ATC Education Articles 

 

TESOL Programs
ATC - Advanced College of Languages and Training Canada
© Ali Shenassa, M.A., TESL. Permission is granted to individual teachers to make copies of the articles below for classroom teaching.
The ATC articles below are for the training and enjoyment of ESL teachers and students.
Article

So you want to build your WORD POWER? Here are 6 tips!
_____

By Ali Shenassa

 

Perhaps you've reached that stage in your studies where you feel you have a basic understanding of English grammar and it's now time to focus more strongly on building your English vocabulary. How do you get the best results? Here are a few hints:



1. Get the tools you need.

You need a good dictionary. Electronic dictionaries that work with English and your own language are useful, but make sure you also start getting into the habit of using the English to English feature so you can start thinking in English.

“Learner's” dictionaries are the best because they give you simple definitions with examples and grammatical information. Oxford and Longman are a couple of good brands for dictionaries. Most electronic dictionaries these days are learner's dictionaries.


2. Make a personal list of words that you want to make your own.

Should you add every word that you don't know to your list? No, that would be too many and too difficult. Instead, record those words that you see often but don't know the meaning of, words that somehow attract your attention, words that you want to become friends with. Here is an example of a format you can use:

Competent – adjective.

= Having the necessary skills and ability to do something well.

Example: I would only go to a competent doctor.


3. Review often.

Reviewing is one of the keys to memorization. The more time you spend with a word, the stronger your memory of it will be.

Some serious students use flash cards with the word and an example on one side and the definition on the back. They put all their cards in a shoe box and keep reviewing and rotating their cards from the front of the box to the back every week.


4. Use the new words you've learned as often as possible.

Some people say that if you use a word three times in conversation, the word becomes yours. Is it true? Perhaps. But use it twenty-one times, and definitely the word becomes yours. That's a guarantee!


5. Read, read, read.

Words are best learned in “context”. The context is the sentence or situation around the word. Reading is one of the best ways to learn words in context. Here the key is quantity.

ESL story books designed for different levels (also called “Guided Readers” or “Graded Readers”) are a great resource. Try reading without a dictionary and guess the meaning of the words you don't know from the overall context. This is a valuable skill!


6. Get to know "root words".

Did you know that "auto" means "self", and "bio" means "life", and "graph" means "write"? So you can guess the meaning of a complex word such as "autobiography" = a book you write about your own life. "Auto", "bio", and "graph" are root words.

Most root words have Latin or Greek origin and appear in many English words. Learning root words is a powerful way to guess the meanings and help you memorize many English words.

You can find a root word dictionary in most ESL bookstores. Below is a small root words quiz for you. The answers are written below in small letters.

Match the following root words and their meanings:

1. tele          A. people

2. port          B. see

3. vis            C. far

4. demo       D. carry

Answers: 1C, 2D, 3B, 4A

Below are some examples of words with these roots.

1. telescope
2. airport
3. visible
4. demonstration

Can you think of more examples of words including these roots?

Good luck with building your word power!

TESOL, TESL, or TEFL? What's the difference anyway?
_____

By Ali Shenassa

So you want to teach English and travel the world… but what kind of certification do you need? Perhaps like many you've been surfing the internet trying to come to a clear understanding, and found that the more you search, the more confusing it all seems… here's a brief explanation:

There were slight variations in the perception of the terms TESOL, TESL, and TEFL when they were first introduced years ago, but in today's ESL world, they are used interchangeably to basically mean the same thing: teaching English to people whose native language is not English. The acronyms stand for:

TESOL = Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages.
TESL = Teaching English as a Second Language.
TEFL = Teaching English as a Foreign Language.

During recent years, the term TESOL has gained more popularity in North America and many parts of Asia, particularly in Korea, China, and Japan, and it continues its growth in other parts of the world. The terms TESL and TEFL are also recognized internationally.

Terrified of your first TESOL practicum? Here are 5 tips to help you do your best!
_____

By Ali Shenassa

 

You're not alone! That first practicum when you have to teach the class all by yourself is a nerve-wracking time for most teacher trainees. Here are 5 tips to help you overcome your fear:



1. Prepare, prepare, prepare.

Action is the cure for fear, and in this case, the necessary action before your lesson is to prepare thoroughly. Don't leave your preparation for the last minute. Start early and prepare well. The more you prepare, the more confident you will become.



2. Take the spotlight off yourself and let your students shine.

In his practical book, Learning Teaching, Jim Scrivener recommends that for your first lessons you plan student-centred activities that take the spotlight off you and place it on your students where it belongs.


Remember that the main part of your lesson should be the activities when students are working in pairs or groups or sometimes individually.


This means that you should put a lot of effort into your preparation to make sure you have engaging activities that give your students the opportunity to "learn by doing". It also means that you shouldn't worry about having to stand in front of the class and talking for an hour (which would put students to sleep anyway).



3. Remember the basic components of your lesson.

Most lessons have the following structure:


1. Objective (your job)
2. Introduction (your job)
2. Instructions (your job)
3. Activities (mostly your students' job with you monitoring the class)
4. Wrap-up (everybody can be involved).

Your job is to have a clear objective (what the goal of your lesson is), do an introduction (generate interest, lead to your topic, and present the relevant vocabulary, grammatical structures, or functions), give instructions (put students in pairs or groups or individually and tell them what they should do), monitor the students during the activity, and wrap-up the lesson.


4. Visualize your lesson before you teach it.

Do what great athletes do: they use the power of their imagination before a competition and "see" themselves go through each part of the race successfully and win.

Visualization works best if you mix it with positive emotions. The day before your practicum, run the movie of your lesson in your mind.

You might find that you'll need to make adjustments in the way your lesson should run. Run the movie again, until you can see a successful lesson and mix it with feelings of confidence and a job well done. You will be using the magic of positive thinking and visualization!


5. Boost your energy and confidence before your lesson.

In his book, The Magic of Thinking Big, considered a classic by many, David Schwartz gives us an amazing strategy we can use to boost our confidence and perform at our best.

Here is how you can apply it to your practicum: Start a few days before your lesson and make a list of all your positive qualities as a human being. Forget about the negative for now. We're focusing on the positive. For example, your list could be something like this: Kind, smart, good with people, etc. Write everything that you can think of on your list. Next, write down your positive statement of yourself. Make sure you include your name.

For example, your statement could read something like this: "Maria, you are a kind person. You're smart and you're good with people. You have good imagination. Use that imagination in your preparation. You have a lot of energy. Use that energy and let it show while you teach your first lesson..."

Now what you need to do is read this statement to yourself three times a day. This is a great habit you can continue after your practicum to stay positive and be at your best during your teaching career - a career which will help you grow as it will always demand your best.