Blog

5 ways to motivate your students

For many of us, our time at school is amongst the most memorable experiences we have of growing up. And for many of us, it’s not just going to school, but the teachers we had that impact us most strongly. And more often than not, it’s the memories of the teachers who motivated us to learn and engage with the lesson that stay with us. As teachers, we often come up against challenging classes and students. We all know that motivation is the key to successful learning outcomes – in fact I would… All categories, Certificate courses, ESL activities, Diploma courses, How to...

Classroom Management: How to take control of noisy students

My class is so loud! It’s Friday afternoon and your class of young learners (or adults!) are bouncing off the walls, not paying attention and talking away amongst themselves. What do you do? Raise your voice and try to shout over them? Many of us can attest to the fact that raising your voice never gets you anywhere, ESPECIALLY on a Friday afternoon. So what can you do instead? To calm a rowdy, noisy class, it’s important to engage them. Just like a hyper-stimulated toddler on overdrive,… All categories, How to..., ESL activities, Certificate courses

Is TEFL Worth it?

A few months ago, we shared some top tips for taking the CertTESOL from a former trainee on the course. In fact, even before deciding to take a certificate course in TESOL, many people spend a long time simply trying to figure out the difference between TESOL, TEFL, ESL and ELT courses and choosing the best one for them. I often say that one of the best ways to guage the merits of a course is to look at the workload involved.  So, here we've asked two previous… All categories, How to..., Certificate courses, Careers in TESOL

How to Teach Grammar Creatively: moving beyond the basics

A few weeks ago we introduced you to the basic principles of how to teach grammar. The key idea behind the basics of teaching grammar relies setting a clear context, introducing the target form and then providing practice and production opportunities for your students.  This week we look at some alternative ways to deliver grammar lessons - some which you may be familiar with, some of which you may not.  Why not try some out and see how you and your students respond?  This… All categories, How to..., Five ways to, Certificate courses, Diploma courses, Teaching skills

Teaching jobs in Hong Kong: so you think you want to teach in a local HK school...?

Many of you will be gearing up for the new academic year, or looking for your first English teaching job in Hong Kong.  Aaron joined the CertTESOL at English for Asia course in 2016 after working extensively in various teaching contexts throughout the city. Here he gives us his honest insight into the ups and downs of working in the Hong Kong local school system as a NET teacher, and first-hand advice on finding your first teaching job in Hong Kong. So you think… All categories, Certificate courses, How to..., ESL activities, Careers in TESOL

Teaching Listening: How to make the most of your lessons

Teaching listening comprehension is challenging for ESL learners, especially in the East Asian context. This is due to a range of factors: firstly, reading and writing skills are typically given greater importance in language learning at school as compared to oral/aural skills. In addition, Chinese, Japanese and Korean learners are typically more focused on accuracy, and often try to understand every word that is said rather than glossing over unknown words to process the larger message. … All categories, Teaching skills, How to..., Certificate courses, ESL activities

How to teach grammar clearly: an introduction to the basics

*Final revision by Bryan Holmes, James Pengelley and Tom Garside Hear from some new teachers talking about their CertTESOL experience. Often new teachers are filled with anxiety when teaching grammar. Here we outline the basic approach to clearly staged grammar lessons with a communicative, student-focused outcome. This approach is commonly called Present, Practice, Produce, and is a common starting point for teachers when they learn to teach grammar for the first… All categories, Certificate courses, How to..., Teaching skills, ESL activities

TEFL work in Hong Kong: finding your first job

Oftentimes, coming off a TEFL course can be jarring. The intensity of the course is finally over, leaving you feeling discombobulated and out of sorts. You know you have to look for a job, but just feel overwhelmed by the idea of job-hunting. What to do? Where to begin? This post looks at different entry routes in the TESOL industry in Hong Kong and what may suit you. Bridging courses / Summer camps are a good way to get experience at first. These are often advertised… All categories, Certificate courses, Diploma courses, How to...

5 Ways to take feedback and correct mistakes

Post-task feedback is the stage of an ESOL class where much of the real learning happens; it is during feedback that students reflect on their ideas, correct their mistakes and apply the language that we teach in a restricted, experimental and discursive setting. However, feedback stages are all too often focused on the product of the task (the correct answers) rather than the process of how these answers were reached. This restricts student production of language to single words, or (in the… All categories, Five ways to, Certificate courses, Teaching skills, How to..., ESL activities

What is it like to take the DipTESOL?

This week we interview a recent DipTESOL trainee, who completed his Trinity DipTESOL in Hong Kong in 2014.  After 4 years post-certificate, he was an experienced teacher looking to develop his teaching skills, knowledge of language teaching and his career when he decided to take the DipTESOL. 1) Why did you decide to take the DipTESOL? I didn't want to be just a teacher forever so I thought the Dip would naturally be the next step. It's helped me become a Materials… All categories, Diploma courses, TESOL Masters, Certificate courses

ICT: Using technology in the classroom

Whether you like it or not, the use of IT, technology, edTech, ICT….whatever you want to call it….in the classroom is here to stay.  Many schools nowadays actively expect teachers to incorporate elements of technology in their classes on a regular basis.  Many institutions such as the British Council even assess their current and prospective teachers on their ability to use and experiment with IT. So should this cause alarm?  Should you and your colleagues rush out and… All categories, How to..., Certificate courses, TESOL Masters, Five ways to

English pronunciation: variation or error?

Following on from last week's post on using the IPA with your classes, this week we ask: does your accent matter? Teachers often get asked who speaks better English; the British, Irish, Australians, New Zealanders or North Americans?  Actually, the question itself is meaningless as currently, English has many variations (grammatically, lexically, and phonologically), which do not affect the quality of the language. To compare these differences is to suggest that language is defined… All categories, Certificate courses, How to..., Teaching skills, Diploma courses