TEFL Greece

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Teaching Grammar and Vocabulary

http://www.anglo-hellenic.com/training/short-courses.htm

Thursday, March 14, 2013

Phonology and Teaching Pronunciation

http://www.anglo-hellenic.com/training/short-courses.htm

Sunday, March 10, 2013

Working with ELT Materials - part two

Working with ELT Materials

Part two – selecting coursebooks

In the first article of the series we discussed ways of finding teaching materials. The next step is to select the ones you want to consider adopting. Choice of coursebook will have a major impact on the style and content of your lessons, and may even make the difference between success and failure for your students, so it’s important to consider it very carefully. Here are a few of the issues to look at.

Are the materials up-to-date?

Once a coursebook has been published, it generally remains on the market for several years. And teachers, having invested the time and effort required in adopting a course, are likely to want to go on using it, as long as it worked well the first time. So one of the first things you should look at in a coursebook is the date of publication. You will certainly want to avoid starting to use a book when it is already several years old, but even if the publication date is relatively recent, the book may still seem to be behind the times. Some materials quickly become dated, particularly if they contain topics relating to the latest movies, current fashions and trends in music. These are the kinds of items that are likely to interest and motivate our students, but fashions change quickly so it’s probably better to get materials on these subjects from other more current sources such as magazines and internet sites.

What components are available?

The next thing to look for is the range of components available. As a minimum, there will be a student’s book and a teacher’s book. The teacher’s book may be a separate volume, or may be interleaved with the student’s book, making it easier to refer to during the lesson and so reducing preparation time. As well as providing the answers to all the exercises, the teacher’s book provides guidance on how to use the materials in the student’s book. This can be very helpful, especially for novice teachers, but if it’s too prescriptive it can restrict flexibility and stifle your creativity. Some teacher’s books also contain additional resources and communicative activities, or there may even be a separate book with these.

Most courses also provide a workbook with extra practice activities for the students, usually done as homework. And, particularly with courses published in Greece, there may be a companion. This gives explanations of the new vocabulary in each lesson, often with Greek translations, and additional practice activities.

There will also be one or more audio CDs and possibly other multimedia components. Most major courses these days also have interactive whiteboard software, so if you intend to use the IWB in your lessons, you will need to check that this is available for whatever course you select. And there may also be other components such as a grammar book, test booklet, or even flashcards and stickers.

What levels are covered?

Most coursebooks are published in series that provide continuity over several levels. Of course you will need to select materials at the right level for each of your classes, but you should also make sure that they match the age of your students. For example, some courses at Beginner level are designed for adults, and this is reflected in the style of the materials and the choice of topics.

These are a few preliminary considerations that you should bear in mind when making your initial selection of coursebooks to examine with a view to adoption. The next step is to conduct a detailed evaluation of the materials, and that’s the topic of our next article.

Thursday, March 7, 2013

Teaching the Four Skills

http://www.anglo-hellenic.com/training/short-courses.htm

Thursday, February 28, 2013

ICT and Language Learning

http://www.anglo-hellenic.com/training/short-courses.htm

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Working with ELT Materials - part one

Working with ELT Materials

Part one – finding what’s available

One question that new teachers often ask is how they can find course books. These days, it’s easier than ever to find all the information we need. It’s just a question of knowing where to start.

Conferences, publishers’ exhibitions and seminars

One of the best ways to be informed about the available publications is to attend a conference which is accompanied by an exhibition. The TESOL Greece (www.tesolgreece.org) annual convention, which is held in March every year, is a great opportunity to meet colleagues, attend professional development talks and also browse the exhibition. Other TESOL Greece events throughout the year are also often accompanied by small exhibitions of the latest books from the publishers that sponsor the events.

Apart from the exhibitions accompanying conferences, there are also larger exhibitions such as the Foreign Languages Forum (www.eltnews.gr/about-the-forum) and the International Publishers Exhibition (www.ip-exhibitions.eu). The talks at these are mainly commercial rather than professional, with publishers’ representatives promoting their new publications. The main focus is the exhibition rather than the talks, and you can browse through the latest publications, join the publishers’ mailing lists, and in some cases request free sample copies.

Individual publishers often organize their own events to promote their new publications. Once you have joined their mailing lists, you will receive details of these, or you can find them advertised in publications like ELT News (www.eltnews.gr). Similarly, the large examining boards organize seminars to inform teachers about changes to the format of their exams. Exhibitions are also held for their members by EUROPALSO in Attiki (www.europalso.gr) and local PALSO associations throughout Greece (www.palso.gr).

Specialist and online bookshops

Most bookshops stock some ELT coursebooks, and will be happy to order any title you request, but in order to see a large selection of the available publications, you need to go to a shop specializing in ELT publications, like Floras (www.florasfun.gr). If you already know what books you want, you can simply order them online, but visiting the shop and seeing the books will give you a much clearer idea of the range of what’s available.

Most of the Greek and International ELT publishers also sell their own books through their websites, usually offering discount prices for schools, and you can find books from all publishers to order online at www.books24.gr.

Publishers’ websites and catalogues

The easiest way to get basic information about the range of publications available is to browse the publishers’ websites. Like the international publishers, Greek publishers of ELT materials generally have coursebooks for all ages and levels. Some of the Greek publishers, like Express (www.expresspublishing.gr) produce a very wide range of materials, while some are more specialized – for example Betsis (www.andrewbetsiselt.gr) mainly produce materials for exam practice.

Most publishers still produce printed catalogues every year, and you can receive these simply by joining their mailing list when you see them at an exhibition or by phoning their offices. Some publish regular periodicals which contain informative articles as well as details of the latest publications – for example News & Views from Hillside Press (www.elthillside.com). Some of the publishers, such as Grivas (www.grivas.gr) produce sample sections of their new books so you can get a good idea of what they’re like without actually seeing the whole book.

Although it’s less common these days for publishers to send out large numbers of sample copies, if you are an established school most publishers will send you free copies of any books that you intend to adopt.

The market has contracted in recent years, and many of the international publishers are reducing their operations in Greece but even so there are many companies producing excellent course books, and it’s now easier than ever to find information about these. The next step is knowing how to make the right choice from amongst all the available materials, and that’s the topic of our next article.