TEFL: Dealing with the Two-Fold Purpose of Language

  • Added:
    Nov 26, 2013
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TEFL: Dealing with the Two-Fold Purpose of Language Photo by Rhyan O'sullivan

In today’s changing world, many nations have become a mixing pot. This has created enormous opportunities for teachers willing to help acclimatize new foreign students into an English environment. Some see this challenge as simply teaching English to new students as quickly as possible. Teachers who have dealt with this challenge know that there is much more to it than that. This is what TEFL Manchester courses can offer: a way for the teacher to effectively inculcate foreign students into their mainstream English classes, and make them comfortable and effective in their new environment.

Many view language arts as simply a way to make oneself understood, to accomplish the necessities of life. This could be termed the “tourist” approach to English language learning. Students could be taught such phrases as “where is the restroom”, “where is the restaurant”, and “how much is that hat”. Of course, this is important for anyone needing a basic, immediate way to communicate in a foreign country, but it does not really immerse the tourist into the meanings and nuance of the language itself. Most importantly, TEFL students are not tourists. Language must be taught beyond the mechanical for foreign students to be able to communicate effectively in their new environs. For this reason, TEFL Manchester training must go beyond traditional, mechanical teaching methods such as rote vocabulary memorization and conjugation tables to quickly teach a foreign language student how to conduct themselves in an English class like a native.

One of the many techniques learned through TEFL Manchester courses is situational teaching. It was recently highlighted in a business situation where the teacher labeled the technique Teaching Grammar in Disguise. His assignment was to design an English course for Japanese automotive professionals. This assignment combined the most challenging aspects of TEFL instruction. The target audience were on a tourist timetable (needed to understand English quickly) but needed the requisite understanding of a TEFL student. The teacher responded by teaching English using the paperwork and diagrams that were already familiar to his audience. Each student already understood the layout for an automobile and the specification chart for manufacture so that is exactly the material they were presented. The students found themselves in a familiar environment where they were highly motivated to learn the text for the diagrams that they otherwise used (in Japanese) every day.

This is one example of the way that TEFL operates, teaching students in a way that they will naturally understand. The principles are formulated to take advantage of the essence of the learning process. TEFL Manchester courses are an excellent way for a teacher to help foreign language students enter the English environment as quickly as possible.

Author's Profile

Robin Smith is offering intensive TEFL Manchester is an accrediting body of TEFL/TESOL courses and course.


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