02 June 2015 / by Elena Riches

How to get students talking and enjoy the experience

How to get students talking in English is one of the biggest challenges if you are a new TEFL teacher. There will be times during your experience as a teacher where a student finds it difficult to openly talk and if you can't encourage them to do so, neither of you will be be going anywhere fast so, let's see how to get students talking.











Learn more about Task-Based Activities HERE:



Learn more about classroom atmosphere HERE:


A teacher needs to be able to show empathy as well as discipline in equal amounts; too much empathy can mean they will  see you as a pushover and won't listen to anything you say while trying to get them to speak and, on the other hand, too much discipline could make them retreat into their shell even more and be frightened to open their mouths.


If you think you can apply equal amounts of empathy and discipline, and get students talking, why not try your hand as a teacher and click here to arrange a no-obligation interview as the first step to becoming a TEFL teacher.

06

March 2015
Tiers for fears & choosing words to teach
by Vincent Chieppa
Any conscientious teacher knows that choosing words to teach is not as easy as it seems.  Sure you can deal out words left, right & center.  However, would your students understand, grow & be empowered?  Fortunately, there is a nifty little 3 tier model that helps teachers enable their students to broaden their language capacity. &...

03

March 2015
Dealing with disruptive or difficult students
by Elena Riches
Whatever kind of teacher you are, be it a maths teacher, an art teacher or a teacher of karate, there will come a time when you will have problems managing your class/group of students and if you cannot find a way to do it effectively your students can become uninterested, unmotivated or quiet, and will seldom reach your desired goal...

27

February 2015
How to... use emails for ESL teaching
by Vincent Chieppa
In this day & age paperless teaching is the future.   Seeing that this is the case it should be no surprise that the next step should be using emails for ESL teaching.  How emails are incorporated in the out-of-class learning experience depends of course on the nature...

24

February 2015
Teacher student interaction: teachers are learners too!
by Elena Riches
So, you've completed your TEFL course, gained your certificate and procured a job. The next part is, how do you do it vs how do you do it well. I personally don't think there is a wrong and right way of teaching as everyone has their own way and each way works for them; providing the students are learning what they've set out to learn then...

20

February 2015
Teaching new vocabulary: 7 fail-safe strategies
by Vincent Chieppa
If teaching grammar forms the frame for language acquisition, teaching new vocabulary provides students with the building blocks. It is therefore the teacher's responsibility to bring home the value of these building blocks by presenting them in perspective - that is, in a way that is relevant and useful for the students. In order to do th...

18

February 2015
The trials and tribulations of being a TEFL teacher
by Elena Riches
If you're thinking of becoming a TEFL teacher you might want some information of what you get out of it from someone who has firsthand experience of being one. ...

13

February 2015
ESL error correction techniques for the classroom
by Vincent Chieppa
As any experienced ESL teacher knows, the type of language errors students make are as diverse as the students themselves & their attitude toward learning.  This in turn will dictate which of th...

10

February 2015
TEFL teacher: What does it take to become one?
by Elena Riches
For those already familiar with the term 'TEFL' (an explanation of the various terms can be found here) you will know that it means teaching English as a foreign language but, what do...

10

February 2015
ESL teaching through the eyes of Cynthia Amuneke from Nigeria
by Radmila Gurkova
My name is ...

06

February 2015
Setting effective boundaries in the classroom
by Vincent Chieppa
ESL teachers could face disruptive behaviour from their students on a daily basis and this can lead to distress, tension and/or anxiety.  For this reason it is important for teachers to take charge to ensure that they are setting effective boundaries because by sim...