Do you want to be TEFL or TESOL-certified and teach in Liuxihe Linchang? Are you interested in teaching English in Guangzhou Shi? Check out ITTT’s online and in-class courses, Become certified to Teach English as a Foreign Language and start teaching English ONLINE or abroad! ITTT offers a wide variety of Online TEFL Courses and a great number of opportunities for English Teachers and for Teachers of English as a Second Language.
This unit discussed activities to conduct when meeting learners for the first time, namely assessing what they already know and what they need to learn. Even though we are teaching business English, the text recommended the use of a general level test, which indicates the learner?s ability on a scale from elementary to advanced. The second thing to be conducted is a needs analysis, which can tell the teacher about students? past learning experiences, what they use English for in their jobs, what they want to study most and what study would be most beneficial for them. All the information gathered thus far can then be used to arrange learner groupings. During the first class, there might be time dedicated to a needs negotiation to show the students how the syllabus is addressing their needs. Individual needs not useful for the group can be addressed through homework activities. Learners may have various levels of English proficiency, be from various departments within the company, and have varied expectations and motivations, so these should be taken into account. The unit then introduced a number of theories relating to syllabus design, including the structural syllabus, the functional syllabus, the learner-led syllabus and the situational syllabus. The syllabus can simply be a sum total of all the needs identified in the needs analysis, strung together in a logical sequence with relevant materials. The syllabus should be written up in a document that clearly details a series of lessons (for example, 10 x 1 hour lessons), content to be covered during these lessons and necessary resources (for example, page 10-11 of the textbook). There should be one flexible lesson included to deal with issues that arise, and there should be time included for revision and a final assessment at the end of the course. Lastly, the text discussed assessments and end-of-course evaluations. Assessments can include diagnostic, aptitude and proficiency tests, and for a 10-hour business English course, an end-of-course achievement test would be most suitable. There are also a number of formal exams currently available to learners of business English, for example, the CEIBT and LCCI exams. End-of-course evaluations can provide useful feedback on the quality of the teaching, the quality of the textbook and other materials, and whether or not the course has achieved its stated objectives. This information could be gathered up and used in a report for an employer and/or used to make improvements on the course for next time.
