Teach English in ChengxiXiAng - Anqing Shi

Teaching ESL vs EFL FinalKnowledge of the english language and the ability to speak it fluently had both become valuable and tangible assets. The terms ESL and EFL are two of the most popular acronyms used in english language study. These acronyms can be rather confusing, especially considering they are used interchangeably. Interestingly, EFL is essentially a UK term whereas ESL is an American term. Beyond that, a distinction is made between teaching english to non-native speakers in a non-english speaking country (EFL) and teaching english to non-native speakers in an english-speaking country (ESL). To further clarify, it is beneficial to check what is the difference between the two and does teaching ESL better than EFL or vice?versa. english as a Second Language teaching refers to teaching english in a country where it is already the main or official language. In other words, it is where english is being taught to non-native speakers in a country where english is the native language such as the united states, Canada, the U.K. and Australia. Adult ESL speakers who chose to live or are planning to live in an english-speaking country may enter these countries with advanced english ability, or they may be true beginners who can't even say "hello." Their children will enter public school systems and require intensive language teaching in order to attain english language levels that match their age and grade level. Daniel Krieger, an experienced ESL and EFL teacher observes the differences between teaching the two classes of english language learning. In talking about student motivation Krieger declares, ? in an EFL setting, intrinsic motivation which ?consists of learning for personal reasons as an end in itself? (Harmer 1991) can be low, and english may not seem relevant to the students since it is not part of their daily lives. In ESL classroom, students are likely to have a higher intrinsic motivation because english is relevant to their daily lives.? Countless studies and research on motivation highly favors intrinsic drives that is believed to be powerful. With this view, teachers need to process and incorporate this knowledge. One of the things that teachers can do is to consider a student?s motivation profile when planning a class then carefully develops strategies to boost motivation when it is lacking. Age is one factor that can help identify motivation profile. Children younger than twelve seem to learn easier and their intrinsic drive can be handled correctly if to keep them interested. Activities that are fun and kinesthetic are the best ways to engage children in learning. Older students are opposite particularly EFL students as they may perceive learning english has no real significance in their lives. Due to their lack of intrinsic motivation, teachers need to create motivating techniques to help such students. These include helping students see the uses for english in their lives, presenting them with reasonable challenges, giving them feedback that requires them to act, playing down the role of tests, and appealing to their genuine interests (Brown, 2001). Teachers can motivate students by being sensitive to certain interests such as travel, food, sports, social networking, current events or whatever the students want to talk about. Often times adhering to a textbook religiously can make a class dull and takes away the excitement to learn. In an ESL classroom, the teacher can use the cultural diversity in the class as a springboard for class discussions. Students in the class come with lots of interesting information from their own culture and experiences that can bring relevant enrichment. They can do presentations to give their classmates vivid picture of how they live in their own country. They are required to share their personal stories in the english language thus providing them the opportunity to practice speaking. Another way is to encourage students to use the resources of a native-speaking environment such as mingling with the locals and joining in their conversation or interviewing somebody then reporting to class. In an EFL class, Mr. Kreiger suggests the following criteria for selecting activities. He observes that to best elicit english from students in an EFL monolingual class, an activity ought to: ? have a visible, clear, and compelling objective. ? have english use built into the logic of the activity ? not to be too cognitively demanding to manage in english ? be interesting to the students The above criteria were met through various games that require students to fulfill a task by speaking english only. Teaching ESL vs EFL do have differences as students? motivation vary respectively. And the teacher plays a significant role in stirring motivation in the way he or she presents the lessons. The ESL or EFL teacher must make it a priority to be sensitive to the needs of the students, as they have to endure many cultural adjustments. Teaching ESL vs EFL may have differences but the ultimate goal is to help students become knowledgeable and fluent in the english language.