TEFLtastic with Alex Case

My EFL cultural training worksheets section  much easier to navigate now it has pages for:

Taboo topics worksheets (classic speaking activities with just enough spice!)

Body language and gestures worksheets (teaching them foreign gestures while practising language like body parts and present tenses)

Cultural training worksheets on business topics

Etc

… leaving the main culture worksheets page in a useable state for the first time since 2007…

Was just looking at the IATEFL jobseekers page (via the great BESIG yahoo group). There are no jobs on there yet, but advertising with IATEFL sounds like a great way of avoiding the kind who still hang around at Tosser Dave’s ESL Cafe, doesn’t it?

Any other great ways of avoiding applications from the waster side of our “profession”?

Wrote an article a while ago about politically correct language in the classroom (below), and have been debating the topic myself recently wondering how I can avoid using the words I’m trying to tell them not to use while doing a worksheet on the topic to practise Used To (also below).

Article on politically correct language in EFL, with lesson ideas

Politically correct language in the EFL classroom 

Worksheets

PC language for practising Used to

Politically correct vocabulary

Euphemisms

From a PR piece on Cambridge’s recent award of an honorary MA to Raymond Murphy, presumably for single-handedly keeping CUP afloat:

“If our estimates of the size of the second-hand and photocopying markets are reasonably accurate, there is probably a 1:5 ratio of new books sold to actual learners who have used these books, which means more than 100 million students have used ‘Murphy’ to help improve their English language skills over the years.”

“ELT now accounts for nearly 50 per cent of the Press’s publishing revenue, and Ray’s grammar books are still the top-selling products”

“Westminster borough in London recently named English Grammar in Use as one of the most borrowed titles from its libraries, beating authors like J K Rowling”

“his two texts came out of Cambridge after failing to find success with other publishers.”

“The fourth edition of English Grammar in Use is due out in February 2012, along with an online version.”

Particularly good for first classes with low level private students. It’s the simplest thing in the world and it goes like this:

- Ask the student some questions about themselves whose answer will lead to a drawing or a word or two next to a drawing, e.g. “Do you have any brothers or sisters?” (picture of two younger brothers), “How old are you?” (number under a stick man to represent them) or “Do you live in a house or a flat?” and draw or write their answer. Continue until you’ve done about 15 questions. After running through what questions you used if they seem like they need it, ask your student to come up to the board to ask you the same (or similar) questions and draw your answers on the board next to your drawings about them. You can then write full sentences and/ or questions next to the drawings as the final stage if you like.

This my new favouritest activity because:

- Because you are going to draw their answers, you can also easily draw to illustrate what the question means if they don’t understand

- Ditto for them if they can’t articulate their answer

- They get just enough support for the question stage

- Either of you can go off topic and extend the conversation if you want to, but it’s easily to stick to the task or get back on task if you want to do that instead

- It’s really easy to tie in with whatever the first point in the book or syllabus might be

- It’s a good diagnostic task

Am planning on doing a whole article on ice breakers with one to one classes soon, so other ideas very gratefully received.

More on drawing in class in the Draw on Drawing Games series (first published in MET):

Pictionary

Picture dictation

Competition, challenges and cooperation

All new this month, and more coming soon.

Article with teaching ideas

Practising Used To in class

Photocopiable worksheets

Politically correct language for Used to

Original meanings of technology words Used to practice

Modernisation and Westernisation discussion for Used to

What expressions used to mean and where they come from

There are those who describe the CELTA that way, but according to the New York Times some people are using the cover of TEFL to do so in actual fact:

Traveling to Teach English; Getting Sermons Instead