aren't cluing into to it even after a earning pathetic Masters degree, perhaps achieved locally with a smile and a bow? Are their students starting to question why their hard earned money is being spent on a NN English teacher, when across the hall the students are absorbed in a lecture by a native English teacher that they understand and appreciate? I'm sorry, my opinion of NN English teachers are extremely tainted, unfortunately the people who sign my pay cheques are from the same mob. My opinion, ask them for bundles of money, or tell them your're busy. Better yet, ask them why they are teaching a language they don't understand. Ask them why most of their students have a better grasp of English than they do. Sorry, too much weak wine and too much of a strong opinion.

[Sashadroogie]

Cripes, dude, you must really have been abused by some heavy-duty Non-natives speakers. Thankfully though, nearly everything you wrote does not apply to Cole's situation, especially the 'lecture' part, which applies to no EFL teacher.

Russian teachers, though a mixed lot, tend to really appreciate having a native speaker around them. In my experience, they'll be delighted with something as easy as a lesson on idioms, real ones. None of the usual 'raining cats and dogs' malarky, which may float their boats, but no native speaker with half a brain, or an ounce of sense would use it even in their wildest dreams. Make sure that you liberally dose your input/feed-in time with plenty of juicy idioms/ lexical chunks, much like I did in the previous sentence. Hearing this from a native, naturally used, is what a lot of them want, as they'd never phrase things the way we would - no matter how proficient. Any communicative lexical game afterwards will do - even 'half a crossword'. So, in a nutshell, give 'em vocab, vocab vocab - till it's coming out their ears!

Good luck and enjoy!

PS any cross-cultural thingies or info on UK cultural life seems to go down well too.

[spiral78]

when across the hall the students are absorbed in a lecture by a native English teacher that they understand and appreciate?

Wow, what world is this in? Sounds like some time warp of at least 50 years.

In the case of teaching non-native teachers, I give them teaching-related tasks: design a lesson focused on ABC. Work in teams of 2-3. How would they convey XYZ to their learners? What difficulties do they anticipate in terms of language, classroom management, other? Report in English. Produce lesson plans in the process.

Alternatively, use their English to describe/discuss their work. Where would they like to go in future? etc.

[Justin Trullinger]

I'd tend to do regular kind of EFL things- adding that you can get great readings out of ELTJournal or Forum...just like an English class, but teaching can be the topic!

Um, and I'll second the confusion about the likelihood of a lecture being a comprehensible appreciated way to learn English.

AjarnIam, are you having a rough week? You're venting, and I think I can imagine the situation that might push you there, but go easy!


Best,
Justin

[naturegirl321]

HOw long is the class?
How many students per class?
Where are you?

If you're in Asia, they probably expect vocab related to teaching, role plays, I say you repeat, type of thing. MAke also look for short readings to be discussed in class.

See how it goes.

I had to do something many years ago in China. Two levels, teachers and workers, like the cleaners. Good /bad news was that it didn't last very long. Teachers and workers would rather have a break than go to English class.

[coledavis]

[Sashadroogie]

If you are planning any teacher-training sessions, then use the TKT course book. Fairly basic stuff, but for non-natives who may not have been trained up in communicative approaches, it can be very practical http://www.cambridge.org/elt/elt_projectpage.asp?id=2500814

Recipes for Tired Teachers usually has some good materials that lend themselves to teacher classes - usually because teachers will be prepared to go along with some of the madder Rinvoludicrous activities that real learners would baulk at: http://www.cambridge.org/elt/elt_projectpage.asp?id=2500814

All downloadable from englishtips.org

[jpvanderwerf2001]

I second the TKT idea. I have also used CAE and CPE (depending of the levels of the teachers) in the past. There're also CELTA prep courses that are rather ready-made and teachers should find challenging.
If your (free?!) tutorials are simply for language, I'd stick to CAE or CPE.
Good luck!

[Sashadroogie]

Cultural lexis for UK life: http://www.eflbooks.co.uk/book.php?isbn=071367914X

Again, englishtips.org

[Glenski]

What do you mean by "integrated lessons"? Are you teaching them to communicate/speak in English, or are you teaching them how to teach English?

What are their weak points? Assess that and their specific goals first.

[tomstone]

This is cosmic! I just got a request from the VP of the college to have classes for the Chinese English teachers. I racked my brain about what to do, and then I realized they wanted to emulate my LESSONS; they were all going by the book, I focus primarily on communication and having the students try to THINK in English. The way that English is taught here is by rote, they make this "noise", it means "this" (translated into L1). I just treat the whole thing like another class of students, right down to "we must all have English names". I'm not sure from your post if this addresses your situation, but it worked for me.

[Insubordination]

Also, ask the teachers what they want or give them a survey or something.

[coledavis]

[coledavis]