TEFL course timetable

Here's the new timetable for the four-week Anglo-Hellenic TEFL course:

http://www.tefl.gr/timetable.pdf

SLA Glossary A - C

Accommodation
The unconscious change in style of speech to sound more like the person we are talking to

Acculturation
The process through which language learners adopt the values and behaviours of the target language community

Adjacency pairs
Two related turns in conversation such as a question followed by an answer

Affective filter
Krashen’s term for the emotional attitude which enables language acquisition when the filter is lowered

Aptitude
A set of attributes which can be measured in tests such as the MLAT to predict which individuals are likely to be successful language learners

Aspect
A feature of verbs which combines with tense to show the speaker’s view of the event, for example as completed or in progress

Attention
A cognitive process that enables us to focus on selected stimuli from the environment while ignoring others

Automization
The process which enables tasks such as language production to be performed without the need for conscious attention

Behaviourism
A theory of learning popular in the 1950s which viewed learning as the result of habit formation through stimulus, response and reinforcement

Bottom-up processing
Gaining understanding of language input through synthesis and interpretation based on existing knowledge of the language system

Broca’s area
A region in the left frontal lobe of the brain that is responsible for speech production

Case marker
A feature that indicates the grammatical function of word in a clause, for example as subject (nominative case) or object (accusative case)

Cliticize
For an unstressed word, to attach in pronunciation to a stressed word

Code switching
Combining the use of two languages in a single conversation

Cognitive style
An individual’s preferred way of processing information, such as field dependence / independence

Communicative competence
The ability to use language appropriately depending on the context

Competence
The internal linguistic system which enables language performance

Competition Model
A model of language acquisition according to which learners interpret meaning based on the relative weight given to competing cues

Compound bilingualism
The organization of two languages, probably acquired simultaneously, in a single linguistic system in the brain

Comprehensible input
Input which is graded at the correct level to be understood by a language learner

Connectionism
A cognitive theory which holds that SLA takes place through repeated activation of associations present in the input

Constructionism
A view of SLA that regards interlanguage development as the progressive mastery of L2 lexis and morphology

Contrastive Analysis
An analysis of the similarities and differences between L1 and L2 that may be used to focus instruction on areas of expected difficulty and so avoid error

Coordinate bilingualism
The organization of two languages in separate linguistic systems in the brain

Creative Construction Hypothesis
A hypothesis that views SLA as essentially similar to L1 acquisition in that it is an innate process in which learners make unconscious hypotheses based on the input they receive

Critical Period Hypothesis
The view that the innate ability to acquire language is only available up to a certain age, after which SLA is achieved using general cognitive mechanisms which do  not enable native-like competence

Original definitions and selection of terms © 2013 Anglo-Hellenic Teacher Training

References

VanPatten, B.  & Benati, A. (2010) Key Terms in Second Language Acquisition. London: Continuum. 

VanPatten, B. & Williams, J. (eds.). (2007) Theories in Second Language Acquisition: An Introduction. London: Routledge

Doughty, C. and Long, M.  (eds.) (2003) Handbook of second language acquisition (2nd edition) Oxford: Blackwell.  

Mitchell, R., Myles, F. & Marsden, E. (eds.). (2012) Second Language Learning Theories (3rd Edition) London: Routledge 

Saville-Troike, M. (2012) Introducing Second Language Acquisition (2nd edition) Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 

London Interviews July 2013

We are now scheduling interviews in London for July 2013.

If you have been offered an interview and are waiting for details, contact us now to schedule a time.

 http://www.anglo-hellenic.com/teachers/london.htm

TEFL Greece brochure 2013 - 2014

The new TEFL Greece brochure with course dates for 2013 - 2014 is now available for download from
http://www.tefl.gr/Greece2013-14.pdf

TEFL Athens trainee feedback

"The guidance provided is extremely helpful, and all the essentials are covered in depth. I’m very satisfied with the course. I would recommend it to other people without second thoughts!" Christoforos Alexiou

"The best thing about the course is the relaxed and professional atmosphere of the learning environment.  I had a great experience."  Daria Breus-Samolada

"I enjoyed the course and found it interesting, the staff were friendly and helped us to build confidence in our teaching, and I learnt a lot of things to prepare me for teaching English." Jake Whinn

"Great experience which covered a lot of things within one month. Worth doing - recommended!!!" Vanessa Digklis

"It was well organised and the teaching was a unique experience. I would definitely do it again." Ioannis Delegkos

"The whole experience was great. The theoretical part was very useful indeed, the teaching experience with the students was fantastic and gave me great confidence. Also both Peter and Barbara were very helpful assisting and guiding us through the course."    Eve Kater

"After this course I feel more confident teaching a class. The theory was a lot but useful for teaching." Katie Salvanou

"I was very satisfied with the course and the environment. It was an  excellent experience." Areti Pifea-Mistrioti

"I am fully satisfied. It was dynamic, different, and life-changing." Christina Stefanoudaki

Introduction to Discourse Analysis

http://www.anglo-hellenic.com/training/academic-seminars.htm

Working with ELT Materials - part four

 Working with ELT Materials

Part four – adapting coursebooks

In our previous article, we looked at issues to consider when evaluating coursebooks. An effective evaluation will ensure that the books which you choose to adopt are suitable for your students, but they still won’t fully meet all of your students’ needs. In order to maximize the effectiveness of your lessons, you should think of the published materials as being a basis providing raw material for the lessons, and adapt this material in various ways.

Forms of adaptation

One practical reason for adapting the coursebook is to ensure that you have the right amount of material for the length of each class period, and also for the total length of the course over the school year. This can be achieved on the one hand by extending activities or adding extra ones, or on the other hand by shortening some activities or omitting some completely. Supplementing the material in the book may also bring several other benefits.

However recent your coursebook is, it still won’t be completely up-to-date with the latest trends, so you might find that a lesson on popular music or current fashion can be made much more interesting by adding material from other sources, such as the current issue of a popular magazine. Topics in the lessons can be adapted to your students’ interests so that they will find them more engaging, and can also be localized to relate to places, people and events that the students are familiar with. Increased variety of material can also add more choice and promote student autonomy.

Supplementing the coursebook with materials from other sources can also enable you to adjust the balance of work on the different skills, for example by adding more listening material. Most coursebook packages contain only two or three hours of listening material for a whole year, so it’s very useful to add to this, particularly with authentic materials or activities that combine listening with speaking. Pronunciation is another area that tends to be neglected in coursebooks and that you might want to give more emphasis. And although most courses provide plenty of work on grammar, they don’t necessarily focus on the grammar topics that your students struggle with, so some supplementary grammar activities can be helpful.

Many of the adaptations that we make are simple changes to the format and presentation of the materials. By presenting activities in ways that are more visually attractive, we make the lesson more memorable and enjoyable. It’s important to cater for all learning styles, particularly through adding in kinaesthetic activities that tend to be neglected in the books. Simple adaptations to the format can make activities more workable, or promote pair- and group-work. They can be used to vary the level of difficulty in the activities, which can be helpful in catering for the different needs in a mixed ability class.

Flexibility

Authors and publishers are forced to make several compromises in trying to produce materials that appeal to as many teachers and students as possible in a global market. However good their materials are, they can never be a perfect match for your students, as the authors don’t know your students. This means that we should be flexible in the way we use the coursebooks, and treat them as an outline on which we can base our lesson plans rather than a script that we must follow slavishly. One of the compromises that authors make is to try to design materials in such a way that they provide sufficient support and guidance for novice teachers while allowing more experienced teachers to exercise their own skill and judgment. In choosing materials, consider the amount of flexibility they provide, and in using them, try to develop your own creativity. Remember also that there are many resources available beyond the coursebook, and we’ll start looking at these in our next article.

 © Peter Beech 2013