Teaching English as a Foreign Language for Dummies by Michelle Maxom
Authors: Michelle Maxom
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engagingly is what TEFL is all about. This part
gives you the inside track on how to do just that.
In the chapters in this part, I break the lesson down into
different stages (Presentation, Practice and Production),
so that you can see how to deliver a clear structure for
learning. I also provide advice on how long the stages
should last and who should be doing the talking, and how
to engage your students in learning.
This part teems with examples and suggestions for
classroom activities, whether you use a course book or
design your own materials. You can find out when and
how to correct the students’ mistakes and keep them in
check – and interested – during the lesson.
Chapter 4
Starting from the Beginning:
Planning the Lesson
In This Chapter
▶ Looking at student levels
▶ Teaching in the every day
▶ Suiting the lesson to the students
▶ Knowing where your lesson is going
▶ Planning your time and students’ time in a lesson
▶ Introducing new language and encouraging students to use it
▶ Drawing up your lesson plan
So you get the job and the students enrol on your course, ready to get started. But what on earth are you going to teach them and how are you going to put it together into a lesson? In this chapter, I tell you about the content and structure of an EFL (English as a Foreign Language) lesson.
Deciding What to Teach
When you select information to teach in your lessons, you need to think about what level the students are at and how well your lesson fits into what they already know and what they need to know.
Most courses have a basic syllabus that acts as a road map. An EFL syllabus lists the major areas of grammar, vocabulary and functions (what you can do with particular expressions) a course covers. Most EFL course books have a list within the first few pages. Even if you’re working from your own materials, it makes sense to set specific course goals including which words and grammar you definitely want to cover.
50 Part II: Putting Your Lesson Together
However, when you begin teaching it can be quite difficult to know what students are likely to comprehend at each level and few EFL teachers follow the same students from beginner to advanced level.
So to give you a guide, the next sections offer a basic run down of what you may expect to teach students at the different levels. I include a list of grammar and vocabulary students should cover during the course, along with examples.
Unlike many other courses people enrol on, EFL courses can be for adults or children and include students with an incredibly wide range of interests and goals. However, their basic needs in learning are similar. For example, all students want to learn how to speak about the past, present and future in English.
Beginner
Beginner-level students aren’t necessarily children. Many people discover a need or desire to study English later in life. Students at beginner level can’t speak or write accurately in the present simple and present continuous tenses. Those who know some words in English but aren’t ready to join elementary level are called False Beginners. When there’s no distinct beginner’s class, beginner level is absorbed within the first 15–20 hours of an elementary course. This is a difficult level to teach as you have so few words to work with when explaining things but it’s also very rewarding because every new word marks significant progress for the class.
Grammar to cover includes:
✓
The subject pronouns: I, you, he, she and so on.
✓
Demonstrative pronouns: this, that, these, those.
✓
Question words: what, who, where and how.
✓
Possessive adjectives: my, your, his and hers.
✓
Singular and plural nouns.
✓
Expletives (not the naughty ones): there is, there are.
✓
The verb to be in positive, negative and question form: I am, I am not, am I?
Vocabulary to cover includes:
✓ The alphabet.
✓
Numbers 1 to 100.
✓
Jobs: doctor, teacher,
gives you the inside track on how to do just that.
In the chapters in this part, I break the lesson down into
different stages (Presentation, Practice and Production),
so that you can see how to deliver a clear structure for
learning. I also provide advice on how long the stages
should last and who should be doing the talking, and how
to engage your students in learning.
This part teems with examples and suggestions for
classroom activities, whether you use a course book or
design your own materials. You can find out when and
how to correct the students’ mistakes and keep them in
check – and interested – during the lesson.
Chapter 4
Starting from the Beginning:
Planning the Lesson
In This Chapter
▶ Looking at student levels
▶ Teaching in the every day
▶ Suiting the lesson to the students
▶ Knowing where your lesson is going
▶ Planning your time and students’ time in a lesson
▶ Introducing new language and encouraging students to use it
▶ Drawing up your lesson plan
So you get the job and the students enrol on your course, ready to get started. But what on earth are you going to teach them and how are you going to put it together into a lesson? In this chapter, I tell you about the content and structure of an EFL (English as a Foreign Language) lesson.
Deciding What to Teach
When you select information to teach in your lessons, you need to think about what level the students are at and how well your lesson fits into what they already know and what they need to know.
Most courses have a basic syllabus that acts as a road map. An EFL syllabus lists the major areas of grammar, vocabulary and functions (what you can do with particular expressions) a course covers. Most EFL course books have a list within the first few pages. Even if you’re working from your own materials, it makes sense to set specific course goals including which words and grammar you definitely want to cover.
50 Part II: Putting Your Lesson Together
However, when you begin teaching it can be quite difficult to know what students are likely to comprehend at each level and few EFL teachers follow the same students from beginner to advanced level.
So to give you a guide, the next sections offer a basic run down of what you may expect to teach students at the different levels. I include a list of grammar and vocabulary students should cover during the course, along with examples.
Unlike many other courses people enrol on, EFL courses can be for adults or children and include students with an incredibly wide range of interests and goals. However, their basic needs in learning are similar. For example, all students want to learn how to speak about the past, present and future in English.
Beginner
Beginner-level students aren’t necessarily children. Many people discover a need or desire to study English later in life. Students at beginner level can’t speak or write accurately in the present simple and present continuous tenses. Those who know some words in English but aren’t ready to join elementary level are called False Beginners. When there’s no distinct beginner’s class, beginner level is absorbed within the first 15–20 hours of an elementary course. This is a difficult level to teach as you have so few words to work with when explaining things but it’s also very rewarding because every new word marks significant progress for the class.
Grammar to cover includes:
✓
The subject pronouns: I, you, he, she and so on.
✓
Demonstrative pronouns: this, that, these, those.
✓
Question words: what, who, where and how.
✓
Possessive adjectives: my, your, his and hers.
✓
Singular and plural nouns.
✓
Expletives (not the naughty ones): there is, there are.
✓
The verb to be in positive, negative and question form: I am, I am not, am I?
Vocabulary to cover includes:
✓ The alphabet.
✓
Numbers 1 to 100.
✓
Jobs: doctor, teacher,
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