#studentcentred

Making lessons student-centred Diary submitted by Ruth H, Madrid "Maximising the amount of time the student can practise producing the target language" It is very easy to practise listening by watching movies or series and grammar by researching online, but very difficult to practise speaking without a native speaker there to guide you. For this reason, many students who take English lessons struggle with speaking and writing more than the receptive skills, so it makes sense to ensure that each class is as student-centred as possible, to maximise the amount of time the student can practise producing the target language. One way to make the lesson more student centred is by reducing teacher talking time (TTT), this allows the student to practise the skills they need the most, rather than just listening to the teacher, which they can practise in their own time more easily. Ways of reducing teacher talking time include using elicitation rather than explanation. For example by asking students more questions and encouraging them to try to explain something themselves or make a guess if they’re not sure, you may find that the student understands more than they realise and they are also more likely to remember what they have learnt if it is through this guided self-discovery than through an explanation from the teacher. Even when a student is not talking, it is important not to always fill the space with another question or an explanation, as the student may just need time to think and process what they want to say before they say it. It is a common occurrence that a student has understood the question but appears as though they haven’t because they are taking too long to answer, but it is important that the teacher keep the lesson student-centred by allowing the student time to think and attempt an answer before repeating or rephrasing the question, which can be very frustrating for students. While the lesson should be focussed on the student, it is also important that the teacher keeps control of the lesson. During my teaching experience in Madrid I met one very high level student who was very confident and had a high level of English but his confidence and command of the language meant he was often able to drag out the initial warm-up chat to last the whole lesson, with the result that he only ever practised English that he already knew and didn’t learn more advanced or more varied vocabulary. In this situation, it was important to occasionally take control and direct the student more firmly with regards to the lesson plan. Although this may have made the lesson slightly less student-focussed, it was more beneficial in the end as the student was challenged more and had more opportunity to improve rather than just practise what he already knew.  #tefl #tefltrainer #teflcourses #teflprograms #tesol #teflinternships #teflspain  Sources: Steve Darn. (2008). Teacher Talking Time. TeachingEnglish | British Council | BBC. Available at: https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/teacher-talking-time . Funda Çetin. (2010). Eliciting. TeachingEnglish | British Council | BBC. Available at: http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/eliciting .

Diary submitted by Amy H Advantages of sticking to a rigid curriculum. How do you find the balance between following a lesson plan and adapting the material to your students’ needs?  In this diary I will assess the advantages and disadvantages of sticking to a rigid curriculum, and the positive results that can come from adapting the material according to the particular needs of your student. Although it is possible that you will experience resistance from a student when you try new things with them in the lessons, there are still advantages of being innovative in your methods of teaching TEFL.  It is often extremely useful to have a rigid curriculum to work from. As a TEFL teacher, it is a great comfort to have your lesson plan, and all the content that the student needs to learn, there and ready for you. I find that I am much more confident in my teaching ability, and less nervous about teaching a new student, if I know exactly how the lesson is going to be taught, and what is going to be covered. It also makes timekeeping a lot easier in many ways, as after a few lessons you become aware of how long to allocate to each section.  However, all of these reasons do not mean that adapting the material to your students’ needs is a bad thing. Quite the opposite, in fact. The ability to think on my feet has been the most valuable lesson I have learned during my TEFL internship. For example, I had one student for a 1-1 lesson, and had a rigid lesson plan for them, which consisted of a text to read, comprehension question, and then the grammar part was a tense review. However, about 10 minutes into the lesson it came to light that the student was going on a business trip to London in a few weeks’ time. So, after we had completed the reading and comprehension activities, I decided to adapt the grammar section of the lesson plan, which was a review of the future and conditional tenses, to fit his needs. We recapped how to structure the tenses, and then I asked him to use business vocabulary when forming sentences using a variety of these tenses. It became a very useful class for him, as he was now able to speak about the future intentions and wishes of his company and for his career, which he was grateful for, as it was likely that these topics would come up during his work trip to London.  In conclusion, there are certainly advantages and disadvantages of having a rigid curriculum, but it is fundamental that as TEFL teachers, we are able to think on our feet and adapt to our students’ needs when necessary. When we do so, we are providing a more personalised and engaging lesson, which without doubt improves the experience for the student.  Source- “Advantages and disadvantages of using instructional materials in teaching ESL”, Professor Jack C. Richards (Accessed 11/09/2017: http://www.professorjackrichards.com/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-using-instructional-materials-in-teaching-esl/ 

Making lessons student-centred Diary submitted by Ruth H, Madrid "Maximising the amount of time the student can practise producing the target language" It is very easy to practise listening by watching movies or series and grammar by researching online, but very difficult to practise speaking without a native speaker there to guide you. For this reason, many students who take English lessons struggle with speaking and writing more than the receptive skills, so it makes sense to ensure that each class is as student-centred as possible, to maximise the amount of time the student can practise producing the target language. One way to make the lesson more student centred is by reducing teacher talking time (TTT), this allows the student to practise the skills they need the most, rather than just listening to the teacher, which they can practise in their own time more easily. Ways of reducing teacher talking time include using elicitation rather than explanation. For example by asking students more questions and encouraging them to try to explain something themselves or make a guess if they’re not sure, you may find that the student understands more than they realise and they are also more likely to remember what they have learnt if it is through this guided self-discovery than through an explanation from the teacher. Even when a student is not talking, it is important not to always fill the space with another question or an explanation, as the student may just need time to think and process what they want to say before they say it. It is a common occurrence that a student has understood the question but appears as though they haven’t because they are taking too long to answer, but it is important that the teacher keep the lesson student-centred by allowing the student time to think and attempt an answer before repeating or rephrasing the question, which can be very frustrating for students. While the lesson should be focussed on the student, it is also important that the teacher keeps control of the lesson. During my teaching experience in Madrid I met one very high level student who was very confident and had a high level of English but his confidence and command of the language meant he was often able to drag out the initial warm-up chat to last the whole lesson, with the result that he only ever practised English that he already knew and didn’t learn more advanced or more varied vocabulary. In this situation, it was important to occasionally take control and direct the student more firmly with regards to the lesson plan. Although this may have made the lesson slightly less student-focussed, it was more beneficial in the end as the student was challenged more and had more opportunity to improve rather than just practise what he already knew.  #tefl #tefltrainer #teflcourses #teflprograms #tesol #teflinternships #teflspain  Sources: Steve Darn. (2008). Teacher Talking Time. TeachingEnglish | British Council | BBC. Available at: https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/teacher-talking-time . Funda Çetin. (2010). Eliciting. TeachingEnglish | British Council | BBC. Available at: http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/eliciting .