Job Discussion Forums

[lookingforadvice]

Hey all, I've been reading through the forum for a while, just joined up to ask some questions!

I'm a new teacher -- I got my CELTA in mid-2010, and was teaching private lessons through the end of that year. I returned to the States in 2011, and haven't been teaching since then, but would like to return to it. I still feel confident that I could build and work around some lesson plans pretty comfortably but...

My biggest issue is that I've lost a lot of my familiarity and comfort with grammar, and feel that it's totally necessary that I do some brushing up.

I have a copy of Practical English Usage, but was wondering if any of you have any recommendations for books that are maybe more linear.

And, if any of you have any general advice about what your first year teaching has been like, I would love to hear it. I know that I would be comfortable teaching with a textbook as an aide, but if a school would expect me to build all of my lessons on my own, I think I would be overwhelmed! Are there any kinds of jobs that have more support for teachers than others? What was your first job like?

Thanks so much!

[fluffyhamster]

Most people recommend Murphy's Grammar in Use series, but that doesn't strike me as being the best book for developing a teacher's language awareness (doubtless it is just the thing for boning up quickly before a class or two though!). The sort of books that would therefore be better IMHO are:

Eastwood's Oxford Guide to English Grammar - has a similar look and feel to Swan's PEU, but is a lot more linearly organized, and a book I now prefer to Swan. The COBUILD English Grammar is also well worth a look for its functional and lexicogrammatical perspective. For a pretty thorough yet not-too-formal course in relatively traditional~mainstream (Quirk-ean, i.e. Quirk et al's) grammar, terminology, parsing etc though, I really like Leech et al's classic English Grammar for Today.

For a really quick fix something like Gordon Jarvie's Bloomsbury Grammar Guide ain't half bad (but note that the mini flexibound Keys edition seemed to have some formatting~typsetting issues: http://forums.eslcafe.com/teacher/viewtopic.php?t=9958 ), or Graham King's various books on grammar (if his Good Grammar in One Hour is anything to go by).

Take a look too at the recent thread on 'Your top 5 essential EFL books', especially my mention of Chalker & Weiner's Oxford Dictionary of English Grammar, and perhaps Lewis' The English Verb: http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewtopic.php?t=94322

If as a newbie you do end up working at a school that doesn't use textbooks or have much in the way of resources or teacher support, well, you can always base your lessons around a textbook (perhaps one of those 'mainly short dialogue-based, and isn't too text- and "issues"-heavy' textbooks that I mention in my post in the second linked thread above), though you would unfortunately have to invest in a copy or two yourself if the school refuses to.

[Glenski]

There is a recent link discussing EFL books. Did you read it?
http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewtopic.php?t=94322

If so, what information did it fail to provide?

[Mr. English]

"Grammar Express Basic" and "Grammar Express" are my favorites to use with students, and if you are weak on grammar yourself, "Grammar Express" is excellent (both found at www.pearsonlongman.com/).