30 May 2014 / by Radmila Gurkova

FM - Unifying format criteria for TEFL activities. The cherry on the cake!

On debate: We need to unify format criteria when creating TEFL activities in order to create the perfect activity. The teachers creating activities and the ones correcting them have to use the same criteria.

We agreed to: Creating standards for activities.

Checklist with the most important bullet points to remember when creating TEFL activities. 

  1. TL definition: simplify explanation, not copy and paste from online dictionaries

  2. Put pictures in tables to avoid overlapping of text and image when doing web classes

  3. Length of texts: 1/2 page maximum for high levels, 1/3 page maximum for lower levels.

  4. Edit texts to make the suitable for the students levels.

  5. Font: Arial 16.

  6. For topics and other activities when possible, provide the URL link to the original source: could be a youtube link, a link to an online article, news, etc.

  7. When we create activities, we have to think of doing them for web classes and then adapt for the in-person ones rather than the other way round. With this in mind, remember to:

    1. Avoid instructions containing "cut the attachment"

    2. Limit the number of pages on attachments (some activities contained a SWOT analysis of more than 5 pages, way too long!



  8. Highlight TL in the text (use capital letters or bold type)

  9. Always double check the grammar point and make sure it corresponds to the issue-subissue

  10. Double check for spelling and typos


Creating TEFL activities can be time consuming and tiring unless you share! Learn more about how to create successful TEFL activities. Join the TEFL community.

12

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What are the qualities that make a good ESL teacher? When asked at a job interview what makes a good ESL teachers, candidates often praise personal traits such as patience, creativity, knowledge, skills, empathy, experience… But what if you have just finished your TEFL course and are not that experienced yet. Does that mean y...

30

May 2014
FM - Unifying format criteria for TEFL activities. The cherry on the cake!
by Radmila Gurkova
On debate: We need to unify format criteria when creating TEFL activities in order to create the perfect activity. The teachers creating activities and the ones correcting them have to use the same criteria. We agreed to: Creating st...

30

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by Radmila Gurkova
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16

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13

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If you think these faces are too serious and concentrated, you are about right. The guys you are seeing in the picture, part of our Oxbridge TEFL teacher team in Madrid, are deeply engaged in creating ESL activities for beginners. Four teachers. One activity. An ESL activity for beginner learners of English t...

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How to teach beginners English as a foreign language in the target language only is sometimes a headache for ESL teachers. As it turned out, teaching the function I WANT in English without translating is not that easy. Students tend to confuse its meaning with I LIKE because this structure appears in similar contexts. How to teach beginners I...

20

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My favorite ESL class
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14

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07

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by Radmila Gurkova
The OxbridgeTEFL community launched the project of how to teach pronunciation through ESL activities as a result of the necessity of creating specific tools -apart from the usual work on pronunciation through vocabulary activities- that would target Spanish learners' pronunciation. What moved us ...

27

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