Korean Job Discussion Forums

[vexed]

Hi,

In another thread I posted, I was advised to purchase this book:

How to Teach English : An Introduction to the Practice of English Language Teaching by Jeremy Harmer

http://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Teach-English-Introduction/dp/0582297966/sr=8-1/qid=1166255948/ref=pd_ka_1/203-6330997-2911158?ie=UTF8&s=books

I can't find it at my local bookshop, so I can't get an idea of what the content is like. Therefore, I was wondering if anyone would recommend it, and if they could perhaps give me a brief overview of it's contents?

Thanks

[Chicoloco]

I have looked through this book before and thought it was quite interesting. I would definitely recommend it if you are starting off in ESL or if you haven't done a good TEFL training course.

I met the author a few years back at a workshop in Dublin. He is pretty highly regarded when it comes to teaching methodology and has lots of experience. Most of his books are top notch although he does seem to spend a lot of time on the publishers circuit flogging Longman dictionaries etc..

Give it a go.

[confuzed]

[tzechuk]

I don't know about the book but Jeremy Harmer is one of those biggest names in ESL. Whilst I am not saying that all big names in ESL produce top notch books, you can at least have some quality (standard) guarantee, though.

[Bob O.]

I've got a copy sitting on my book shelf if you want to borrow it. It's a decent enough book. Nothing earth-shattering, but a good overview of learning/teaching English. As others have said, you probably won't get much out of this book that you wouldn't get from doing a TEFL course.

As for the content, the chapters are as follows:

1) How to be a good teacher
2) How to be a good learner
3) How to manage teaching and learning
4) How to describe learning and teaching
5) How to describe language
6) How to teach language
7) How to teach reading
How to teach writing
9) How to teach speaking
10) How to teach listening
11) How to use textbooks
12) How to plan lessons
13) What if?

[SeoulMan6]

It's ok but not spectacular. It's mostly geared to higher level students, so if you teach elementary kids, you could do better elsewhere.

I'd recommend Teaching by Principles by H. Douglas Brown.

[stevemcgarrett]

Harmer rocks!

(Actually, I don't know, I just always wanted to say that about the author of a language advice book).

[SuperHero]

[Hotpants]

I read this book for my TEFL course. This was about 10 yrs ago, so I can't remember the specifics of the book. All I recall, is that it's a good primer for those who don't know anything about teaching, but as pointed out above, it has limited help when coming to teach kids. Nothing will beat actual in-class experience.

Another similar book I remember reading is Jim Scrivener's 'Learning Teaching'. You might want to try and see if your store has that one instead.

Don't forget that there are lots of good quality FREE teaching articles on the web. Jim Scrivener, for example, has articles about classroom activities up on the onestopenglish.com site. There are also plenty of others listed on my site below under 'T' for 'Teacher Training'.

[vexed]

Thanks for all the suggestions.

I might give it a go, if I can squeeze it into my budget (and my suitcase!).

And thanks Hotpants, I'll check out the links on your site