Teaching Functions in the EFL Classroom

Teach Functions to Increase your Students’ Motivation

Why do so many TEFL courses put emphasis on teaching grammar directly as the goal of a lesson rather than teaching it indirectly and related to the direct teaching of functions?

I think it is because either they are lazy (putting together a grammar lesson is fast easy AND boring!) and/or don’t always really understand the purpose of learning English. Sad to say – but it sure seems to be true.

Very quickly, first, lets talk about what a function is. It’s simple: a function in teacher-talk is a specific task. So teaching students the English needed to find and rent an apartment, for example, would be a function. Most often functions are stated like this: Asking and Answering Questions about Renting an Apartment. Or in occupational language it might be the language required to deal with a customer complaint at a business or to inquire about the details of a service or product. Then the function might be: Dealing with Customer Complaints or Answering Customer Questions about Servicing their New Honda.

Let’s try a few more functions: Asking for Permission to Stay out Late on Friday Night. Expressing your Opinion about [fill in the blank].

Teachers who teach functions will generally have a much more motivated group of students. Why? Wouldn’t you rather learn how to do something than to learn – let’s say – about the future perfect progressive aspect of verbs . . . Ow! I almost fell asleep just writing it.  Students are motivated by learning functions that are relevant to their daily lives.  Future Perfect Progressive, on the surface anyway – doesn’t seem relevant to anything.

Particularly if you ever teach Business English or English for Specific (or Special) Purposes classes – you should always be teaching functions.

I am not suggesting never teaching grammar, but teaching grammar in the context of a function makes much more sense to students and gives them a motivation to use the language – rather than just the raw information of how to use a grammar point.

TED’s Tips™ #1: Teach functions rather than grammar points.  Your students will thank you and you will feel far more productive.

TED’s Tips™ #2: Motivate your students to learn even more by asking them what they would like to learn to do or deal with – in English.

The BEST EFL Teaching Jobs in China: Government Colleges, Universities and Secondary Schools offer the most reliable and worry-free jobs in China. Click on the Link if you would like to Teach English in China

Benefits of Teaching Abroad: Open your Eyes!

Learn More about your World

I don’t usually spend much time on WHY you might want to teach English overseas, but I guess it is time to express a few ideas on the idea.

This notion is best approached from a personal perspective and for each of us, that perspective can be very different.

What Have I Learned Overseas?

#1. How poorly the education system in my home country educated me. Did you know there are as many as 1.8 Muslims? Or even 1.6 billion Buddhists? Where was that in our education? Do you realize that Christian cultures are a minority in the world, not a majority? So why is your calendar date based on Jesus Christ? I don’t mean to be offensive here, just to help you see that there is another world out there.

#2. Do you know that in some countries it is the year 1430? And that Thursday and Friday or the typical days off? That’s the Muslim calendar.
Do you know that in some countries the year is 2553? My car registration is due in June of 2553. That is a calendar dated from the enlightenment of the Buddha. Wednesday is the holy day in many Buddhist cultures and some businesses will close that day.

Did they tell you that at school? Did they even KNOW that? I suspect not.

One of the very best reasons to get out and see the world is to realize what is really there. To understand how little your education reflected the real world out here.

#3. Understand ALSO how you are aren’t really any different than the rest of the world. My wife and I were talking just yesterday about how tourism is severely down in the area where we live, due to civil unrest in the capital city over 600+ miles away (1000 kilometers). Is it unsafe here? Not really. What about 9/11 in the States? The Oklahoma City bombings? The race riots in Watts and many other places, Waco Texas? The London bombings? Madrid bombings?

Yes, much of the world has problems, but we tend to turn a blind eye to those things in our home country and to be fearful of things in other countries.

TED’s Tips™ #1: Get out there and see the REAL world, not the one your education painted for you.

TED’s Tips™ #2: Learn to survive and thrive in the REAL world. It is the only hope for your home country. That people see, understand and can operate successfully out in the world at large.

The BEST EFL Teaching Jobs in China: Government Colleges, Universities and Secondary Schools offer the most reliable and worry-free jobs in China. Click on the Link if you would like to Teach English in China

International Recognition and Acceptance of TEFL Courses

This question finally needs to be answered! As usual this post is inspired by questions asked by our readers.

The question asked was:

I just do not know much about [a certain language training organization] and how widely recognized it is.

The truth about “international recognition” is that there is really no such thing. ALL TEFL course providers address it as it is one of the most commonly asked questions, so it has to be answered. And we all join such organizations as we need an answer when people ask.

The reality on the ground is that schools either accept an online course or not. I’ve never heard of a school accepting one brand or another and chosing to not accept a different one based on organzations of which they are institutional members – or not.

This is also true of the Full Monty courses (100-120 hour in-classroom TEFL course). Employers generally accept them or not. Often whether schools want certification at all or not is more the result of the legal requirements for a work permit rather than their personal preference.

In fact, it is only the Full Monty (if I may use that term!) courses that SOMETIMES have a problem as countries that have a strong preference for British English will sometimes prefer a CELTA. If I was going to teach in the EU – CELTA might be the way to go.

In Asia and most of the rest of the world, no one cares. And the the great majority of times I’ve seen a name brand mentioned in a “Help Wanted” type advert was when the school looking for people also SOLD that name brand.

In other words, ECC chain of schools in Thailand, for example, tends to prefer CELTA as they are a school that sells CELTA courses, so of course, they would prefer their name brand. BUT they don’t exclude someone who took the course from Text-and-Talk or from TEFL International, as examples.

As a general rule, most people giving advice on forums about “international recognition” don’t know what I have written here. Most have an affiliation with a brand – or a school – from which they took their course and tend to repeat what they have been told. And some believe that there is really one guiding force out here for such courses. There just isn’t.

I’ve trained teachers in Korea, Saudi Arabia and Thailand and have never run into that one guiding force. Additionally I’ve taught in general in the USA, Botswana and Taiwan. Probably most of the people giving advice on forums have been in one country maybe for a year or two, may have a personal anecdote or two, or heard something from someone else that they are repeating, but they just don’t really know. (Just my opinion!).

You might want to read: TEFL Course Standards
I wrote that several years ago. But the whole nature of that website is set up focusing on the Full Monty type courses and if you decide to take one at some point – use the five checklists provided on that website to help you decide on from whom you might want to take a course.

TED’s Tips™ #1: If you plan on teaching in Europe, take the CELTA course. But another popular course in Europe is TEFL International, they are gaining wide acceptance these days.

TED’s Tips™ #2: If you plan on teaching any where else, name brand is not going to matter.

The BEST EFL Teaching Jobs in China: Government Colleges, Universities and Secondary Schools offer the most reliable and worry-free jobs in China. Click on the Link if you would like to Teach English in China

Questions about Online TEFL Training

I got an email today with some excellent questions about online versus in-classroom TEFL Training and I will address those questions here.

The person wrote:

I have heard a lot of talk on these TEFL forums and I understand that a 120 hour course is necessary and this is what I will do.

Usually 100 hour courses are okay too.

However, I have heard from many people that if an online program doesn’t have at least 6 course hours of supervised teaching practice with real ESL/EFL students than I shouldn’t bother.

Generally speaking a course with supervised teaching practice is FAR better for improving your teaching skills. Such courses, however, are also quite expensive. Usually starting about $1300 and going up to $2000 and more. And you’ll need to take four weeks off of work to do it and support yourself somehow at the same time.

I am semi-retired teacher trainer and YES, absolutely – if you can take a full in-classroom course with a minimum (try to get more!) of six hours of observed teaching practice, do it!

If you don’t have the time or money for such course (many people don’t – I didn’t when I started out in 1992), then an online course is fine.

I’m assuming your course doesn’t because its online. [referencing TEFL Boot Camp]

You are correct, we don’t offer observed teaching practice.

My question is, will an online course hurt me with my chances of employment?

Of course not! Most people look for TEFL jobs with no training at all. How would showing the initiative to at least get some training hurt your chances? Many places want a TEFL cert and don’t care if it is in-classroom or online. I place people in China and the schools there want a TEFL Certificate (see my website and the jobs list at: TEFL Jobs China) – The schools we work with don’t care online/in-classroom or not and don’t specify or require observed teaching practice as a part of the training. They are just happy that you got some training to learn to do a better job. This is true many places around the world.

Summary: Yes – an in-classroom course is a superior option. But the differences in price and time commitments and the ability to take the course when you can is why online courses are successful and so many people take them.

Usually people on internet forums want you to do what they have done. So the people telling you to do an in-classroom course – probably took one and want to persuade you to do what they have done. And – it is a GOOD idea! Just expensive and time consuming.

If you know you are seeking a career and want to work abroad for many years – then definitely do the Full Monty. If you want to just teach abroad for a couple years or aren’t sure how long you want to do it – or even if you would like it – then do an online course to test the waters. Nothing says you can’t go back and take a full course later.

If fact, I am working on an arrangement where if you take the TEFL Boot Camp course and later sign up for a full course at one of two schools in Thailand – we refund your TEFL Boot Camp course fees. That is a good deal!

TED’s Tips™ #1: Some training is always better than no training at all. Get what you can afford to help you do a better job.

TED’s Tips™ #2: Take a full four-six week in-classroom course if you can. You will leave the course a better teacher than you will with any other course.

The BEST EFL Teaching Jobs in China: Government Colleges, Universities and Secondary Schools offer the most reliable and worry-free jobs in China. Click on the Link if you would like to Teach English in China

TEFL Job Search: Finding that Job Teaching English

Maximizing your Options when Looking for a Job Teaching English

Just a few ideas here as I often see people using inefficient strategies in looking for their next job. Don’t put yourself in the back of a big queue like the one to the right, get yourself in the front of a very short line for more opportunity.

If you look only at current job openings on TEFL websites for your next job, you are missing out on huge opportunities.

Go to any jobs website, particularly the ones where they don’t scroll the older jobs off the list and start researching the schools that are NOT advertising now, but were advertising three months, six months or even a one year ago.

Build yourself a nice database of schools and send them your resume/CV and a letter of interest. The odds are that when they ran their advertisement (depending on which website where it posted) they may have been swamped with applicants. Websites like Dave’s ESL have so many people reading them that you can face pretty intense competition even for simple entry-level jobs right at the time they are advertised, but that is not true perhaps a few months later.

Those busy websites like Dave’s ESL are great for the school that is advertising but not so great for you. Ideally you want minimal competition so that you can have your choice of several jobs and take the one that most suits you. The best way to do that is to contact those schools that advertised in the past but are not now advertising.

Why?

Because many schools have ten, twenty and sometimes as many as a hundred or more English teachers. Any school that has about 10-12 teachers is, on average, going to have an opening about once per month. Wouldn’t it be nice if your information showed up in their inbox? Just when they needed it? Large schools often have multiple vacancies and know they are coming, but don’t want to advertise until they have to (advertising can be expensive). In some cases they are waiting for you to send your information in.

I’ve never worked at a school that enjoyed looking for new teachers. This task is always piled on top of other duties and is really time consuming. Given the option of contacting a teacher who just sent their information and is appropriate for the job versus running an advertisement and having to sort through many potential candidates, most schools will opt for contacting YOU first.  And if you fit the bill, the job will be yours.

TED’s Tips™ #1: Schools are often waiting for you to contact them. Don’t wait for them to advertise.

TED’s Tips™ #2: Apply when there is minimal competition, not right after a school advertises on a major website.

The BEST EFL Teaching Jobs in China: Government Colleges, Universities and Secondary Schools offer the most reliable and worry-free jobs in China. Click on the Link if you would like to Teach English in China

Seeking Opportunity in TEFL

“Be Fearful When Others Are Greedy and Greedy When Others Are Fearful”
- Warren Buffett

The man many financial publications consider to be the wealthiest man in the world suggests that you see opportunity when and where other people are fearful of doing so.

You might want to consider this for the TEFL world also.

Listen carefully – I am not suggesting that you endanger yourself – understand that first.

What I am suggesting is that people who, for example, are interested in teaching in Thailand – go and do it right now.

Many jobs are unfilled, schools are looking for teachers. Looking for LOTS of teachers.

Civil Unrest

Only a few short weeks ago there was shooting in the streets of Bangkok and problems in some of the cities in the north and north-east of Thailand. But to a great extent those problems have ceased. What happened to the teaching situation in Thailand though is that many teachers left, some who were going to go didn’t and Thailand was removed from the list of possibilities by people who were scanning the world market for enjoyable places to work and live.

Not only is the civil unrest over – there are many parts of the country that were untouched by it. Not going to teach say on Samui Island or Phuket Island in the south of the country because of the problems in Bangkok or in the north of the country is a bit like not going to San Francisco after the Watts riots in the USA (which occurred in the Los Angeles area). Or like not going to Atlanta Georgia after 9/11 in New York. Or not going to Phoenix Arizona after the Oklahoma City bombing a few years back. Great distances separate these places.

We perceive such problems in other countries as being FAR worse than similar situations that happened in our own country. It is just human nature to do so.

Look for Opportunity

Look for opportunities in countries that have had some bad press. Do your homework, of course! Don’t walk blindly into a bad situation. Communicate with people on the ground where you are thinking about going and ask them specifically about the situation.

What you will often find is that things are fine. And that there are jobs galore.

Those jobs galore give you an opportunity to perhaps move up to a job you would not have had opportunity to have otherwise and a chance to have more negotiating power when it comes to salary and benefits, an opportunity to try something new and different.

Check it out. A couple good references for Thailand are Teach English in Bangkok and Teach English in Phuket.

TED’s Tips™ #1: Look for opportunity in places others might not consider. You will likely be surprised by what is on offer for you.

The BEST EFL Teaching Jobs in China: Government Colleges, Universities and Secondary Schools offer the most reliable and worry-free jobs in China. Click on the Link if you would like to Teach English in China

Resume CV for Teaching English Abroad

TEFL Job Search Resume CV

How you present yourself matters much more than you might think. Much of the world pays close attention to how you present yourself. They consider it a matter of importance whether you do, or not. If you want the job, do what is required to get it.

#1. Put your photo on your resume and be sure you are dressed professionally. Yeah, yeah, this is illegal in the USA and a few other places, but are you applying for a job in the USA? No.

#2. Put what qualifies you for the job at the top of the page. Don’t make a potential employer struggle to find out if you meet the minimum qualifications for the job.

#3. Professional photo and professional email address. I once had a teacher candidate apply for a job with the email address of hotsex69@something.com How willing would most schools be to employ this person? Not!

People sometimes send photos of themselves drunk with friends, sometimes even photos of them fondling members of the opposite (or even same) sex! What are they trying to show or prove?! Send a professional photo with you in professional dress.

Get real – while you might be seeking employment overseas as a one year vacation – party – lark – your employer is looking for a real teacher who has a commitment to their students and not just to the local bars, babes and dudes, and beaches.

#4. Stress anything and everything related to teaching and training that you have ever done before. Even volunteer work.

Answer the question: Why should this employer think you are qualified to stand in front of his students? The very students that determine the success of his/her business?

#5. Focus on the job you are seeking. Your resume need not reflect a training course you took twenty years ago about computer security. Unless, of course, you are seeking a computer security job, but then you are on the wrong website.

DOUBLE CHECK your entire resume for spelling and grammar problems. Don’t write in email shorthand, use proper English. In fact, if you intend to teach English – ever – anywhere – start practicing now using English properly.

TED’s Tips™ #1: Approach your job search as professionally as you would in your home country.

TED’s Tips™ #2: Get a professional photograph taken with you wearing professional dress. Just that one small factor alone can improve your chances over 100%. Much of the world puts STRONG importance on presentation. Why not win from the start?

The BEST EFL Teaching Jobs in China: Government Colleges, Universities and Secondary Schools offer the most reliable and worry-free jobs in China. Click on the Link if you would like to Teach English in China

Most Common Teaching Errors of New Teachers

Avoid these TEFL Teaching Traps

Do a quality job for your students and avoid these common traps:

Talking too Much

Understandably new teachers are often a bit nervous and in reaction to that, they often talk too much. About themselves, about English, about anything and everything. Your students are most likely in your class to learn how to talk, not to listen to you talk. If you are really nervous about your performance, find ways for your students to talk more and put yourself in the background. That’s what you should be doing anyway!

Over- or Under-Correcting your Students

Finding the right balance is the sign of an experienced teacher and a good reason to take a good TEFL course. Too much correction and your students are afraid to talk and you crush their self-confidence. Too little correction and students babble away with completely incomprehensible speech. Read Error Correction in EFL over at TEFL Boot Camp to get yourself around the idea.

Ignoring Local Culture and Customs

Do you know that in some cultures pointing with one finger is rude? That motioning with your palm facing up (versus facing down) is an insult? We all read of these things, but make sure you know the local culture where you teach. We all know the Don’t show the sole of your shoes to someone in the Middle East or the Don’t pat a Thai student on the head customs (both a bit over-emphasized really) – so get in tune with where you are.

If you are unsure ask one of your better students to give you feedback (though it can be difficult in many cultures for students to give their teachers any negative feedback at all). Ask your host country English teachers to tell you of common cultural errors that other teachers have committed (more indirect and probably more fruitful).

Talking too Fast or too Slow

Too fast and your students can’t understand you (depending on their skill level, of course). But the biggest error is speaking too slowly. Too slowly and you are providing an unnatural sounding model for your students. Too slowly and they can’t learn and won’t do all the things native speakers do when speaking quickly – such as reductions, linking, contractions and much more. Too slowly and they will never understand a native speaker speaking at normal speed because they haven’t heard it from you. Read the Expanded Concepts section on this Teaching EFL Pronunciation page at TEFL Boot Camp.

TED’s Tips™ #1: Get a good handle on those four most common errors of newbie teachers and you will be far ahead of the pack.

TED’s Tips™ #2: Get yourself some good quality training. It doesn’t have to be expensive. TEFL Boot Camp is the lowest priced online TEFL Program – and the low price is guaranteed. Most of the course is online and free and accessible to anyone who is interested.

The BEST EFL Teaching Jobs in China: Government Colleges, Universities and Secondary Schools offer the most reliable and worry-free jobs in China. Click on the Link if you would like to Teach English in China

Making Money on the Side

How to Increase your TEFL Income

A wise reader asked (because not ALL jobs pay well):

Are there jobs in private language schools, that could be a source of income on the side?

Yes, but you can probably make more money (and enjoy yourself more) teaching either groups of local English teachers how to improve or teaching classes of businesspeople or an unimaginable variety of other options.

I’d take the language school last. I’ve almost always taught business people (I have an MBA and an M.Ed.) and often teachers. I’ve written book summaries, published textbooks, done lots of private tutoring or sometimes taught examination skills for TOEFL or IELTS . . . If you are open to opportunity it is there.

Ideally, don’t try to solve all these things in advance. Many things unexpected will unfold right before you and if you are already committed to a certain path, you may well miss something even better. Conversely I am not suggesting that you not be pro-active in sorting things out.

Here is how it works: Your school and everyone you meet will be very careful around you. They have met a LOT of crazy, sometimes disturbed, sometimes very unethical teachers. They will watch you for a while before they decide you are okay.

All they want to see is that you are sober, reliable, friendly, skilled – all those things you are that those other people also said they were – but weren’t.

Once they have decided you are okay – it starts slowly and then the floodgates will open and you can often end up with more work than you want. AND, Asia is personal contact and direct-referral oriented.

That means that if a friend thinks you are okay then you are and I want you to teach me TOO. Once you have a few things you are doing it geometrically expands.

Part of that means don’t ask for a lot of extra stuff at first – let it come to you. You will send me an email one year from now and say, “Yes! It came to me!” – I would put a good wager on it . . .

TED’s Tips™ #1: Let things play out a bit. Don’t try to solve all questions, all problems before you even get to where you are going.

The BEST EFL Teaching Jobs in China: Government Colleges, Universities and Secondary Schools offer the most reliable and worry-free jobs in China. Click on the Link if you would like to Teach English in China

Keeping a Plan A, PLan B and Plan C when Teaching English Abroad

Keeping a “Plan A”, B, and C:
Contract “flexibility” and other routine problems.
Should I keep a “Plan B” in my back pocket?

In the developed Western world, we tend to think of things like contacts as being written in “stone” – but in many countries, contracts can be quite – uh . . . “flexible”.

This can mean that your employer may not do the things they said they would do. You may not like that. It may be time to move on. Or it may just be that you don’t like your new job, new culture, new city or new . . .

Plan B and Plan C

When you do your research about countries and jobs, keep a second and third choice in your mind, just in case things don’t work out for Plan A. Keep these in the back of your mind, keep your resume up to date, and fish to see what is out there from time to time. With a decent Plan B and Plan C you won’t have to worry about a surprise.

There is also the possibility that you just won’t like the job you took, or the country you moved to, or some other unforeseen problem may sour you on the whole deal.

Your First Country – Your First Job

Keep open the possibility of going back home. Don’t burn your bridges to anywhere, ever. You just never know when you might need to head back where you were last year. I’ve never had to back track, but I do try to keep my options open. I try to leave every employer on good terms, with them ready for my return. I try to maintain and network with people from previous employment. And, it all works both ways – you might need to help a friend come to where you are some day.

You may never need them . . .

I am just cautious by nature, and the TEFL world is just a little less stable than other types of employment. I’ve never needed my Plan B or C, but they are there, just in case. It helps me sleep at night.

My first year in Saudi Arabia was quite a difficult adjustment for me. Though I didn’t bail out, it was nice to have my options already mapped out. It took a little pressure off the situation, allowed me to adapt and adjust – and succeed.

TED’s Tips™ #1: Having a back up plan gives you some extra confidence when things get rough. You don’t have to panic or wonder what you might do next – you already know.

TED’s Tips™ #2: Having to bail out on a contract is never something to be proud of, but a good percentage of people who have spent 20 years or more overseas have brought an early end to a contract at one time or another.

The BEST EFL Teaching Jobs in China: Government Colleges, Universities and Secondary Schools offer the most reliable and worry-free jobs in China. Click on the Link if you would like to Teach English in China