Teaching English as a Foreign Language

  Academic Content Area Teaching   Content Area teaching requires the English language teachers to effectively address the linguistic challenges faced by their students. Teachers should have an appropriate understanding of the language of the content areas such as Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, and Computers.                                Implications of using academic content This knowledge will facilitate comprehension of language specific to the subject matter, as students build their content knowledge through this medium. For many students, addressing language barriers is very challenging. A Mathematics teacher should be able to explain to English Language students the algebraic equation solution or Pythagoras Theorem, and likewise, a science teacher should be able to understand why students might be having a tough time writing their conclusion on various theories about atomic s...

  Challenges faced by a teacher in the classroom The biggest challenge faced by a teacher is, how engaged students are when being taught. Engagement can be behavioural and cognitive. The level of students’ interest and curiosity will determine their progress. If students are not focused, it will disrupt their conduct and could create chaos in the classroom. How to keep them motivated about their targeted goals? Teachers can do it by planning a strategy according to the students’ age group and cultural environment. A teacher will: Design lessons with authentic material, students can relate to. The cultural relevance of teaching material will involve students and they will participate freely in class activities. This fear-free environment would provide a feedback to the teacher as to how much engaged and motivated the students are. A good idea to keep them engaged is ‘random riddle’. The teacher randomly throws a riddle to any student. This activity can keep their focus alive. Furth...

  W riting a Lesson Plan for English Language  A great challenge faced by an English language teacher is how to create a lesson plan to integrate language instruction and content, especially for non native English language learners. Following are some essential elements to make up an effective lesson.   adapting contents to students’ level of language ability creating activities that motivate and engage students showing objectives find essential question BIG IDEAS name key vocabulary balance of opportunities linking concepts culminating tasks supplying ongoing feedback and a variety of assessments checking for the student's comprehension of the lesson timing or pacing the lesson right to the student's ability level  examine effective strategies to incorporate into the lesson get supplementary  resources an effective lesson   In order to do effective lesson planning, one must keep in mind; ...