Can you advise me on teaching beginners?

Q: Dear Lucy, I have just received my first teaching assignment after passing my TEFL on a correspondence course, and i don't know where to start. I am to teach for 14 hours, split over 3 sessions, one individual at a beginner level. I have the criteria that he needs to cover (it is within an enterprise preparing for the winter season in the French Alpes) but i have no idea how to actually present the topics. I have found plenty of exercises, but obviously I need to teach the vocabulary and grammar etc before I can do the exercises with him. Can you give me any ideas? The topics are pronouns, adjectives, question tags, present simple and progressive. Thank you in advance! Shelley

A: Dear Shelley, If you have recently started out in teaching, I suggest you get a good course book and base your lessons around that. You will be able to use the units of the course book to present the language, to practise it and use the exercises you have found as extra practise. Ask the school you are working with if they will also buy the teacher's book for you; the teacher's book should be a good resource and should guide you through the teaching. They might already have...

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Talking Point: Missing
A very topical lesson on a globally valuable subject: Missing children. Vocabulary is practised in a gap-fill exercise based on the different meanings of the word "miss". Students have plenty of opportunity to practise their fluency through stimulating conversation questions such as: "If a child is not found quickly, how long should the authorities continue to look for him/her?"

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Talking Point worksheets are designed for pre-intermediate and above levels. They are printer-friendly and come with Teaching Suggestions and answers.

 

Which material is synthetic?

a) linen
b) polyester
c) silk

See end of newsletter for answer.

Career paths in ELT publishing
One of the biggest frustrations I hear from TEFL teachers is that there is no clear career progression in our profession, especially for those who do not want management jobs. There is an even louder clamour from those who want to break into writing for English language teachers and students, as there aren't even the few clear options like "CELTA leads to DELTA leads to MA leads to university job" or "one year of experience leads to International House leads to British Council" that teaching can sometimes offer. Although the way most people who now get published regularly originally broke into the business are as varied as the teaching careers of the vast majority of teachers who did not follow the two ladders I described above, I hope giving a couple of simplified examples can persuade more people that it is a ladder worth starting on, and one that can provide satisfaction on every rung even to those who don't make it all the way to the top. Example One- The Article Man...

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Blended Learning : Using technology in and beyond the language classroom
Pete Sharma and Barney Barrett
Publisher: Macmillan
Components: Teacher's Guide
Summary: A good book for novices and experienced teachers who want to add technology to their classes.

The title of a book sometimes does not tell much about the contents, but in this case Sharma and Barrett lay out their philosophy on the cover. Technology is not a panacea that can replace language teachers and face-to-face classrooms, it is something that can be used to enhance language learning. Their book starts with four principles for successfully using technology in language classes...

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Reviewed by Howard Brown

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b) polyester

This is a level 5 question and answer from Word Up, the ESL board game that's fun to play in class.