If you are an experienced teacher, you have up to ten years of teaching experience. You are still trying out teaching different types of classes and different language proficiency levels. The videos in this category provide learning experiences on more focused topics in English language teaching to take your skills and knowledge to a deeper level and give you a larger repertoire of tools and techniques to draw upon.
In this video, we talk to teachers who teach different types of specialized ESL classes. They share with us what they find most rewarding and most challenging about teaching these types of classes, and impart some valuable advice to new teachers of specialized ESL classes.
This series of interviews explores the concept of Canadian culture from the perspective of foreign English language learners and their experiences in Canada.
In this video, we interview ESL teachers on how they teach Canadian culture along with the English language. The teachers discuss some common misconceptions ESL students often have about Canadian culture and share some advice for new English language teachers on how to prepare their students for success in a Canadian cultural context.
In this video, we will look at the phenomenon of English as a Global Language. In recent decades, the use of English has extended to every corner of the globe. English is so widespread that it is now commonly regarded as a global language. In this session, we will introduce some of the terms and concepts that go along with the idea of a global language. We will then take a look at the criteria for determining if a language is, in fact, a global language and analyze the most spoken languages in the world according to these criteria. We will examine some of the forces that push a language beyond its natural regional boundaries as well as some of the implications for any language that becomes a global language. Finally, we will examine the global spread of English and discuss the concept of World Englishes.
This video presents an effective process with which to critically assess a technology for language teaching purposes. The process includes assessing the ‘value-add’, constraints, and applications of the technology. We will then put this process into practice by evaluating a technology for use in the language classroom. By the end of this video, participants will be able to confidently and effectively evaluate new technologies for integration into their teaching repertoire.
When you begin teaching, you must think about how you will grade and assess your students in a consistent way. You must determine the types of rubrics you will use and how you will develop these rubrics. In this course, we will discuss what a rubric is, the best scenarios in which to use a rubric, and why rubrics are used in ESL teaching and learning contexts. We will examine three types of rubrics including Primary Trait, Holistic and Analytic, and discuss some of their strengths and weaknesses. Lastly, we will introduce a framework for creating Analytic rubrics that includes scoring, subskill and descriptor considerations as well as general tips for making your rubric as effective and efficient as possible.
When we plan and teach our English language courses and lessons, our focus is usually on the language learning activities and materials we will use to meet student needs. Lost in this planning and teaching process is the impact of the context in which we are teaching. The impact of context on our language teaching is much greater than we might think.
Through the analysis of scenarios drawn from real experiences in English language teaching and teacher training projects run around the world, we will talk about the impact that context has on what we do as language teachers. We’ll see how where we teach very strongly influences how we teach. Context will be examined from three angles: the physical environment, the organizational context, and the regional or national culture. We will discuss the impact that each angle can have on the English language teaching and learning processes.
This course takes participants through a very simple framework for defining culture that can be used to analyze workplace culture. By applying this framework in an analytical process, you can begin to understand the depth and complexity of a workplace culture. You can then use this understanding to more effectively prepare your students for success in a particular workplace culture, both from a cultural perspective and from a linguistic perspective.
Explanation is the grammar presentation technique typically used in the ESL classroom when new language structures are introduced. While there is a time and a place for explanations, there are many other techniques with which teachers can present grammar more effectively and memorably. In this course, we will look at demonstrations of grammar presentation techniques that go beyond the explanations provided in textbooks. We will then compare and contrast the different techniques, based on criteria such as preparation time, challenge for the student, and appropriateness for particular grammar structures.
Many of the courses we teach to prepare students to succeed in a particular workplace have to be customized to meet the specific language and culture demands of that workplace. As a result, workplace preparation teachers often become course designers out of necessity. In this course we will take you through a simple curriculum design framework to use when approaching the design of a workplace or occupation-specific language course. Following this framework will ensure that you have a course that meets the needs of the students, employers and other course stakeholders. It will also ensure that you create an effective, high quality course in a minimal amount of time.
