More Professional Ways to Teach English for Children

        As an English teacher, I have been teaching children from 3-12 for two years. Then I decided to join TEFL to improve myself. TEFL course provided me many trains of thought about teaching methods. I have gathered more skills to build a vivid class for my children. I have also gained the strategies and techniques to design the class. The course include class management, thinking maps, vocabulary teaching for all levels of language learners. Here are the main points I learned from TEFL course.

        How to be a great teacher - Teachers should be an entertainer, they have their own character and personality, which makes students remember what they are and love them. Children can have fun in their class. In the class, teacher should adapting their language to the level of their children, restrict their vocabulary. They should use physical movement to help students comprehend what they say. To make students more willing to repeat the words or the sentences, teachers should show the emotions naturally by using their expression and body language, they can also use more exaggerated tones of voice. They have to guide students to talk in English for half of the time, and reserve an interaction time to talk with them. Teachers should ask open end questions and encourage students to speak more. Students like teachers who can control the class, know their students, prepare well, and have a lot of knowledge beside their subjects. I think the most important part about being a good teacher is to love teaching. If the teacher really enjoy the class, he/she will surely make the lessons more interesting.

        Students’ motivation is important - Motivation refers to elements that push students to do learning activities. Learning new language needs a lot of practice, memorize and repeat. Students who aim to reach their goal, such as get a good grades in class, or make English just as a kind of tool, also have the motivation to do the learning activities. However, it is hard to insist on these tedious activities. Good teachers are more apply on dig out students’ integrative motivation. Make students fell in love with the language. They will make much eye contact in the class, make sure their instruction is logical and easy to understand. They will manage their classroom by build rewarding and punishment system. They can choose games for their students and make the students speak English at the same time. They can make all the students involved in the game and enjoyed themselves, and make competition with each other friendly. Students can have fun in the class, and desire to mix with the culture of this second language. They will show deep interest in the culture and the people who influenced by this language. By then, students will not just learn a subject and use it as a tool, they will dig into the language, desire to know more about the language and one day communicate with native speakers.

        Move all their sensory to learn second language - There are two main methods about teaching children. First, teacher do something directly to show students the meaning, spelling, pronunciation of the words or sentences. Teachers can show the real things, flash cards or radios to students. Let them see, listen and touch them directly, and imitate the teacher to read, repeat the words or sentences aloud.

        Another method is Total Physical Response (TPR). Teachers say the words or sentences, students have to listen and preform the action with teacher. TPR is based on listening linked to physical activities to reinforce comprehension. At last students can give each other commands and do the performance. They can say the words or sentences and remember the meaning by actions.

In the second language teaching class, teachers use no mother tongue, and try not point out mistakes but repeat the correct words or sentences so that students can repeat.

        All in all, pursuing TEFL certification is one of the great decisions I made for my career. I have learned so many new things and the new ways of thinking during the course. With the knowledge and technical, I will make my English class more interesting and enjoyable for my students.

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