CHICAGO TEFL COURSE CONTENT

Reading and tasks on the history of English language; expectations for teachers on their first day of class; creating your teaching persona; recognizing traits of an effective teacher; ways to build community in your classroom; examples of how to be a good role model; strategies for maintaining professional relationships; terminology and abbreviations used in the TEFL profession; introduction to language levels, and effective and ineffective teaching practices.

Reading and tasks on the student-centered approach and teacher’s roles; autonomous learning, the roles of collaboration and cooperative learning; creating scaffolded activities, experiential learning with examples of useful EFL activities; individual differences.

Reading and tasks on the differences between approach, method, and technique; contemporary and traditional teaching methods; Communicative Language Teaching (CLT); characteristics of the Community Language Learning approach; general procedures used in a Silent Way classroom; the pillars of Suggestopedia; using Total Physical Response and Total Physical Response Storytelling in a classroom; principles of Content-Based Instruction; and ways to implement Cooperative Learning, Task-Based Learning, Project-Based Learning, and differentiation.

Reading and tasks on the importance of lesson planning and how it relates to instruction; understanding language level distinctions, creating learning objectives for lessons, characteristics of an effective lesson plan; lesson planning for young learners, the foundation behind effective assessment methods. 

Reading and tasks on the basic concepts in course design: creating and delivery of needs analyses and diagnostic assessments; use of data collected via analyses; evaluating and selecting textbooks; producing a general course syllabus; creating a class contract to establish classroom standards of behavior.

Reading and tasks on defining word root, prefix and suffix; common phrasal verbs and collocations; phonological, morphological, syntactic, semantic, and pragmatic understanding; selecting vocabulary words to teach in the ESL/EFL classroom; effective methods of vocabulary instruction; challenges and approaches to teaching idiomatic expressions.

Reading and tasks on effective methods of grammar instruction with example grammar activities.

Reading and tasks on how the brain processes listening output; types of listening input; types of listening materials and how to choose them for the classroom; how to tailor listening activities to student level and mental method of processing; ways to set up activities within a listening lesson and sequence of lessons; specific techniques for teaching listening skills; how the schema theory impacts ESL/EFL reading activities; common reading strategies that can be taught to ESL/EFL learners; selecting reading materials; intensive and extensive reading skills; types of pre-reading, while-reading, and post-reading activities; and ways to assess reading both formally and informally.

Reading and tasks on the foundation needed for ESL/EFL students to improve their oral and written language production; commonly used classroom speaking activities; the sounds and most common pronunciation rules for English pronunciation and when to incorporate effective pronunciation techniques into ESL/EFL lessons; structuring ESL/EFL writing activities and lessons; and recommended outside resources to improve and expand teacher knowledge, methods, and materials of ESL/EFL speaking and writing.

Reading and tasks on the several benefits of using low-tech visual aids with English language learners; general criteria to follow when choosing a visual aid; low-tech visual aids and how they can be applied to the ESL/EFL classroom; ways to use the internet effectively with ESL/EFL students; precautions to consider when assigning internet-related activities; how blogs and wikis might be used to enhance students’ communication skills; recommendations for effectively integrating video into the ESL/EFL classroom; ways to use video as a teaching and learning tool, and pros and cons to learning a language online. 

Reading and tasks on culture and cultural sensitivity, surface, and deep culture; the five barriers to cross-cultural communication; four main cultural dimensions and their implications for the EFL classroom; and culture shock and its stages. 

This unit covers the differences between teaching young learners and adults, and the differences in teaching approach to different ages of young learners. We will also cover the best activities for young learners; how to teach listening and speaking skills to young learners; how to teach reading and writing skills to young learners; and how best to manage a class of young learners

This unit covers the history and development of English for Specific purposes (ESP); the rationale behind and methods for conducting needs analyses; major considerations for teaching English for academic purposes (EAP); sample reading, writing, listening, and speaking tasks that would benefit students in Business English. We will share various online resources available for ESL/EFL instructors within EAP and business English

During the course, you will meet with an ESL learner to assess his/her language background and needs. Based on your assessment and analysis, you will design and teach a lesson specific for the ESL learner.

At the end of the course, each TEFL student will complete and present a Learner Profile portfolio, which will consist of the learner background analysis, language skills assessment, lesson plan analysis, and a follow-up lesson plan. The Learner Profile is worth a total of 250 points.

The Learner Profile can serve as a portfolio that you can bring to interviews and showcase to potential employers to illustrate your knowledge and experience with student needs assessment and lesson plan design. *Students MUST complete the Learner Profile in order to pass the class. Students who do not complete the assignment will not be issued their TEFL/TESOL Certificate.